Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

I don't think a day goes by that I don't either think or say how much I love this house. We truly feel like God has blessed us so much our cup is overflowing!

We've deliberately not planned to plant a bunch of stuff this year so we could see what all is growing first. Boy are things growing! The property has this "back woods" feel that makes things nice and private. You have to look hard to see the houses on either side.

At our Memorial Day Pastor's Fellowship, Kris and Tim Endean were here and mentioned that we have some blueberry bushes on our property. Since they work with landscaping/mowing, I'm going to take their word for it. Judy Endean pointed them out which bushes they were, and now I have been noticing them everywhere! I am ecstatic at the possibilities. Last night as I was walking around the yard I noticed three very mature blueberry bushes chalk-o-block full of little blooms. Blueberry pie anyone? Blueberry smoothies? Blueberry jam? Oooo...the possibilities!

We are also thoroughly enjoying three lilac bushes in the backyard. As I type I can smell them! They are so beautiful and fragrant. I clipped some for the guest suite before Mom came and there is now a bouquet on the kitchen island. We also have two dwarf Korean lilacs on either side of the front door that are just about ready to bloom and I cannot wait to see and smell them.

I have a beautiful plant that is blooming profusely on the left side of the house. It has hydrangea type bloom, only smaller and white. I have placed a picture of it here on the right. Anyone have a clue? My mom says she thinks it is something called a "Snowball bush". These plants are fairly common in our neighborhood.

I am trying to learn all of the names of the plants we have in our yard and it seems like I'm finding something new every other day. I have mint and chives (left) growing in a backyard flower bed and I've planted some oregano, sage and thyme. I have three rhododendrons on the left side of the house, roses, phlox and azaleas on the other. There's May Night Salvia and pink flowering almond up front and a blue hydrangea that has finally decided to make a comeback after the long, tough winter. I don't know if it will bloom this year, but I'm encouraged by how it is growing. Up front in the "Cinderella garden" I have hostas, lilacs, some sort of ground cover, bleeding heart, double file viburnum and a rhododendron that is just about to bloom.

It all looks so beautiful. I need to learn how best to manage them all, but the managing of the blueberries is easy...we're going to eat them!

First Golf, Now Basketball

If Taigen loves a sport, so does Marshall! According to Marshall, "Daddy is my favorite!"

You've seen Marshall play golf, and clobber the ball. The other day, Taigen pulled out the basketball hoop I was able to get a couple of shots of Marshall playing basketball. Here is a short clip of Marshall. Again, he has no form (but then, neither do I), but he is pretty consistent at making the baskets. Too cute.

Chilling Out

Today was warm and humid. The house never had a chance to cool off from the BBQ yesterday and so by the time Taigen came home, the house was warm and extremely sticky at 84 degrees. We weren't very comfortable, but it was doable.

I had promised the kids that they could run through the sprinkler after their quiet time. Marshall ended up chickening out, but Shaylen had a blast cooling off outside. She must've loved the feel of the water on her face because she chased the sprinkler around in order for it to hit her right on.

Memorial Day Fellowship

Yesterday we were able to have something that we've wanted to do for a long time: A Pastors' Fellowship. We invited pastors and their families from Southern Maine and New Hampshire. We had 11 pastors & 9 churches represented which made a total of 52 people at our house yesterday (including us). It was so good to chat with these dear people at length and also allow them to get to know other great pastors and families from the area.

Marshall and Shaylen did a great job sharing their things, but Shaylen was a bit intimidated by the large group of people. She sat at the top of the stairs and said, "I don't know any of these people!" She gradually warmed up once Katelyn Endean showed up. (Ah! There's a familiar face for Shaylen to latch on to!)

Taigen grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and the wives brought sides and desserts. It was just the right amount of food! The day was beautiful, but with 50+ people milling around the house it eventually got quite stuffy and warm inside. No one complained even when the lemonade ran out!

Taigen was able to throw some horseshoes and a few others played croquet. Mostly though, I think we just enjoyed talking with no time constraints. It was a busy and tiring day, but we were thrilled that so many made the effort to come over. It's definitely something we would like to do again.

Gasp! Another Bird Post

Warning: This post contains pictures and information about birds. If you do not like birds, or would rather view pictures of my children, skip this post and proceed to give me a hard time about how I never post about my children.

However, if you're enjoying seeing the variety of birds that frequent our feeder, you're welcome to read on. Especially if you want to see if the infamous Alaskan nephew figures these out.

Good news! I finally saw a hummingbird yesterday! He was not at the hummingbird feeder, but made his presence known when I stepped out on the deck yesterday. He stopped mid-air and buzzed right in front of me. He was so beautiful. I told Marshall and Shaylen and they got all excited. They stood at the patio doors for a while in hopes that he would come back...like the ground hog.

