What is with us and Birds?!?

Maddie and Jake bellowed for me this afternoon and said there was a bird in the garage. They didn't sound terribly distressed and I was in the middle of something, so I said I would be there in a minute. I thought it was probably just walking around the edge of the entrance or something.

Nope. The bird was up above the open garage door. Then it was in the shelves Mike has up about the garage door. Then it was sitting on the large pipes hanging on the side of the walls. Then it was on the other side in Mike's tool area. Then it was flying over my head and heading to the other side - again. I grabbed one of the kid's winter shovels and suddenly I had three kids screaming at me to not kill it! (Maddie had a friend over.) I assured them I was just trying to coax it down and not smash it. But for some reason this bird couldn't see the giant opening the garage door provided and instead kept flying into the ceiling hitting it's head, or into the wall hitting it's wings. At one point it literally flew into the wall, bounced back, flew into the wall, bounced back - about 5 times before landing on something. Which poses this question: when a bird hits it's head does it see flying birds circling above?

Anyway - Maddie and her friend tired of my lack of animal control skills and seeing as how the bird hadn't pooped on my head, they left. I told Jake to go get his dad and tell him a bird was in the garage. Mike came down a little confused at first because he thought Jake had said, "Mom can't get a "board" out of the garage. He was wondering 1) why I needed a board and 2) how weak was I? Anyway - Mike grabbed the same shovel that hadn't been working for me and went to work chasing/swiping the bird back and forth across the garage, but never OUT of the garage.

In the meantime, Jake was the bird's advocate. The first conversation went like this:
Jake: Dad! You can't talk to it like that - it doesn't understand you.
Mike: What should I do Jake? Do you think he'd understand Spanish better?
Jake: Dad!!! You have to talk to it in tweets. Bird talk. "Tweet-tweet".
After that Jake was all boss telling Mike not to swing at it (and for anyone wanting to call PETA, we never swung at it...). Occasionally Jake would throw out a few random "tweet-TWEET!" phrases himself. In the background as the bird flew across the garage (which now had two large doors open and the side door open) I called out "fly toward the light!" Apparently it wasn't looking to go to heaven yet though. I'm sure in all this any outside neighbors were wondering what the heck kind of power outage the Murphy household was having because we had to keep opening/closing the garage door since the bird would land on it or on the track and wouldn't move unless forced out by the moving chains. At one point the bird landed on my car and I had the sunroof open. I went into a small panic mode then - there was no way I was cleaning out bird droppings from the INSIDE of the car. (Jake did suggest I leave the roof closed after this when I park it in the garage.)
Just as I was about to offer up my next suggestion, Mike grabbed a box in one hand and the shovel in the other and had a look that said, "now or never!"

Finally, after what seemed like all afternoon, but was probably only 10 minutes, Mike managed to free the bird.
Mike wondered aloud if it was the same baby bird that just sat on the deck the other night while he and I walked up and down the steps, not a foot from it and it never moved. Mike thinks this bird may not have gotten all the brains in this latest batch of eggs to hatch.
Anyway - the bird flew off across the street to the neighbor's tree near their garage. If anything happens, we have a shovel and box they can use.

Easy Rider

My parents have made a new purchase...they got a Honda Goldwing!

Last week they frightened my brother for two days when my dad called to tell him he was buying a motorcycle, but wasn't planning on telling mom about it, it was just going to be a surprise. Dan was frightened for their marriage, of course, and tried to find out if Dad was having a mid-life crisis or what was going on. The next day my mom called and asked some questions about a mysterious phone message from some bike place. Dan was completely flustered and blurted out that he didn't know anything. Mom said if she hadn't known about the bike, that his response would have been a dead give-away, but she had known about it all along. They decided to have some fun with their purchase. Dad proceeded to call me the next day and put me through the ringer a bit, but I don't think it was nearly as much as Dan.

But, basically, driving down the freeway one day my mom commented to my dad when they saw one that it looked fun and comfortable. In a nutshell my dad ended up turning around, walking into the driver's place and taking his permit test for a motorcycle, passing, and they drove out to Delano (like an hour away!) and bought a bike. The next day my dad called every place he could find and was able to get into a class to receive his license. He's been in the class all week, got his license yesterday and they went and picked up the bike this morning. Actually - none of us thought he was going to be able to get it because it was raining. I guess God smiled down on Dad's bit of excitment and offered up a parting of the clouds. They were able to get out and get the bike. They stopped by to show it to us. Maddie, Jake and I (as well as little Ashley) had seen it when they were filling out the paperwork. But, it was sure fun to see dad actually on it and getting to tool around.
And when I asked him if he was having fun and liked it he had a big grin and said, "yeah...I am". This may not seem like much excitement to most people, but coming from my dad - it's the equivalent of how most people would react if they won $200 million in the lottery.

So hats - er, helmets - off to Dad's lottery fun!

