Monday, February 23, 2009

Wordplay with Mother Goose and a Thesaurus


We found ourselves getting pretty silly as we tried a suggestion of rephrasing Mother Goose rhymes. Here are 2 of them. Sound familiar?

Triple Unseeing Rodents, Triple Unseeing Rodents!
Observe their fast pace!
They all speedily chased the agriculturalist's spouse,
Who hacked off their long posterior appendages with a butcher's scalpel.
Did you ever witness such an event in all your born days as triple unseeing rodents?


Four-and-One Mini Metatarsals

This wee porcine critter traveled to the open-air grocer
This mini porcine critter remained in his abode.
This tiny porcine consumed butchered bovine,
This miniature porcine consumed zilch.
This runty porcine bawled Wah! Wah! the entire journey home.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Winter Highlights

Before we pick up speed into the busyness of Spring (only 30 days away!), I wanted to glance over a few winter doings, starting with...

The Science Factory in Lancaster which initially looked like a waste of money...until we REALLY looked!






With a plethora of very hands-on exhibits, this large, deceptively bland-looking building proved a treasure trove of enjoyment! FOUR hours later, Jake's and my hunger pangs forced Kylie that we "must needs go" already! Finally, she resigned to pull herself away until..."GASP! But Mom, I just saw an exhibit I didn't even notice until NOW!" Jake and I assisted her out the door.

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Moving along...we discover our scarf model showcasing her silliness as she sports a handmade fleece scarf, one of the few "fine" crafts we busied our hands with this season.
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Our Frey Christmas Crew transformed into a motley crew after a risky game of Musical Masquerades. In musical chairs style, a handweight (which discourages the tossing temptation) is passed around. Whoever is caught holding it when the music stops is given, by a small Frey, a brown grocery bag which is stapled shut to hide whatever gay apparel they will don! This year the Gayest Apparelled Award goes tooo........Amos Frey, sporting a pink cowgirl hat and beautiful butterfly wings! ( As you can see, Wayne got off too lucky and is content to sit behind his peacock blue masquerade mask.)
But, we can't leave this memory without recalling LAST year's winner....

Dear, dear Jerry, (here at his Pretty Pedro debut), who had to be wrestled to get those lips ruby red! (The trauma must have been long-lasting because he didn't celebrate with us this Christmas due to "work".)

How very convenient.

Hopefully, he remembers that he's among friendly Frey's......like Elfie here....


....and Kylie the Clown,

...and this charming odd couple....~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jake attended his first pro football game! He had a memorable time with Wayne, Tony, and his son Brandon and was very surprised at how much smaller the field looked compared to TV. Reportedly, nearby Steelers fans were quite entertaining, and he only got shouldered on his way out by a Raven ruffian. I'd say he made out pretty well, all possibilities considered!



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Gotta go where there's SNOW! We've been hoping to fall under the white magic spell of at least one B-I-I-I-G snow. Fortunately, we found our White Tail Mountain cabin amidst a beautiful 10 inches of it, complete with a thick ice layer in between! Woo-hoo!



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Back home again, we used the last of our Whitaker Science Center membership pass, which included a Manufacturing Exhibit and ended with an awesome 3-D IMAX presentation of a Grand Canyon adventure.
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Also got in some iceskating (and rollerskating at the Castle in Lancaster, but was having too much fun to shoot.)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kylie finally got another long-awaited surprise visit from Sandy who introduced her happy self to us last summer. She knows where to go for love when she feels lost. Unfortunately.
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Despite the solemn browns and grays of a relatively snowless winter, many mornings we're greeted with spectacular sunrises!
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March Plans
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Review history of St. Patrick

People to appreciate:
  • Missy (1st)
  • P. Gorog (8th)~Celebrating 38 years of faithful service to the Lord at the Mission
  • P. Joe (13th)
Field Trips and Outings:
  • Maple Sugaring
  • Visit Heirloom Weavers
  • Visit The Science Factory
  • Fly a kite at Sam Lewis Park
On the lOOk-out for:
  • Crocuses a-poppin'
  • Yellowing forsythia
  • Pussywillows to buy
Goodies to make:
  • Maple syrup
  • Irish soda bread
Crafts/Activities:
Around Home:
  • Clean birdfeeder
  • Dream up a garden (to actually make real this time!)
  • Start indoor seeds
  • Window boxes - pansies, and....
  • Gather Easter basket goodies (includes a trip to Weaver's)