"I like the patina"

This looks like a Renaissance painting to me.

Sandbox

"Duck Mommy"

Sabrina says she wants to be a "good duck mommy," and she is trying her three year old best.

Fire!

During the CA wildfires, we read an article in AZ Republic written to reassure Arizonians. "The only place in the Phoenix valley that could potentially have fires is the Gila River area." We live 3 miles from the Gila.
Sat. we saw huge plumes of smoke, and Sun. after church we drove down to Southern Ave. and got close enough, Russell believed he saw flames.
Here's a picture taken Sunday from our front yard looking South. There was a haze of smoke around the streetlights Sat. night that looked just like fog. For a moment, I reflexively felt cold. As of last night, it was "relatively contained." But the newspaper warned it could be "a harbinger of an earlier than usual wildfire season."
We're a bit nervous about our house, but at least if the burn-able brush is already burned, perhaps that means we won't have more close fires later in the season when it is drier.

Deep Thoughts from Kidsters

This morning, Leslie decided to sit in the front seat of the car. I told her that there is a rule that children under 12 must sit in the back seat so they can be safe. "So the people who made the law didn't want to be mean, they just wanted them to be safe?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"A long time ago mean people made a rule that Black people had to sit in the back of the bus, and they couldn't sit in the front. But maybe they just wanted them to be safe."
There's something to ask Rosa Parks!
The rules of oppression work differently when applied to children, it seems.

Leslie's art teacher taught about warm colors and cool colors. I told Leslie about ultra-violet and infared. "They're colors that humans can't see," I said.
"I think ultra-violet looks like see-through black, and infared looks like see-through white," Leslie theorized, which makes perfect sense to me.

Last weekend Richard and Suzanne invited us to come swim at a resort hotel where they were spending the weekend. As we rode in the elegant elevator, Leslie and Sabrina entertained the other passengers with their conversation.
"We get to go up in the alligator!" said Sabrina.
"It's an elevator, not an alligator. I try to tell Sabrina that it's called elevator, not alligator, but she doesn't remember."
"The alligator stopped!" replied Sabrina, unfazed.

I was tickling Sabrina at bedtime and told her, "I just want to eat you up!"
"You can't eat me," she replied logically.
"Why not?" I asked.
She examined herself. "Because I have hair and skin, see, and you can't eat that."

Make Way for Ducklings

Tuesday Russell bought home ducklings. Sabrina named her duck Ellen. Leslie named hers Enna. We've been amazed at how gentle Sabrina is with the ducks, especially with Leslie's careful supervision. They are both trying hard to be good "Duck Mommies."
Russell likes to have them snuggle on his stomach or shoulder while he is studying. "It's almost like having my old birds back."

Newborn Ducklings

"I want to hold them forever and ever!" ~Sabrina
"They're a real pet! We have real, live pets!" ~ Leslie
"Their nictitating membranes are so cool." ~Russell
"Ducks are the ultimate species--they love you but can survive without you." ~Lisa

I've never had pets that crave human company so much. They like to be held and snuggled, but they still have good survival instincts. We were holding them on the grass when a gnat landed on my leg. Quick as a striking cobra, Ellen lunged foward and ate it. No more insects in our backyard!

More egg coloring with Richard & Suzanne

Easter dress pictures

Egg hunt

The Easter Bunny visited the backyard

Coloring Easter Eggs

After coloring the eggs, the kids "helped them hatch" by peeling them and eating them. I'm surprised they like boiled eggs so much--they don't usually even eat scrambled.

Chocolate face

Easter egg hunt at the church Sat.

(This shows the difference between Burmuda grass, in the baseball field by the church, and Rye, surrounding the church.)

Sabrina cons Russ into opening yet another chocolate

Leslie swan picture

After church

Ghosts in the Playroom

Sabrina and Leslie came in our room early one morning to report, wide-eyed, that there were ghosts in the playroom. "We heard them. They sound like this, 'oooooooooohhhhh, ooooooohhh," Leslie said.

"Pigeons," Russ and I said together. We've caught the pigeon plague. Russell looked online and found a Rent-a-Hawk for a day service, which gets rid of them for awhile, but then they always come back.

Hawk

This might help with the pigeon problem! I took this picture out the master bedroom window.

Sisters

Today we told Leslie and Sabrina about the classes they could be involved in this summer.
Leslie said, "I love ballet!" and whirled around the room. She also got very excited about the art project class. "Can you draw anything you want? I'm going to make a mermaid princess!"
When I asked Sabrina which class she'd like to do, she said, "Give me a soccer ball so I can kick it! I want to kick a ball!" And demonstrated by kicking at the blanket on the floor.
It's fun to have such polar opposite personalities in one family.