Baby Birds....

So, I wanted to try my hand at gardening....right? I got a hanging strawberry plant, lime tree and an ivy. With the help of my more green thumb friend, we got them all growing. (QUITE a nice selection of limes growing also...bring ON the vodka and cranberry!!) I'm all proud of myself, not having killed anything yet, ya know...and then it started...

First, she was just hanging out on the ivy, which hangs by my back sliding glass door which overlooks the yard of toys. Then she's bringing stuff IN the ivy...sticks...straw...etc.

She's apparently setting up shop, Mrs. Bird.

Now, I'm not an animal HATER by any stretch of the imagination...I grew up with pets and until the past two years, the man and I had cats (til mini-me became allergic). So, naturally, I was not a bird person as that would have been cruel to try to have wild birds around the cats, albeit, amusing.

So I had NO clue what to do with Mrs. Bird setting up shop in my ivy...not to mention I was not pleased that I could not water my ivy. Thankfully it's a hardy plant and thus far, survived.

Thanks to several facebook friends, I've learned a thing or two about birdies, and Mrs. Bird built herself a lovely little nest and took to creating some life. After much sitting and giving me evil bird looks if I walked out the back door....some little eggs appeared in the nest. (before you yell at me...no, I didn't take the plant down once the eggs appeared, I held the camera up to take pics.)

Five little white eggs appeared. We've deduced she's a wren.

So Mrs. Bird sits on said eggs for quite some time...and lo and behold...weird things start appearing (I'm still curious where the eggshells end up?)

They all hatched pretty darn fast and looked pretty odd at first. SO tiny. Mind you this nest is probably less than 8 inches across in total.

So Mrs. Bird continues to care for her babies, and I continue to NOT water my ivy (meanwhile, the strawberries and limes are rocking!) and we start to coexist. When she seems to realize I'm NOT going to take her precious babies and deep fry them, she stops trying to attack me when I go outside. She lets us play outside and she remains on the nest...watching us, but not as scared of us as before. I start to understand her call, and recognize her call out of all the birds flying around! It's pretty remarkable actually.....I'm being all Jane Goodall....

Naturally, the boys are LOVING this. Eli wants a peek every day...Harrison isn't as interested unless I bring it to his attention (the birds probably have a longer attention span than he does..) I admit....while I was once miffed she set up home in MY plant..I am willing to take one for the team and lose a plant for birdkind. And if she feeds her babies the slugs and caterpillars attempting to eat my lime leaves...then heck yeah she can stay put!

The babies are getting stronger. They poke their heads up now, look like real birds and one actually moved his wings a little bit today. Harrison wants to name them...suggested names included: Flappy, Fuzzy, Thor, Thomas and from Eli, "Birdie".
I personally will be naming this little guy, Elvis.

He's kinda cute, isn't he?

Of course I do have an incredible urge to hurl one of them at a pig...but that's probably because I play too much angry birds...

I promise not to throw any baby birds! I should point out, Mr. Bird has made quite a few appearances and he is the main 'worm bringer' of the couple. He is the one feeding them the most, and I found that quite chivalrous.
I suspect the baby birds will attempt to take flight in the next week or two, since one was already moving his wings a bit. I'm told they come back and lay eggs in the same spot, so I've not yet decided if we'll reopen Hotel Wren again, but in the meantime...we're enjoying our little natural sciences lesson! 

I'll do my best to get some video and pics of them flying!!

Until our next birdie update...
~~mama

Home Again....New Directions, Cleaning and another Addiction...

Hello friends! I am home again after a recent trip to Gulf Shores, AL. It was beautiful, and a great trip for spiritual and family renewal and I am grateful we take such a trip every year!

I shall reopen my shops hopefully on the 10th. I'll be evaluating where I want certain items to go. I took advantage of the Artfire 5.95 a month deal and would like to refocus my energies on selling on Artfire for 2011. So we shall see how that goes as I reopen, move things around and put certain items on SALE :)

I'm still blogging also at Daily Handmade Picks if you've not taken a gander over there. I'm enjoying it, simple, short and to the point!

Our trip also brought me home with a new computer since our old one was slow as molasses, and that also brought me back to memory lane---I got Sims 3. I forgot how addicting that game is. So if ya'll don't see me make new stuff for awhile, you know why, I'm spending all of Eli's naps in Sims land! Nahh I don't have an addictive personality!

I also tried a nifty technique today. See, I am determined to get my household ORGANIZED so I can better focus my time on kids, house, work, creating, bible study, and fun. So today I tried my friend Dee's tip of cleaning for 10 minutes at a time. I decided to do 15 minutes every hour. So on the 45 of every hour I will clean, tidy, put away!

