There's Something About a Guy...

There's something about a guy who is willing to put on a tiara and for his daughters (Cinderella and the Mermaid) while they chant "Dada the King!" There's something about a guy who will make vanilla cupcakes from the Strawberry Shortcake cookbook and will allow the little ladies to frost them, despite the mess. There's something about a guy who brings his wife tea while she continues to face the endless essays she has to grade by tomorrow. There's something about a guy who will read Dora's story book at bedtime, doing all the voices. The guy with rough hands from carpentry who still strokes his daughters' hair until their little eyelids gently close. The guy who listens with his whole heart, the guy who brings coffee to his rushed wife on hectic mornings, the guy who never gets angry, who always shows love. The guy who will four wheel drive one weekend, and fix a doll's cradle the next. There's just something about this guy...all the ladies in this house think so!

Rainy and Cozy Day

Rainy days are hard to come by lately. We've been having 80 degree weather here, so our surprise for President's Day weekend was rain. Not tropical, warm rain, but cold, bleak rain!

What are a few silly girls to do on a rainy day? Snuggle with pugs. Stay in our jammies. Look at shock and horror at Mama's bag of papers to grade. Eat tangerines. Play dollhouse. Watch Noggin on TV. Play Barbie Uno. Scrapbook with Mama and Christine. Have soup for lunch. Read lots of books under a blanket on the couch.

Although last week's sun had us thinking that we'd be at the beach over President's Day weekend, we think we like rainy days even better...at least today.

My Birds

I am a bird girl. In high school and early college , I was a vegetarian because of an argument with a fellow student who liked to shoot quail. I used to feel so sad for the little quail families who took shelter from the gun blasts under our willow tree.

Growing up, I had Alfred, a neurotic cockatiel who let me pet her but bit the heck out of anyone else who tried to touch her. (Yes...Alfred was a girl...we found this out after he/she started laying eggs!) Later, after Alfred, Jeff and I had Big Bird, a cockatiel who was actually more neurotic than Alfred. Big Bird shrieked every morning until you let her out, and then she wanted to chew up everything in site. We gave Big Bird to a bird sanctuary and called it a day...no more bird ownership. Now, however, we've made our backyard a place for birds. Jeff's mom is quite a bird person, and I guess we got the idea from her.

Our couple of bird feeders weren't getting much action until Jeff bought a bag of pure sunflower seeds.

"That won't work," I told him. "They like the little seeds in it too."

Little did I know Jeff had discovered what I now call "bird crack". The birds are addicted to the black sunflower seeds. We fill up their feeder, and it is empty the next day! We have a perfect view of them from our family room couch, and we feel better about it because they are free!