Toddler antics

Claire has been a pickle lately.  This 18 month age exhausts me every time.  Just when they start developing their adorable personality and being funny they also start getting into serious trouble and making serious messes.  Terrible 2's has nothing on 18 month olds in my opinion.  Thankfully there are ways to pacify these little trouble makers even if it is only short lived.

You can also give them fish to play with.  Who needs toys when you have sunnies?

But then they make up for their troublesome ways by causing us to laugh hysterically.  Like when she thought she would imitate her big brother who just relieved himself behind a tree.

She could not see what we were laughing so hard about.  This is serious business she was thinking.

Guest posting!

I'm guest posting over at my friend Beth's blog today.  It's the first of a three part series on teaching art and music appreciation to our children.  If you are interested, feel free to head on over and check it out!  Even you are not a home schooling parent I think you will still feel inspired! 

Birthday Earings

Last Friday Naomi finally turned 8.  I say finally because I have been saying she was 8 for the past 6 months at least, and she had to keep correcting me.  I don't know why I kept doing that, maybe it had something to do with the fact that she just acted older than 7 in my mind.  She just blows my mind with the things that come out of her mouth.  Whatever the reason, I am glad I finally won't get it wrong anymore.

She decided that for her birthday she wanted to get her ears pierced, so off to the mall we all trooped through the pouring rain.

Does she look worried?

Ouch!  That hurt a little more than she was expecting!

Happy birthday big girl!

Leaving the nest

It was a lovely spring evening a few days ago that our bluejay fledglings decided to leave their nest.  They were right on schedule according to our handy dandy chart, which said that bluejays fledge at 17-21 days.  Since we knew their time was coming we were keeping a close eye on them.

I don't know who saw them first, but everyone went running outside when this little guy was spotted on the ladder.

Hey little guy, remember me?  I checked on you nearly every day since you were hatched.

They made sure to put him back right where they found him because instinct knows best, and what we think might be best for the baby bird might not be best for them.  They were also not allowed to pick them up the next couple days as they hopped around the yard and tried out their wings.

It was funny to watch the next couple days as momma bluejay would go dive bombing Lily whenever she went outside.   Nothing was going to get at her babies on her watch!

I wonder if these jays are going to be extra friendly because of all the human attention they received, and if someone somewhere in the neighborhood is going to wonder why a particular bluejay doesn't seem to be a afraid of people.

Tree Climbing Competition

For the past several years Christian has been competing at the local and state level tree climbing championships.  Two weeks ago he competed at the local level and took 2nd place overall.  This past weekend were the state championships and we all had fun watching him compete.  I don't get to see him work that often, but when I do I am always impressed, and it isn't just because I am married to the guy.

Getting ready to start and checking out the tree with the judges.

He got his throw line onto the right branch 60-70ft up on his first try.

Getting ready to ascend.

Foot-locking up the tree.  He is always one of the top guys for speed on this event.

Up in the tree and ready to move to the different stations.

Watching him up that high does give me butterflies in my stomach, but I know that he is ultra safety conscious.

There is only one event for this competition which they call The Master's Challenge, unlike the local event which has 5 different events.  This makes it a little more stressful because you only have one shot at winning, and there is no room for error.  The event is pretty technical, and they give points for all kinds of different things like speed (they have 25 minutes to complete the tree), safety, assessment of the tree, and finesse.  I don't even know everything they are looking for.

He was bummed because even though he looked amazing up there and finished in time (he was one of only 4 guys to finish in time), he took 5th place.  We really had high hopes that he was going to make it to the Internationals this year and he had been training really hard.  This is a really hard event though, and it really is all about who is having a good day.

He is #1 in my book though.  And that is because he knows what is important.  Instead of competing at multiple events in different states to boost his chance at winning like a lot of the other guys do, he chooses to stay home with his family.  Instead of hanging out with the other competitors after the event and talking about gear and how awesome they are, he just quickly puts his stuff away and takes the kids to the playground there at the park.  He loves doing these competitions and it makes his work more fun, but he always makes sure that it isn't pulling him away from his family too much.

And we figure there is always next year.....

Birds in their little nest agree...

Birds in their little nest agree; 

and 'Tis a shameful sight, 

when children of one family 

fall out, and chide, and fight.

