LIFE'S A MUSICAL AND OTHER MUSINGS

We've been to a couple of musical theater productions in the past few months, and we've rented some musicals to view at home over the past several months--The Sound of Music, Cats, West Side Story, Camelot--that compliment some we have at home, including Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Moulin Rouge (bits and pieces). Emily now spontaneously bursts into song wherever she goes. It's amazing to watch how she incorporates the lyrics and choreography into the things she's doing, like raking leaves with me or playing with one of her dolls. It's a wonderful reminder that even the most mundane parts of life are worth singing about!

The other evening I was in my room putting on a DVD, and Em walked in and told me,

"I know there are 60 minutes in an hour. Because if a half hour is 30 minutes, then 30 plus 30 is 60! I knew that because 3 plus 3 is 6."

She figured out time for herself by extrapolating what she already knew and using her understanding of fractions and math. Pretty cool!

This weekend we've been participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count through Cornell Ornnithology Labs. It's such fun--I do love my birds! We were able to count the following birds during our observation hours:

Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Downy Woodpecker
Red Bellied Woodpecker
House Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Tufted Titmouse
Dark-eyed Junco
Blue Jay

and near the feeders:

Robin
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Turkey Vulture

Unfortunately, we didn't see some of the other species that occasionally visit our feeders such as the Northern Flicker, Eastern Bluebird, Mourning Dove and European Starling. We submitted our checklists for three of the four days and plan to participate in Project Feeder Watch throughout the year as soon as we receive our kit.