The Wonderful World of Mammals

Yesterday was field trip day.  Don't be jealous.  Not everyone can rush around in the morning, teaching math and language arts, fold laundry, chase boys, monitor the care and feeding of rabbits, and pack lunches for the car all by 11:30am.  Only us lucky ones.

It was pouring yesterday.  And I mean pouring.  If it were up to me, we would have stayed home because, quite frankly, I am not waterproof and after one errand in the rain, I look like a drowned rat.  But, my kids were excited to get all handsome on learning about the wonderful world of mammals, so off we went.

Look!  It's a beaver!

No.  That's Handsome Dude.  He is so tricky.

So, we get to the field trip (with several other homeschoolers) and the kids all sit down while a lovely lady gave them a little lecture on mammals.  There are some brilliant kids in this group and I am impressed by their knowledge of mammals.

And then, there's my kids.

Lovely Lady:  Can anyone guess what other animal belongs in the dog family besides a wolf?

Little Dude (looking oh-so-proud of himself):  DOLPHINS!

Lovely Lady:  Well . . . no . . .

Little Dude:  THE SUN!

Fantastic.

Luckily, Sweet Pea and Handsome Dude both answered questions correctly and totally redeemed the Maliblahblah name.

Sweet Pea correctly identified the bone from a rabbit's foot.  Go figure.

Handsome Dude correctly identified the tracks from a deer.  Go figure.

Look!  It's another beaver!

No.  That's Little Dude.  Keep up, people!

Next, Lovely Lady brought out an injured owl named Barbara.

Right before Barbara's debut, Handsome Dude was starting to go into meltdown mode.

HD (whining):  When are we LEAVING?  This place makes my heart hurt!

Attention Peoples Who Are Planning On Having Offspring At A Future Date:  If, per chance, you ever are blessed to have a preschooler, please note that when they start complaining about stuff that does not make sense or would never, ever, happen, understand that they are LYING and just trying to get their way.  It is best to smile at the child, show them to their seat, and force them to listen to a delightful speech on owls, hurting heart and all.

Owl Information:  It's good for them.

Turns out Handsome Dude was fascinated by the story of Barbara.

And later that evening told his dad every fact that Lovely Lady had mentioned.

Color me surprised!

***

After the field trip, we had to run errands because that is what us rural people do.  I have decided to try making my own dishwasher detergent.  I have not heard good things about these recipes, but here's to hoping.

The recipe, which I got here, calls for:

1 box Borax

1 box Super Washing Soda

3 cups Epsom salts

24 packs of unsweetened Lemonade flavored Kool-Aid (Weird, I know)

You mix all the ingredients and use 1 tablespoon per load. You are also supposed to add something called Lemi-Shine to each load.

So, I get to Walmart, figuring they will have everything I need.  It is pouring rain, and yes, the first thing I heard when I walked through the doors was:

"Boy!  You sure got your hands full!"

Because, apparently, the general public has never seen a mother with FOUR children before.  So uncommon.

Walmart has two of the ingredients.  I am bound and determined to make this detergent today, so off we go to Fred Meyer.

Now, the most annoying part in all of this is that Little Dude cannot fit into his 5 point harness seat with his puffy, winter jacket on.  So at each stop we must not only do the carseat unloading, but also the jacket donning.  Which does not sound like a big deal, but trust me, after about 10 stops, the novelty wears off.

Fred Meyer does not have the Kool-Aid.  We had to go to about 5 stores, but we finally got all the ingredients.

I ran a load last night and so far, it looks pretty good.  I am not sure how much cheaper it is all going to be, so I will have to keep you updated.

And I know you want to be updated.  Don't pretend this does not excite you, too.

***

Finally, Sweet Pea wrote a letter into a kid's magazine and it is going to be published this summer.  She is pretty sure this makes her the bee's knees.  The magazine asked me to send in her picture, so I thought I would share:

Happy Tuesday!