Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Baby Robins

Here are some robin pictures from today. I can't believe how quickly they're growing now! They will be ready to leave the nest within the next couple days. They'll stick close because they won't be able to fly well for about another week, though.

Monday, May 30, 2011

This & That

Danielle marched in a parade this morning and then played a softball game. That would have been tiring enough (she was on the go for about 5 hours), but the temperature was in the 90s, which was well above normal. She was a trooper, though, and pulled it off. She even had a hit and scored a run. It was great to have Ron's parents spend the day with us, too.

Here are a couple pictures before the parade. Tyler helped carry the sign again. The girls (& Tyler) rested in the back of the truck before the parade started.






















Here are some various nature pics I've taken recently, including a picture I took tonight of our baby robins. They are growing quickly - that nest is getting crowded!




Saturday, May 28, 2011

Baby Robins

Our robin babies are a little over a week old now. They are finally chirping when mom & dad bring them food. I think they'll be trying to hop around, but maybe not flying yet, by this time next week. They grow fast - which is why mom & dad are always bringing food back. Look at this load one of them brought back!


Baton Performance

Danielle's baton group performed at our school's variety show last night. In case you can't tell (the video is a little dark), Danielle is in the front row, 2nd from the left.





Thursday, May 26, 2011

Going for a Walk

While going for a walk at the park today, I saw these little raccoons & their mommy going for a walk. Actually, I think they were walking home. They followed mom up the tree and into a hole at the very top. I so wish I could have gotten better pictures, but they moved quickly and I was afraid I was going to scare them away. They were sooooo cute!











Wednesday, May 25, 2011

This & That

Our baby birds are getting bigger, but they still won't cooperate for a good picture. I don't think they can open their eyes yet, and they aren't peeping yet, either. Shouldn't be too much longer, though.



Danielle loves looking at the horses every time we drive by this barn just outside our development. They've had a couple foals this spring. They were rather uncooperative, too. Most of the time this little guy would either hide between his parents or flop down in the tall grass. I guess no kid likes to stand still long enough to have his picture taken.
























I begged this kid to stand still when we were leaving Girl Scouts last night. She's usually kind enough to indulge her snap-happy mom. (You rarely see pictures of Tyler because he is not.) Last night was their last meeting until school starts again. They had a lady come speak to them about manners and they had a little tea party. Danielle really enjoyed it.




There are only 5 days of school left after today. Hallelujah!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Danielle's Busy Day

Danielle's baton group performed at a celebration in our little town this morning. They wore new uniforms and performed a new routine. They looked so cute and did a great job. They are performing at the school's variety show next Friday and will be marching in our Memorial Day parade the following Monday. I love watching her twirl and am looking forward to a couple more performances before they break for the summer.



































































Tonight was Danielle's first softball game. She moved up to coach pitch softball this year. It's kind of rough because she's now one of the youngest in this age group, which can include kids as old as 3rd grade. We have a lot of young girls like Danielle on our team. Tonight we played a team of mostly older girls who have all played together for at least 2 years. It wasn't pretty, but Danielle had fun. And she looks adorable in her uniform. She played 2nd base for the 1st 2 innings and did a great job! She played catcher for the 3rd inning and admitted to me later that she HATED it. She clacked when she walked and could barely see out of the mask. I thought it was funny. She was a good sport, though, and tried her best. She played in the outfield for the 4th inning. We didn't have to play out the rest of the innings because we were so far behind! I found the perfect job to keep Tyler occupied this season. That should make the games much more bearable (for me). Goodness, is he restless during the game!





Friday, May 20, 2011

More Baby Pictures

Here was the nest this morning - 2 babies & 1 egg.














Here was the nest this afternoon -3 bulgy eyed, featherless babies (and 1 mad momma squawking at us from the next tree).














And here is my baby trying on her softball uniform. Her first game is tomorrow. Who cares if she wins...she looks cute.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Baby Robins

At least one of our backyard robins' eggs have hatched. I'm pretty sure it hatched today. I'm not sure if all three of them have hatched yet because I can't get a good view. The mom & dad won't leave the nest unattended at all, even when I got close to the tree, and I don't want to scare them away. Here's the only picture I was able to take today. Of course, the NEVERENDING rain doesn't help.

















A couple days ago this young robin was hopping around our yard. It sat on the fence and cried for food until its momma brought it a snack.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

A Sure Sign that Summer is Coming

The Ice Cream Truck made its rounds down the streets of our development today.

Finished Project


Tyler finished the bridge before lunch today. He got tired of waiting for Ron and finished Ron's tower, too. I think it looks great and am amazed at how quickly he finished it.

Friday, May 13, 2011

School Projects

We only have 13 days of school left before summer break! Hooray!! I am so ready for longer evenings & later mornings, fun summer outings, and sweaty, tired kids. (Summer-fun tired is a much better tired than school-burn-out tired.)







Danielle had to do an animal report & project this grading period. She considered picking snakes, like Tyler did in first grade, but she settled on flamingos. She did a really good job writing her paper - definitely a keeper. I thought her project was really cute, too. She drew a flamingo pattern and then traced 20+ of them (she didn't use them all), glued parts of a feather boa on them for wings, glued them to the box, & then added beaks & legs (which was difficult since she had to reach over the attached lid). She drew the palm trees, too. I'm sure everyone got a good grade on their reports & papers, but Danielle was pretty proud of her work anyway.
















Tyler was in the Lego Club this year. They met from January - April. This Tuesday the school held a silent auction to auction off the completed sets the kids put together. The starting bids were well below retail, so we bid on the largest set...and won! Tyler was SO excited. This set is for ages 16+ and has over 4000 pieces. Tyler's largest set until now had 1200 pieces, so this is a big jump. The set has 2 identical towers, so Ron and Tyler started off each working on a tower. I knew Tyler was good, but I expected this set to slow him down a little since it's for ages 16+. His group worked on another set, so he didn't have experience putting it together already, either. He hasn't had any problems at all, though. In fact, he works faster than Ron & hasn't made any mistakes at all yet. He helped Ron fix one of his mistakes, though. ;) We took it all apart on Wednesday, and they got started that night. Danielle and I help by sorting & helping to find the pieces they need. These pictures are from Wednesday, Thursday, & today.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

For the Birds


For lack of anything better to post, here are a couple more bird pictures. The first is a spotted sandpiper. The second is a female pileated woodpecker. You can't really tell in this picture, but the hole she was making was HUGE!






























Monday, May 09, 2011