Bird Problems

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Note: Some pictures will not be for the squeamish. Proceed with caution. You have been warned!

It seems like we’re having a run of bird issues. At first it was all innocent. We had a family of robins living just outside of Abby’s window.

Robin's Nest

Our neighbor also has a birdfeeder with some sort of wild bird mix with berries and we’re seeing a lot of beautiful cardinals and blue jays. But, with that comes interesting splotches of dark blue-purple all over the patio and driveway. One of them dropped a bird-doo bomb on my car, on the driver’s side door WHILE I was pulling into our driveway with the window OPEN. GROSS, right? I had to wipe off the door, window “sill” and part of my seat. Ollie and I were spared from any splash.

Then one day, I’m in the basement and… THUD!

“Joules… bird!” says Eastman.

“What?”

“I said, “Bird!”, a bird just ran into the window…” says Eastman.

“It was so loud, Mom!” says Abby.

IMG_2463

Oh no. Oh yes, the husband says, and he’s laughing! I creep up to the window slowly and see the ugliest, yet saddest, blackbird lying still on our patio. I actually shrieked…eeeeeee… and ran around my kitchen like a crazy girl. You know that feeling when your stomach all of a sudden drops, and you feel a little sick and all the color has drained out of your face? Yeah, that’s me, because it’s my job to dispose of the aviary corpse. Ugh. Not my favorite chore. I tried to tell my husband that, hey, it’s like a husbandly duty sort of thing, but there are some actual physical challenges and so I have to do it.

Within one week of the blackbird incident, there were two other birds run over in front of our home in the street. At least I didn’t have to clean them up.

The other day, Abby and our next door neighbor’s granddaughter found a robin’s egg in the backyard. On the ground. I took the pictures approaching the egg, then Abby says, “Ooh, ooh, I want to take a picture from my side.” I didn’t know she’d take a close up. It’s impressive, but definitely not pretty. I didn’t realize the egg was “inhabited”.

Robin's EggRobin's Egg - A little closerUnfotunate Robin's Egg

Filipino people out there… balut! Eeeeek!

Inaugural Whole Foods excursion

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Crazy good Whole Foods buffet

Went to Whole Foods with the family for the first time and as I suspected, Eastman thoroughly enjoyed the store. There was a lot of, “Hey, look at this!” and “Look at this section.” Here we are checking out one of the food bars. I’m so excited that we found nut-free granola for me and Ollie, and not unreasonably priced, either! Granted, I wouldn’t say we would buy all our groceries there. The two closest Whole Foods locations are not quick drives.

Coffee... we need coffee.

We were visiting a newer location and we made it from one end of the store to the other, and Abby said, “Wait? Weren’t we just here?” Eastman told her we were just at the other end, and she said, “WHAT?! This place is huge!”

More (teacher) gift ideas

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…and maybe something for you? Read on.

June just went by like a blur, and as the end of the school year approached, I was giving myself headaches thinking of small, thoughtful gifts for Abby to give to her teachers. As my husband so nicely pointed out, “We don’t have to give everyone a gift, you know?” I know, but at the same time, I think Abby really enjoyed every one of her teachers, the classes and everything she learned. And, I felt it was appropriate to give a little (let’s stress little) something.

For the reader, reading teacher, librarian – a handmade book wedgie. Sounds a bit nicer than book THONG. Haha. Abby picked out the beads and the charm at the bottom says, “Inspire”.

Book Thongs or Book Wedgies

For her main homeroom teacher, (along with this) we compiled a cookbook with favorite recipes shared and handwritten by the students. A couple of parents and I did all the scrapbooking layouts, and it took a few hours. Each page is different and the recipes range from “chocolate milk (pour syrup until your mom says stop)” to “Greek lentil soup (you don’t have to be Greek to eat this)”. This page was my daughter’s. She picked shrimp de jonge. Surprised?

Excerpt from Class Cookbook

Abby would tell me about her art teacher and how he taught her class that a little glue goes a long, long way. “A dot is a lot, that’s what he says, Mom.” So for the art teacher, a custom print that my husband and friend did, and stationery to match (printed at home). I just printed the picture at home on photo paper. It’s intentionally made to look like those motivational business posters or the funny de-motivational posters.

Custom print and stationery for art teacher

I cannot take the credit for the card layout. My cyber-acquaintance, author and designer, Amy Karol at angrychicken made these great cards with sayings. Please, check it out!

So, this might be fun. Would you like to share your teacher gift ideas or end-of-school-year traditions? If you do, we’d like to share some craftiness with you! We’ll randomly select a someone on Saturday, July 11 to receive an Abby-Julie book wedgie or custom 8-pack of stationery with your own quote. Leave your comment between now and Friday night (7/10, 11:59 CST) with an e-mail or some way so I can contact you. Many thanks, friends!

UPDATE: As of 7/12/09, no comments on this post.

Creative birthdays

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We love going to these places where you can paint your own ceramics. A creative way to spend some time, not too expensive, and you get your creation in a week, or so! It’s fun anytime, but imagine a birthday party with about 20 young ladies ranging from the ages of 5 to 8. They had a blast. From other birthdays and outings, Abby has a nice little collection of ceramic from this location. If you’re looking for a place near your home, try here, too. It’s a link to the nationwide Creative Ceramics Studio Association.

Painting Ceramics

This is one of the cutest birthday cakes I’ve ever seen.

Birthday to Remember

Asleep Again

Unfortunately, Ollie missed the whole thing. Poor guy.

Sashimi, Sushi and Pie

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We love this sushi place that’s pretty close to our home. I wrote about Asahi in January, and we’ve dined there a few times since. Last time we went with five other friends and opted for whatever the chef wanted to make that day. So, there were at least six appetizers, maybe seven, and at least twelve types of sashimi. So much food…

Sashimi Platter

These rolls are amazing! The thin slice of lemon on salmon was really refreshing.

Holy Rolls, Batman!

Da Dinner Group

Here’s a rare photo of all of us. Two college friends, wife of one of the friends, and a couple-friend of previously mentioned married-college friend. And, here’s Chef Sato (what a hoot!) coming over to the table, always with a smile and a drink, to see if we’ve had enough to eat. Actually, he’s a big supporter of imbibing, inviting the group with sake bombs and beer… more beer!

Homemade Mini Rhubarb Pie

We ended the evening, already stuffed with sushi, with delicious, oh so, scrumptious, (not on the menu) mini-rhubarb pies made with love by Becca. Awesome homemade crust, sweet-but-not-too-sweet filling, and crumb topping. Oh, she puts my baking to shame. Well, I might be exaggerating, but she’s one darn good baker. Makes me want to try the strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe that I’ve been sitting on for a year.

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