Crazy birds

Unfortunately, I have no pics for this. We were too much in shock to think of a camera at the time.

Yesterday was an INSANE day. Luckily, Ginney was here to help with stuff. Kelvin went out to check the mail. He felt something hit his head. He thought it was weird but just got the mail. As he was coming back in, he tried to figure out what it could have been. Then, he remember that we have a bird nest over our entryway. He looked on the porch for any signs, to no avail. He opened the door and there was an adolescent bird sitting in front of the door.

At this point, I hear, "Uhm, we have a problem. There's a bird." My initial reaction was, "Duh." We keep getting rid of the nest and it keeps coming back. Then, he says, "...in the house." It was so surreal. Ginney and I kinda looked at each other and the only thing either of us could say was, "What?" There was no flapping or anything and it took a while to process it.

At this point, the bird was in the corner behind the door and apparently stunned. It wasn't moving at all. Some of you know that I have an aversion to birds. They're dirty and unpredictable. They can peck your eyes out with their little beaks or claw you. (I didn't say it was reasonable.) Apparently, Gin has the same issues. So, Ginney, Kelvin and I are all standing at least 10 feet from this little bird. I tried to walk toward it to assess the situation. I got about 3 steps closer and had to back up. It was really pathetic.

So, Ginney has the idea that since it's still stunned, we can use the broom to get it on the dust pan to take it back out. Brilliant idea but not one of us could get close enough to execute it. So, Ginney suggest we call animal control because there is a wild animal in the house. Not prepared to look like a complete idiot in front of a stranger, I call Daddy. Mom answered the phone. In not so many words, she agrees that we're all pathetic. She finally asks if maybe Sammy can handle. I ask him. He walks to the front door, looks down at the little bird, looks at me with a raised eyebrow, shakes his head and goes to the other room. Mom finally says, "You're interrupting his movie but Dad's on his way."

While we're waiting for Daddy, we keep the door open just enough so if he so decides, the bird can get out. Then the bird flaps his wings and Kelvin squeaks. We all give a nervous laugh. Ginney grabs my That's-A-Bowl (my favorite mixing bowl) and says to give it to Kelvin. Kelvin can get closer than we can. My initial reaction was, "NO FREAKIN' WAY!" She calmly asked if I would prefer a bird flying around my house. I reluctantly handed it to Kelvin with instructions to just put it over the bird in an emergency situation. So, now Kelvin is standing with the broom in his right hand and the giant bowl in his left- quite the image.

Luckily, Daddy only lives about 4 blocks away and got here quickly. He brought a net with him and came in caught the bird and took it out. The whole process took him about 30 seconds. We thanked him and he went home. I'm so glad that my parents live so close and are willing to come over and help me when I'm being neurotic.

Next time you see Kelvin, you'll have to ask him for the re-enactment. He's quite funny.

Father's Day & candy & Rion

For Father's Day, the boys took all their pennies and $2.50 worth of "silver coins" to Coinstar. They ended up with about $35. They got a large card- $10. Then, they got dinner at McDonald's and Panda Express. Daddy won't eat McD's and the two youngest don't eat Panda. It was difficult for William to sit back and let his boys pay for dinner. But, he was very gracious about it. They were quite proud of themselves.

We gave him his cards this morning and two of his favorite types of candy- circus peanuts and Sour Patch Kids. We kept trying to explain to Rion that these were Daddy's special candy. I've been trying to explain to him since last night that since it's a present, Daddy doesn't have to share. Daddy always ends up sharing anyway though. Rion kept asking for some of Daddy's candy. So, Kelvin thought he would be nice and offer an alternative candy- a Warhead.

Here's the video of Rion's first Warhead:


Shortly after this, we each had one and Rion decided that he wanted to try a yellow instead. Here's the result:


Apparently, he has decided that he prefers Daddy to start it out and then he'll finish it. Then, William gave him one of his circus peanuts. Rion was very happy. Then, 2 hours later, he asked for another yellow one. I told him he could try another one later this week.

Summer's here

Today was fun. Rion started Ballet Basics. That's basically a 2 week ballet camp for the little ones. He's been counting down for the last week. I had to convince him that he needed to shower and eat before we left. He really enjoyed it. Usually, when he goes to ballet with us, he just sits in the lobby or office with mommy. He's been trying to convince everyone for the last 2 years that he's old enough to take ballet. So, finally being "big" enough to take a class was HUGE.

We came home, ate lunch and dropped Ian off at church to go to twilight (day) camp w/Scouts. It was William's first full day of summer. So, he got to join us on a trip to Grandma and Papa's. I taught Daddy how to attach photos with his email. (Bethany, make sure Grandma Trudie shows you your pictures.) Then, we spent the afternoon hanging out- much of which was on the porch. It was very enjoyable.