The other day several different birds were having a get-together in our backyard and I saw three birds that I haven't seen before. Remember me mentioning that there was one bird who prefers his seed to go? I have never been able to snap a picture of him! Well, I finally did and here he is on the right. I think I have pegged the first two, but the one pictured below has been a bit of a puzzle because he had the audacity to not look at the camera when I wanted him to!

A Special Guest

As you read this, I am on my way to Manchester airport to pick up Mom. She left Alaska at 8:30...last night. She will get in at 4:00 this afternoon. That is a loooooong day in my opinion.

The last time Mom was here, the kids were two and living in Saco. We can't wait to see her. We know that she cannot wait to see the kids (and us too I guess. If you're a parent, you know what I mean. Grandkids always come first!).

Mom will be staying with us for a month. Since it is so expensive to fly from Alaska, and it takes so long, Mom makes the trip worth her effort. We're more than happy to oblige. I'm glad we can get her summer vacation off to a good start.

On a side note: I'm a bit unsure though whether Marshall is more excited for Grammie coming or our visit to the airport!

Daddy's Peanut

When our friend, Gary Hester, came over to check out our needs for the hot water heater, I made some chocolate chip cookies for him to enjoy. It wasn't anything fancy, just a little token of our thanks. The guy's a genius! It was the least we could do.

We told the kids that they had to wait until "Mr. Hester ate his" before they could have any. Shaylen eyed those cookies for the longest time and continually asked or commented about them. "Are we going to eat cookies?" "Are all of those cookies for Mr. Hester?" "When are we going to eat those cookies?" She's just like her daddy!

When she finally did get her cookie, she enjoyed it immensely. Can't you tell? She's just like her daddy.

Batteries Not Included

Maybe for Christmas we should put "Large Cardboard Box" on the kids' Christmas list.

We got a new hot water heater this past week (BIG thanks to an unnamed relative...you know who you are!!!). I guess you could say that we're finally in a bit of hot water. The entire house was attempting to function on a 35 gallon one! Two men from the church came over and installed it in a day! They were amazing.

Thankfully, the men left the box in one piece and left the foam tube packaging. We have renamed them "Do-Do's" because you can make them sound like a trumpet!

We are thrilled to finally not have to juggle shower/bath schedules, and the kids are excited to play with their new toy. And one more bonus to cardboard: it doesn't require batteries.

Pests!

Just for the record, this post is NOT about birds. I have some friends (who shall remain nameless) that have been picking on me about my lack of posts about the kids. I'll get to them, I promise. Ahem...at least I post on my blog!

Last week the kids and I purchased an inexpensive feeder that was recommended to us by a friend. She had said that the Orioles were frequent visitors to hers. The only problem is, a pesky squirrel is the only thing I've seen eating from it. The kids and I have named him Twinkleberry (the infamous brother to Squirrel Nutkin, written about by Beatrix Potter). This was his favorite position to eat. It would give me indigestion for sure. This morning I went out and discovered that Twinkleberry had somehow managed to knock the feeder off the branch and was happily munching it from the comfort of the ground.

The other "pest" arrived on our deck this afternoon. He was pretty bold to stay there for quite some time even though I slowly creeped in closer order to get a picture. I went upstairs and interrupted Marshall and Shaylen's quiet time and brought them downstairs so that they could see the ground hog too. Marshall wondered if he ate succotash and summer salad (like the Gopher on Winnie the Pooh). Apparently, he was more interested in the grease splatters from underneath the grill. He must not be worried about his cholesterol. It's all fun and games unless he decides to munch on my plants!

Love Offering

My Lenox vase never had it so good.

There's a debate out there regarding dandelions. Are they a weed or a flower?

My answer: If it is given to you by chubby little hands, it is the most beautiful bouquet you ever laid eyes on.

My Little Hero

The itsy bitsy spider crawled to the kitchen floor.
Up the basement stairs and out the basement door.
Marshall took a stool and squished him very flat.
And the itsy bitsy spider made a great big splat.

Many of you know that Marshall is terrified of bugs. If there is a bug in the room, he's going to notice it and make a fuss. So, no matter what type of bug that is, I have to remain unaffected and say things like "It's okay!" or "Oh, cool!" or calmly say, "Well, why don't you get a piece of toilet paper and squish it?" This way, hopefully we can help him overcome his fear. Apparently, it might be working.

Today a spider decided to make it's presence known and believe it or not, Marshall decided to conquer the foe with the stool leg. Whew. We all know I didn't want to touch it. He's my hero.

Happy Mother's Day

We're so thankful for the moms in our life! We love you. Have a great day!
XOXO

Ladies' Tea Pictures

Our ladies' tea went so well today. I wanted to post pictures of the tables before I headed off to bed tonight. That way you can see the creativity of our ladies! I'll fill you in on the details later.

