Here Birdie, Birdie

Ask and you shall receive. I call these birds THE GRAVEROBBERS. When these bastards show up, they take everything they can!

Ryan

Talking MORE birds

Mocked by many, admired by all...that seems to be my bird blog motto these days. You all may think of me as old with my new "passion", but you find yourselves strangely intrigued and drawn in. I thought I'd give you a little more taste into the wild kingdom. This time with pictures.

Loyal reader Tim in Dallas via KC is very interested in what suet is and what it looks like. Here are a few pictures of it. The first picture is the package itself. The second picture is the wonderful goodness itself. The third picture is how it's presented in the yard and the final picture is what I like to think of as "The Rescue Mission" where the homeless birds can flock to and grab a quick meal on their journey through life!

Still no luck with the squirrels though. I'll keep you all posted.

Ryan

Pre-Christmas Eve

Not that it will surprise anyone, but Ryan and I opened our stockings from each other on Sunday the 23rd...we just couldn't wait! (I know, we're worse than kids-) Ryan was very generous and got me an ipod nano... it's the coolest toy I never knew I always wanted, it's really been a lot of fun to tweek. I felt like my jammies, gift cards and knick knacks didn't compare, but who says it's a contest... right? Before we knew it, Cooper had unwrapped one of the "fillers" from my stocking and was feasting delightfully... see above picture for details.

Christmas Eve was at Bop-pa and Nana's (Ryan's parents) and for the first time all season he was instructed to tear into his gifts rather than leave them alone. He was very confused. After some help from Daddy, he was very happy to undulge in his new fire truck... which is really all he cared about for the rest of the evening... that and Nana's crystal champagne glass. He was busy and occupied with something or other all night long, which was very fun to watch for all of us.

Christmas Day, Ryan finally got my cold that I have for the SECOND time this month, and we both hoofed it up to Belfair to share the day with Grammie and Papa (My parents). It was plentiful and eventful. As we all opened our many gifts and stockings, it started to snow .... and stick! Truly gorgeous! Especially where my folks live because it's all trees and no development... but alas the splinter of it all, was Ripley. He cut his foot something fierce on who knows what and even as I write this blog it still hasn't stopped bleeding. SO... it's off to the Doggie Dr. in the morning to see what's goin' on. Hopefully nothing serious... will keep you posted.

Alas, I am prompted to say my many gratitudes to friends and family for everything that I have. Both material and immaterial. I don't know how I lucked out, but I certainly did with patient, loyal and loving parents, family and friends and truly the most wonderful husband I could ever wish for. I'm truly blessed and know that I owe a great deal of thanks to all of you that fulfill my life to what it is for me. All my love this season and always-

AMBER xoxo

They grow so fast!

So I noticed Cooper playing on a box the other day and decided to snap some shots of it. Little did I know he would come out looking so 'regal' and 'mature'. (Of course that is his mother talking :)~ Anyway, hope this finds you well, enjoy the pics- Happy Holidays!

Amber

P.S. My husband could very easily be mistaken for a senior citizen if you didn't know he was actually 36! Who is this "bird" man i'm married to? Crazy Loon... isn't that a bird too?

Damn Birds

Is it spring yet? I usually welcome the fall and winter rains, but this year I'm ready to skip the whole darn thing. I'm ready for the sun, the flowers and the gardening that needs to be taken care of. Yep, I know what you're thinking. I've definitely become set in my adult ways. I would definitely rather watch tv on Friday/Saturday nights (well...basically any night of the week is tv night, who am I kidding!?!), or I'd rather sit down and read a book. I don't have the energy anymore to stay out past 10:00. Hard to believe that in my "youth" I'd just be getting started at 10:00 if you know what I'm saying. I've come a long way from telling my parents that my yard would be one solid slab of concrete so I'd have nothing to take care of.

Since it's not spring and I don't have a whole lot to do outside, I've resorted to feeding birds. Yep, you heard it, I'm feeding freaking birds. I started out with a bird feeder I had received for Christmas a couple of years ago. This is the year I've decided to keep it full. Then I added this thing called suet. Basically it looks like a waxy square with seeds in it. I'll be damned if those little bastards don't love that stuff. So I added two more to my collection around the yard. I decided that I was really losing it when I was debating on purchasing a hanging bird bath last night. I know I'm just putting off the inevitable. I should have bought it last night but didn't.

