Skip to main content

Make Way for Ducklings


An old picture book we have, called Make Way for Ducklings, tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. They search and search for a place to build their nest. They finally agree on a place, lay their eggs, sit on the eggs and hatch a bunch of beautiful little Ducklings. 

The title of the book comes when Mr. Mallard leaves the family and plans to meet them in the public garden (one of the places that wasn't quite right for building their nest) in one week. Mrs. Mallard teaches the children many things, and by the end of the week they are ready. 

In order to get to the public garden, the trail of Ducklings following behind Mrs. Mallard have to cross two busy roads. A police officer (who remembered the ducks from before) stops traffic and allows them to cross safely. 

My kids adore this book. I like it too. 

As we stretched our legs after a little drive to Rexburg yesterday, I told my little "ducklings" to get in line and follow me. 

We walked around the old Tabernacle, and looked at the flowers. My "ducklings" we're kind of wild and goofy. But I didn't mind since they'd been stuck in the car for a while (the drive there, and while I went into Walmart. We told them that kids aren't allowed in stores right now...) 

Brant ordered Taco Bell at the drive thru nearby, and we all enjoyed a little picnic in the wind. 

It was so needed- a little get away out of the house! I was feeling buried in the same old routine of quarantine. School. Clean. Cook. Eat. Play outside. Check my email, or texts, again. 

I do recognize that it's really not much different from the same old routine of being a stay at home mom... But when you don't even have the option of going to story time!? 

I fully planned to buy two kitchen chairs ($7 for both on marketplace), and a new booster seat for Anna to break my boredom. 

And I did. But we also ended up buying a new van. 

It's a beastly thing. Seats 12. AWD. 349,000 miles! I know. I know. 

WHY would we buy a van with that many miles? Because anything with mega-seating and AWD (or 4WD) is astronomically expensive! And we figured even if we have to replace the engine-which we likely will need to, sometime- it's still a more budget friendly option than going into debt to avoid having a kid in the front seat with us. 

In the meantime, it seems to have cured our doldrums. Everyone woke up cheerful and vibrant this morning, despite not getting home until after 11:00 last night! 


Comments

  1. MaryMay 1, 2020 at 1:17 PM

    I remember buying a 12 passenger van. The kids loved sitting in the back, singing, We're on a Bumpy Road!
    It helped a lot when we moved to Umatilla. Enjoy those cute Ducklings. Taco Time isn't here and I miss it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina CrowtherMay 1, 2020 at 1:29 PM

      I didn't know you guys drove one? Brant didn't tell me that. Maybe he doesn't remember it...

      Delete
  2. NaDellMay 1, 2020 at 6:49 PM

    If that beast has seen nearly 350,000 miles, it should have some get-up-and-go left!
    Looks nice.
    I like your little row of ducklings!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I forgot

Somehow I forgot I made this blog... can you believe it? I guess I got busy with my schooling, and life. I stopped posting on my extra instagram account that kind of went with this blog, because it's too hard to keep up appearances and stay involved in social media when one of my main goals is to not be on my phone or social media as much. Ha!  But, I thought I'd written some stuff throughout the pandemic, and when I went looking for that stuff on my other blog I couldn't find it. Enter this blog! So weird that I forgot about it. I guess it was my therapy during Covid! haha. Fall of 2020 I started going "full time" with my master's program, which was 6 credits instead of the usual 3 I'd been doing. It was much more busy, but so good.  And I'm done! I graduated in July! I have a Master's degree in Child and Family Studies! So cool. And yet... here I am. Being mom. I'm not complaining- I mean this IS what I want to do. But, somehow I guess I didn...
1 comment
Read more

REALLY. Hard. stuff.