~Isaac Watts

This was once a moralizing poem that parents used to admonish their children with to keep them from fighting.  Birds in their little nest agree, so why shouldn't we children?  There was a funny little story in the book Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter which we just finished up about how when the teacher in the class asked the students to recite this poem, the main character, who tells the story, argued with the teacher because she just knew it wasn't true that little birds did not fight in their nests and people should not use this saying to convince children not to fight!  The teacher was quite angry with the girl for disagreeing with the poem and it was quite funny how the story played out.  You have to read it to see what I mean.  This book has to be on my list of top 3 books that I have read with the kids.  I almost wanted to read it straight through again right after we finished the last chapter, it was that good.

I was thinking of that poem though as Grace and I went to check on all "our" baby birds this morning to see how they were coming along.  I'm sorry to say that the baby robins have disappeared.  The robin built her nest in a not-so-safe location and a week after they were hatched they mysteriously vanished, succumbing to a deadly peril likely having to do with the felis silvestris catus species.

Thankfully we still have 3 more nests to watch, which are in much safer locations.  The bluejay has been the most watched since her nest is in a tree that the kids often climb.  She watches her babies very closely, but has not bothered us yet when we go look at the nest.

Aiden took this picture right after the first bird hatched.

A week later and this is what they look like:

 Somehow they look cute in a really ugly pathetic sort of way.  I know you probably don't agree, but you would have to see them in person to understand.  Christian used to not understand people who would ask the business to wait to trim their trees until after the spring when the baby birds had grown up.  He thought they were nuts.   That is until we had "our own" baby birds in our own trees.

The next nest is a nest of sparrows in the bluebird box that Naomi helped Christian build.  We were bummed that a bluebird didn't take up residence, but we are happy that it is at least being used, even though it is by a common sparrow.

 We think these are the cutest so far with their big yellow beaks.  Their nest also looks the most cozy.

The last nest being watched right now is a mockingbird nest in the rose bush.

It has been interesting watching how the different birds mother their babies and how they build their nests and where, and noticing the difference in the eggs and the hatchlings.  So far these little birds in their nests agree, so why shouldn't we??

If only it always looked so peaceful and serene as this.

Now back to telling "someone" to stop yelling at "someone else" to stop singing the same song over a million times and explaining to that "someone else" for the umpteenth time that they should consider doing to others as they would have done unto them. 

Birds in their little nest agree; and 'Tis a shameful sight, when children of one family fall out, and chide, and fight.   - See more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/6437/#sthash.ueZ45Mct.dpuf

 Birds in their little nest agree; and 'Tis a shameful sight, when children of one family fall out, and chide, and fight.   - See more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/6437/#sthash.ueZ45Mct.dpuf

Citrizenship

On Monday we had the joy and privilege to head down to center city Philadelphia to witness the naturalization ceremony of our good friend Steve.  Steve was originally from Algeria and came here a few years ago to study.  He lived with us for a few months and has become a great friend of our family. 

Steve is one of those guys who just soaks in knowledge and learning.  He speaks 4 languages fluently, and his English is impeccable.  He  knows more U.S. history than most Americans and loves to have quizzing contests with the kids asking them questions like: who was the 14th president or when was the constitution written etc.?

He said it was always his dream since he was a small boy to become a U.S. citizen, and we were very excited that we could be there with him on his special day.  As we watched the different videos on citizenship I was nearly brought to tears with pride in our country.  Hearing the names of 30+ countries being called, representing people who were becoming citizens on Monday filled me with gratitude that they had a place to come where they could be free to pursue their dreams.

I am reading a book about the constitution to the kids entitled Our Consitution Rocks (silly title I know), and I have grown a much greater appreciation for our country, how it was founded and the opportunities, freedoms and safety it has provided for so many people.  I highly recommend it as an easy to read book that clearly explains what the constitution is about.

Taking the oath

Steve, his wife and us.

Cousins.  

They like to joke that they are cousins when they are together and people ask who Steve is and how we know him.  Most of the time people believe them, and they are blown away when they find out that Steve is from Africa.  Not everyone from Africa is black, people!

Is that one happy looking dude or what?

Since it isn't every day that you get to witness a naturalization ceremony we called this a field trip and marked it off as geography, civics and social studies!