4th of July

A sparkler drawn heart for me :)

When I was a teenager the 4th of July was my favorite holiday, hands down. Every year my mom and stepdad would travel to Pennsylvania to buy the crazy big dangerous fireworks that were illegal in Virginia. Our house was in a big field and it was a perfect place to put on a show. We'd invite everyone...relatives would travel from far off places, we could invite any friends we wanted, strangers would even park across the street to see what we would do next. This was an all-day event that would begin with my stepdad blasting Sousa marches through the house to wake us up (annoying but endearing). We'd go outside to clean up the deck and the area around the pool. My mom would get started on the food and before long the house would be packed with people. Kids in the pool, burgers on the grill, and Jimmy Buffett and Bob Marley echoing around outside. The weather was always magically sunny and everyone always seemed so happy. It was one of those traditions that I thought would never end.

But it did.

My mom and stepdad split up, my siblings and I have all started families of our own and I've moved away. And so my favorite holiday fell by the wayside. Sure there are still great family get togethers with all the cousins running around together and everyone laughing and talking but I still get wistful when I think about those July 4th parties.

Maybe it's time Independence Day is my favorite again? After all, I love talking to the kids about our country and its history. I love fireworks and food on the grill and spending the day outside. This weekend was a good start to me falling in love with this holiday all over again. The city of Athens had their fireworks show on Friday night. We found a great spot to watch near the river and the fireworks were way better than I anticipated. The kids oohed and ahhed over every single explosion. We marveled over the ones that looked like Saturn and the ones that were perfect squares. The weather was cool and the humidity was nonexistent. It was perfect. The 10 minute trip home only took 30 with all the traffic and road work...amazing.

I thought it was strange that the show was a day early but it was our plan to do our own fireworks on the 4th. Steaks on the grill, ice cold watermelon, ice cream. It was going to be a good day. We didn't make it to the parade but we headed to town for the afternoon. We Wii'd a lot, we played hand after hand of Monopoly Deal (a great family card game if you haven't tried it yet...monopoly in 15 minutes or less), all in all it was great. And then it started raining. So, we still managed to grill our steaks and potatoes but fireworks were out. Good thing the city show was a day early after all!

Today we slept in, Livvie had a playdate with her friend who recently inherited 6 American Girl dolls. Jeremy, Noah and I played games while she was gone doing girly stuff :) Tonight more fantastic food on the grill including sweet, crisp corn on the cob, and leftover unbirthday cake for dessert. And, finally!, it was time for our little fireworks. We got to buy flying stuff this year because we're in Ohio but we still kept it low key because our neighbors are so close. As it is...um...they have 4 parachute men on their roof. Oops!! It was a good time and a great way to wrap up our weekend. Tomorrow we go back to reality...Jeremy at work, swim lessons for the kids in the mornings and the rush of errands and playdates and getting ready for Liv's party next weekend. But this weekend? It was pretty darn good :)

Love Thursday - Cake and Jeremy and Happy Thursdays

Recently I've had a hankering for cake. Not just any cake. Birthday cake. With thick icing and ugly roses in gaudy colors. I want bakery birthday cake. I want it to be so rich that I feel sick when I'm finished eating even the tiniest piece. This happens a few times a year and it's usually appeased by the next birthday on our calendar. However, Noah doesn't like cake so his birthday requires that I make brownies. Olivia's birthday is in a couple weeks but we're having a "cooking" party and will be making cupcakes instead of cake. It's just not the same. And, so, I resigned myself to waiting until my own birthday at the end of August. Sigh. Poor me.

Except...

I have an amazing husband. And tonight I received this in all it's perfect, sugary glory:

I really, really love that man :)

One of my favorite things about this is that it reminds me of my teenage years. My stepdad used to randomly show up with gifts for us for no reason. Flowers for my mom and I. Baseball cards for my brothers. Little things he'd find in quirky stores that he thought we'd like. But one of my very favorite memories is the night he showed up with one of those giant cookies. It simply said "Happy Thursday." It was silly and unexpected and summed him up perfectly. The cake tonight was my Happy Thursday and it was perfect.

