Horror

Out of five hanging baskets, three have nests. Out of the three nests, two have eggs. And of the two with eggs, one has a brand new baby--probably less than a day old.

I find birds repellant, and had to fight the urge to fling the nests (eggs and babies and all) as far away as possible.

I marshaled that impulse however and instead shared a special moment with J. He was fascinated and had many questions--all of which were whispered so that the baby bird could sleep.

I didn't even explain to him my theory of how birds would attack and eat us if they were big enough, and that if you look into their beady, dead eyes that you can feel their malice.

My reticence to shatter J's innocence probably just plays into their master plan.

Weekend Fun

We're getting ready to host a Memorial Day BBQ dinner with our dear friends this afternoon. Not so long ago, I would have rolled out of bed at noon, lingered over lunch, and then spent an hour getting ready for the BBQ.

Not so much anymore.

Our days begin a little earlier, and today we've had time to break out the new dehydrator (our first batch of dried strawberries should be done around 5pm), make strawberry balsamic jam, build a blanket fort, wash the dining room chair slipcovers, harvest and chop some dill, and work on the backyard water leak.

It's now just after 3pm and the kids are presumably sleeping upstairs, having taken down the blanket fort, cleaned up an extraordinary mess of toys and books, and eaten a gigantic lunch (and proclaimed the strawberry jam delicious).

I was hoping for a nap myself, but Bill is having a bit of trouble soldering the new pipe fitting, and I'm being called on every ten minutes to turn on the outside water to check for leaks. I hope this next time is the charm, and that I can get a half hour to myself before tackling the BBQ details.

Dinnertime

Now that the kids are here, we are pretty scupulous about having a family meal at 5pm sharp. Any later and the kids get antsy and we have to rush the bedtime routine. 

Tonight, I made enchiladas, with snap peas (from the farmers market), spanish rice and beans, and mangos. I thought it was great, but the kids mostly just ate the mango. Sigh...we'll try it again for lunch tomorrow and see if it gets a more favorable reception.

Maya spent 15 minutes looking for the piece of mango that S dropped from her plate. Poor girl -- she knew it was there, just couldn't quite figure it out. Gracie was pretty much oblivious to the entire event.

Singing Machine

Of the hours that little S is awake, approximately 15% of them are spent eating and the other 85% is spent singing. She will do all 187 million verses of "The Wheels on the Bus," and this week is singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" with an obsession.

Did you know that Old MacDonald had a Dora? With a Dora-Dora here, and a Dora-Dora there?

I got her to sing me a couple of songs. Enjoy!

So Helpful

Before we left for our weekend getaway, I was feeling a bit burnt out with the whole parenting thing. It's exhausting work. Dealing with behavioral issues, custody issues, schooling issues, freedom and independence issues -- ugh.

The weekend away was like a balm, and I came back ready for a fresh start. It seems that my pleasant and more relaxed attitude has broken the chain of J's misbehavior --> my exasperation --> J's punishment --> J's anxiety and additional acting out --> my anger/frustration --> J's stress and more misbehavior --> my crazy desperation.

Anyway, even though I've been single parenting this week because Bill is in Texas, we've actually had a really marvelous time. I've actually *enjoyed* my children -- how novel! S has been extra sweet and funny, and J has made it a point to be helpful and courteous and polite and thoughtful.

"I played very quietly downstairs and did not wake you up, because that is very polite."

"Ok, you can go to the bathroom now, and I'll just wait here outside the door in case you need anything."

"Do you like when I listen and make good choices? I will not even bite someone at school today!"

Ahh, good times. I hope they last.