Another Sighting

I'm going to quickly post something this morning. I am preparing for our ladies' main event of the year: a tea. I have a ton of things to do before I go in today and set up my tables. Each lady is "adopting" a table and decorating it. We are having a very large crowd this year. I'm thinking the total is up to 55. We are thrilled with the turnout, but because of the large turnout, we need more tables than ladies who signed up to adopt them and that's why I'm doing two (possibly three!). I'm raiding our house for things to decorate with. I'm just hoping they look halfway decent. I also made the party favors and I really like them. I'll take a picture of those too!

Last night as I was helping scoot Shaylen into the table, I noticed some movement outside the window. When I looked I noticed a gray bird! I've never seen him before. He didn't seem to paranoid that we were in the dining room so I quickly ran and grabbed the camera and hoped he wouldn't leave before I could take his picture. He's very elegant, don't you think?

I looked in my handy dandy bird book and I think I've figured out what he is. Inquiring minds want to know though if the infamous nephew in Alaska can figure it out too!

I will try and post something tomorrow night along with pictures from our tea. I cannot wait to see what our ladies have done. They are enjoying the challenge. A lot of us will be there tonight setting up so you know there's going to be a ton of laughter!

More on Our Mystery Bird and New Feathered Friends

I asked a friend from church (who also has a bird book) about the mystery bird in the previous post. She seems to think it is a Tufted Titmouse, but as she said, "Maybe he/she was having a bad hair day and his tuft was matted!"

He showed up again today and the pictures show a bit more of a tuft. They do look very similar! It's very puzzling!If you read my article from this morning, you know that I mentioned that I have seen blue jays on my morning walk. I had hoped that they would come to our yard soon. Well, not only did I get one today, I got six! There were at least six in our yard this afternoon eating the leftovers on the ground. I'm so excited!Just in case you think all I do is sit and watch birds, it is NOT true. I usually grab the camera when I hear a bunch of birds outside. You should hear them singing! They make quite the racket. It's obvious the birds love the woods behind our house and the seed in the feeder.

More Bird Watching

For the past week we haven't seen too many different varieties of birds at the feeder. It is in plain view from the kitchen window so I'm always peeking in on it. I think by far, the chipping sparrow and all of his friends love the feeder the most. After that, I think Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal are our next frequent visitors. The kids love watching them. We had the red-clad couple over yesterday for breakfast and they stopped by again for dinner.

I still have one bird in my "photo file" that has remained unnamed. I cannot seem to locate him/her in my bird book either. His photo is to the left. Do any of you know? Yesterday I got a clearer shot of the Eastern Towhee. He is a beautiful bird! His photo is on the right.

Yesterday was a good day for bird watching. The Towhee came by, my striped friend (pictured below), the pair of mourning doves, the cardinals and of course the chipping sparrows. There is one that is quite elusive. I can see him flying from tree to tree in the woods behind our house. He gets to one that is very close to the feeder, waits, and then quickly comes and grabs his food and flies off. Talk about fast food! I can never snap a good photo of him. On my morning walk, I have been seeing blue jays and robins, but never in our yard. I do hope they stop by for a snack and while they're at it, bring their hummingbird friends. Grandma Rutledge sent us some money for bird stuff and Taigen purchased a hummingbird feeder. We know the former owners had them, so now it's just a waiting game.

Yesterday I was able to find a couple of new feathered friends! I know what they are, but rather than spoil things for my Alaskan nephew, Jared, I'll let him name them for you. Be sure to check out the "comments" section for his response. He makes for a pretty good detective.

I just love how this first one looks as if she (hint, hint) is posing for the camera. Typical female, eh? Here's another hint: My striped friend was so much fun to watch as he worked his way around and around my trees from bottom to top. I hope he comes back. He was so cute!

Why Is It?

Why is it that kids are perfectly content playing by themselves and/or are perfectly healthy until you go to the bathroom? Once the door is shut and locked, the tragedies strike.

Living Room Makeover

Taigen's been busy again. Today he wanted to tackle the living room. Remember what happened when Taigen got busy last week? In case you forgot, here are some pictures. When we first moved in, the living room looked like this. Remember that leafy wallpaper? I've seen worse, but the design just didn't go with my tastes. It had to go!
Taigen got up and went to the paint store to get our "Shabby Chic" (ie: tan) paint right after breakfast. The kids and I had to run and get a few things at Target and when we came back, Taigen was already done with half of the room! He was a lean, mean paintin' machine today! It was a beautiful day here today. The windows were all open and a nice breeze kept all the paint fumes at bay. After he was done painting the second coat, we enjoyed dinner out on the deck.

Taigen mounted the pictures and curtain rods after dinner and I ironed the tab curtains and hung them up. The room looks so drastically different tonight. It is warm and welcoming and just beautiful. Didn't he do a great job?

Come and Dine

A great, big, hearty "thank-you" goes to Grandma Rutledge who helped us get this lovely patio furniture. It arrived today and I was able to put it together during the kids' quiet time. We were able to have dinner outside tonight. It was a bit on the cool side, but the kids didn't complain of the food being too hot for a change!

What a wonderful and thoughtful gift, and one that we will enjoy for years to come. Love you Grandma!