The Bird Whisperer

We went to the Magnolia Bird Farm  on a field trip this week.  This is the second time we have gone on this field trip and the kids really love it. 

Amelia and her friend "little Paige" enjoyed playing in the birds dirt.

Levi got this bird to dance by dancing with him.  He loves birds and they love him.  That is why we call him the bird whisperer:)

Still playing in the sandy dirt.

Then the little girls discovered all the cool bird toys that made fun sounds.

Levi held this bird for a long time.  The lady at the store told us he didn't like red.  Garrett decided to chance it.

After the bird pecked at him Garrett decided to give him a little space.

Risking it again.  Look at the bird check him out.  I think he tried to bite Garrett and he finally stayed away:)

This is one of Paige's favorite places.  She was outside in the aviary which is really loud.  It surprised me she likes it so much in there but this seems to be one place where she doesn't have problems self adjusting for the noise.


The kids start spring break tomorrow for two weeks and I am ready.  My house needs a good cleaning and the laundry really needs to be caught up.  I told the kids that there would be no fun outings until the house was organized and clean.  Hopefully that will motivate them to get there chores done and we can spend most of the time off just enjoying each others company.  I can't believe how fast Spring has arrived.  One of the things the kids want to do while we are off is plant a garden.  Fresh tomato's....yum, yum, there is nothing better:)

What's Been Going On?

Every time I have sat down to write something lately a child has interrupted me and only a half formed thought was born.  So, here is my lazy update post for those of you who are just dying to know what has been going on around here.  If there are any such people:)

I took the kids whale watching.  Paige loves whale watching, Levi was terrified.  After a while he was O.K., but he wasn't to sure about that boat.  I would have totally guessed it would have been the other way around.  Funny how our kids always seem to surprise us.

We have four drivers and three cars.  I keep going out to get into my car and it is gone.  I am on the hunt for a cheap fourth vehicle.  I am also thinking of trading in our Suburban for a 12 passenger van.  I found a red one with only 50,000 miles on it.  I'm going to see if I can get two cars for the price of one:)  Wish me luck!

Baseball is in full swing so we are knee deep in practices and games.  I love this time of year but it is exhausting.  Hence, the no blog posts since baseball began.

I went and had a mammogram today.  The technician used to work for the army doing water boarding on terrorists.  She was one rough chick:(  My boobs still hurt!

I just bought these new dishes for our kitchen.  After many years of mismatched pieces I decided to splurge.  The kids are all excited because I told them tomorrow they could throw the old mismatched dishes into the trash, as hard as they could, to break them.  Believe me, no one would want them.  I can't believe how excited they are at the prospect of getting to do this.  Kids are pretty easy to please:)

We are having a 16th Birthday party for Samantha on Friday, April 13th.  I really need to get to planning that.  The invites have been sent and that's about it.

The week after the birthday party we are having a home school barn dance that I am planning with another mom.  You know friends, I just felt I didn't have enough to do.  Not!  I really am excited about this but April is going to be one crazy month for us.  I hired a caller today to teach the kids how to do some of the old dances.  I want to learn too!

The week after the barn dance is the kids play.  Both Samantha and Garrett are in Treasure Island.  I'm supposed to be getting donations for door prizes to help pay for the guy who comes in to do the lights that night.  I'm thinking my time is more valuable at this point, I'm going to ask Dave to just donate the money.  Wish me luck:(

Lastly, it amazes me how apathetic so many parents are these days.  They don't want to help out with ANYTHING and yet they are the first to complain.  I really just don't get it.  It really is true that 10% of the people do 90% of the work in any organization, although, I'm thinking it is closer to 5% these days.  These parents have no idea how many blessings they are missing by not being involved in their children's activities.  God please grant me the patience to not deck the next parent who complains.  A calm and gentle spirit is what I want.  If you know me in person do not laugh at that last statement.  I can be calm and gentle!

I'm off to bed.  We have a field trip in the morning.  I really do love homeschooling the kids!

Highjacked!

Amelia was playing with my phone and took some pictures. Some how she figured out how to post them to my blog.

I had no idea until Zach asked me what was up with the pictures on the blog?

Little stinker. Man these three year olds are smart now a days:)

Here is Amelia's post. Pictures taken while sitting on the couch.

Watch out world! She will probably have her own blog by the age of 4. Ha!

Male Bonding

All of the men/boys in the house are having a poker afternoon. No baseball games today which means we can just hang together. I love watching my boys hang together:)

I think Tyler was the big winner.

It's a beautiful 80 degrees outside but Zach and  Garrett have on sweatshirts.  Go figure?

Samantha didn't want to play because she was hiding in her room reading The Hunger Games.  Did any of you read it yet? I'm off to the Ceramic Cupboard this evening with a friend for some fun girl time.  I'm thinking I'll paint a pretty plate to decorate the kitchen with.  Hmmm.  Decisions.....

My brother came for a visit this week and had what we thought was a small stroke. Turned out not to be that and he recovered very quickly. Scary and strange at the same time. We are so thankful he is O.K..

Hope you all are enjoying your Saturday with your family! I know I am so so thankful for mine:)

Waiting Up

Samantha and her friend, Baylee, wanted to go to The House of Blues in L.A. tonight  to see Andy Grammar play. I have no idea who he is. Apparently he started out on You Tube and now has a teen girl following. They found out a while ago that he was going to be playing there and they wanted me to take them.

No. I did not want to go.

Usually it is standing room only and friends, honestly, I think I am to old for that. I want to sit in a nice comfy seat.

They begged and pleaded, both sets of parents said no.

Not because we didn't want them to go, he is family friendly, but because we didn't want to drive all the way to L.A. to stand for three hours while a bunch of teens screamed in our ears.

Back up to last weekend and Grandpa's birthday party. She "mentions" to her aunt that they really want to go but no one will take them. Nice Aunty says she will take them.

I tell her, go for it. Have fun. I'm not going.

So, they are there now, and I am up waiting for them to get home. I should have just gone because I can't sleep until all the kids are in their beds.

She did send me this picture. Seems they actually got a table with chairs.

This isn't the best picture, but it will do.  Left to right is Baylee, my niece Amanda, and Samantha.  Amanda and Sam's eyes look a little scary.  Maybe it was just the pre-concert excitement that made them look like that:)

I'm off to snooze on the couch until all the teens are back in the house. Hopefully it will be soon, we have Opening Ceremonies for baseball tomorrow and have to be at the field by 8:00 for pictures. I guess sleep is highly over rated.

Right?

An Emotional Week

Thank you to those who have been praying for our family.  I told you that we were considering adopting a 15 year old Ethiopian girl who's family was seeking a disruption.  After much prayer, and talking as a family, we felt that we were not the right family for her.  We could not give her all the love and attention she was craving and deserved.  One of our children really did not want this to happen and was wrestling over guilt at not being more selfless.  Lets face it, we are all selfish at times.  I am proud of that child for being honest about their true feelings and not just telling Mom and Dad what they thought we wanted to hear.

I wrote the social worker telling her of our decision.  I cried through the entire letter.  There is a part of me that wanted to say yes, that wanted to be her family, but I knew all of us had to be on the same page or it wouldn't work. 

I received the nicest email back from the social worker and she said there was another family willing to adopt this sweet girl that they felt good about.  That made me so happy:)

The best thing that came out of this whole experience is that it got our family talking about adopting again.  I have wanted to for over a year, but others were not sure.  I'm still not sure if we will ever adopt again, but I'm so glad we are at least discussing it.  God works in mysterious ways, maybe this young girl was brought into our lives just to start the dialogue again?

Here is the sweetest video a saw on Facebook this week.  Their stories made me smile.