Happy 7th Birthday, Maggie...a celebration with family

Happy 7th Birthday, Maggie.   We had such a wondeful time celebrating Maggie's birthday with family this weekend...the weather could not have been more beautiful.   We were able to eat outside without any bugs or extreme heat to spoil it.   

Sunshine on my Shoulders makes me Happy

I absolutely love the way these pictures came out.  The sunlight is gorgeous, the expressions are priceless.

Happy Birthday, Maggie....a celebration with a friend

Maggie's actual birthday was earlier in the week; we are celebrating today.  She enjoyed the picture-perfect weather with a friend and also our family.  What a wonderfully memorable day.  It seems only yesterday we were celebrating her 3rd birthday with a new tricycle.   How quickly the years go by.

1st grade musical

Maggie's first grade musical was a great success.   It is difficult to pick her out of this picure, but she is 3rd from left in the orange shirt and pigtails.  She was so excited for us to come and see the performance.   I allowed her to wear flip-flops to the musical, since she had left her shoes outside and we were in a hurry to get there early to get a seat.  I thought she would be standing on the risers only; of course, she had a part which required her to leave the risers and run in place during a song.   I felt terrible that she had to do this in flip flops before an audience, but she never missed a beat.   Also, Maggie's 7th birthday was this week, and we will have a birthday party at home with friends & family this weekend.  It is so hard to beleive that seven years have passed since she was born.   I cut several inches off of her hair for summer the night of her birthday and she was completely crushed.  I did not realize how much of her identity is wrapped up in her hair, literally!   She will soon grow it back and will not want for me to come near it again.

Sadie and our Pigeon

Sadie has had some fun feeding our pigeon;  we call him our pigeon now, since he shows no indication of going anywhere.  We also watched a migrating flock of cedar waxwings strip our formerly berry-covered holly bushes in a matter of minutes.   Cedar waxwings love fruits and berries; a flock was here and moved on, but not before stipping every holly berry from the bushes.   It was amazing to see how quickly they ate and moved on.   Sadie hates it when I take "those babyish sleeping pictures" of her; but I can't resist.  She has needed a few naps lately; the spring season is so busy.   Mowing season is upon us, with so much to do outside and inside, plus lots of activities pulling us in several directions.   Soon summer will be here, and hopefully bring with it some time to enjoy being home.  If gas prices go up as expected, we will most definately spend more time at home.  

Baby Carolina Wrens....so cute!

My crafty hubby built this bird house several years ago, and recently hung it in a new location right outside my kitchen window, on the side of the carport.  A pair of Carolina Wrens found it and have built a new nest there.   They currently have 3 baby birds;  there could be a fourth in there, it's hard to tell.  The little house is crowded!  We have all watched the parents come and go, feeding the little ones and cleaning out the house.   The parent birds have actually "house tranined" the babies to the extent that the babies "do their business" right after getting a bit of food from the parent; the parent immediately takes the offending material from the baby and away from the nest.   It is truly amazing to watch this bird family.  Nature goes on taking care of itself regardless of the troubling things we see in the newspaper each day.  On another bird note, my husband has adopted a stray banded pigeon that has appeared and taken up residence here.   The pigeon is wearing a leg band and we don't know from whence he came, but he follows Keith around the yard begging for bird seed.  Of course, Keith is secretly pleased with the attention.  I will get a picture of the pair of them and post it here soon. 

8th grade dance dress

The girls and I went shopping this weekend for a dress for Sadie's 8th grade dance. We found this sparkly little number and Sadie is very pleased with it. We also purchased shoes but we aren't sure they are going to be the final choice. She looks so happy in these pictures; I love the expressions. She is taking the first of the state standardized assessment tests at school this week. Her weekly schedule of extra-curricular activities looks like this right now: Mondays: Band drum-line practice 6-8 pm Tuesdays: Spring League volleyball practice 2 hrs at varying times Wednesdays: Handbell practice at church 4:30-5:30 followed by dinner at church and youth group until 8:00 Thursdays: Spring league volleyball practice Fridays: Usually free This is in addition to the occasional assistant coaching she does for a younger team of volleyball players who are mostly home schooled and in a homeschooling co-op association, coached by a close friend of mine. I anticipate that as she enters high school this fall, her routine will be as busy as this, but I am going to try to help her strike a good balance between home, school, and other activities. She really enjoys all of our church-related funtions and hates to miss the Wednesday nite schedule. Since she is our first born child and my first to go thru the teen years with, this is uncharted waters for me. If any of you out there in blog land would like to comment about your experiences helping busy teens find balance, feel free to comment! Your comments are welcome! Have a great Tuesday.