My next plan will be to attract the humming birds. But that's a spring thing again.

My ultimate goal would be to get a damn squirrel in the yard for Cooper. I don't think I'm going to have much luck there though.

Ryan

Holiday Pet Pics-

Cheers!

Candy Cane Cooper

Our tree has been up since the day after Thanksgiving. So I can comment with accuracy that Cooper is only interested in the glass/breakable ornaments. Forget that there are an assortment of wooden, plastic, or cloth ornaments for him to play with, he has a knack for grappling the fragile delicates. It does make me chuckle when out of no where I hear SMASH and then a quick and loud... UH-OH! And sure enough there is a present of shards for Mommy to clean up. I think my sister has it right on the money when she got a 2 foot tree that is up on a sofa table behind their loveseat... away from the hands of danger! But instead I opted for an uneven tree. The glass ornaments are on the top half now, leaving only the fun striped candy canes to catch Cooper's eye. Happy Holidays to all, hope this finds you well. Much love!

OUCH!

I knew I was in trouble when I heard her say hello!! You don't want to mess with pregnant, Russian women named Alex, especially when there's morning sickness involved! Today was my lucky day to go to the dentist. A year and a half ago I busted a tooth eating freaking potato chips. I was lucky enough to get in the next day and get a temporary filling of sorts put in until they could schedule me to have a crown fitted. My first attempt was about a year ago...lucky me, my dentist cancelled on me. I FINALLY got in today. I'll tell you what, they worked me over good. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. I got right in, plopped in the chair and shot up with enough Novocain to stop Bigfoot. That's where the pleasantness ended. I then sat in the chair staring out the window while my two tormentors worked on an emergency next to me. When it came to me, they didn't waste any time. My dentist grounded away at my tooth while my good friend Alex did her best to try and drown. Her suction technique is a little to be desired! But, I did survive. I was lucky enough to get a second round of Novocain, so I'm drooling as I type this. I've got my temporary tooth in right now, and it's just three short weeks before I'll be sporting a new tooth. Unfortunately I won't be pimping with anything silver or gold. For some reason they want my teeth to match.

Now I can't eat anything hard, crunchy or sticky. Since I've put on a solid 8 pounds when this blog was started, that is probably a good thing...although I do have the other side of my mouth for these if I want!!!

Ryan

Dessert anyone?

Ya know... I have to laugh at what Ryan will post on this blog. I think he is trying to rival Hurricane Mikey, which for those of you who don't know... consider yourself lucky, he is no one worth acquainting yourself with. But alas, Ryan thinks this guy is the end all in "blogging" and social commentary (namely food items). Since we share this blog site, I never really know when he has or has not left a post for all, but I do receive an email when comments are left, and that's how I know he's been at it again. I will give him credit though, if Hurricane Mikey is who he is trying to emulate, then his weight gain is certainly a step in the right direction as Mr. Mikey is no slim Jim, but rather a fat cat. I also have to say that I have offered Ryan many options to lower his calorie intake, encourage physical activity and/or reduce his overall food consumption, but still he insists on stuffing his face with anything and everything, so please, don't anyone feel sorry for bulbous (sp?) Mr. Poopy pants, he'll be just fine- or maybe not... maybe the food has really done him in this season... that would be a tragedy! Then who would complain about things? Hmmm... what to do.

Either way, Nicole is right, it's a luxury I don't see Ryan relinquishing any time soon.

Til' next time- CHEERS!- AMBER

Dieting SUCKS (Update)

Dieting sucks...at least that's what people tell me. I wouldn't know since I don't diet. I dine instead. A perfect example for today would consist of pizza rolls for lunch AND dinner along with about 2 pounds of fudge Amber made yesterday. I'm holding steady at a solid 177 pounds. The only problem is I think all the weight is moving to my gut. My pants don't fit, I'm working my way towards a new belt and, as much as I think about it, I have no chance at dieting....I'm weak.