Love Thursday - Lavender

The lavender surrounding the front yard is in full bloom. It brushes your legs as you walk past and the bees and butterflies are contently humming and flitting from sunrise until sunset. It's delicate and fragrant, lush but somehow subtle all at the same time. If you want some dried lavender let me know...we will have plenty to go around.

I Almost Forgot!!

A correction:

Those baby squirrels? Not baby squirrels at all. We have a pair of flying squirrels in the birdhouse on the back deck. We were eating a late dinner outside recently when they snuck out to eat from the finch feeder. When I crept closer for a better look they glided away and barked at us from afar. Olivia declared "Oh no! Now I don't know if I'd rather have a bunny or a flying squirrel for a pet!" Decisions, decisions :0) (I'll admit, they are pretty darn cute!!)

I'm A Slacking Slacker

Things have been busy around here and my posting has fallen by the wayside. It's not that I don't want to let you know what's going on; it's just that when I have to choose between hanging out with guests or the kids or Jeremy...well, blogging gets forgotten ;)

That said, summer is officially here! The kids are done with school. Noah had his 10th birthday and we've been entertaining guests for several weeks in a row. It's been a great month so far! My mom and grandmother and great-grandmother came to visit on Memorial Day weekend and it was great to see them. We kept things pretty simple and really just hung out, showed them the town, went antiquing, and chatted. A lot. Our friend Dave came up to visit around that time, too. The kids were thrilled he brought some Wii games we hadn't tried and Jeremy and I had fun just having him around.

Next our friend P came to visit. He drove up on a Tuesday and planned on staying til Friday. We had such a great time that he ended up extending his visit so that he was here an entire week. It was pretty much the best week we've had since moving here. Amazing what an old friend can do for your spirits!

This past weekend my Dad and stepmom came up to spend some time with us. I think they enjoyed seeing us as much as we enjoyed having them here :)

School has been out for a couple weeks now, Noah earned his green belt in Taekwondo and we had a sleepover for his birthday. Luckily P was here to help us wrangle up boys who played video games and ate and talked the entire night. The adults lasted until about 4 am or so but the kids made it the entire night. If only I could bottle up their energy!!

This week the kids are with Jeremy's parents. They are busy catching up with old friends and spending some time with the grandparents. From all the reports we've gotten so far they are having a fantastic time. As for Jeremy and I, we're counting down the days until the weekend. We're heading to Atlantic City for a free trip made possible by pooling resources with a friend. I'm not interested in gambling (it's no secret how badly I play poker, after all) but I'm dying to see the ocean. Perhaps we'll fit in a day trip to Cape May.

The weather has been beautiful here. The rain has started slowing down and everything is lush and green. The house is quiet (almost too much) and clean. The Wii and the tv are mine during the day and I've been reading up a storm sitting on our deck in a comfy chair. It's a good way to start the summer. I'm missing the kids but we've got lots planned for when they get back. There's plenty of time to fit everything in. For now, we just need to figure out when we're getting visitors again. I'm ready!!

Circling

I never did tell you about our robins. As you know, they nested in one of our bedroom windows above our bed. As strange as it was to wake up to find Mama Robin staring at me, I loved knowing that I'd get such a close up view of the babies. I think I included a picture before of the 4 bright blue eggs she laid? Anyway, 3 weeks ago (or so) 3 of the four eggs hatched. For two wonderful weeks I had the chance to watch the babies grow. They changed from hairless, helpless babies with closed eyes and bobbing heads to miniature versions of their parents. I was able to watch the adults bring long, slimy worms and fat, wriggling grubs up to them. I watched them nap and shuffle around while the parents were away. I never took any photos of them after the eggs hatched. The window was splattered with mud from when the nest was built (such a perfect basket of grass and mud) and I didn't want to scare the nestlings by opening the window just so I could satisfy my urge for a photograph. The kids and Jeremy weren't interested in the babies...after all, it took a little climbing and a lot of balancing to get up to the window where they were. I didn't mind scaling the bookshelf, grabbing the top with my fingertips while positioning myself between the bed and the shelves. I couldn't stop watching them! Birds grow so quickly that it was almost like watching a film fast forwarded. I could tell a difference in them every single day. I don't know I have a fascination with birds. I love listening to them. I love their bright colors and funny walk. I love how controlled their flight is and how silly they can be when playing in water or snow. They calm me down somehow and make me take time to appreciate something that doesn't belong to me, something simple, something that could so easily be taken for granted.

