A Giraffe Can Run up to 30 MPH...

Well, we survived it...Alex's first project, that is...His assignment was this: Answer the following questions in 3-5 sentences for a presentation and then decorate your report in the provided cover (a yellow sheet of construction paper). Be Creative!

1. How fast can a giraffe run?
2. Why does a giraffe need to run?

THIS MAMA IS OLD FASHIONED! We simply could have Googled these questions, but I wasn't going to have any of that! I made Alex march right to the local library and do his research the old fashioned way! As we did a search on the computer, I told him all about the old card catalogs. He looked a me very puzzled...**I wonder why?** I showed him how to use the Dewey Decimal system and we found our way to the giraffe books.

We checked out a few books on giraffes as well as some other animal books that caught his eye that were nearby. We took them home and read them to discover the answer to his questions. We also discovered many other interesting facts about giraffes...Like that their tongues are purple! Yuck!

We planned out his 3-5 sentences as assigned. Alex did a very good job planning these out and did well not to plagiarize his sentences from his book. My only concern: He insisted on saying that wild dogs were a natural enemy of giraffes. I didn't remember reading that in any of the books, but, hey, it's not my book report!! I know you all are thinking that I actually let him do it...but, I'll be honest, it took a lot for me to stand back on that one!

Next, we had to move on to decorating the cover. You know me...I had some wonderful ideas swirling around in my head! Right off the bat, I realized that we have a ton of giraffe pictures from the visits to many local zoos and Animal Kingdom at Disney. Never mind that I forgot to check the pictures of Alex's trip to the zoo in Minneapolis-St. Paul with his Meema or remember that he has a picture with himself underneath a giant Lego giraffe at Legoland. I was a bit disappointed that these photos were not also included...Oh, well. Luckily, Alex was on board with this idea, so I pulled these photos up and ordered them! Don't you love digital media!?!

This is when Alex and I really started to butt heads on this project...It was one thing for me to let him include wild dogs in his project, but completely another when he was not completely gung ho about my plans for the cover. Yes, it took a bit of meditation on my part, but I let him plan it out. The cover is all Alex...Yes, I provided some materials and some ideas, but he nixed a lot of my ideas (um....I wanted him to trim the pictures with decorative scissors and add borders to jazz them up) and he did all the gluing and decorating himself. He took some of my suggestions to heart understanding that, frankly, I do have a few tricks up my sleeves...Tracing a map of Africa and showing where giraffes live (Savanna...aka the Grasslands) and using recently trimmed ornamental grass from the yard to create the 'grasslands' around one of his pictures. All in all, I would say that our first project was a success!

The report was preparation for Alex's class Giraffe Play. It was great to see all the kids as they presented their projects and gave an oral report on their questions and their researched answers. We enjoyed hearing their giraffe jokes, songs and poems about giraffes (especially the rap), and loved how they hosted us with giraffe cookies and giraffe juice after their play.
We had a wonderful time!

The cover of Alex's Giraffe Project...

Alex's 'abridged' version of a book report...It's Kindergarten Style People!!!

The backside of Alex's project...

Alex with his project before turning it in to his teacher...

Getting ready to begin their Giraffe Play...

Alex getting ready to present his findings...

Showing off his work...

Showing his 'cool' side while posing after the 'Giraffe Rap!'

Lean Mean Scoring Machine

Well, soccer season is over officially tomorrow and I have not yet posted any pictures. It has been a rough Spring with regards to soccer games...Many cancellations and a soggy soccer field, which has resulted in many messy soccer games. Unfortunately, tomorrow proves not to be much better. Anyways, Alex still loves his soccer and continues to amaze us with his speed and determination to get the ball into the goal. He has had an amazing season, although messy, and has scored countless goals! He is always proud of himself and likes to keep track of all of his goals each game, but his favorite thing to share with people is to tell them that he loves how he hears his Papa yelling for him every time he scores a goal! "Papa is real loud and I hear him yelling...Go Alex, Go!"

Little Miss Goldilocks

Well, it is official! Julia has cut her own hair! This seems to be a right of passage for most toddler girls, but I was hoping that we could skip this one and move right onto something else. The funny thing is that she managed to trim this big chunk of hair with a pair of...wait for it...wait for it...fingernail scissors! Who knew the little balled in scissors could do so much damage?!? The good news is...as you can tell from the second picture...is that as long as I don't do a regular ponytail or pig tails, you can't really tell that she is missing a massive chunk of hair from the right side of her head! Yes, she will be sporting this side pony tail look for about the rest of the summer!

Introducing Duchess...In Honor of All the Mothers on Mother's Day

Well, Duchess won out...My vote was for Brunhilda, but how can you argue with the argument that we already have a 'Duke,' so why not a 'Duchess?' I'm sorry William and Kate...this one is not for you...it is merely a coincidence that we have now been blessed with a Duke and Duchess...the Duke and Duchess of Russian Sage, that is...

Duchess entered our lives early Friday morning. 'The Duke' was eager to look out the storm door on the unusually bright and sunny morning. When I opened the door, I noticed that my clematis had again fallen forward, hanging merely by a stem. It has clearly become too heavy for my trellis, but I am unsure as to how to switch the clematis from one trellis to another, so it will stay. I opened the storm door to adjust the trellis once again only to be spooked by a large bird flying up towards me then out to the yard. I immediately realized the situation as she lay by our tree pretending to be dead...I calmly told her not to worry and that I would not disturb her or her nest.

Yes, it is true...the Duchess of Russian Sage is expecting...expecting at least six little ones. We have been through this before. Not at our current home, but at our previous home. Unfortunately, it has never ended well for us (Feral Cats...Oh, how I despise you!) , so I have been keeping a close eye on the Duchess and her growing brood. I know that there is not much I can do and that I must let nature take its course, but, nonetheless, my maternal instinct has taken over and I feel a need to protect them. Unfortunately, for me, it simply just means checking on them through the window in the door multiple times a day.

In this short time span, I have quickly learned the patterns and maternal instincts of the Duchess. These realizations have occurred through careful observation, calls to wildlife bird officials, and, of course, the wonderful, worldwide web. The Duchess primarily only seems to sit on her nest overnight and in the early morning. She seems to like to 'camouflage' her nest with garbage. The Duchess is literally in search of 'decorations' to tuck into the mulch around her eggs. And, she carefully attends to the nest and switches positions every so often to make sure that each and every egg is getting proper coverage and warmth.

Our family has about another four weeks to hopefully witness a wonderful miracle. We'll continue to keep you posted on the progress of the Duchess and her growing family. Hopefully, all will end well and we'll soon see Duchess guiding her ducklings into the world!

Duchess' nest...Complete with her 'decorations!'

Duchess attending to her nest early this morning!