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