Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Spring Hatch-lings 2011

I love House Finches,
they are fun to watch and they make really pretty music.

This was my first nest this spring
If you look closely you will see all four babies.
This little girl was the last to leave the nest.
She spent a whole day longer than her nest mates
testing her wings.
While Mama and Daddy perched close by watching.
Before I had time to clean up the old nest, on the right,
the next family was moving in right next door, on the left.
What a nice and neat nest she made....
Until the wind blew it down....several times.
So this landlord got busy. A little double face tape....
Nest secure!
No more problems with the wind blowing it down.

Two days ago there were 2 eggs.


 Today there were 4. 
It was dark and I couldn't see the eggs on the screen when I was filming
                                                                           
That third little nest that was in the making...
and kept blowing down,
I picked it up,
and taped it down as well!
I wonder how many eggs this nest will hold?

It's a Sad Day

The day has finally come.
My pumpkin from this past fall has been introduced to the green bin.
Clearly, you can see why.
This year we made it 8 months....sigh.
I wonder if a watermelon would last as long,
I'm thinkin not....

Monday, May 23, 2011

Kelsea's Kindergarten Celebration

Where does the time go?
I find it so hard to believe these kids grow up so fast!
Kelsea holding Camden just before we left for her celebration.





Last Friday was Kelsea's Kindergarten Celebration. 
The kids put on a little show with songs for the parents and friends that came. 
Really cute. 


This is how you keep twins quiet during the performance.
This is how Alison kept herself busy,
taking care of her baby.
Ready to sing?
She is such a cutie pie!
Kelsea and Alison smiling so pretty.
Silly girls!

Kelsea's last day in kinder is tomorrow!
Let the summer fun begin!

Tiny Dancers

Yes, it's that time of year again. 
DANCE RECITAL TIME!
This year, again, Miss Tricia out did herself. 
Kelsea and Mackenzi with their flowers
Kelsea being silly
The girls in their first number
This is Mackenzi's second year in dance,
 and Kelsea's third year.
Alison did a great job dancing.
This is her first year.

(Alison is Kelsea's cousin, she is on the right)
This dancing is serious business!
But lots of fun too.
Way to go Ali Lu!






  The costumes were fantastic! 
All the kids did a fabulous job!

I wish I had taken pictures of the twins dancing in the aisles to 
Jail House Rock
THEY.WERE. AWESOME!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day 2011

Today is Mother's Day.  
Another Mother's Day 
spent without my mom. 
This makes 5 of them. 
I took flowers to her grave, 
SHE
remembered only 
by me.
Grandma got flowers too.  I even laid a couple of stems in between Mom and Grandma, for Auntie Rita.

I know just how hard that year of "firsts" has been for my cousins, 
my heart breaks for them.

My friend Margaret, 
that misses her Mama so terribly too, 
my heart breaks.

My friend Kathy
a "first" 
for her too.
So I took her Mom flowers today as well.

I have a little story to tell.

We have a long time friend living with us, these being his final days.
Tom and I were on our way to City of Hope for a procedure last Wednesday. I think he was apprehensive, he was feeling nauseous on the drive up. I thought I would try to distract him by telling him about a what happened on my way to pick up his prescription the previous day. 
I was sitting at the corner signal waiting for the left arrow to turn green. As I was waiting I watched a lady get off of the bus. She turned and started walking away. Suddenly I saw her stop in her tracks, quickly look in her bag, turn and start yelling at the bus to stop. She even went so far as to try to get the bus drivers attention by pounding her hand on the side of the bus. She. was. panicked. The bus continued on it's way without stopping. She turned and started running towards the market. She was about my age. As I watched this all I kept saying to myself  is oh no...oh no. Clearly she was worried about what she left on the bus. My light changed and I went to the nearest turn lane to try to catch her. Success! I pulled up to her in the parking lot and explained that I had seen what happened and how the bus didn't stop for her. I asked her if I could drive her to catch the bus to get her left behind belongings. She didn't even skip a beat as she climbed into the car. I drove past the bus and we waited at the next stop so she could get back on for  her bag. We caught that bus about 6 stops down the road, past her stop. 

She was very thankful for the ride to the bus. I told her I would take her back to her bus stop, or I could just drive her closer to her home.We exchanged names and Jodie thanked me. She said "I'm happy to see there are still good people in this world". She also told me she shouldn't have been running. She had recently broken her shoulder....running!

 I dropped Jodie off at the market and went on my way. I had a prescription to pick up!
 I find it so heart warming to be able to recognize when a fellow human being is in need, and by simply taking a small detour to help, how good you can feel. 

When I finished telling Tom this story we were almost at his Dr's appointment. I had distracted him by telling the story. He patted my shoulder and said "You can't save the world, but...you are just like your mom, you are going to try". 

So, on this Mother's Day, I am going to take that as a compliment. I will also hope that my children will learn by what they have seen THEIR mom do....
and that one day, 
when they are missing me, 
someone will tell them.....
you are JUST like your mom!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Happy Birthday!

Yep, we have a birthday today...in fact two.
Happy birthday to my handsome stepson Ryan!
It's also my furchilds birthday!
Daisy is 10 years old today.
She is checking out her surprise.
I think she likes it!
What a chow HOUND...ha!
A whipped cream cake just for her....
Getting the last bit off of the phony cuppycake.

Lip smackin good!
Happy birthday to my little, big girl!