Daddy Love, Chickens, and Other Random Stuff

Valentine's Day Dinner

When Danika and Brooke were little they used to yell "Daddy!" and run to the front door as soon as they heard him turn the key in the lock when he got home from work. They would hang on his legs (one on each) and he would drag them over to the kitchen and give them hugs. Sometimes they would hang on his biceps and he would try to lift them up. It was so cute! Now they've outgrown that, and we're lucky to get a mono-syllabic grunt from them when we walk in.

After they grew too old to display such unbridled affection for a parent, Megan took over the "Daddy's home!" routine. But at ten years old, even she doesn't run to greet her old dad anymore. Thank goodness for Trixie! Every time one of us walks in, she greets us with a "hello" howl and nearly shakes out of her skin with her tail wagging. It's nice to still have someone be glad to see us.

However, Megan still loves us and isn't ashamed to show it--especially Mike. They are buddies through and through. Since February is the month we celebrate love, I wanted to post some pictures of things they shared this month.

Nap time

Megan likes to give her dad "piano lessons." He willingly submits :)

Mike and Megan went to a Daddy-Daughter dance hosted by the city with the Oylers and Fuhrimans.

Other happenings this month included Megan's History Fair project--which she did NOT enjoy. It was like pulling teeth. She just kept saying "I don't like history." I pretty much had to do most of it, although once we got to the point of putting it all on the board she finally got excited about it! Ha! She wouldn't pick a topic, which was supposed to be something to do with the theme "Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences." How does a 5th grader relate to a theme like that? It was interesting to see what they came up with (I was one of the judges at the Fair). I suggested Megan do Susan B. Anthony, and how she voted illegally and was arrested, and fought her whole life for women's suffrage. I think she learned a couple of things, and was surprised that women couldn't vote in this country until 1920.

Doesn't she look excited?

On a totally separate topic, I finished painting the baseboards upstairs--hooray!

It was a happy day for me when I got to pull off the last of the blue tape--I'm so sick of seeing that tape everywhere!

And on a final note, we had a random experience with a neighbor's chicken. Meet Phyllis Diller. She was in our yard one afternoon and wouldn't leave. Trixie was going berserk. It was getting dark and she was bedded down on our porch. I called around to see who she belonged to. Turns out it was our back neighbor's "pride and joy." I really didn't want to wake up to a frozen chicken, so I wrapped her in a towel and had Danika drive me around the block so I could return her. Turns out she has a sister named "Dyllis Philler." Now those people have a sense of humor.
Incidentally, a few days later we cracked this egg into the pan for breakfast one morning. I don't know what's going on, but we are having some weird chicken karma lately.