"Start over...I just can't seem to do it!"
These were K's exact frustrated words. When did a 4-year old learn to speak like that? She kept trying and trying to tie her tennis shoes in the car yesterday. Then ...
"I did it! I did it! Mommy, am I an amazing tier?!"
She tied and re-tied her shoe laces over and over again yesterday.
K's first success with bunny ears, bunny ears.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Boom Boom Clap
We bought our first Hannah Montana CD today!
"Ms. Shelley's daughter" visited K's pre-school class today and taught them the Hoedown Throwdown. K has performed her version of it countless times since we got home in the last 2 hours.
In the car, with CD in hand, K told D that she would have to teach him the "Boom Boom Clap" as she calls it. And that was because he had not seen "Ms. Shelley's Daughter" at school and "Ms. Shelley's Daughter" was the expert on it. K goes on to explain to D that when she gets really good at it she will also be an expert. At that point it was pretty clear that expert was the new word of the day. She has used it several times this evening... on her own making sure she doesn't forget.
"Ms. Shelley's daughter" visited K's pre-school class today and taught them the Hoedown Throwdown. K has performed her version of it countless times since we got home in the last 2 hours.
In the car, with CD in hand, K told D that she would have to teach him the "Boom Boom Clap" as she calls it. And that was because he had not seen "Ms. Shelley's Daughter" at school and "Ms. Shelley's Daughter" was the expert on it. K goes on to explain to D that when she gets really good at it she will also be an expert. At that point it was pretty clear that expert was the new word of the day. She has used it several times this evening... on her own making sure she doesn't forget.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
And now there are 4...
One more egg in the nest.
And not too far from this nest, I spotted another one also with 4 eggs.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Killdeer
The bird from yesterday -- it's the killdeer (Charadius vociferus) named for its loud call kill-deeah or kill-deeah-dee-dee.
The Smithsonian Handbook of Birds of Texas describes it as the largest of the ring plovers and the only double banded plover within its range. As I observed, the guide goes on to describe how it "leads intruders away from nest and young with 'broken wing' act, rapid calls, one or both wings dragging, tail spread, and often limping or listing to one side. Once lured far enough from the nest/young, the 'crippled' bird suddenly 'heals' and flies away, calling all the while."
The Smithsonian Handbook of Birds of Texas describes it as the largest of the ring plovers and the only double banded plover within its range. As I observed, the guide goes on to describe how it "leads intruders away from nest and young with 'broken wing' act, rapid calls, one or both wings dragging, tail spread, and often limping or listing to one side. Once lured far enough from the nest/young, the 'crippled' bird suddenly 'heals' and flies away, calling all the while."
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Natural instincts
at the end of my run today I was surprised by a bird at the bottom of the trail. At first it looked injured, but as I approached it quickly moved farther away and re-started the "injury" dance. After a few steps I noticed a small nest with 3 eggs on the ground camouflaged amongst the rocks. I believe the bird felt the nest threatened and started to act injured to distract my attention from the eggs. Very interesting. I came back with my camera and he repeated the dance once again.
It's nice to be back running after a long 12-week break. Today it was more a run-walk-run in the noon heat.
HMNS Warriors
A couple of weeks ago I visited the Terra Cota Warriors exhibit. I was disappointed with the layout of the exhibit. It failed to impart the magnitude of the discovery - the illusion of scale was missing. A large wall panel featured a photo of the excavations, but you could not get far enough to get a feeling for the dimnension of the site.
The individual warriors however were very impressive. Each life size figure seemed to have it's own character and personality. Since viewing the warriors was the main point of the exhibit, it was still very worth while.
I learned... after the warriors were sculpted the craftsmen first painted a layer of lacquer on the pieces then colored them with mineral paint. In the process of unearthening the warriors in the initial excavations, the water in the lacquer layer evaporated causing the original paint to flake off. It wasn't until 1996 that new technolgies were able to prevent the flaking and discoloration of the pieces. The PEG2000 process covers the terra cota with a solvent that permeates into the lacquer and replaces the water. The HEMA process stabilizes the paint by electron beaming and is reported to work better on larger pieces.
Many warriors were severely damage by roof beams collapsing on them as a fire raged through the complex they stood gard beneath. Many of the excavation pits are just thousands of pieces of hundreds of warriors (and in some pits their horses).It takes many months for the 3-dimensional "warrior puzzle" to be sorted and glued back together.
The individual warriors however were very impressive. Each life size figure seemed to have it's own character and personality. Since viewing the warriors was the main point of the exhibit, it was still very worth while.
I learned... after the warriors were sculpted the craftsmen first painted a layer of lacquer on the pieces then colored them with mineral paint. In the process of unearthening the warriors in the initial excavations, the water in the lacquer layer evaporated causing the original paint to flake off. It wasn't until 1996 that new technolgies were able to prevent the flaking and discoloration of the pieces. The PEG2000 process covers the terra cota with a solvent that permeates into the lacquer and replaces the water. The HEMA process stabilizes the paint by electron beaming and is reported to work better on larger pieces.
Many warriors were severely damage by roof beams collapsing on them as a fire raged through the complex they stood gard beneath. Many of the excavation pits are just thousands of pieces of hundreds of warriors (and in some pits their horses).It takes many months for the 3-dimensional "warrior puzzle" to be sorted and glued back together.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Homework for Mommy!
I thanked Ms. Chelsea once again today for the alphabet song and she asked Daniel if Mommy already knew the song. "No!" was his answer... I guess I have some homework to do. My 2-year old is telling on me.
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