Dinner on the Kids

Madison and Jake have been receiving mysterious letters and notes giving them instructions to do different activities. A couple weeks ago they had to make a list of 30 activities that they could do without spending money and then they were sent on a frog hunt. Last week they received an even more mysterious letter that had them mix up a potion with some powder and based off clues from this they were sent to a local park to search for their next clue. In that note they were told to make a meal together that involved only one color. So, we decided that last night would be the night they were in charge of dinner.

They worked together to come up with foods for different colors - even Mike and I were getting into brainstorming. In the end they decided on the color yellow and their menu included chicken, noodles, corn, lemonade and ice cream (vanilla) for dessert.

Maddie was in charge of cooking the chicken. She wasn't so sure about the grease splattering thing and let out more than a few little screams until she got used to the process. Mike overlooked her shoulder at one point and wanted to know what was going into the chicken. I told him it was going to be buttered noodles. I guess being the dad means he gets a veto power - he wanted some type of gravy or something with a little more taste than butter. Luckily in the cupboards we found cheddar cheese soup - YELLOW! Jake and Maddie wholeheartedly agreed to add it.

Jake was in charge of lemonade. Jake LOVES lemonade so this was so exciting for him. He even got to taste-test it to see if it needed more sugar. After that batch, he and Mike pulled the corn out of the freezer and got to work getting that cooked up. When dinner was served - here's the miracle. Both kids ate all their corn without complaints - AND ASKED FOR MORE!! I dived for the corn before they changed their minds. Who knows if it was that "they" made it or if it was because it was frozen instead of canned, but we'll definitely be trying it again!

The finished product needed a name. During the cooking process they decided they felt like "Ratatoille" and decided to call their dinner "Rata-pa-toille". I told them I didn't think it sounded very appetizing. Then, once dinner was all laid on the table, we brainstormed some more. They said we needed to write it in the recipe book as the "sunshine dinner".

This morning we found another note taped to the front door. It said that we are supposed to go to the Shakopee Library on Thursday and meet up with a specific person there. The kids are trying their hardest to figure out who the mysterious person is and they are wondering if the person at the library will be able to drop any clues. Good thing Maddie is so into Nancy Drew - her clue sniffing abilities are at their peak!

Year "six" strikes again!

We never really experienced "terrible two's" - two was a great year for both kids. Year number three? That was when it all kicked in and it was a time of deep breathing for Mike and I. But we got through it. Forward to when Maddie was six - another draining time for us. If we told her "no" - tears. If we asked her to do something, then repeated it, then repeated it LOUDER - tears. Tears for no reason. Tears with pouts and without pouts. Everyday presented a new "challenge" to get through. We joked that she must be going through an early PMS. But then we talked to some people we knew and they agreed - year number six wasn't so fun.

So, in December when Jake turned six, I took a deep breath and prayed hard that a boy couldn't be as emotional as Maddie had been. Turns out PMS is a co-ed thing at the age of six. Jake has whatever it is that hits a kid at six. It's been getting worse the last couple weeks and today - good grief! Today we stopped at Sam's club. I'm sure security was watching us closely thinking I was going to lose it. The kids were acting up around the cart and fighting over it so I took over and said I would push. Not good enough. Jake literally wouldn't let go of it; I had to PRY his fingers off the cart. Then he literally tilted his head back, opened his mouth, squeezed his eyes shut tight and, "WAHHHH!!!" I looked at him wide-eyed. Seriously?? I told him he could act his age (forgetting that "six" meant "cry like a baby at everything as loud as possible"). Then he started to foot stomp and all downhill from there. We hadn't even been in the store for 3 minutes and I was ready to leave them there. So, I grabbed on to Jake, pulled him close and told him, "Act however you want, but YOU are the one everyone walking by is going to be looking at."

And you know when you say words and immediately know it was a really bad idea? I can't be the only mom in America that has these conversations with myself in my head at warp speed saying, "that was a bad idea - now he's going to think people's opinions are all that matters." But, it was out and hopefully he missed it.

He didn't. Later in the store he hopped on the cart to get a ride. I stopped it in the middle of the aisle and told him to get off it - he wasn't going to get to have fun in a store when he acted like he had. He decided he was going to stay there until I moved and I decided I was going to stay there until he moved. After about 15 seconds of staring at each other with our game faces he said to me, "People are going to be looking at you when they walk by." Yes, my mind reeled with a million comebacks, including a few not so choice words, but I kept the gameface, tried desperately to make steam come out of my ears - and he got off.

The rest of the day has gone about as smoothly as that store trip. To the point that Jake was sent to his room, I left him there for awhile - a LONG while - then told him he could leave the room when he figured he was ready to act like a six year old is supposed to act. He didn't come out of his room for a good 30 minutes.

In the meantime I was so mad I cleaned - it's what I do when I'm furious. It makes me wonder if Mike is paying Jake off to act like this???

I just have to keep in mind that this too shall pass. Maddie - or rather, Mike and I - got through Maddie's sixth year phase. But that brings up the next question: This happened at age three, and age six - a pattern of every three years. Does that mean it all starts again at age nine?

I'll let you know. Maddie turns nine July 10th.

