Emma, Molly, Dan, Mary
thanks emma!
(oh–not scanned in backwards, that is how she’s been writing her name lately, interesting…)
Emma, Molly, Dan, Mary
thanks emma!
(oh–not scanned in backwards, that is how she’s been writing her name lately, interesting…)
Meet Gertie, the smallest of our three baby finches, and by far my favorite one. She has a special look of determination in her eye that strikes me. Maybe because she is the smallest and has to work extra hard to get to the front of the nest to be fed, fighting over her large, clumsy brothers and sisters. All the babies are out of the nest now, moving comfortably around the cage. Except for Gertie. In my human opinion, she is not ready to be out of the nest, but I think she feels pressure from her siblings who hop from branch to branch in the cage. I have put Gertie back into the nest so many times, that now she opens her mouth to be fed when my hand comes searching into the cage for her tiny frame. During our "photo shoot" this morning, she sat quietly in my hand and even closed her eyes and snoozed for a little while.
Emma named her. She was verballing scrolling through a list of names that rhymed with "birdy" and when she hit "Gertie", I jumped on it. In fact, I anticipated her eventually arriving at this name as she passed through the list: sertie, mertie, fertie, kertie….So when she arrived at Gertie, I jumped, "Gertie!! I love it! Emma, you did such a great job of coming up with a name for the baby bird!" She was quite proud of herself for coming up with the name. Oh, the manipulation a mother must stoop to at times.
In the meantime, Emma was outside jumping in the sprinkler while I watered the garden. At the point when I asked her to turn off the hose, she was only wet from the waist down. When she arrived inside, she was soaked head to toe, and mysteriously was carrying all of her shower paraphernalia with her, including powder and my hair brush. She proclaimed proudly that she had taken her shower outside. "How??" I asked…"I showered in the puddles." That would explain the bits of dead leaves , grass and mud caked to her scalp.
Meet Gertie, the smallest of our three baby finches, and by far my favorite one. She has a special look of determination in her eye that strikes me. Maybe because she is the smallest and has to work extra hard to get to the front of the nest to be fed, fighting over her large, clumsy brothers and sisters. All the babies are out of the nest now, moving comfortably around the cage. Except for Gertie. In my human opinion, she is not ready to be out of the nest, but I think she feels pressure from her siblings who hop from branch to branch in the cage. I have put Gertie back into the nest so many times, that now she opens her mouth to be fed when my hand comes searching into the cage for her tiny frame. During our "photo shoot" this morning, she sat quietly in my hand and even closed her eyes and snoozed for a little while.
Emma named her. She was verballing scrolling through a list of names that rhymed with "birdy" and when she hit "Gertie", I jumped on it. In fact, I anticipated her eventually arriving at this name as she passed through the list: sertie, mertie, fertie, kertie….So when she arrived at Gertie, I jumped, "Gertie!! I love it! Emma, you did such a great job of coming up with a name for the baby bird!" She was quite proud of herself for coming up with the name. Oh, the manipulation a mother must stoop to at times.
In the meantime, Emma was outside jumping in the sprinkler while I watered the garden. At the point when I asked her to turn off the hose, she was only wet from the waist down. When she arrived inside, she was soaked head to toe, and mysteriously was carrying all of her shower paraphernalia with her, including powder and my hair brush. She proclaimed proudly that she had taken her shower outside. "How??" I asked…"I showered in the puddles." That would explain the bits of dead leaves , grass and mud caked to her scalp.
I think I am becoming a photography junkie. I find that I’m carrying my camera with me everywhere I go, and when I don’t have it on me, I’m always thinking, "oooh, I should take a picture of that." Deep down, I am still a purist. I’d much rather have a handful of photographs from my SLR than be sitting in front a computer screen scrolling through pictures. But, I guess I’m becoming a sucker for the convenience and immediate satisfaction of digital prints.
So, with that said, I have pictures to share today.
