Mrs. Bird’s brood could possibly include four if all goes well! Mamma’s working hard. She’s so patient.  A morning that started off with rain, dark skies, an early alarm and projectile cat vomit across my bedroom floor set the tone for kind of a crappy day. But by noon, there was a lunch hour trip…

Totally fun change of plans. Rather than go on our traditional hike in some remote location for Mother’s Day, we opted to explore a bit of downtown (inspired by my time spent at my work’s leadership conference last week). I’ve been to the top of the Rock, the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower…but…

The last three days have brought early mornings, late nights and lots of running around as I’ve helped out with my organization’s annual leadership conference downtown. It’s been fun, inspiring and exhausting. I didn’t have any ideas of catching up on sleep today because the kids had to get up at 5:30 to leave for…

So glad to see Mrs. Bird back in the garage. Hoping her second attempt is more successful.  More flowers from the neighborhood. Don’t know what they are, but they were most obliging. Other things to be happy about: – a new Chinese place opened within walking distance of our house (dinner)…    …which opened next…

Our neighbor is a lovely, warm-hearted widow with a green thumb and unique taste in flowers. I have an open invitation to take photos of her garden that I put to use as often as I can. The photo with the little white flowers is actually her holly tree. Holly trees have flowers? Who knew?…

Planning for a Mother’s Day hike with the boys. That’s their gift to me. I drag them on a hike and they can’t argue. Last year we hiked at Taum Sauk. This year I’m thinking about Onondaga Cave. It looks amazing. But the hike depends on how the boys are feeling. They’ll have played a…

A trip to the party store yesterday resulted in a gold mine of toys, nostalgia and giddiness. In addition to the silly putty and rock ’em sock ’em robot rings, I picked up some wax bottles (nik-l-nip) with fruit liquid inside, miniature etch-a-sketches and these super cute cupcake liners.  Cupcakes are of “mucho margarita” variety…

There are a lot of little things to love about our neighborhood, but this couple is perhaps among the things I adore the most. As long as we’ve lived here, the kids and I have seen these two walking all over the neighborhood. And we’re not talking about a stroll. They walk briskly and seriously,…

Patron saint of animals, the environment, and all around good guy. My work’s sponsoring congregation is Franciscan, which is why I was taking these photos today. None of these photos are a good fit for our project, but it was interesting to see how differently the same person has been rendered. So it was still…

This falls into that grey area that exists somewhere between “Whoa, dude!” and “Dude, that’s gotta hurt.” Glad they put this to music to muffle the enormous *thuds* that accompany each bird belly flop. Those poor things. Between the harshest climate our planet has to offer and, well, THAT…it’s gotta suck to be a penguin….

This was the only (arguably) decent photo that my kids would allow on a quick walk around Powder Valley this afternoon. Otherwise, I got this: Or this: *sigh* Even the deer were more cooperative than my offspring. There are THREE deer in this picture and not once did they belch at the camera or give…

Last night the boys and I went to an exhibition match featuring John McEnroe and Jim Courier. There was plenty of (seemingly staged) “You cannot be serious!” tantrums and racquet throwing to ensure that his Super Brat legacy is never forgotten… but make no mistake… …at 51 years old, big Mac can play. He and…

With the exception of the window box out front, I’m putting off spring planting until May 1. I haven’t even given our back yard “plot” a second thought until today. Whoa, what a mess. It looks like one of my pots has decided to grow something without my help. Potentially annoying, but mostly impressive. 

… should be Earth Day. To our lovely planet: many happy returns. Unfortunately, our lovely planet and her mother, Nature, can be a little harsh sometimes. When I checked on the nest today, I discovered that two of the eggs have disappeared. And it seems that Mrs. Bird has abandoned that only remaining egg. It…

An unexpected Sunday surprise — an afternoon hike with Drew! He is not a big nature kind of guy, so I was really happy to have his company. Tanner is up to his ears with homework, so we gave him a quiet house.  The paw paws have started blooming…another happy surprise. And more twisty, creepy…

0-0 in the 18th inning! I’ve made cupcakes and frosting from scratch and this game is STILL going — with NO SCORE. The Cardinals have a guy pitching who has never pitched before. OMG, my boys are rolling on the floor. This is hysterical.

Don’t know if it qualifies as a hike, but I walked five miles of trails at Queeny Park today. I actually made it past the rows of lilacs this time! I wish I could remember the significance of this tree. They even had a sign next to it. I think it’s estimated to be like 230…

This was the hardest I’ve worked for a photo in a long time. This wisteria vine is overrunning numerous trees along a stretch on my route to work — right next to an overpass. There is nowhere to pull the car over, let alone get out. I took this out my car window… stopped in…

Mrs. Bird is making progress! She’s so awesome. With the great weather, I’ve been trying to do a lot more walking (and a little bit of jogging) outside. But when I heard pea gravel rattling around in the torn soles of my shoes, I realized that I needed a new pair. After a little bit…

Lemonade made with lemon-flavored Perrier and fresh mint. A fizzy and oh-so-tart toast to my boys in celebration of their really great wins today. Here’s to a season that is off to a super start.

Love this blog (and book) called 1000 Awesome Things. It highlights some of the most random things in the funniest way that makes you go, “Oh yeah, that is kind of awesome…” Like finding the last whole triangle chip in the crumbs at the bottom of the bag, for example. Or Santas with real beards. That…

I can only imagine that this is what the Yankee Candle factory was going for when they started making lilac candles. The boys and I walked through these rows of lilac bushes when we ate lunch outside at Queeny Park today. Most of the time I just wanted to stop, close my eyes and breathe…

“To ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness and maintain an interest in life.” Great philosophy, but I would add one thing: “sleep like a kitty.” This morning I went to the bakery to pick up some gooey pecan rolls for a coworker’s birthday. Cross-stitching-golf-lover-guy was there again, complete with magnifying…