22 makes 12

June 22nd - that marked our 12 year anniversary!

We didn't really celebrate in grand style - actually Mike worked all day. But, after the kids were in bed we grabbed our best bottle of wine, some crackers and leftover deli cheese and even some brownies and had a little toast to us. I guess after 12 years we've learned that a celebration doesn't have to be monumental to be special.

12 years ago we took off for our honeymoon in Estes Park, CO. It was a really great week and this picture was taken on our last night right behind the condo we were staying in:


Mike had carved our initials in a tree across from this rock. He even managed to put a heart around it. We said we would get back there someday to see if the tree and our initials were still there. We haven't managed to make it back yet, but plan on there being lots of time. Maybe we'll even be able to take the kids with us and show them the tree. Between the tree, us, and the kids, it would be cool to see how much we've grown in all the years.

Birds and Bees...mostly the darn birds

On Father's Day while Mike was out golfing, the kids and I were in the backyard. We've been monitoring the bird's nest that has been under our deck all spring. I think the first occupants of the nest had four baby birds. Jake and Maddie watched this everyday. Well, they moved out and some new birds (or a very busy couple of same birds) moved in. We had five new robin's eggs in it after only a couple weeks. The kids love these - Mike? Not so fond. Mostly because these tenants leave "white puddles" all over the patio.

Anyway - I had my camera and thought I'd get a picture of the eggs so Maddie & Jake could see what they look like up close versus just through the cracks of the deck. There was a big surprise for all of us though! I took the camera down to show them the pictures and was shocked when I saw four brand-new babies in the picture. I mean - BRAND NEW. They didn't even have all their feathers yet - it was really cool. So, of course I annoyed momma bird and took way more pictures. After several shots I finally got a good one to show to everyone:

Now, after all this excitement we were inside and we were watching those Sunday shows - all the animal shows are on t.v. on Sunday afternoons. So, we watched a couple. Show #3 is what about did me in. It was about birds. Good so far. Then it was about mating birds and I got a little skeptical, but thought, "surely they won't show/talk about anything knowing this show has kids watching it." Then it showed two vultures - not particularly attractive birds - but one hopped up on the other. On top of the other. In my naivety I thought again, "Surely they won't show this for more than a couple seconds..." About 30 seconds to a minute later the birds finished. But not before Maddie said, "Um...what are they doing?" And because this was NOT the moment that I wanted to explain everything I said, "Wow...I have no idea."

Can I live in denial or what?

Exercise Shmexercise!

I was about ready to throw in the towel yesterday on exercising! We joined a gym awhile back and one of the reasons I was actually looking forward to it (loosely used here...) is because they offered classes. I know me - it's taken us having to pay money for me to even get off my butt to get this exercise stuff accomplished. So, I know that I would not be the candidate that willingly goes to the free weights and just does whatever people do there. One, I don't understand muscles and movements and I really have no desire/interest to learn about them. Two, going over there would voluntarily add time to my workout. I'm happy to go and walk for 25 minutes on a treadmill. I'll even set up for different inclines - but to do two things in the same day? I think it's happened twice. On the rare occasion where Mike and I can go together I love it because he makes me do the right exercises. I think we've been able to do that a maximum of three times.

So, I love the classes and I found one for each day that I can workout during the week that fits great with my schedule. So, I was off to the gym yesterday and knew it was going to be challenging. A lot of the moves require you to sit on one of those exercise balls. Keep in mind those are round. They roll.

I got to class, said a prayer that I would not make a fool of myself, rolled my eyes because, of course I would - and got to work. Before the warm-up was even finished my legs were ready to give out. (I've slacked a bit the last couple weeks in going to this particular class and it was obvious by minute 3.) But I stuck to it and then we were at the ball part.

I think I hate those balls. I'd barely be adjusted to where I'm supposed to be sitting/laying/reclining - or at least where I thought I was supposed to be and the class would already be doing the exercise. At one point we were laying on our back, rolling the ball back and forth with our feet and our rear was in the air - my ball managed to go left and right. Rarely did it go back and forth. At another point it was time to do push-ups - with your feet on the ball. Out of the 20 the class did - I think I managed 4. I was just trying to make the ball stay in one place so I could actually do a push-up. Then we had to do these quasi-sit-ups, but had to lean with our sides on the balls to do them. I rolled right off the ball on that one. Not once - at least twice.

But I managed to work my way through it and gave myself a pat on the back. I know I'll get better once I figure out how to make these "stability balls" stable. But here's where the universe just humbles you when you start to get too cocky. As I was walking out I felt a little something pulling on my rear end - why I didn't notice it before, I cannot tell you. When I looked in the mirror I noticed this really weird bumpy area, followed by this smooth, large, rectangle under my shorts. It looked like I had my cell phone stored in my back pocket - exept I had no pockets. That's when I realized I'd just spent the last hour bending over, squatting, and walking around with the tags still stuck inside my pants.

I guess it wasn't just my lack of athletic prowess that made the lady next to me giggle.