Dear Lord make me a bird

So, let's piggyback onto that "worst end of school mom ever" topic. First, school is finally out, and as Sam would say with one arm pumped into the sky (and she does every time we start a movie), WoooHooo!!! But, seriously, the last few weeks of the school year are pretty rough, and I am so glad they are over! Zoe finished her kindergarten year and for graduation there was a "sail away " ceremony. We received a letter three weeks ago with directions to "build" a boat for the sail away event. Yeah. Sure. Of course! Would love to build that boat with my darling child. After all, she's my only child and I'm an architect. I selected the word architect instead of engineer because by no means does being an engineer make you handy and able to build a boat that can float. I do NOT know this from experience! Just kidding. No I am not. So here is how it went down, I went to the grocery store and bought a plastic boat. Zoe questioned my move, "Mom aren't we suppose to BUILD a boat?". Yes Zoe we are. But I'm just as likely to build a Pergola over the deck today as I am that boat. I only said that in my head. Instead I said, "Zoe honey, do not worry, we are gonna RE-BUILD that boat. So, I gave Zoe some puffy paint, white fabric paint, and pink duct tape to rebuild the boat. Zoe, "Did my teacher say that was okay?" Absolutely honey.

Sail it proud Zoe!

So proud. At this point, my pride was blinding me.

Then I looked down.
I saw this boat and thought, "Yeah, we thought of popsicle sticks too, but they didn't have them at Lowes and I didn't have the power to drive to one more store on that day. Who has time to buy popsicle sticks?

Oooh flowers, how lovely. Oh, and plastic bottles. They are floating. Plastic bottles float. I didn't know that. Or did I?

Are you kidding me?
My heart kinda hurt here.
I'm so sorry I didn't build you a steamboat honey.

Oh dear.
 "Dear Lord make me a bird, so I can fly, fly far far away."
Never mind.
 Zoe, I am so proud of what you did. Good job working with what you have, especially your mom. My daughter's gonna have some skills people. They might have nothing to do with building boats, but other skills. For sure.

My bird prayer ( I guess it was Jenni's) is the perfect segue to my next topic. *note for people like me who can't spell or pronounce, SEQUE is how you spell segway) Gotta get me some education. HaHa. I mean SEGUE is how you spell segway not SEQUE. Wow. I would stop reading now.

Birds Birds Birds

I have a story. Before, I get started, know this, I like birds. Lovely little creatures. Creatures that make me thank God for his creation. I do more than paint them on my walls. I wear them on my clothes, and I also decorate with them. Consider this the "home decor" section before I get to my little story.

This bird makes me happy 

So does this one. She is actually a salt shaker, but  I saw her  true potential.

These guys. Just love them. Love the Reformation. Love these birds keeping the History of the Reformation nice and tight.

Now back to my story,  after I blogged about the stenciled birds, word must have gotten around town that I am a non-discriminating bird friend. So naturally, real live birds starting coming around. Then, they started collecting what looked like the stuff I dump from my vacuum and putting it on a ledge directly over the chair where I drink my morning coffee. Gross. So, we just cleaned it up. I didn't want that stuff in my coffee. Then, the bird kept coming back with even more crap from someone's vacuum and placing it up there again. The bird was frantic. Oh duh, Katie. Stop taking this bird's crap down. It is a nest and she is gonna go into pre-mature egg dropping if you keep messing with her stuff. So, I let it be. Can I just say, birds are amazing! God is amazing for making birds. Love um!

Here is my bird friend and her nest that haunts my coffee cup. Can't you find some twigs? Gross.

Poor nervous momma. Always looking over her shoulder.

Oh happy day, when the kids hatched. I imprinted immediately. I feel personally responsible for these things. No more coffee cup below. Can you even imagine?

Baby pictures

Such a good little eater! But seriously, moths? Why not worms? Poor little bird, your momma is dirty. Makes dirty nests and dirty dinners.
 No judgement here though momma bird. I know what it is like when your neighbor makes a beautiful nest out of twigs and sticks and you just use what you have to in order to survive. I know about just surviving when you have to build something. No judgement.

I can even keep an eye on them from inside the house.

They grow up so fast.

I'm not looking forward to being an empty nester.

Add caption

They have a future.

 As Synchronized Chirpers.

I so know how she feels right now.  Being a mom is a tough job. Hard to look responsibility in the eye sometimes.

My little bird perched rather awkwardly

I see what's going on. Dirty mom that can't make a nest.

Who needs a nest anyway?

Presley knows how to find a comfy nest too. Another great Segue to this week's highlight. This is my friend Katie. We share the same name. We also shared our California experience. Her family moved there and escaped there around the same time as ours. Anyway, they are here visiting and celebrating our one year anniversary out of California.

Katie, doing my home cooking, while I blog. What a friend! She giggled at the size of my vinegar bottle. Costco baby! We had to make buttermilk for the chocolate cake. Did you know that you can add vinegar to milk to make buttermilk? Add 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar to just under 1 cup low-fat milk and stir together. Consider this the home cooking section of the blog. Think of all the buttermilk I can make with my bottle of vinegar.

Yes, please.

Cheers! Cheers to friendship and having a great year post California. And cheers to blogging in your pajamas with chocolate cake and ice-cream.  Peace out.

The Rooster

Home Life

Sam Sam

This summer, I plan to restrict screen time. Until then, find a comfy postion.

Seriously?

Don't mock me

My wild ray of sunshine.

Zoe

Ready for her skate board lesson from dad.

Somebody get this girl some sneakers!

My darlings.

Presley

My first darling. She is a keeper.

Presley, trying to walk a mile in Dad's shoes. Actually, just trying to get down the stairs.

Dad's shoes. The thing about Mark is he has this little random rebel in him that must come out; let's call that little rebel "the rooster"  Well, "the rooster" picked out his shoe laces.

 The Rooster. It can mean so many things. For me, it really is a rooster. A literal rooster that I see everyday.  I could fight that rooster. I could hate that rooster. I could lay awake plotting a laser death for that rooster. Or, I  could forgive that rooster. Just embrace the rooster. Learn from that rooster. Be thankful for that rooster. Smile at the rooster. And, then start showing off the rooster at neighborhood parties (which I did last night).  Aw, the power of forgiveness my friends. Truly liberating.

Peck Peck. Love you Rooster!

Home Cooking

Love salads in the summer! And, it is summer now! I'm gonna link the recipe here for you in a sec, but I didn't actually follow the recipe. I got this trait from my mother and it keeps increasing as I get older. Recipes are something to read and then not follow. General guidelines if you will. In fact, a famous Julie quote is as follows, "I do not believe in going to the store for a missing ingredient." She means it! She really does! No matter how critical the ingredient, It is not critical enough to go the the store. So, this was my general guideline for this here salad. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/the-best-spinach-salad-ever/

Pretty bite!

Num Nums

Summer Sangria! So good! I did follow this particular recipe. But, I'm too lazy to type it out and it is not online, so you'll have to buy the Pioneer Woman's second cookbook to see that I'm not the only Christian making Sangria! Also, the sangria had nothing to do with me showing off the rooster. That was all forgiveness. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Home Care

Summertime. Don't forget your sunscreen!

As I continue to blog this post and review, I notice that my format is messed up. I don't know how to fix it, so I'm going to stop for today. Plus, I'm sick of my computer. Just look at it. That's my baby. My one and only. Blogging is no glamorous thing. My fingers hurt from hitting my non existent keys and my down button doesn't work.

Since I can't continue, you should read this blogpost. So funny and it is exactly how I feel right now. Only four more days of school left! http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2013/05/30/worst-end-of-school-year-mom-ever