Ian had a great time at camp. He came home hot and tired and happy. It was very interesting comparing today with his first day of camp last year. Last year, he wanted me to wait with him until it was time to go. Today, he jumped out the back door and said, "Goodbye" as he ran to his friends. It makes a momma proud.

I'm gonna try to get a couple of pictures tomorrow to share.

Thankful

So, I haven't posted since Christmas. I decided that as I try to get back in the habit, I'd start with a list of some things for which I'm grateful.

• The gospel
• My Heavenly Father's and Savior's love
• The Gift of Atonement
• The power of the priesthood in my home
• Priesthood blessings
• A father, husband and son who are worthy priesthood holders
• The gift of the Holy Ghost
• The peace that the Holy Ghost can bring even when it feels like everything is falling apart around us.
• A wonderful, loving, supporting family
• Loving, intelligent, (mostly) well-behaved children
• Being able to raise my family with the help of my Heavenly Father

There's so much more but I'll leave it at that for now.

Contentment

I received the best Christmas gift ever this year-- contentment. We just got home from my parents' house. We had such a great day and enjoyed visiting with family. I'll post later with pics and possibly even video. Right now, I just want to share my appreciation for a wonderful afternoon/evening. I haven't felt this content in a very long time. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Tag

Christmas Tag

From GinGin:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Usually, paper for Christmas. Especially, if it's really odd shape. William loves the challenge.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial, as with so many things, I'm VERY allergic to real Christmas trees.

3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend. That's not to say we get the ornaments on it then. In fact, this year, we just decorated w/Christmas cards. Turned out pretty cute.

4. When do you take the tree down? We try to do it on New Year's Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? EEWWWWWWW! YUCK!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my stereo.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Kelvin-what he wants changes constantly!

8. Easiest person to buy for? Rion. As long as he gets to rip paper off something, he's happy.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yep. I collect them.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I always intend to mail Christmas cards. I've only done it a couple of times. Maybe next year.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? accounting software from my husband.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I love those mice.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I can. If I buy things too early, I'll give them and have to buy something else by Christmas.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably, but I can't remember.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Summer sausage, cheese and crackers.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes. I really like our green ones this year.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Anyone that knows me, knows this is just a silly question.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? This year, neither.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both. We open one gift Christmas Eve and the rest Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Dallas traffic, etc.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I really like red and silver. (GinGin is totally welcome to bum some purple one's off me next year. Wouldn't hurt my feelings if you somehow misplaced them.) ;)

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Mama's chili.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a completely unscheduled day w/all of my boys.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Maybe Devon or Mandy.

Stitches

With 4 boys, the oldest of which is 13, I felt pretty accomplished- no broken bones or stitches. I'm sure those of you that know what monkeys our boys are would agree.

Well, Wednesday, that ended. The boys were playing while I was working on the computer. Then, Ian says, "Mom, you need to look at this." Since it's typical for him to freak out over every little scrape, I kept typing and asked what was wrong this time. Rion came around the couch with blood spreading across the left side of his face. I quickly aborted my work, picked Rion up and went to the bathroom. Luckily, after this many years of motherhood I've come to know that head/face wounds bleed A LOT. Add to that a 3 year old that keeps trying to wipe it away and I decided to get him cleaned up before I totally freaked.

Rion was crying but his brothers were in hysterics. Ian was the worst because he was the one that came around the corner too fast, running into the glider Rion was hiding behind. While cleaning the little guy, I tried to convince Ian that accidents happen and Sammy that Rion was really going to be ok. Rion, trying to be a big boy, even started to tell his brother's, "I a'right. It's just an owie." I got him mostly cleaned up and the bleeding down to more of a slow ooze than flow. I called the doctor to make sure this was an ER worthy injury. They said to take him right in. I made a couple of calls to make arrangements for the other two. Then I called William. I realized after I got to the hospital that all I said to him was, "Can you cancel your UIL practice after school and meet me at Cook's ER?" He said he could and I said, "OK, good." I then hung up the phone and walked out the door. He had no idea what was going on until he got to the hospital.

Rion was such a big guy in the ER. He was happy and friendly to everyone. He tried to make the sad girl behind us in the waiting room smile. The wound tech. and child life person were great. Rion never cried while there. He whimpered a little when they were numbing his eyelid/brow. But he used his words and told the tech to slow down. He ended up with 6 "string bandaids". I called them stitches once while there and got one heck of a dirty look.

Here's a close up without the bandaid. In true little boy fashion, he's very proud of the fact that he's the first of his brothers to get "string bandaids."

Thanks to Jodi for getting Ian where he needed to be, Mom & Dad for watching Sammy and Ginney for helping me refocus (as usual) and being the photographer.