It is amazing how much you get done in that uninterrupted time! In 15 minutes I was able to load dishes, wipe down counter, make bed, pick up toys and clothes, sweep and still had minutes to spare to change a diaper!! :) I will not do the plan during Eli's nap which is my "work" time...sewing, creating, photographing, listing, etc. But I'm hopefully that I can keep it up. I'm guessing if you need a major DEEP clean you should do that first, then this is a great method at KEEPING things clean!

So what's new with you guys? How is your fall going? Fall is my favorite time of year! Cooler weather, football, hurricane season ends! Its also a time to clean out, decorate for harvest time (we don't do Halloween or Christmas but I love to prepare for Thanksgiving and fall season!) and just enjoy the beautiful weather!

And on that note guys, hot chocolate calls me!!

~~amy

My Journey Into Minimalism Part Two

So, I am still on this journey to find my home. No, I'm not wandering the streets of my town lost, but I am still in the process of purging, cleaning, organizing and finding the HOME in my house.

The week in the cabin spurned an awakening inside me, causing me to immensely need to purge our belongings, for fear we'd end up on some reality show buried under toys.

Okay, so I'm actually not really a hoarder (I even share my fabric--ok I sell it..sorry no free fabric.) But we are a small family of four in a house full of CRAP. I don't even know how it got here. I know much of it was given, and as said in my last post, I'm not one to go endlessly shopping for new and pretty things. (except fabric). But I digress.

I have made some progress. Much has been given away on Freecycle and Freeuse, and some given to friends. But the pile behind my sofa is still HUGE. I've contemplated lugging it to the local resell stores, but really? I am a busy mother of two, and much of the pile is nonsense. Now there are some things I'll bring over there that could probably bring me a few bucks and that's fine. But most of it....back to freeuse.org we go!

What spurned this second round? My kitchen. I hate my kitchen. I despise my kitchen. NOW, this really sucks bc the kitchen is what SOLD this house to us. Its HUGE (ok in my definitions its huge). Large enough for an island and a 6 person table.

However, thanks to my handy little sewing habit, half my kitchen is comprised of computer armoire, sewing machine, shelves (full of sewing crap) and the cute little desk where I pay my bills--which would be fine, if boxes of OLD bills didn't surround it.

And as large as my kitchen is, the set up is crappy. Bad cabinet space, layout etc. (But I did not know these things when I was a house buying virgin 4 years ago.) Still, I COULD love my kitchen....if I got it back from the pile o' fabric, bobbins and rulers.

Thus leads us to--"The Great Kid Blending of 09". The kids rooms are your average size rooms, right? So WHY is it so hard to put two kids in one room? I mean they're under 4 feet tall, what the hell? Well, I've learned, it's because my kids have TOO MUCH FREAKIN CRAP! Again, we reference the in-laws for this one. Although I am VERY grateful to have my in-laws around and their gift giving is great, I have to STORE this stuff somewhere.

And I've also learned something else--inevitably, whatever you THINK a 4 year old might like and you purchase for him...he will not like it after a week. It just becomes another THING in his room. How can a child TRULY appreciate what they own when there is SO MUCH OF IT?

I also learned when your child has autism, they are not necessarily playing with toys appropriate for their age. Nor often do they even give a rat's arse ABOUT toys. My son wants circles. Lots and lots of circles. Sure, I keep age appropriate and developmentally appropriate toys around, but he could care less. He wants his damn circles and you best step back when you try to take them.

Sooooo, I decided it was time to merge the boys into one room. They handled it beautifully in our week at the cabin, why not give it a go at home?

Then I learned the crib didn't fit through the door. You have to take it apart. Insert expletive here. So said child is sleeping in his pack n play whilst I brainstorm a plan. (Not sure crib can survive another taking apart--this is the 4th kid it's been through.) Meanwhile progress is slowly being made--no pictures, it's too shameful to see right now.

And whilst I'm ranting, (I Love whilst. Its my favorite word other than "chocolate"). Let me address something. I have already received the "How can you make them share a room?" comment from several folks. To that I say, Shut the hell up. I mean, seriously...these kid have more toys, games, clothes, STUFF than I ever had and I was the most spoiled little poor girl you would ever meet. (Don't ask, long story, ask my sister.) They are not hurting for a darn thing. Personally I feel this: Mommy and Daddy pay the mortgage, Mommy and Daddy deserve a room to sew and play guitar without sweating it out in the kitchen or garage.

Then there's this idea....Eli has autism, it's no secret. But he's blessed with a big brother. Now while Harrison has his own sensory issues, I'd like to think they can be friends one day. I'd like to think them sharing a room will help them learn to WORK TOGETHER, SOLVE PROBLEMS, and APPRECIATE each other.

And if it doesn't, well I've got duct tape to draw the line down the middle of the room ready.

~~Amy