Lazy Birds

Yes, I'm obsessed with the birds.

They are amazing. Getting fluffier looking, but still not giving me knowing glances and fluttering about, playfully pecking at each other.

I guess it's too soon.


However, my friend Kelly, had to one-up my suburban wildlife haven with this. I mean, REALLY. :)

Unbelievable.

In non-bird related news, today we broke in the neighborhood pool with 5 hours of swimming. And when I dared to suggest it was time to leave {it was 6 p.m. after all}, there were looks of disbelief as if I just advised them to gouge out their own eyeballs with spoons.

I'm tempted to begin a swim-a-thon at 7 a.m. and see how long Jackson and Lilly will swim before they volunteer to leave the pool.

Sleeping bags required.

Lastly, I'm on the road to meeting one of my summer food goals.

Perfected the smoky blue cheese burger tonight. OH SWEET HEAVENS.

We topped it with caramelized mushrooms and onions.

And then our mouths partied.

Weekend

What an awesome weekend. Go Mavs!

We cheered our hearts out. First TCU won the Rose Bowl, then the Mavs rocked the NBA.

Happiness:)

Jackson paced around, analyzed stats, tackled me when they won with tears in his eyes, then begged to stay up for the post-game interviews. I'm raising myself.

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On the bird front, I'm a little worried. I'd like to see more interaction from the parents. The big Furball of Four is clearly breathing, but I thought I'd see worms flying in there a little more often.

My enabling side wants to set a big bucket of them on the porch.

Then I got wrapped up in watching the bird-watcher instead of the birds.

One of them has a cute little beak. I don't know about that gross-ish thing in the middle.

Lilly kept breathing all over them, but being that we aren't country-folk, nor are we tree-owners, nor animal lovers...she may never get this chance again.



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We finally watched The King's Speech. Loved it. Loved tons of things about it.

The only confusing part was that so many of the actors were from the Harry Potter movies. I kept waiting for spells to break out. And I kept wanting to call his wife "Bellatrix."

I loved the speech teacher. Colin Firth was unbelievable. I hope he won an Oscar.

When Jackson saw Dumbledore, aka King George dying, he mentioned that he does a lot of death scenes. True. He's like The Official Old Actor when we need a good Brit.

The kids didn't watch the movie with us, but all of the stars aligned and I watched the last hour and 45 minutes in the afternoon while they were outside playing.

I LOVE afternoon movies.

It feels like a guilty pleasure. I COULD/SHOULD be doing so many other things.

Didn't even fold laundry while I watched. Rebel.

I watched the credits the night before, then I was out. Stone cold. Starting movies at 10 p.m. is for the young and Brad.

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Our church had Service Sunday this week...we go into the community to "be" the church for those in need.

This time, our project involved rehabbing a house that four disabled guys share. It was a great house, but definitely needed some care on the outside.

Our team removed a ton of tree limbs, cleaned out a shed, and painted the porch.

All the kids worked sooo hard. I wasn't even really paying attention, but no one even took a break to sit around or play or disappear for extended amounts of time.

{There was a Girl Scout Cookie intermission. Adults included.}


A friend commented on how diligently they all worked. And I realized that in probably three or four years of doing Service Sunday, this was the first time the kids worked longer than 15 minutes without being prodded with a stick and complaining the whole way through.

Most days, there isn't any visible progress in parenting. But God gave me grace to see it today.

{Not that it was my parenting. They're just growing up. Pros and cons...}


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I also booked a LOT of plane tickets this weekend.

Frontier is nuts right now. It was cheaper to buy three tickets to sit in a chair in the sky than to drive the Burb to Dallas.

And I calculated that at $3.60/gallon. No way it will be that cheap. I feel like a champ.

We are road trip warriors with unparalleled bladder control.

But I will give it up.

I don't mind driving, but I hate that it counts toward vacation time. I just got 6 days of my summer back. That is a WEEK I would've spent in the car.

And our school's summer vacay is short. SHORT.

Always worth it to hang with family, but I would love to think I could be doing something better than sitting and sitting and sitting.

I might replace it with sitting by the pool.

Totally different.

Supastar!

Have you ever wondered what it's like to live with Mary Katherine Gallagher??

I don't.

{She borrowed the camera.}

High jumps on the tramp make her face break out in crazy squiggles.


She works on stunts and mid-air poses. And makes her friends watch. And makes her mom take pictures.

Last night she went to a sleepover. Backpack bulging, I asked Lilly what she packed.

After listing ten items, there was no mention of a) clothes, b) toothbrush, or c) sleeping bag.

But I bet they had fun.


Maybe an SNL career in her future. Here's to sight gags.

Bird update: They're driving me nuts since they only want to lay there in a big fur ball. I want them to move around and show some beak. Not happening. I'll post pics soon.

My 18 year-old Self Is Groaning

Yet again, our official Summer Fun List:


I'll save you 3 months of suspense and wondering (will they! won't they?) on one item:

Not happening.

We're spending an obscene amount of time caring for birds that will break our hearts in a few weeks and there are endlessly multiplying toads under the tramp. So, NO.

Do you know what I just noticed?

There's a BIRD in the logo of my very own blog.

How about that?!

A blog lies dormant for nearly a year, is recently resurrected with shady writing and no storyline whatsoever, but the masthead already coordinates with 40% of the blog topics.

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile.

It appears that blind squirrel is me.

Ok, so let's get this out of the way:

Another little birdling hatched and she's resting her tired little beak on that last little egg.

