Too funny not to share
8:09 PM - Posted by Karrie - 0 comments

Toby is almost 5 years old, and last weekend my husband, Ryan, took him out squirrel hunting for the very first time. They sat silently in the woods and when the time was right, Ryan pulled the trigger and the squirrel, still with a nut in his mouth, took his final breath.
Ryan went to retrieve the little guy and left my own little guy sitting silent at the tree so that they could wait for the next squirrel to hop by. When he got back, Toby picked up the dead animal, petted it, and at one point even rubbed his cheek on the soft fur.
Ryan was very impressed that Toby wasn't afraid of the dead animal.
When it came time to dress and clean the animal, Toby was right there to learn. He happily scooped the guts out with his little hands. Again, Ryan was very impressed.
Examining all of the body parts, Toby asked "is this the poop-hole, dad?"
"No," answered his Dad, not really ready for what came next, "that is his weiner. And that there are his, uh, er, his nuts."
Then Ellen the older sister came by.
"Look, Ellen," says wise Toby, "that's where the squirrel keeps the nuts that the finds!"
Ryan quickly corrected him, but really couldn't blame him. It makes sense, doesn't it? Squirrel collects nuts, and has a little pouch for them. Good engineering?
So when I walked up a few minutes later after the situation had been cleared up, Toby held out his bloody little hand and said to me, "here mom. This is a squirrel ball," and he tossed the tiny testicle into the woods.

Squirrel stew tomorrow. Nut free.


dirt baby
11:03 AM - Posted by Karrie - 0 comments
You know how some babies just hate the feeling of grass on their bare legs? Not mine. She loves it.
I just spread a blanket out in the lawn under the side maple, where the grass is sparse in the late summer weather. There are rocks and twigs and dry leaves, so I thought a blanket would be somewhat appealing. I hauled out toys and plopped little Annie down in the middle of it.
It lasted for about, oh, two seconds.
She crawled off and into the grass. Crunched leaves and waved sticks. And now she's digging a hole in the mulch, happy as a lark.
The toys sit untouched as usual.
Fischer Price should figure out how to market a stick toy or capture the texture of crunching leaves.
Until they do, the real thing will work just fine. Probably even better.


A natural playground?
7:38 PM - Posted by Karrie - 4 comments
Tonight I went to my first PTO meeting. It was against my better judgement, but I went because I thought it best that I enter the school with a positive connotation, rather than the pesky mom I feel like I've sometimes become.
But low and behold, there may be a reason I was there.
One committee that is looking for volunteers is the playground committee-- a group of people who are going to help plan the playground at the new elementary school that is being built.
Maybe this is my chance to put in a HUGE plug for "natural" playground equipment.
What's natural playground equipment? Great stuff.
Trees to climb and run between.
Rocks to turn into mountains.
Logs to walk across.
etc.
The creative benefits are enormous. A slide is a slide is a slide, but a giant rock is a pirate ship, a house, a giant egg, anything.
The hard part is going to be convincing the others on the committee of this wonderful idea. I'm trying to figure out how many copies of "Last Child in the Woods" I can hand out at the next meeting...


Good Lord, is it back???
7:35 PM - Posted by Karrie - 1 comments
It is currently 10:35PM, and outside my bedroom window, somewhere in the woods, is the creature.

I'm not sure what it is, but it makes a horrible sound late at night when these kinds of sounds wake you up from a dead sleep and make you grab the flashlight and shake your husband. It's a screaming/barking/yelping/crying sort of cry that makes your heart beat in your throat just thiking about it.

A few weeks ago, on a night with perfect sleeping weather, everyone on the street heard it. At 3:00AM. And my neighbor, whose nerdiness is only matched by mine, also took the time to look it up online. We concluded that it must be a fox, although the jury is still out.

My husband isn't due home until midnight, so I'm hoping that the creature is quiet until then. I need someone to wake up if I hear it screaming.


Life's a beach
12:03 PM - Posted by Karrie - 1 comments

We recently went on vacation. A traditional family vacation, which is something out of the ordinary for us.
We went to the beach. Not just any beach, a big, crowded beach. There were as many people as there were sand grains and I admit at first I was devastated.
"I can't believe we spent all this money to be with so many people." Obviously I'm not a big-city girl...
I said to Ryan during one of our walks between blankets and umbrellas, "it's strange how the ocean and the beach is such a part of nature, how it's a natural wonder, and yet people don't really consider it like that. It's not like going to a forest or a national park, but it's still the same thing-- people really loving to be out in nature."
And even though I was sun weary and sand worn, I think I made a lot of sense with that one. Sure, the thousands of beach-goers weren't thinking they were at one with nature...but they were. Each and every one-- watching the pattern of the waves, sculpting sand castles, feeling the warmth of the sun and the stick of the sea salt -- including us.


Two facts my husband didn't know
8:04 PM - Posted by Karrie - 0 comments
1. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.

2. Flamingo's knees bend backwards.


Great American Backyard Campout 2008
7:39 PM - Posted by Karrie - 0 comments
If you didn't hear, last Saturday, June 28, was the National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout. We were only one of three registered sites in Wayne County.

After arguing for a while, the kids and I came up with naming our camp "Wild Cherry Woods" because of the forest of cherry trees we have in the backyard. As you can see by the photo, our backyard campout was rained out, so instead we had a "family room camp in." But between rain showers, we did just about everything required of a camping trip. We...
ate hotdogs outside
made crafts (God's eyes, even!)
took a hike
stopped for ice cream
played games
sang songs
set off fireworks
and stayed up too late.

I truthfully blew the entire day having fun. It was tremendous. One of the best days of my life.
For more info on the great american backyard campout, visit www.nwf.org.