Ryan

APPLE PIE

MMMMMMMM! Me likey.

(This counts as a post)

Ryan

Sigh of RELIEF!

As most of you know I am pregnant once again. And as previously experienced, we went through fertility treatments to get pregnant. By the power of God and science it worked, but for the first 6 weeks all we could do was fret... were we having one or a whole football team? There is always that risk ya know!

But finally, I had my first ultrasound on Wednesday, and to our (atleast mine anyway) extreme relief and pure joy, we are only having one additional baby Beardmore. My official due date is June 26, 2008. We all know I'll probably deliver WAY early, as I did with Cooper, so I'm expecting June 10ish... although it would be pretty cool if baby #2 was born on the 18 because that is Ryan's Grandmas b-day. (Cooper's namesake). I doubt I can force the heavens to deliver up baby #2 on June 18- no earlier, no later... YA HEAR THAT!

Anyway, hope this finds you well and good. Enjoy the fall festivities.

CHEERS-
Amber

Week 1 Weigh In

You know, when Amber became pregnant with Cooper I tried my darndest (and succeeded) to gain more weight than her during the first trimester. The weight seemed to stay off of her, but it wasn't difficult for me to pack on close to ten pounds.

This time is going to be different though. That's the reason for the diet. I had tacked on about five pounds that I wanted to try and get rid of anyway, but I remember vividly gorging myself the last time we were in this position. So...here's how I did the first week:

Beginning weight - 175
Week one weigh in - 179

I know, I know, you're thinking pretty impressive right? I knew something wasn't right this past week. For some reason I wasn't very hungry, but I found myself stuffing myself with regular meals, halloween candy, chocolate pies, cheetos, Olive Garden, McDonalds and whatever else I could get my hands on. Never fear though...I have readjusted my attitude and am ready to reverse my eating course. Time to get serious and create a menu.

Anyone have any good ideas for dinners? I'm wide open for ideas!

Ryan

The NERVE!

I tell you what, some people are so disillusioned these days. I guess you have to expect things like this when you decide to post things on a blog and allow other people to make comments. It's pretty sad to have people go through life without a clue about things. SPECIFICALLY, college football! I mean who in their right mind would think the Oklahoma Sooners are any good?!? Talk about an over-rated team. They can't even beat the Ducks. Heck, they can't even beat teams like Boise State or Colorado. I guess when they travel a bit too far West and run into teams that really know how to play football their true colors show. It's OK though...Now I have a real purpose for this blog...I will show those who have lost their college football way to find their way back home! HA HA HA :-)~ Go Ducks. Go WSU Cougars ( who stink by the way) and Go Pac-10. Big 12 go home!! Hee Hee!


Ryan

Weekend Update

DUCKS - 35

HOLIDAY BALLS SOLD - 0

Football or Crafts?

If you haven't been living under a rock for the past week, I bet most of you have heard something about the biggest college football game in the state of Oregon history. This week the University of Oregon takes on Arizona State in Eugene. This game is suddenly a very big deal for the National Championshi race. ESPN's College Gameday crew is going to be there doing what they do best...talking college football. This is the second time they've been to Eugene this season which is rare. They usually travel to different sites around the country each week, so a second trip is huge...especially for a west coast school. Now, I'm not a big Oregon fan, but I do have season tickets and I'm a huge sports fan. So you know where I'm going to be this weekend. Yep, on the couch. Amber and Brandie decided this would be a great weekend to sell signs and Christmas balls at a bazaar. Crap.

Ryan

Happy Halloween

AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHH! Cooper's second Halloween was much more fruitful than his first. This time he brought home a pirate's booty of candy for Daddy. Did I mention my diet? He spent this Halloween over at his cousins Lauren and Marshall's house.

PS...Coop would like to give a shout out to his new homey Dylan Rakoz who came in at 8.6 pounds. WAZZZUP.

Ryan

Diets and Spinoffs

As some of you may find it hard to believe, I do cook. I don't cook every night, but when I do ooooohheeeee, it's lights out good!