{If you object to my overuse of the word "little," you are cold and heartless. Peanut M&M's, people. Peanut M&M's.}


We couldn't leave our post--there was just too much action.

And by post, I mean fancy ladder + iPhone.

That cord wandering through the photo belongs to the spotlight used to highlight our Christmas wreath. Seeing as we're almost halfway back 'round the horn to December, it's staying.

Bird-watching continued later this afternoon.

Any conflict about nest disruption coupled with internal angst in wanting to check on the babes was absolved when the FedEx guy rang the doorbell and the parents flew away.

Furry volume and body had dramatic increases since morning without the aid of any BedHead products.

And did you catch those leetle holes in Mr. Last to the Party?

I've officially spent as much time analyzing pictures of baby birds as I have of my own kids.

But this is pretty amazing.


Yes, I am videoing birds.

Due Date

In what can only be described as the most read bird-watching blog on the planet, here is tonight's update:


I KNOW!!!

They are only a few hours old. I got to see their little beaks peeking up, but my stellar photography didn't catch it.

Should've videoed, but I was too excited and running in and out of the house and trying to be quick because I was afraid the babies would get cold without their mom and freaking out because I am now a grandmother.

After all the gentle door-slamming and tripping and sweating, I resumed my secretive hideout spot inside my own house.


The mom and dad really don't want me around. Whatev.

After I show up, they usually stand around on the perch and make sure the large human is fah-fah away.

This is the dad, looking especially blue and fierce guarding the twins and pre-birds.

After the coast was clear, he dive bombed approximately 3 inches to his nest. Then I wasted an hour staring at nothing and hoping some excitement would ensue.


I was sitting at a red light this afternoon and saw my future license plate in front of me:


I'll be working on some sneaky bird-watching techniques tonight.

Bird nerds unite!

Just Call me Snow White

After some intense googling, Jackson found out that our little bird egglings living in my petunias are Western Bluebirds.

{That should've seemed obvious, but I promise, the parents aren't blue.}

These poor eggs are probably motion sick since I'm lifting my hanging baskets up and down to show them off to everyone who comes within shouting distance of our porch.

Don't worry, I'll get a ladder once they hatch.

Pictures don't really do these little guys justice, though...they are much smaller in real life than my photog skillz reveal.

For your viewing pleasure, a size comparison photo essay:

#1 Reese's Pieces

Slightly larger than my favorite peanut buttery candy.

#2 Hershey's Dark Chocolate Bliss


Who knew that a square of dark chocolate wonder could dwarf western bluebird eggs?

Not me.

#3 Peanut M&M's



I can't help but notice that my favorite(ish) kind of candy is the exact size of those eggs. So, yes, they are SMALL. Might want to grab a 4 peanut m&ms and eat them to empathize with pregnant birds and understand their feelings.

{Let me know how that goes.}

They are supposed to hatch after 11-13 days, but I'm not really sure when they were laid, so I'll keep checking with my high-tech camera equipment and report back "immediately."


I think my blue robe and cheerful whistling and letting squirrels help me sweep the forest cottage have made the flowers extra-bright this year.

In another news, I actually took a ride on a dolphin this past weekend. {for real!}

On the plus side, I can say I've swam with the dolphins.

On the down side, there was a lot less jumping in and out of the water than I imagined.

p.s. the instagram wash I used on the top 3 is "earlybird." how perfect is that?

Got My First Real Six String

Third and first grade are in the books. They passed.

I wanted to get a ceremonial scootering-off-into-the-sunrise photo, but they were gone.

At the Luau {I'm sure it's obvious a Hawaiian Festival was taking place by Lilly's thematic outfit}, someone was ready for pictures again.

Newsflash: We are not going to the Olympics in hula-hooping.

Jackson rocked the Writer's Cafe with some lovely poetry about the NBA Finals.

Actually, I was impressed by the rhyming and he even threw a golf joke in there.

It was sad to say good-bye to his sweet teacher. We've loved her. And the woman is going to have a baby next month, in case you can't tell by the tiny garden pea that is her belly.

But Lilly's teacher is where I really got emotional. Both kids have had Mrs. A and I kind of feel like she's part of our extended family and now we have to break up.

Mrs. A said Jackson still comes to her room for hugs. Yes, that is my boy. And I guess he already invited her to his high school graduation party.


Standing outside the school when the final bell rang, I watched kid after kid {actually girl after girl} stream out of the halls red-eyed and crying.

I really love our school. The teacher, the staff, all of it. We are blessed beyond words.


When we moved in 4 years ago, we didn't know there was going to be an elementary school within eyesight. Can you believe that? And now, they come and go, growing up each day.

I still can't speak the grades for next year.

Do they look taller? Smarter? In need of greater dental work than I ever dreamed?

Yes. And the dental work could be its own post.

But I won't do that to anyone...especially myself.

{Sidenote: at least I wasn't blogging during Lilly's broken ankle this spring. I missed large chunks of the doctor's detailed bone analysis because my head was between my knees recovering from a slight case of BLACKING OUT the minute the x-ray hit the screen.}

Here they were last August. Full of youth. Full of hopes and dreams. Full of teeth.


I love that they're growing up. Love it. But I want to bottle them at every single age...except 18 months, which I'd like to burn up with great flames and then throw into the sea.

And then burn the sea.


Cue: trampoline (there's a new nanny in town), ice cream, sun and the pool. Bring it.