Pictures from SLC

Here are the pictures of feeding the birds at Tracy Aviary and our cousin's birthday party in SLC 2 weekend ago. I forgot that I had promised them! (My kids get after me all the time about "forgetting" my promises!)

Thank goodness for cameras with timers. I actually got into this shot!

Rebekah with a sun conure eating from her apple stick. (This was as close as she was willing to get.)

Chad and Joseph...just watching, not feeding

Nathan had a good time feeding the birds.

Here is one on Leah's stick, just moments before it bit her. You may notice there is no more apple on the end of her stick.

Daniel stayed fixed in this one spot and catered to all the birds he could!

I couldn't resist this shot of Daniel holding Rebekah's hand. They really do like each other!

And of course, you have to actually stop and look at some birds!








After the aviary we went to the birthday party. It was a cowboy theme.

Here is Leah shooting her horse in the head. I'm pretty sure that's bad horesmanship.

Chad and Nathan in a gun fight.

Daniel in his cowboy hat.

? There are so many captions for this photo. I didn't take this one.









And that is our Saturday two weeks ago. See? We brought you right along with us!

I should be napping

I don't have a lot of time left this afternoon and I wanted to post before the day got away from me. It's been crazy around here and computer time has not come in big chunks. So today I'm stealing time from my nap to give to my blog. I'm sure I'll regret this as soon as an hour from now.

The weather has gone from cold to hot to cold again. We were in the upper 80's earlier this week and now we're back down to the 50's and rain. I like rain. Not to fond of COLD rain...except for that it makes hot chocolate taste even better!

We got some yard work done. I found some neglected rose bushes, irises and a tiny lone tulip. There are also several bunches of perennials that are about to bloom, but I don't know what they are. I do know that ants like them. Every beginning bud has medium-sized red/black ants on them. I guess I'll just have to be patient.

We got our sprinklers to turn on. As we understand it, they haven't been used in about 3 years, so we were expecting a lot of problems. We have 3 missing heads and two spots where water just gurgles up from the ground (likely are busted tubing that we'll have to dig out and repair). Right after we watered the yard really thoroughly, it rained and hasn't really stopped. So I'm not sure if it was good timing or bad.

I haven't worked on my curtains for the dining room for a while. I've been having a hard time getting the chance. But they are very close to getting done and will probably be up as soon as we get more rods for the windows.

It was Nathan's last day of Kindergarten today. (Daniel's last day is tomorrow. He goes for a whole 90 minutes.) They had a little graduation program where he received a diploma and a certificate for outstanding attendance (missed 3 days or less). But truly, isn't it the parents who deserve that award? Daniel had a little awards assembly at school yesterday. He didn't get anything but everyone else did. He had a good cry over that last night. I checked with his teacher this morning (just before Nathan's program started) and she said that it was a horrible oversight and that the principal gave him something in class where everyone clapped for him. So I'm pretty sure he's feeling much better. I can't believe how badly I felt for him! Must be my mother bear instinct.

Anyway, I have pictures of Nathan, but I'll have to put them on later.

I do have this little gem to show you. It's Leah in all her glory...again. She is really mastering the tantrum, believe me. Watch this one and you'll see what the big deal was this time. It's a common one for us. I was a little surprised to find Rebekah chewing on the table when I viewed the video. It must have been yummy. I know it doesn't get washed under the corner edge very often. She hasn't fallen ill, though, so it must not have been poisonous!

I am going to visit my friend, Kristi, in Vancouver this weekend. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a bit. Joseph is "getting away," too, so I don't expect to get any more sleep than usual. It will be fun anyway! Chad drops us off at the airport tonight so I've been trying to get the house ready. I've never flown with Joseph before, so I'm crossing my fingers for a calm baby, if not a sleepy one. I'm really just hoping that he doesn't explode mid-flight and create a big problem for me. He already did once today, so I'm hoping the next one or two (they're kind of like aftershocks) will stay within the boundaries of the diaper.

We were down in SLC for a family birthday last weekend and made a stop at Tracy Aviary where the kids got to hand feed some birds. The sun conures are 4 months old and look like little parrots. For $2 each, the kids got to hold out a popsicle stick with an apple chunk on the end. The birds would land on the stick or their hand/arm and eat the apple. Leah took the hand-feeding concept a little further and when the apple fell off her stick, she offered the bird a bite of her finger. Actually, she didn't offer and everyone heard her displeasure at being tasted. Luckily, I had a band-aid (Nascar no less) and fixed her up - lickity split.

I'll put the pictures of the birds and the birthday party on when I get back. It will be a little like a photo essay. Be excited!

And now I must return to organizing and preparing. I'll have even more pictures when I return!

Recent videos and the dentist

Here are a few recent videos for you. I've been saving them up. Since Chad has the power to the well disconnected, and I am waiting to take a shower, I have time to upload videos.

Here is Leah in one of her famous tantrums. She only stopped screaming because she saw me with the camera. That girl is very aware of the cameras and will usually quit her antics when she sees one pointed at her!

Here is a video taken just this morning. I looked out the window and saw these birds weighing down the wires. There were so many! And then they'd take off, fly in a big, crazy circle, then land again. I'm guessing they were eating insects, but my camera isn't good enough to see bugs that high up, so we'll never know for sure. I was reminded of Alfred Hitchcock. I got a better video on my nicer camcorder, so you'll have to visit if you're a serious bird enthusiast!

This video is of Joseph last month. He was so cute. I am obligated to have that opinion, but it does come quite easily!

In other news, I went to the dentist yesterday for the first time in 4 years. My mouth has been hurting for quite a while and I knew my teeth were full of cavities. I was very surprised to learn that there wasn't a single sign of decay in there. My problem is receding gums. On several teeth. The hygienist told me a powered toothbrush would not only clean my teeth better, but would save my gums from further damage.

So I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home and got one. I've used it twice. It's going to take some getting used to as the slobber and toothpaste dribble out of my mouth easier with that big thing in there, and I get double vision from the vibration of the motor against my teeth! I'm seriously hoping that the kids don't give in to the inevitable temptation to play with it. Do they make "The Club" for toothbrushes?