Diet day two wasn't much better than day one. It entailed peanut butter and jelly, a "Hostess" (Winco rip off) type chocolate pie and of course ...leftover Papa Murphy's. None of it was very good and of course I feel somewhat guilty, but who am I kidding. I'll eat that stuff again. Probably tomorrow.

OK...I heard some news today and I'm not quite sure if I find it alarmingly disturbing or euphorically excited. At this time, my favorite television show is The Office. If you haven't checked it out yet, you need to. Netflix the old seasons if you have to. You won't be disappointed. The news I heard today was they were thinking about introducing a bunch of new characters and creating a spin-off show as early as next season. When I heard this I thought that might be a fun idea. I've enjoyed many shows that have done this. The first to really do it was Law & Order. They introduced Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent...both are shows I've really enjoyed. CSI became CSI Miami which sucks and CSI New York which, in mine and Amber's opinion, has become better than it's original. I think these spin-off shows have worked because they were new shows. They didn't steal characters and try to create something totally new when the original show was just fine the way it is. Take Grey's Anatomy. You can't steal Addison Shepard and start a new show called Private Practice. That show is a complete piece of crap. So you can imagine my reluctance when I googled The Office and found out they are thinking of taking DWIGHT SCHRUTE off of the original and creating a new show for him! Each character on the office works perfectly together. You can't take someone away. It will ruin the show. DO NOT RUIN THE BEST SHOW ON TV! I'm so fired up right now that I have to take a break from this post.

Good day...Ryan

TESTING, TESTING

OK...this is my own little test. I want to see how many comments (good or bad) I can generate from my first post. I want to know what kind of web traffic I'm going to get. Since my ideas are truly great, I want to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck. So comment away.

So I've decided it's time AGAIN to go on a diet. It seems like that's all I ever do these days. Every time I turn around, I say I'm going to go on a diet. If that were the case, I don't think I'd be trying to lose the same 10 pounds I've been trying to lose for a good six months now. The main problem today was my wife. I was doing so well until I came home for lunch. I was looking for something sensible and what is sitting on the counter. Papa Murphy's. Hmmm...can't let that go so of course I had two pieces, and crazy bread. Good start to the diet as usual. Dinner was a little better. Since I'm addicted to FOOD NETWORK I stole a recipe from Bobby Flay. Tonight I dined on BBQ's shrimp that I skewered and basted with a spicy little number. Definitely a keeper. I added some plain pasta to go with it...Cooper thought it was a meal fit for a king. It will definitely make it's way back into my dinner rotation. Heck, it might even end up as a menu item for next summers BBQ Extravaganza for Tim and Teague. I've got time to think about it though. I have some time to perfect it...although not a lot of time.

Nothing like a food post to kick things off...RYAN

For your information-

It's come to my attention, that apparently Ryan has the intention of posting everyday. He really belives that this blog is some sort of "daily journal" that all of our friends have to read and hear about. While that may be true for some of you, I'm certain it's not for all of you. My purpose in posting this is to warn you all that there may be the ramblings of a gray haired, lonely and bored old man at this space regularly. Sadly, that man is my husband... seriously though, it's actually one of the things I love the most about him; the little things that just make his day... like blogging :) . So feel free to make comments to his posts, as it will give him reassurance that he is in fact posting something of viable and very real importance to the rest of the world. CHEERS!

I've been sucked in!

I think in my own defense I have to announce that I will officially be shutting down my myspace account in exchange for our family blogspot. It makes me feel like less of a loser :) No seriously, it seems like this allows me to keep up with all my loved ones and for them to keep up with me on their own time, so it just seems to fit. I hope to post happenings and events either as they may happen, or once every two weeks if things stay as mundane as they currently are. I imagine I will be the sole poster, although Ryan has taken a liking to blogs and might find this as some sort of forum to allow us all to "soak him in". Lucky readers!



First and foremost our most excited news to share is that I am pregnant! More details to follow (like the EXACT due date) but for now, we're guessing it's 4th of July or so. We couldn't be happier and can't wait for the new addition to the family.



That's all for now, not much else to report- Work is as usual at Beaches for me and with Ryan's business for him. Enjoy the pics! Til' next time-