Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Inspired By Nature

Today I had a nature filled day, and right outside my kitchen window!

Outside of my kitchen window is a big tree. I noticed two squirrels playing on the tree. I don't know if they are mates or siblings, but they sure are cute! I watched them for about a half hour. This one took a nap while the other played nearby on my deck.
 Here is the one that played around on the deck. My goal is to get them tame or not run away when I go outside. There was a blog I read last year and the lady had a squirrel that became tame and would come into their house for food! lol How cute would that be? lol
 Eventually the squirrel became tired of playing alone so it climbed up the tree to wake up the one that was napping! Notice the five toes with sharp nails on it's back feet. It only has four toes on its front feet!
 While I think they are adorable, my husband hates them and calls them "furry rats!" He is planning on cutting the remaining three trees that we have in our yard! That makes me very sad!
 After it woke up the other, they decided to run around on the branches! They reminded me of little monkeys. Again...oooh sooo cute!
 Squirrel number 2 reminds me of myself...very clumsy! lol
 Since I was totally surprised by the squirrels today, I did not have time to mess with the settings on my camera. So this action shot was very blurry! I love how squirrel number 1 is a big blur!
 Also during my day I noticed a big commotion in my backyard! Again this year we have a bird nest that is on the boy's clubhouse. This time she built it on the ledge and this year I have been very respectful and have given her her space. Remember last year when I photographed the nest everyday? You can read about that here. If you go back through after that post you can view all of the stages from building the nest to the baby birds leaving the nest. It's very educational!

I really left the nest alone because I was too chicken to get up close and take the chance of being attacked by the mama bird! lol

Anyway I noticed this huge commotion in my backyard. The birds left the nest today and Allie got one! I was soo upset! She didn't kill it thankfully, so I woke my husband up and he put it in the neighbor's yard where Allie can't get to it! But all these birds were out there attacking her! Not just robins, but big black birds and small tiny birds! It was quite a sight to see! Here is a photo after my husband relocated the baby. A couple of birds sat on the fence and watched over it. It was very weird. They do not appear to be robins, but they seemed concerned. I also noticed in this shot that you can see the mama bird in the middle of the photo in flight! I feel really bad, but like my husband says..."that's part of nature!" The other baby bird was able to fly to safety, while the remaining third remained in the nest. I kept Allie in all day long and took her out only under supervision!
 Later in the evening this is what we noticed on our deck. The third baby bird flew out of the nest and somehow landed on our deck! Isn't it soo sweet with that fluffy little head!
 The mama bird was never very far. You can see the baby on the deck at the bottom left, and the mama in the tree at the upper right!
 We watched her as she fed it a worm. Within a couple minutes later she returned with this huge worm, but the poor baby refused to eat it! I don't blame her! lol
 So the mama bird walked around with it for a few minutes.....
And then returned and tried to shove it down the poor baby's throat! lol  
A few hours later we were off to hockey practice and the baby bird was off of the deck. I had my husband walk around to make sure it was safe and it was nowhere to be found!

What a wonderful day filled with nature! :)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A House For An Imaginary Friend

My son Benjamin has had an imaginary friend for the past couple of years. Can you guess who it may be? Sometimes I find him playing alone with "Jerry." They even play boardgames together! His friend Jerry is from the cartoon "Tom & Jerry!" I have no idea why Jerry has all of a sudden become his friend, but he has and I'm totally fine with that. Someone I know suggested that I don't play into this imaginary friend thing. But I find it harmless and have read that it probably means he's creative and imaginative.
 For awhile now I haven't heard anything about Jerry. But the other day while driving in the car, I noticed that Ben was very sad. Since I had just picked him up from school, I thought that something may have occurred there. So I asked him what was wrong. He said: "Jerry moved away with his family." And he said it with this sad sigh as he put his head against the seat. I asked him why Jerry couldn't move back in with us, and he said because Tom would probably chase him! lol I thought about it for awhile and then I came up with a solution.

I have a bin full of unfinished birdhouses in storage that I have never gotten around to painting. So I let Ben choose which house would be suitable for his friend and he came up with this one.

I really wanted to paint this myself with big funky polka dots and bright colors, but he only let me paint just a little bit. I guess I'll need to make my own mouse house! lol
 He was really drawn to the glittery paint.
 Here is his finished "mouse house." He was soo proud! According to Ben, Jerry's last name is "Mouse"...so I painted that on the doormat! Hopefully this house is big enough because Ben said there are 200 mice in Jerry's family! lol
 This photo cracks me up! lol He has that look on his face like he is thinking: "Come let me lure you into this mouse house with a trap...Muahahahahahaha!"
 Here is Ben's mouse house with a little plant that we added on the porch! It sits beside his bed so Jerry and his family of 200 can move back in with us! And all is well again! :)

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Easter 2011

Here are some highlights from Easter 2011. Easter was a couple weeks ago...but better late than never, right?!

The boys sit and wait here on the steps on Christmas and Easter morning. This gives me time to grab my camera and video camera to capture them going into the living room to see what the Easter Bunny or Santa brought them the night before! Each year I take a photo of them sitting on the stairs.
 And every year the Easter Bunny leaves "bunny tracks" on the couches and floor that leads the boys to their baskets! As you can see from the photo, the bunny hopped all around Allie! ;)
 Here is Alex with his basket.
 And Ben with his. The bunny left a powdery mess all over my floor!
 The boys had egg hunts at both grandparent's houses. I just love this photo! It shows just how exciting egg hunts are to kids!
 Here is me and my wonderful family!
 And me and my precious boys! I am soo blessed to have such a wonderful family!
Soooo much has been going on here in the last few weeks. I plan to start blogging a few times a week to catch you up to speed! Hope you had a wonderful Easter!