WEEKEND REVIEW

WEEKEND IN REVIEW:
Okay, y'all. I got a new digital camera this past week, something we budgeted for in our tax return. I have no clue how to use it yet (because nothing says good times like reading the instruction booklet for a new piece of technology,...yawn). I did take a few practice photos though. I'll share my boys this round and the girls someday soon. First up? Brandon, who is now six months old and 18 pounds of energy and giggles. He's sitting up, rolling all over the house, and just today decided to "rocka-rocka" on his hands and knees. Oy vey, I'm perhaps just days from chasing him until he's 4 years old. Pray for me.
You know I'm cute so just go with it.



C'mon now, I'm cute as a button and that's a fact.


What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

My Brando was born with a minor birth defect; a floppy left ear. It may need surgical correction when he's older but, Praise God, his hearing has not been impacted.

Okay, so yesterday was basically The Birds, part deux. The other day, I posted about a Birds in our Backyard lapbook we're currently working on together. Well, our Tree Swallows (much prettier than Barn Swallows) are nesting in our birdhouse out back . Tree Swallows build a nest of feathers and their eggs are only the size of a penny.

So, yesterday I got the notion to take my new camera out to get a picture of the nest and eggs. I quietly approached the birdhouse and initially saw nothing but nesting feathers. But then they parted and a little head popped out at me. Before I could figure out if it was an adult bird or not, SQUAWK!
She flew right at me.

Tree Swallows are more aggressive than Robins, but not as aggressive as Blue jays. So you could say I was being moderately attacked. Just swell. Carl stood in the window laughing his head off. Meanwhile, I had to ditch the photo op and duck and weave my way back to the house.

But I wasn't done. No siree. I told Carl to fetch our oversized umbrella from the garage. He gave me that look. The one that says he knows a hairbrained scheme is about to be born. He then suspiciously inquired.

"What for?"
"So you can come out with me and cover me until I get the money shot."
"What? No way! I'm not getting attacked by an angry momma bird. Remember that time when the Blue jay ripped flesh off my scalp?" Uh uh. I'm not doing it."

Knowing he doesn't say "no" to my crazy ideas when they have to do with his kids' learning experiences, I quickly shot back.

"It's for science. I need a shot of the nest so we can add it to our bird lapbook."

It was a brilliant move because next scene, I was checking camera settings while Carl nervously held the umbrella and warned me to hurry. And here's what we saw. Do you see the two tiny eggs? Isn't it beautiful?


On Sundays, Carl and I get up early to have coffee before we awaken the kids for church. Today, Reece stirred early, then tried to "head bang" himself back to sleep (anyone have a kid that does that?). He always hums a tune when head banging. Today I cracked up because he was humming the popular sports chant Na-na, na, na. Na-na, na, na. Hey-hey-hey, Gooood-bye. A few minutes later, he had moved on to something more kid worthy, Old MacDonald. I tell you, if you looked up the definition of imp in a dictionary, there would be my Reece, looking something like this (taken last night after his bath). And do notice his "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" smile.



So anyhoo, we went to church and service began. Brandon cannot be placed in the nursery since our adoption is not final (rules). He's now at the age where sitting around for over an hour just doesn't cut it, no matter how many toys or distractions we create. But he did okay through the praise music and greeting. Then pastor asked us to bow our heads to pray.

WHAAAAA!
Brandon chose that silent moment to officially announce his boredom and botched nap plan. I got to steppin', trying endless methods of soothing him. And that's pretty much how the rest of my time at church went. We don't want to miss attending as a family because Carl just got Sundays off recently, after TWENTY YEARS of working in the airline industry. And he's just one shift bid away from having to work on Sundays again. So I just try to soothe Brandon as he fusses during service.

Service finally came to an end (myself having marginally kept Brandon quiet and content), when pastor again asked us to bow our heads and pray. Only, the entire sanctuary got to hear umpteen rounds of grunt and push, push and grunt, courtesy of Brandon's bout of baby constipation. Oy vey! And I mean, that kid was grunting beet red with all his might. He didn't hold back at all. He was LOUD. Lovely.

Finally, we went to Walmart for printer ink tonight. I decided to see how the older model of my digital camera fared. I picked up a display camera, turned it on and,...
BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! Red light flashing. Mega-decibel alarm bell ringing. Since I knew I hadn't tried to steal anything, I wondered if I had been selected for a "you're our b'zillionth electronics customer" prize or something. Nope. It was only the "someone's stealing a camera" alarm. ONLY! How embarrassing. The clerk was very nice about it. She even said, "There's only one camera that accidentally sets off the alarm."
"Uh huh, this one."
"Yes, that's it. How did you know?"
"Me? Ohhhh sister! Kindly believe me when I say...I'm just lucky that way."

And speaking of lucky, the social worker is due here today (Monday). We cannot get IN to do a flippin' thing regarding moving on toward adoption finalization of Brandon. Please pray that those doors will begin to open so we can officially make him what he already is in our hearts and has been since we laid eyes on him; our son.

Toni