Last weekend the fledglings left the nest. I climbed up on my perch to peek at them and saw that they were gone. With a little bit of sadness I asked Jeremy to get out a ladder so we could knock down the nest. (While I love birds the thought of left behind bird mites invading my house and skin does not appeal to me one bit!) Summer is quickly approaching and all my bird babies were on their own.

And, then, on Friday I heard Maggie barking. I walked into the kitchen and looked out the glass doors to see a bird lying on the deck. Apparently one of my fledglings had flown into the door. It was lying on its back, eyes shut tight. It was still small...maybe 2/3 of the size of an adult robin and its grown-up feathers were still coming in. The colors were a mix of babyhood grays and browns along with the adult reddish breast that makes the bird so easily recognizable. I didn't want to scoop one of my babies off of the wood but we had a realtor coming by so I certainly couldn't leave it there. I stood there in the kitchen, hemming and hawing, wondering what to do. Suddenly its wings began to slowly flutter. Its eyes opened and looked around. Maggie barked harder. What was this strange creature on her deck?? The wings moved faster and I began to hope that maybe it was just stunned. I waited and kept coming back to check on it but it wouldn't get up. It wouldn't even turn over. I ran and got some gloves and went outside. I picked her up and noticed that her neck was at an odd angle. Maybe it was broken? She could still move her wings and legs just fine but her neck turned back over her body like she was going to drift off to sleep. I cradled her in my hands and stroked her breast and head until she calmed down. She let me check her wings and legs without complaint and I knew that wasn't a good sign. I sat there with her nestled in my hands for about 15 minutes watching her breathe, watching her sleep, watching her open an eye every now and then to see if I was still there staring. I was pretty sure she would die soon. After all, she was small and hurt and obviously exhausted from the effort of trying to get up and fly away. I put her in the flower box with my newly sprouted pumpkin plants. The wind was chilly and I wanted her to be in a protected spot that she would easily be able to escape from if she shook off her injuries. I tucked my gloves around her and went back inside. All evening I checked on her. I gave her berries which she adamantly refused. She seemed to be getting stronger by dusk - she was determined to fight me when I got too close and she would squawk in fear. I decided to let her be and hope that she'd feel better in the morning. After all, I had no idea how long it took for birds to get over the shock of hitting something so hard.

The next morning she was still alive but still hadn't eaten anything. Her neck was still twisted and she still could not sit up straight. Knowing that she was going to slowly starve to death (my google research showed that robins this age still rely on their parents for food and since she wouldn't let me near her any more...) and knowing that her neck most likely was broken (or something was) Jeremy did a kindness by quickly killing her. It broke my heart but I knew it was the best thing to do. I realize that the chances of this being one of "my" robins was slim but I still felt a closeness to this baby that lived such a short life. She was so light and soft in my hands. I wish there was more that we could have done.

We chose not to tell the kids about the bird knowing that they would be really upset. Instead we went about the rest of our day as normal. And that would have been the end of the story except last night while eating dinner on the deck I happened to look over at the bluebird house. I knew that no birds had nested in it this year (probably due to its proximity to our 3 feeders) so I hadn't thought much about it. As I looked up though I thought I saw something staring at me. We were all quiet and watching when 2 little baby squirrels poked their heads out of the hole to peek at us. Their eyes were huge and their ears were teeny tiny. As much as the squirrels here drive me nuts I suddenly was excited. More spring babies close to the house! I may have lost my robin but I now have the squirrels to watch. It was just what I needed :)

Love Thursday - The Deck

As promised, my favorite part of the house...the back deck. We're up on a hill so when you're outside you're right in the branches of the trees. It's shady and quiet and big enough for us to hang out comfortably. I love it out there. The only thing missing is the sound of the bullfrogs and the spring peepers.