a blog about 'wogs

Well, it has been a while since I have blogged but with all the spring activity, I am once again charged and re energized.

This morning, Danny, Katie, and I went for a morning stroll. We were cruising along the back road when we came upon the small spring fed pool of water where we have caught pollywogs the past few years.

I peeked in, thinking it must be too early for the 'wogs to be squirming about..... but there before our eyes were several black pollywogs. We rushed home to get our hunting gear: a trusty net and a cup!

We rushed back to the secret 'wog source with tools in hand and Danny went in with the net.

The 'wogs were pretty easy for the catching. In years past, the water was deeper and the 'wogs had the advantage. In this drout year, we had the advantage and scored about 10 captives. I feel bad sometimes taking them out of their home, but the water often dries up each year and I oftem see birds right on the edge of the water, picking them off one by one. I figure I am doing a small service by letting them develop in a controlled environment.

We took our little friends straight home and put them in a more suitable environment, a small covered aquarium filled with water gathered from the spring they were found in. We have had success with the 'wogs during the past two years and were able to successfully release the fully developed frogs back in the same location we found them.

I will keep you posted on developments as they happen. For now, I am letting the little guys acclimate and chill in their new house on my kitchen counter.

Happy Birthday, Danny!

On January 28th, 2006, my little man entered this world on a sunny and brisk day, forever changing our lives.

Where has the time gone?

Happy Birthday, Danny Sunshine!

Birthdays and other things

Last week, we celebrated the birthdays of my dad and sister. Their birthdays are one day apart, so we had a dinner for both of them at my parent's house. At this point in both of their lives, the gifts have become more practical, which explains the gift I gave my dad. His hip has been giving him problems for the past several years, so what better gift could there be than one of these:

One of those picker upper thingys on a stick!

This item soon became the highlight of the evening and we were amazed at the number of uses it has to offer.

Here, my dad demonstrates how to lure in a grandchild



Here, Sarah puts together a puzzle sans hands

A toy for an infant....
Controlling wild animals.....

Picking up wrapping paper from the floor....


Hitting Grampeggy on the tushie...

Yikes! Careful with that thing, Danny. We finally had to put the tool away for the night as things were getting out of hand.

Casey uses their gift, a snazzy knife sharpener, to sharpen every single knife in my parent's house...it was that amazing!

On to another topic:

Now that I am unemployed for a bit, I am getting around to doing so many thaings that I have been putting off. My house is kinda sorta clean, and I am clearing out the "rat nests" as I call them- the piles of clutter that I move from place to place. I also have a little ime to work on a project I have been wanting to get around to for quite some time now - a mural for Danny's room.

Here is the inspiration for my project:

I loved my Richard Scarry books growing up, especially Dingo Dog in his speedy little red sports car. This project is going to take a while, but it is already under way.

First, I bought 3 sheets of plywood to paint the masterpiece on. I want this mural to be portable in case we move and also to be able to remove it if and when (gasp) Danny outgrows it and wants to replace it with say, posters of bikini clad women.

Here is my progress to date

First, I mapped out my design..kinda hard to see

Then I primered the three boards in the back yard, so happy this unusually warm January weather allows such speedy paint drying!

Then I sketched out the areas for the sky, street, and grass and painted in the grassy area.

I later used a projector, with the help of Sarah and Casey, to pencil in the images onto the plywood. My pictures of this did not turn out so swell.

With Danny at preschool, I hope to get thisthing churned out in the next month or so.



As for Danny, he has been doing a bit of riding lately and is actually signed up to ride in a Gymkhana next month.

This guy's name is Bo. Isn't he handsome? An old friend from my horse riding days has offered to let Danny ride him in a couple of events. I really hope it sticks as I would love to be back in the horse world again.

Well, off to do some puttering, just a lady of leisure these days!

Skate City, baby!

Last weekend, Danny and I went to the skating rink in Ukiah for one of his preschool buddies birthday party. I was a little reluctant at first because my little man is not quite three years old yet and did not know how well the whole skating thing would go over.

I was not only thinking about his well-being but mine as well since I have witnessed the breaking of limbs in the handful of times I have ever been to this skating rink. The first time was back in High School when our region's FFA chapter had a Christmas party there. (Yeah, I know we were so bad-ass.) Anyway, we were there about 15 minutes when some kid crashed right into some Christmas decorations set up in the middle of the rink and broke his ankle or something. The other incident was this past summer when I chaperoned a bunch of kids from CTTP's youth activities program. The day was uneventful right up to the end of the day when, during a race between all the adults, one of the grandmas of this group took a dive and broke her wrist.

On to this weekend. So, we show up at the rink only to find that there were four birthday parties being held that day, and all at the same time. Yikes! You can only imagine the isanity and madness that was taking place.

Danny was not at all interested in putting skates on at that point in time, so for the first hour or so, we played video games, played pool, and watched all the skaters from the sidelines. Danny got a big kick out of seeing everyone biff it.

Hmmm. Wonder what the mystery stain is there on the wall. I don't recall seeing it there erlier. Anyway, after 2 hours of watching everyone else skate around, Danny finally got the courage to lace up.

He had the biggest smile on his face and went right out there on the floor without me, not even looking back.

He was so brave and independant, my heart was swelling with pride as I watched him venture out on his own.Then I see these ruffians zipping around, made me want to run out there and save my little man from the hazards and injustices in life.
Just then..... wait......what's going on here?........
Danny's face lights up and his heart skips a beat. These two young ladies took Danny around the ring a couple times until he grew weary of it all. He had a permanant grin on his face the entire time. Thank you ladies, whoever you are, for making my son's day a little brighter.