ALIAKA

That's what was on the license plate of the little aqua blue convertible Mercedes my auntie Gloria drove for as far back as my memory goes.  She was born Gloria Sharlene Waldron but became known as Allison once she began her career in modeling as a young mother of two.  Aqua was such a perfect color too...it matched her fabulous blue eyes.  I think that color will always remind me of her...my sweet spirited, stunningly beautiful, always gracious auntie.  We lost her last week, to a heart attack, and I am heartbroken. 

I hope you (my small handful of readers) won't mind if I sprinkle in posts about her now and then between pictures of the boys as I work through my grief and do my best to celebrate her life.  She was so special to me, and these thoughts of her just keep swimming around in my head...around and around and around.  They need to come out.

I have been looking through pictures of her for days now and have come across so many darling photos.  This is the photo Cousin Wendy sent to me that we're going to use at her memorial service on Friday. 

This image has been surrounding me all week, on my desktop at work, blown up at home in various sizes, on my cellphone...I like remembering her this way.  It's comforting to feel she's nearby.

Empty Nest Syndrome

The birdies have left the nest!  It happened one Sunday morning.  I peered outside the door and one of the babies was just flying BACK to the nest.  The others were just hanging out around it but not exactly in it.

"OH! OH! I better get my camera!"  By the time I made it to the window, all four little birds were flying around our front lawn, resting on our bench, planter wall, grass, etc...just sitting there as if to say "Well what do we do now?!"   And YES, you read it right...there were FOUR!  I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life!  Those two lifeless little ones I thought had died somehow made it.  I noticed them several days earlier and thought I better not get my hopes up in case something happened but they survived and fledged!  Sofie is the proud mama of quadruplets and she successfully fed and nurtured them till they left the nest!  Good job Sofie!!!

This has been bittersweet.  I so looked forward to peeking outside to see what the baby birds were up to and how they had grown.  Now when I walk out my front door I see that empty little nest and I am reminded that some day my little fledglings will also leave home. 

Here's my little Condor in training at the Bank of America Children's Discovery Room.

Oh how I don't want that day to come too soon!

16 1/2 more years before you can even THINK about it

my little hatchlings!

Security Breach

Soon he'll figure out that he can just plow right over this little floppy fence. 

Puddin Face

We didn't go anywhere for Memorial Day weekend.  We just stayed put.  On Saturday morning we were planning to do a re-do of Mother's Day breakfast but ended up at IHOP instead with the intention of going somewhere nearby for pony rides for the boys.  Instead we found ourselves looking for a last minute replacement for our kitchen sink.  More kitchen drama.  We're still a little ways away from a functioning kitchen.

Anyway, we didn't have a chance to do the pony rides before the boys had to go down for their nap.  Instead we decided to do...drumroll please...

 

CHOCOLATE PUDDING FINGER PAINTING!!!

The boys follow instructions very well...

Wesley, Sam, show me your tongues!!!

Can you lick your fingers?

Now make a HUGE mess!  Go ahead!!!!

Nothing better after a puddin bath than nice cold milk!

Hey, Mom! You gotta taste this!!!

So we contemplated swishing them around in the pool after this, but instead decided to wipe them down and let them go get good and dirty...

and hairy!

Josh came over to shoot some hoops.

Then Josh's mommy and I went shopping while the guys cleaned up the mess!

Overall, a VERY good day!!!

Poor Sophie

Update on the phoebe family living on our front porch. Yesterday I came home and snuck a peek at the nest full of fuzzy baby birds only to notice that they were no longer moving. I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach but tried to tell myself that perhaps they were taking a much needed nap. After all, my little munchkins can sleep pretty deeply during their naptimes in the middle of the day. Still I couldn't shake the gnawing feeling that something was wrong.

Flashback to the day before, mommy and daddy bird were practically frantic the entire morning...racing back and forth darting after bugs and high tailing it back to the nest. The babies were singing their sweet little hungry tweets in unison "Mommy! Daddy! We're hungry!" Awwww! Every time I heard the chorus of chirping as I walked down my hallway I would melt at the cuteness of it all. "And I thought feeding twins was exhausting! These parents have quads!" I thought to myself as I went about my daily routine. How sweet!

Later in the day yesterday as I peered through my living room window at the nest, still no movement. Worry, worry, worry...I'm good at that you know. A year and a half of being a momma and already I'm an expert. Finally, I see one little bird move! Hurray! Signs of life! Only still today when I peek at the nest (from a distance of course) I can spot only two baby birds moving...the other two remain in place, just as they were yesterday. I explained the sad news to my mom, an avid birdwatcher who happens to have volumes of information about all kinds of birds tucked away in her pretty little head, and she explained to me matter-of-factly that this is common in the bird world. Babies often don't make it. Aw shucks!

I'm sad to say that the parents' best efforts to feed the babies probably wasn't enough for the nest full of four birds. Was this Sophie's choice? Did they have to decide which babies ate and which went hungry to guarantee that some would survive? Or did the stronger of the babies just happen to make it through the lean times? I hope it was the latter. I can't shake that sad feeling that not all the little fuzzballs in that nest have made it and there's no promise the remaining ones will either. Gone are my visions of four fluffy little birds fluttering out of the nest to make it on their own! Ahhhh, nature is cold and cruel sometimes! For now I'm still sad for poor Sophie!

Spring Visitors

We've had some unexpected houseguests this spring. For some time, this little pair has laid claim to our front yard as their home...and finally, they decided to build a home of their own under the eaves on our front porch. They're phoebes and at the moment they are my favorite bird. They eat the bugs around our pool and front yard and they are soooo adorable! I mean, how stinkin cute is he?

Several weeks ago we spotted their splattered, muddy nest as we were walking out our front door and I thought "Oh I hope they have little eggs in there!" I got my wish and have been watching eagerly for signs of life ever since. We've been carefully avoiding our front door as much as possible recently because there are, indeed, baby birds in there now. Mom and Dad have no qualms about dive bombing you as you walk through the porch so we figured we'd give them their space. Today we were out in the front yard having an impromptu playdate with Josh so as long as we were disturbing the nervous parents anyway, I threw caution to the wind and snuck a picture of the little ones peeking out of their nest.

There are four babies in there!!! I don't know how they all fit, especially when the mommy comes and sits on them! The lighting for the photo was bad and I didn't dare get too close so I had to fix it up a bit...but isn't that the sweetest thing ever?! I soooo hope I get to be there when they fledge. I peek at them through my window constantly throughout the day to see what they're up to.

The boys, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less about what was going on in that nest.

Here's Sam chillin on the front bench.

Wesley chowing on his toy fish.

Sammy sharing his ball with Josh.

Kitchen Update

The kitchen is beginning to take shape. Take a look!

We have cabinets!!!

Can you see the black granite counter top??? It's so purty!