mission accomplished

in other news from the weekend, "Mommy won the race!" says Anna. i ran in my first 5k on Saturday. a strange new experience for me since i do not consider myself a "runner" and have not competed in anything athletic in about 17 years. Anna was thrilled, as she thinks races are the most exciting things in the world. i have to say, it was a great feeling sprinting to the finish hearing her cheer for me.

ps: i finished in 31 minutes, just 1 minute slower than my goal, but i do think i had the youngest baby there, so that's worth something right?

my two sons

it's been a tough week for me.
these cute little birds have become like children to me.
i have watched them grow from nearly the day they were hatched. i took almost 200 pictures of them. their daily growth was an incredible sight.

one day last week, one of the neighbor girls was left out of a basketball game. i brought Anna out to play with her and then showed her the nest...big mistake. i thought she would love to see the baby birds, and have a healthy respect for nature.
but immediately she asked to take them home. i explained the birds needed to stay put and let their mommy feed them and take care of them. she explained that she wanted them as pets. i distracted her with a game of roll the ball with Anna and thought that was the end of it. then on thursday, i came home to find the nest gone!!!!

i was beside myself. the neightbor girl brought the nest back with both little birds in tact and said she noticed it had "fallen" so she brought it home. i was really upset. i combed the internet for info. finally, we placed the nest in nearby planter and waited by the window to make sure the mother came back. she did. but in the morning, the nest had been flooded by our drip system. one bird was perched on the flowers,

but the other was still below getting wet.

again i needed Google's help. this time i called the Wildlife Rescue. following their instructions, i lifted the second bird back to his original nest area. Jason made a makeshift nest from egg carton. meanwhile, the first fledgling flew to our garden arch and eventually flew away. i named him Nathan. the "brother", Peter remained in the tree looking drained. but i am pleased to report, his mother took excellent care of him and tonight he flew away. i have seen Nathan visit and i hope Peter follows suit. two weeks from the day i met them, they are gone. i'm sure my real children will be happy to have my full attention again.

one of my projects

thanks to joanna for inspiring me to share one of my little projects: a blankie for Connor White now, before any sweet people leave messages saying i am crafty and cool, please know that this photo was taken after i gave Connor his gift and a few months later visited only to see some seams splitting. i confiscated the project and learned a little more about quilt construction. if any of you out there have been the recipients of my novice quilting, please let me know if repair work is in order.

we are a happy family!

Anna loves to go to "nose we" (nursery) and sing primay songs. this is the only one she has kindly let me film.

tummy time for two

Anna did not like being on her tummy at this age. but Maddie adores it, since she has her big sister to play with!

saturday mornings

this is a typical saturday morning at the earl house. this may only be interesting to grandparents.


and where was Madeline you ask?

practicing with video

i can't believe how much she's grown

baby hummingbirds

on Sunday we found a tiny Hummingbird nest in one of our queen palms. everyday, i take Anna to the window to see the teeny, tiny hatchlings. usually she says, "look at the birdies," but her eyes dart around and she doesn't really see them. (keep in mind, the nest is the size of half a golf ball and the birds the size of a pinkie finger.) but today, Anna actually saw the birds. she said, "awe look at the birdies mommy. they hungy, they crying, they looking for they mommy." it was so sweet. now, she wants to see the birdies all day long!

ps: they do seem hungry and i don't see their mom very often, but i looked it up online and the mother hummingbird only visits the nest for a few seconds every hour. so these guys are well taken of.

buttons and bows

i waited so long for Anna to have hair long enough to style with cute little bows. now that she does, she doesn't really want to cooperate with me. (what a child not cooperating with her mother?) well, she's good about letting me style it.....

...she just doesn't like to keep it that way! oh well, i'll live!

finally...a smile for Daddy

Jason's commute gets him home around 7 or so, giving him limited time with the girls before bedtime. he comes home, takes Anna for a ride in the jeep, gives her a bath, and tucks her in, while i feed Madeline. then, i go for a run. this is when the problem usually starts. Maddie, a usually very happy baby, gets grumpy this time of night especially when she doesn't have her mom. but i would rather not be her fat mom, so running i go. and she cries basically the entire time i'm gone. (in fact the other night, she cried so hard she woke up Anna and i came running up the street to see a shadow of Jason standing on the curb holding 2 screaming babies. don't tell him, but i thought it was hysterical.) i think Maddie's crying secretly hurts Jason's feelings since Anna was such a daddy's girl at this age. maybe Maddie sensed her father's secret pain, because now i come home to this:

i've been tagged

this feels like a chain letter. okay 7 unknown facts about me. well, everyone who is reading this probably knows everything there is to know about me - but here goes:

1) i hate talking about myself,
2) i am now one of those weird weird people who say, "it's not the heat, it's the humidity,"
3) (goes along with #2) i'm starting to not really be hot until it's over 110,
4) i love, absolutely adore watching Magnum P.I. though...
5) i do not find Tom Selleck sexy,
6) Anna has taught me to find something beautiful in everything (or awesome, or cool),
7) i think every single one of my teeth are "sweet".

my days just got a lot easier

all of my hard work training Anna to do more around the house has paid off. as you can see, she is totally capable of taking over one of my most time-consuming duties. bon-bons here i come!!!

storytime

Anna loves books. since the time she could hold an object, she has wanted that object to be a book. usually she likes me to read her the story. but lately after i start, she takes the book from me and says, "Anna turn." here is an exerpt from my favorite "Anna" stories:



"The prince came with a maned wolf and 6 chinchillas, then the princess and prince danced with all the boys."

guck in the muck

so one of Anna's favorite episodes of Wonder Pets is, "Save the Elephant," an elephant with his trunk stuck in the mud, or as Anna says, "guck in the muck." this afternoon waking up from her nap she cried, "guck in the muck, Mommy - guck in the muck." i thought she just wanted to watch some tv, but when i came in the room i saw her foot was stuck between 2 of the bars in her crib - she herself was guck in the muck.
now, i wanted to grab the camera. but thought it creul, so i opted to save her without delay. here is a pic of the last time Anna was "guck" - under the coffee table.

a trip to the zoo

for all you Diego lovers out there, the World Wildlife Zoo is the place to visit. they have a lot of South American animals that Diego saves!