I'm sitting by Reagan's crib, holding her hand as she falls asleep. It's nearly 10:00 pm, but she had a late nap. And she climbs out of her crib, so I'm opting for this solution tonight.  I hate pigs. I already did, but I do even more after tonight.  The county fair starts this weekend, and they needed to have a vet bill of health before they could enter the fairgrounds. (Christopher and Derek are raising 4-H hogs). So, they needed loaded into a trailer to go visit the vet for a few minutes.  I went out to take pictures. They'd already been trying for a while, and I'd fed the little kids and hid inside as long as I dared.  I didn't get a single picture and ended up jumping in to help.  These pigs are big. And stinky. And gross. AND dumb.  It took FOREVER to get them in- plus help from friends who already had their pigs in a trailer. (I kid you not, after two hours of squealing, fighting and snarling George literally walked up the ramp, into thei...
7 comments
Read more

Maintaining intimacy in marriage (after kids)

This is the big presentation I've been working on for my intimate relationships course. It focuses on emotional intimacy, and I share a lot of cool research and advice. Watch the vide if you'd like! Also, I typed up my Top Five tips separately, so here you go! 1.      1.  Communicate! Take a course on communication if you want. Read a book if you want- but it will make a great deal of difference if you know how to successfully communicate with your spouse. Talk about everything! Small topics such as new trends, social media, homework, housework, chores, and the news. Big topics such as finances, feelings, plans and hopes. Talk about your day at work, his day at work and the kids’ days at work. Don’t wait until you have alone time to talk- kids need to see you talking too! Talk at dinner, talk through text or email, talk at bedtime. This is an important one if the physical side of your intimacy is suffering as well- talk about your desires, fears and worries when i...
2 comments
Read more

I don't know your story

I started this morning on Instagram sharing my feelings about this meme which I've seen shared quite a lot on Facebook lately.  My insights consisted of blaming moms for saying yes too much. For signing our kids up. For not asking for help. My line of thinking was that if we're drowning, why don't we just get out of the pool? (I didn't use that analogy actually, but now that I type it I realize how silly it sounds!)  I stand by that, for some moms.  But I was pleasantly proved wrong by a few friends who were willing to share their own experience and point of view.  One friend sent me a message about how it's usually the emotional aspects of motherhood that really ware us down and make us tired. And those are usually things we can't just say no to, or ask for help with.  Another friend commented and told her story about being the mom of a boy with disabilities (the cutest little guy!). Her words were powerful.  She wrote about how tiring it can b...
1 comment
Read more

Raising independent kids

This is a picture of my daughter Anna, age 3, barefoot. She and my older daughter (7- also barefoot) and I walked around the lake yesterday. There were some REALLY tough spots. I'm talking trees to climb over; slippery slopes, etc.  It was an exercise in building resilience and confidence. Each time we faced a fork in the trail, I let them choose which way we should go. Each time we passed an obstacle I raved about how hard that was, and "we totally did it!"  I gave them the choice to turn around and go back the easy way. Almost to the end, Anna caught a ride across the lake on a kayak with big brother. Rebekah and I made it the whole way!  I hope they remember how empowered they felt. I hope they recognize and internalize that they can do hard things. I hope they see me as a cheerleader and coach.  I was talking with my friend at the lake yeah, while the kids were off kayaking, fishing and enjoying themselves. She mentioned how they were so independent....
1 comment
Read more

Expectations vs. reality: Let it go

You know how sometimes you have a perfect vision of how something is going to work out? And then it doesn't end up looking exactly what you pictured? If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about.  Dieter Uchtdorf referenced this in a talk  in 2018- he said, "There is a word in German, Weltschmerz. Loosely defined, it means a sadness that comes from brooding about how the world is inferior to how we think it ought to be."  Ever since I heard it, I've been obsessed with this concept- and how to stop it in my own life!  Before I go on, let me clarify- I am all for holding high expectations for yourself, your kids, your family and your life! I believe that the more we expect, the more we (and our kids) can rise to the occasion. When I talk about "expectations" here, I am referring more to our picture of what we thought things might be. You know- that picture of perfect children with clean matching clothes, perfect hair and a clean house- before you had ...
1 comment
Read more