{Fun Finds}

It's been a whirlwind of a week. (And oh, does that sunshine on my shoulders make me happy!) Spring is in full swing, and in our buzzing to and fro we found a few fun things along the way. Here's a peek at some of our finds:

1. I've been on the lookout for this one: The Wall Chart of World History. I found an older copy at Goodwill this week for a mere three bucks. Yee-haw. Because it's older, the description "from earliest times to the present" means that the "present" is the 1980s. But that's okay. There's a whole lot of history goin' on before that. I'm a very visual person, so it helps to see time spread out before me. We're currently studying the 16th century in school, which in my finite mind seems like ages and ages ago. But to see how close that century is to our own in comparison with, say, ancient Egypt, is fascinating. The kids think it's pretty cool, too.

2. Three books from the 50s. I'm partial to the fifties because that's the decade that welcomed my parents to this earth. I grabbed three books off the shelf at our local thrift shop today, thinking they would make for some interesting reading, and they just all happen to be from the early 50s. I thought that was kind of fun.

I was excited to find that Smoke on the Mountain was written by Joy Davidman, C.S. Lewis' wife. I'm eager to see what she has to say. The Faith of Mrs. Kelleen caught my eye when I recognized that the author also wrote Mrs. Mike, a book which I recently read and found to be quite charming. We shall see. Finally, Exploring Nature with Your Child looks like a perfectly wonderful spring time resource. I'm pretty sure we need to read the section on ducks tomorrow. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard

3. Speaking of ducks, we found some parents for our little ducklings. We very quickly found out that ducklings are Stinky and Messy, which wreaked havoc with Bethie's allergies. So it was off to the pond this morning. Last week we noticed a pair of mallards in the wetlands near the park, so I suggested that we try re-homing them over there. I was relieved to find the mallards right away. The tricky part was releasing the ducklings close enough to be noticed by the adults yet far enough away so that we wouldn't frighten them.

We also discovered that one must be Very Patient when working with nature. So the girls and I sat on a log forever this morning, just hoping and praying that those ducks would all find each other. We quickly lost sight of the ducklings, but we noticed that the mallards were pretty devoted to the area. So even though we didn't get to see a reunion, we're hoping that our little ducklings are getting the care that they need. It was pretty special to be a part of that care, even if it was only for a couple of days.

Doesn't she look like a good little mommy?