Welcome, Birds!

Chris has been busy with a new project--

building birdhouses

He has had lots of fun using all the power tools, and now we now have these lovely birdhouses just waiting for little bird families to take up residence.  As far as we know, no birds have moved in yet. 

The pictures were taken from a distance because I didn't want our neighbors to think I was trying to take pictures through their windows!! 

 And his most recent creation...

a squirrel house

No, we do not want squirrels to move into our kitchen!  Hopefully this house will make it to a tree in our yard very soon!

Once the squirrel house is hung up, we will have reached our limit for animal houses in our yard!  Anyone reading this blog who owns a tree might receive some sort of bird/squirrel dwelling  if Chris continues with this hobby!

Dinner Time

Rambler is a big fan of feeding time.  He patiently waits by Asher's side for the food to start falling to the floor.  It's only a matter of time before a bite or two falls his way.  If he's lucky, Asher will even lean over at the end of a meal and invite Rambler to lick his hands clean!  They both think that is a real treat!  Rambler is starting to realize the perks of having a baby in the house!

Asher is getting much better at picking up finger foods, and we let him snack on puffs every night while I get the rest of his dinner prepared.  Despite the fact that they dissolve in your mouth, I still break the puffs into halves.  I used to break them into quarters!  I've given him bits of other foods, but I break them into such teeny tiny pieces, that they're difficult to pick up and probably even difficult to see!!  Maybe once he has three or four teeth, we'll brave (slightly) bigger pieces of food!

This glimpse of Asher holding his own cup is a rare sight.  He much prefers for someone to hold it for him.  We think he's pretty smart to realize that it's more fun to relax and let someone else do the work for you!

A Boy & His Baseball

Asher received lots of fun goodies for Easter.  He has been very busy playing with his new baseball.  Apparently, he is skipping over teeball & softball and going directly to baseball!  Look for him in the Yankees starting lineup in 2032.

Besides throwing, a baseball is also good for...

gnawing on

and even cuddling!

Happy Easter!

We hope you had a wonderful Easter! 

Running to Key West

Notice anything unusual in my fruit bowl?

That's a coconut in there!!

I always thought coconuts were brown & fuzzy, but apparently there's a smooth green pod around them. 

This one came to me straight from Key West, Florida!!  My friend Jewel winters in Key West every year (I know, so lucky) and brought this back to me when she returned to Virginia last week.  She knocked it down from a palm tree right on her own property!

She recommended pounding a screwdriver into it to get to the juice.  That sounds a little challenging, so for now I'll just admire it on my kitchen counter & dream of my own visit to the Keys. 

Speaking of which, we're making some real progress as we Run to Key West. 

Miles We've Run                 Miles to Go

   190                                   983

We've made it all the way to Rocky Mount, North Carolina!  Check out the map at this link:

http://mapq.st/fjSXd1

Next stop: South Carolina!

Funny Things Kids Say

Things heard around school recently...

"I'm going to be a ninja spy when I grow up.  Can you find a class for me where I can learn how to be a ninja spy?" --2nd grader

"I have pig's eye."  (pink eye) --Kindergartener

"Do you sleep on a giant pizza?" --Preschooler

The Beach

Okay, regular blog updates will resume now.  Having no camera for the week seemed to trigger no blogging for the week.  I'll be ordering a new camera tomorrow (no luck at the camera repair shop), so hopefully it will take some nice pictures I can feature here. 

Here are some of the pictures  from our stay at Virginia Beach before all that sand got stuck in the shutter.  The get-away just seems like a distant memory now! 

Asher loved eating sand!

Gull feeding frenzy thanks to our neighbors on the balcony below us.

Chris checking out the birds at the aquarium.

 Other critters at the aquarium...

Virginia Beach

We decided to take a mini-break this week and escape to Virginia Beach for a couple of days.  We had so much fun & got some much needed relaxation and time away from our usual household & pet chores! 

Things We Learned this Trip

 - Taking a two night trip with a baby requires neary as much gear and as many supplies as a week-long trip. 

 - Sand + Grabby Baby Hands = Camera Lens Error (This is the reason behind the shortage of photos in this post!  Luckily it didn't happen until the end of our trip, so the pictures will be posted eventually.)

- A crawling baby chasing sea gulls is great entertainment.

 - Afternoon siestas are extraordinary things.
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- When eating at a restaurant with Asher, he will inevitably spend 70% of the time smiling at waitresses and 30% of the time crying. 

- Asher would prefer that we turn his highchair away from our own table at a restuarant, so he can see what everyone else is doing without having to get tangled up in the highchair straining to turn around.

-It is definitely acceptable, and even recommended, to eat a blizzard during every day of a vacation. 

Whale Appliqued Onesie

When the sun is out and the weather is warm, it's time to head to the downtown mall for lunch outside at Bagby's!  What's even better is if Mom-Mom, Mara, & a friend can join us too! 

Asher was sporting his new appliqued onesie I made for him this weekend.  I've got a whole stack of them to applique, so we'll be seeing many more here over the coming weeks. 

 No pacifier needed for this boy!  He loves to get those two tasty little fingers in his mouth, especially when he's sleepy!

Here's the one in progress that I hope to finish tonight.