Day #12 - dog walking & friends, birds & fairs, soup & a good book

Today, other than doing some laundry and running a few errands out, we had lots of fun.

Jaymi threaded Cheerios onto a pipe cleaner, bent it like a hook at the top, and hung it on a branch outside, for the birds to eat.

We played pretend fair (one of her favourite made-up games), and pretend newborn bird.
Here is how the bird game goes:
Say, "Close your eyes. Curl up very small; as small as you can. Lie on your side. Think how dark it is inside your egg. Yes, you're in an egg! You're tiny and curled up and quiet. It's very dark. Very warm. But now, try to wiggle a little--just a little! Remember, your eggshell is all around you. You can wiggle your wingtips a bit, and maybe your toes. You can shake your head just a little. Hey! Your beak is touching the eggshell. Tap the shell gently with your beak. Hear that? Yes, that's you making that noise. Keep tapping. A little harder. Something is happening. The shell has cracked--oh, close your eyes. It's bright out there. Now you can wiggle a little more. The shell is falling away. You can stretch out, stretch to be as long as you can make yourself. Stretch your feet. Stretch your wings. Doesn't it feel good, after being in that little egg? Stretch!! You're brand new--can your stand up, slowly? Can you see the other new baby birds?"

 Jaymi learned how to draw a bird, so she decided to draw a bunch of pictures of various kinds of birds.  The ideas were hers.  I just asked her to draw a picture of a bird, or colour one, and she decided to draw all of these pictures.

According to her, the first one is a robin, the next set is a tufted titmouse, a flying v of Canada geese, and a flock of bluejays, and the third set is an owl, a parrot in a cage, and an ostrich.

We went to our store for lunch, and to visit Mark.

We visited a friend for the afternoon, and got the chance to see her new (10-week-old) puppy for the first time.  Jaymi played with the kids, I had a chat and a coffee with the mom, and we all got to walk and visit with the puppy, Lucy.

I made Italian Wedding Soup for dinner.  It's a fantastic recipe from "Clean Eating for Men" - a book that we got for Mark for his birthday.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey breast

2 eggs, beaten

¾ cut oat bran

3 tbsp grated parmesan

2 tbsp fresh basil

3 tbsp minced onion

8 cups chicken stock

2 cups spinach, rinsed, packed and thinly chopped

¾ cup diced carrots

Directions:

In medium bowl, combine turkey, eggs, oat bran, 2 tbsp parmesan, basil and onion.  Shape into balls and set aside.

In large pot, heat chicken broth to boiling.  Stir in spinach, carrots and meatballs.  Return to boil; reduce heat to medium.  Cook, stirring frequently, at a slow boil for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with the rest of the Parmesan sprinkled on top.

And we ended the night with some reading of "The Trumpet of the Swan".  Jaymi picked this book from the used bookstore the other day, wanting to read it because it was about birds (relating to our bird study).  It's a pretty thick book, and I have been impressed that once we started to read it together, she took it and continued to read it on her own.  She has it in her room tonight, and has probably read it before going to sleep.