goin' on a baby animal hunt

goin' on a baby animal hunt and i'm not afraid. 'cause i got my ...

binoculars!
and ...

bait!

(aka baby sister. 'tater' was really good but she just can't wait to get in on all the fun and melee. she is 10 1/2 months now and just starting to take a few steps! i thought it best to keep her in the stroller. that way she can't cause to much damage or be carried off by some bird of prey! what would i tell my husband?

on the hunt! today we went to the rocky mountain arsenal nation wildlife refuge. the kids leaned about some of the baby animals found there. when asked what she learned from today's field trip 'small fry' replied, "what did i learn from what?" obviously it was a very memorable experience. when i enquired further, 'small fry' said, "i learned that owlets hop on branches and that the mom hops on branches and that she holds the worms with her beak and when she gets up into the nest she can feed the babies. the momma bird pushes her tummy out to make a roundy, roundy, roundy nest."

insightful! we had a fun time and, no, we didn't see any real baby animals. they had pictures placed around the trail for the kids to find and review what they learned. we went a little further and crossed the board walk probably making the anglers upset yet they smiled politely at us. i think that 'tater' got the most smiles and gave the most too! it was a super cute activity. the kids had discussions, crafts and a hunt! what else could a kid want? oh, except candy. there was none of that.

stamp, color, cut, glue, tape and viola! 'noclars'! (love it that she calls them that!)'small fry' had to have pink.

and here is something that i have been working on. this is 'small fry' when she was about 6 months. i was inspired by some other blogs and had to try my hand at it. i am doing some more for a friend and sooo if you are interested in something like this in your home, let me know and we can figure something out! the picture looks navy blue but it is really a dark gray.

here it is in my living room. the size of this particular piece is 16" x 36" (1 1/4 feet x 3 feet) on pine. you can designate the dimensions, colors, wood, etc. thanks & enjoy.

check out our new nest!

made you look!

you thought we were moving, right?
we have a new nest, but not the kind you are thinking of. lately i thought there was an over abundance of birds in the area until i noticed this little creation: (top of wreath)

here take a closer look:

now i realize why i was being dive-bombed every day for the last week. some new neighbors have moved in and are building a nest in the wreath just outside our front door. poor location is my thought. too many people and our front porch light is always on. should i turn it off? we will see how this all progresses. it will be fun to see the baby birds when they hatch and now i need to figure out what kind of bird these are.


p.s. the other night as i was tucking in 'small fry' she asked me to tell everyone that she can now swing on her own. she then sat strait up in her bed and said, "oh, mom! you can blog about it! blog about me swinging on my own." soooo...

'SMALL FRY' CAN NOW SWING ON HER OWN!

i don't who is more excited. now i don't have to do under-dog after under-dog. at least not until 'tater tot' is bigger. it's one of those bitter-sweet moments. happy to have her become a 'big kid' but also sad that she no longer needs me (at least for swinging).

dad smells like 'B-U-M'

ok - so you're thinking "what?" here is the story:

mr. potato head (dad) went to play ultimate frisbee saturday morning. and, like any typical guy, he worked up one of those really healthy sweats. you know the one where its not only sweat but that 'outdoor' smell, too. wow, did we notice! when he came home, he and 'small fry' talked about stuff in the room and then he left to get in the shower. i came in the room and could still smell him and said, "whew, dad really smells!" and 'small fry' replies,

"yeah. he smells like 'B-U-M'!"

my first reaction was hysterical laughter! then, double take, i thought,

"where did she hear that?"

later i learned that when dad and 'small fry' were talking they discussed body odor or better known as 'B-U-M' around our house. she had mistaken 'B-U-M' for just plain old 'B-O'.

(for the record, my husband did not smell like a B-U-M. love you, babe!)

work in progress 1 of 4

so here is a preview of what i am making for the girls' room. this is not quite finished so close your eyes (don't close your eyes if you can't read and close at the same time - only a few of us out there who can) and imagine this picture in a grouping of four. the painting next to this will also have branches and orange blossoms (continued) but will also include two bird silhouettes, tiffany blue and pale yellow. a damask print running along the right side (very distressed that continues onto the canvas below). below theses two will be 2 more pictures; one with thinner branches (vertically) and tiny blossoms of various shades of pink all over, the last with a quote in pale pink on brown (or the other way around). "every inspiration a blossom, every branch a path." do you see my vision? well, it may not turn out exactly like i see it in my mind but that's the challenge. thoughts???? suggestions???? finished product will be done in 2 years! check back then!

i hope that you realize that this is a 'in progress' shot and the lighting was not the best. the colors look a little off.

zonk

did the routine; eat, rock, cuddle, and an hour later this is how i found her. she was pretty stubborn about taking a nap but, in the end, sleep won and she was too worn out from crying to even lay down. ZONK!

nine months

peek-a-boo! look who is 9 months old!
stats:
weight: 20 pounds
length: 28.5 inches
loves: momma and music
hates: any green veggie and diaper rash
favorite toy: whatever big sister is playing with
talents: waves 'hi', claps, crawls, pulls up
teeth count: 7

here is a picture the looks more like 'tater tot'. for some reason the tub one looks like a completely different baby.

love those big blue eyes!

snapshots

1 very silly girl + 1 uncooperative baby = super silly snapshots

thanks for making me smile!