It has been on my mind lately to get some potatoes out of my pantry and little paint to do some good old fashioned potato-stamping. Several years ago, my college roommate and I ran a nature camp and had so much fun doing this with the kids. So, on a whim today, I finally got out the knife and potatoes and carved two simple squares for stamping. I wanted to do an easy shape, but at the same time, I really like the simplicity of the square in different sizes. Maybe it’s the subliminal mommy square, baby square effect that I’m drawn to. I was having so much fun stamping by myself, and then emma wandered in with two of her own tshirts to stamp. It was lots of fun and I’m pleased with the results. One of Emma’s shirts is on the left, and I did the baby onesie for Mary. 
Last week, I saw these Chinese Lanterns for sale in a thrift store. I didn’t buy any, but when I mentioned them to my mother-in-law, she said she had them in her back yard garden. So, this afternoon I picked a whole bunch and trimmed off the leaves because apparently they dry really well. I love the vibrant colors. 
When I was looking for information about them online. I found this website about a blossom and seed swap. It sounds so interesting. I will have to check it out when I have more time. What a neat idea.
While we were picking flowers a yellow jacket landed on Emma’s calf. When she stood up to run away (mostly because her mother was freaking out yelling, "emma’s there’s a bee on you, get up, get up!!") she caught the bee between her calf and thigh and it stung her. Oh, I HATE bee stings. 
Just as I was typing this, she came into the room in her most dramatic, frail voice and told me that now she won’t be able to do anything– not eat, not play, not nap, not pickup, not go anywhere…all because of her bee sting. It is too much to handle.
Maybe I need a bee sting, too…
Lastly, for a dose of reality, and to avoid having my day sound like a romantic afternoon of artwork and flower-picking, let me confess that last night’s dinner dishes are still on the counter, there are wet clothes in the washing machine and wrinkled, unfolded clothes in the dryer, goldfish crackers are swimming around my living rug, and if I rolled around on my carpets for a few minutes, I’d stand up with an extra layer of dog hair for warmth. That is reality.
I think I am becoming a photography junkie. I find that I’m carrying my camera with me everywhere I go, and when I don’t have it on me, I’m always thinking, "oooh, I should take a picture of that." Deep down, I am still a purist. I’d much rather have a handful of photographs from my SLR than be sitting in front a computer screen scrolling through pictures. But, I guess I’m becoming a sucker for the convenience and immediate satisfaction of digital prints.
So, with that said, I have pictures to share today.
It has been on my mind lately to get some potatoes out of my pantry and little paint to do some good old fashioned potato-stamping. Several years ago, my college roommate and I ran a nature camp and had so much fun doing this with the kids. So, on a whim today, I finally got out the knife and potatoes and carved two simple squares for stamping. I wanted to do an easy shape, but at the same time, I really like the simplicity of the square in different sizes. Maybe it’s the subliminal mommy square, baby square effect that I’m drawn to. I was having so much fun stamping by myself, and then emma wandered in with two of her own tshirts to stamp. It was lots of fun and I’m pleased with the results. One of Emma’s shirts is on the left, and I did the baby onesie for Mary.
Last week, I saw these Chinese Lanterns for sale in a thrift store. I didn’t buy any, but when I mentioned them to my mother-in-law, she said she had them in her back yard garden. So, this afternoon I picked a whole bunch and trimmed off the leaves because apparently they dry really well. I love the vibrant colors.
When I was looking for information about them online. I found this website about a blossom and seed swap. It sounds so interesting. I will have to check it out when I have more time. What a neat idea.
While we were picking flowers a yellow jacket landed on Emma’s calf. When she stood up to run away (mostly because her mother was freaking out yelling, "emma’s there’s a bee on you, get up, get up!!") she caught the bee between her calf and thigh and it stung her. Oh, I HATE bee stings.
Just as I was typing this, she came into the room in her most dramatic, frail voice and told me that now she won’t be able to do anything– not eat, not play, not nap, not pickup, not go anywhere…all because of her bee sting. It is too much to handle.
Maybe I need a bee sting, too…
Lastly, for a dose of reality, and to avoid having my day sound like a romantic afternoon of artwork and flower-picking, let me confess that last night’s dinner dishes are still on the counter, there are wet clothes in the washing machine and wrinkled, unfolded clothes in the dryer, goldfish crackers are swimming around my living rug, and if I rolled around on my carpets for a few minutes, I’d stand up with an extra layer of dog hair for warmth. That is reality.