Cute is in the Eye of the Beholder

The kids were very excited to make a birdy discovery last week.

Liam noticed some stuff hanging out of my pear tree and went to investigate.

Upon closer observation, he found a nest. And has been keeping one eye on it ever since.

He and Maggie were sad the day they found that one egg was missing. Some birdy didn’t make it to B-day.

But today, Liam came flying in to announce birdy births.

He and Maggie promptly went to check on the new babes and pronounced them “so cute”.

So, of course, I grabbed my camera and headed out…

 

and was brought to the conclusion that “so cute” is like beauty.

It’s in the eye of the beholder. These two are decidedly NOT cute, if you ask me!

I love you all!

Peanut Butter Bliss

When Jet gets in one of his crazy moods…like he really NEEDS something to do. A focus. A goal. A task.

I pull out the Kong. Pull it out and fill it up with ooey gooey peanut butter.

He is already on his second Kong…chewed the regular one for medium size dogs to smithereens.

Last weekend, we got him the Kong Extreme.

Hopefully, it will hold up longer than a month against our monster.

Monster? Who? Me??

Love you all!!

My Mothers Day…

 

was a phenomenal success this year by almost any measure! Jon came home for the weekend and spoiled me for most of the weekend. Made lasagna for me, and eggs benedict! Lavished me with items from my “pretty please” wish list on Chefscatalog.com ! I got stainless steel colanders and strainers and a new silicone baking mat! Then on Sunday, he had to go back to NC. And I was sad. And the kids could tell I was sad. In a valiant effort to revive my sagging spirits they took Mothers Day Matters into their own hands…

and made dinner for me. They sent me to my room with strict orders to watch tv and not come out. At some point in the proceedings Maggie came in and said the tv wasn’t loud enough and I needed to turn it up. At that very moment, my anxiety hit a fever pitch! I had already grilled Sam about which appliances he’d be using? Mind you Sam is 13…he does actually KNOW how to use the stove AND the oven, to say nothing of the toaster oven and microwave. Still, the idea of him loose in the kitchen with NO adult supervision at all sort of made my guts clench and a cold sweat to break out on my upper lip! About 15 minutes into my imprisonment…the kids came to me.

The kids and the dog. After he shoved past Sam, who was carrying a breakfast tray with a lit candle on it. See the concern on his face. I can never be sure but I think he just stopped himself short of saying “Spit”…or something that rhymes with spit.

And this is what they made for me…

 

For mothers day supper I had a toasted sandwich. Which was actually quite good. Sam piled on turkey, ham, salami and pepperoni along with cheddar and monterey jack cheese and toasted the whole thing in the toaster oven. Leftover lasagna, which was good, but not as good as it had been the night before, fresh! Could have been something to do with the fact that the kids didn’t actually get it warmed all the way through in the microwave. The garlic bread was hard as a rock and completely inedible. But they totally made up for that with the peanut butter milkshake (which would have been the reason they wanted my tv loud). All in all, I was impressed.I missed having Jon there Sunday evening, at the same time I’m thankful for the experience. Because, I don’t believe they would have gone to this trouble, all by themselves, had he been here.

I do believe I have some pretty great kids!

I love you all!!

All Dolled Up

Last weekend we packed up the family vehicle and joined Jon in Charlotte to attend a wedding. Because I am from Ohio, my original thoughts on the date of April 24th for a wedding were something like this…

April 24th? Wow? Really? Short sleeves? Long sleeves? Heels? Or Boots!!??

WHAT IF IT SNOWS!?!?!?

But…none of that applies…because it was in North Carolina. The weather was great. A solid 80 degrees…a few showers in the evening. Nothing monumental enough to put a hitch in the festivities though.

The wedding was beautiful. For the first time since my wedding I actually teared up a few times. Brad fought hard for Lisa. He’s loved her for as long as he’s known her. Through all their young adult struggles he never gave up on loving her, so when they danced their first dance, I cried. Tears of joy for Brad.

The wedding gave me the perfect opportunity to get pictures of my brats, all dolled up.

In our defense, Mom did actually try to do something with Maggie’s hair. Unfortunately, it didn’t hold up.

And, I promise she was NOT drunk. She just LOOKS like she is.

Liam was cute as a button.

And, I promise he was not drunk either. That’s Coca Cola in that thar wine glass.

Sam cleaned up pretty alright too…due MOSTLY to the haircut he got that morning!

And, yes, I promise…those beers belong to Steve and Carolina. The purse belongs to Steve.

Well, ok, not really. But doesn’t it go perfect with his eyes?

Jon and I didn’t do too bad ourselves.

And I do believe that the last picture I got of me, Mom and Steve together may have been when I got married over 10 years ago.

Try as I might, I cannot recall if Steve had hair then or not?

And, of course, Mom and James.

And yes, they were getting drunk. Well, maybe not drunk, but we’ll go with happy!

Yea, happy, that’s it!

Fun was had by all, except possibly for Liam. Who spent the entire evening drinking Coke after Coke and asking every 5 minutes when we were leaving.

He had bigger fish to fry. A hot tub to get in.

I wish and pray all the best for Brad and Lisa, for MANY, MANY years to come.

I love you all!

Coca Cola…Ahhhh!

The kids had a new pleasure last weekend. Coke from a bottle. A glass bottle!

You know what I’m talkin’ about…Coke the way it was meant to be drunk.

Obviously, Liam had a solid appreciation of the privilege involved.

Obviously, Sam did not.

It was a joke to him, a lark. It was NOT SunDrop.

Nevertheless, it’s an experience all should have at some point in their lives.

Thanks Grandma!