About Birds

While driving to the doctor's office with Matthew we saw a crow and he proceeded to tell me why they are black in color.

"Mom, do you know why crows are so black? Well, it is because of all the seeds they eat...you know, the middle of the seeds? Well, they eat the middle of the seeds and the scarecrows people leave out so then it all turns to black in their stomach. They really have clear feathers so what they eat turns black in their stomach and that makes their feathers look black...but they are really clear. They are colorful when they are babies but then their feathers turn clear. Crows eat the most so that is why they are the blackest bird; because they really have clear feathers."

I just let him talk and he told me this long elaborate story; I didn't have the heart to tell him the crow's feathers are really black and not clear.

Shameless Plug

Kroger (a grocery store here in the South for all you northern folks) is having a design contest for their reusable shopping bags. I designed a bag (as did 9000+ other hopefuls) and I need some votes. Vote for my bag here.

Travel Tips

After completing a 12 hour road trip with three children alone, I have compiled a list of helpful tips.

• State patrol officers now like to drive gas guzzling white Chevy Tahoes or Suburbans. They may also be found having a pow-wow in the median to really try and scare people which then results in highway bumper cars. I bet they are sitting there watching all the whiplash as everyone hits the brakes. "Hey Mike, whiplash in the white sedan; those brakes definitely have the Midas touch." Before long they will issue a neck brace with your citation.
• When highway construction crews don't have enough work they like to drag the orange barrels out and make the highway a one-lane road for miles. I think they are secretly hiding in the woods to see if we remembered our single-file line skills from elementary school.
• Curvy mountain roads and a 9 year old with a book do not mix. The roads were enough to make me queasy and I was the one driving the ship. Poor Jacob was the in the aft of the van where a slight turn of the wheel is magnified like a rocking ship in a thunderstorm at sea. I knew what was happening when he said "Mom, my head hurts really bad" and that was followed shortly by "my stomach doesn't feel so well." Tip- Harry Potter will have to wait until we are on solid ground.
• Illinois makes their road with deep cracks in the right lane and after 45 minutes of driving on the rhythmic road you will really want to take a snooze. Fight this urge with all you've got.
• Swerving around a dead animal while traveling 70mph is quite the thrill ride. If you drive a SUV, I wouldn't recommend it.

I know some thought I was crazy to take a long road trip with the three kids alone but thankfully our career path has given me practice. Road trips started when the oldest was a wee boy and God gave all of our children iron bladders. I thank Him on every road trip when I need to stop only once in 8 hours.

I have entered this post in a blog carnival on About.com; you can receive more information here.

April Fool's

I do not normally pull April Fool's jokes on people but this year was different. This year I schemed for the best way to set up the kids and hubby.
I decided to take a screen capture of the school's website and add my own text "April 1, 2008 School Cancelled." Hubby helped with all the IT geeky stuff and it was an actual webpage. I left it on the laptop (which sits in the kitchen) so the kids would see it around breakfast time. As predicted, Emily was the first to notice the announcement. She immediately said "no, that is just a joke; the school put that on there for April Fool's." I worked on her for awhile to try and convince her but she was standing pretty firm that it was a joke. Matthew came in and saw the screen and running like a wild man, squealing "NO SCHOOL!" I told them a few minutes later that it was a joke but it took even more convincing that I did it and not the school.
The best one of the morning though is the one I pulled on my very loving, won't seek revenge hubby. (Let's hope!) I came in the kitchen before him and placed a rubberband around the kitchen sprayer to hold the handle down. I strategically placed the sprayer to point in the correct direction and then silently waited. Eventually (felt like forever!) he made his way to the sink to wash something. One flip of the handle and cold water was spraying directly at his stomach and his screams were penetrating the house. Just as predicted, he was too stunned to turn on off the water, he just kept getting sprayed while trying to find the source. It was definitely a good laugh. That is until he sought after me to give me a nice big bear hug with very wet clothes.