Ornery Hedgehog

Reflection, right before Henry tried to make a run for it. 15wks/13.2oz

Fun Photo Find

Tomorrow is Claire’s last day of school! The teacher sent a link to fun photos from the school year, and look what we found! In this photo, Henry was *almost* 8-weeks old.  This was from April 5th.

Aww…time flies when you’re a baby hedgehog.

 

Despite Evidence to the Contrary, They Don’t…

Claire: “What’s that beeping noise?”

Me: “That’s a special tone that lets blind people know when the lights have changed.”

Claire: “I didn’t know they let blind people drive. That explains A LOT.”

Bumper Crop

If only we were trying to grow dandelions…

…this is just from the front yard! The lawn supervisor hasn’t had a chance to mow yet.  We’ve bought him a little more time…

But it’s still light out…

“It’s still light out; it’s not time to wake up,” says Lord Henry. “It’s still light out; it’s not time to go to sleep,” says Claire. 

Luckily, I can just put him back in the cage, and Claire’s such a good girl that I didn’t get too much huffing from her either… *sigh*

Summer is almost here.
Soon the bedtimes will be more fluid.
Soon we’ll be free.

What kind of wine would you pair with a hedgehog burrito?

This one is very spicy! …or spiky.

Cheers!

Gives a whole new meaning to “Bottoms up!”

**No hedgehog was harmed in these photo shoots. Lord Henry Quillington Rasmussen was, however, slightly confused, mildly amused, but not at all shocked at our ridiculous behavior.

Paint like an Egyptian

Yes, Claire had overlapping projects at school!  (Nothing like First Grade getting her ready for College…again.)

She had fun with this project, too!  (I had fun because I may or may not have manipulated her into NOT choosing to build a pyramid out of sugar cubes. *cough* This project really was pretty hands-off for me!)

Her goal was to translate a “short phrase” into hieroglyphics and paint it onto a poster.

I found a Hieroglyphics Translator online (because of course I did).  She sat at my computer putting in the phonetic letters for her chosen phrase. (Because despite the vowels and ‘ph’ in ‘hieroglyphics,’ they supposedly used phonics, rather than lots of vowels and consonant combos. Yes, we believe everything we read online.)

We printed out the translated version and she drew each character onto a small square of paper.

She then used the magic of our deck door to trace her own work onto the paper.

Then she used a sharpie to darken the image, just like they would have done in Ancient Egypt. (Right?)

Paint was applied by the master.

Voila! (Minus the bulletin board. That was our handy-dandy work surface for this particular project.)

“This writing is art by Claire” is the phrase she translated and also the description.

That’s my girl. ;)

Science Fair Project: Paper Chromatography

Longtime readers of The Casual Perfectionist may recognize Claire’s topic!  We’ve been dabbling in Paper Chromatography for years. She thought of some ways to adapt it into an experiment for her very first Science Fair, and here is the result!

Yes, she did the work herself. Yes, I was allowed to offer “minimal parental involvement,” which I did. Gladly. I love this stuff, too!

She presented to the judges today and was so happy to bring home a ribbon and certificate.  She had SO much FUN!

We are so proud of her!

In true Claire-style, she’s already gathering ideas for next year.

Hedgehog Update In Photos

Henry was so comfy like this he fell asleep! Also? Whiskers!

Henry LOVES his cat food. He’s a loud eater! “CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!” We’ve tried feeding him “treats,” but so far he has totally disregarded: cheese, melon, red pepper, cilantro, and lettuce. Cat food it is!

Henry was very excited to see that TIME magazine has an article about how awesome hedgehogs are! (See page 48 if you have one at home.) “Hedgehogs and happiness?” Direct correlation.

On Saturday, Henry was 10 weeks old and weighed in at 9.2 ounces! (I love his spikey shadow!!)

Look how stinkin’ CUTE he is. I mean, seriously. How can I stop taking photos of him?

Bedtime is storytime around here…for Claire AND Henry.

A Yarn Patch for Holey Jeans

Claire’s school has a pretty strict dress code. She is not allowed to wear pants that have rips or tears in them, and if she does, the office keeps a roll of duct tape to cover the situation.

Imagine her dismay when her favorite pair of jeans developed a hole in the knee!

Oh no!

So, I decided to be creative with the patch. (No, I don’t recognize myself.) I thought I’d weave some yarn over the hole. Claire picked out the yarn, which we had on hand, and I got to work.

I snipped holes around the tear…

…and using those holes, I framed it with yarn.

I added cross pieces and started weaving.

Voila! A pretty yarn patch!

I tied it off on the inside.

And just like that, her favorite jeans live to see another (school) day!