not the reaction i expected

I painted the girly bird's tonails for the first time.  We've got a vacation coming up and I thought she needed a pedicure :)

Color: OPI Italian Love Affair.

I know it's messy.  The child doesn't sit still for long.

She couldn't figure out what I had done to her toes.   Then she did something I didn't expect.

The poor little thing started crying!

She was all good today though.  Very proud of her new pink toes.

This child never ceases to surprise me.

Happy Friday - off to do my own toes!

four generations

The baby birds and I were able to spend Mother's Day at my Grandma's house and my Dad snapped this four generation shot.

We'd been wanting to take a photo like this for ages, and I was glad to finally get one taken.

Do you think any or all of us look alike?

My mom and I are told all the time that we resemble each other, but I don't think the Girlie Bird and I look alike.  She definitely favors the Daddy Bird.

Mother's Day this year was such a sweet time for me to remember how fortunate I am to have these ladies as role models.  I treasure any time I get to spend with them!

one year

Someone had a birthday yesterday.

I can't believe my little baby birdie isn't such a baby anymore.

I believe this was the longest and shortest year of my life.

Happy Birthday, Girlie Bird!

love letters from my husband

Below is the type of love note I can expect to receive from my loving husband on any given day:

If you can't read his handwriting, let me translate:

Melissa,
Wake me up around 4:45.
Don't go in the pen with the cow.
She is not happy about messing with the calf and she will try to hurt you.
Love you,
Josh

Wow.
Thanks for that.

Don't forget to guess the color of the #18's calf in yesterday's post!  Oh, and while you're at it, give me some suggestions for a name for her!

nativity

One of my favorite childhood memories of Christmas was setting up the nativity every year.  We had one with lots of pieces: shepherds, wise men, lots of animals, and a stable that my dad made (I think) probably before I was born.  I loved arranging the figures in the stable.

Until this year, the only nativity we had was a little one my mom gave us when we lived in our trailer in Alabama.

It's so cute, but I'd been thinking that we needed something a little larger, and maybe something with more pieces.

My Aunt Sue and Uncle David (Big D) came over for dinner last week and brought us a wonderful, wonderful Christmas gift!  A new nativity set!

I'd had my eye on this nativity from Willow Tree and Aunt Sue read my mind.  I love it! 

The little sheep are so cute.

And the donkey with his floppy looking ears:

And this is my favorite part:

In so many nativity scenes, the baby Jesus is shown in the manger, but in this scene, Mary is holding him.  I love that!  You mamas out there know Mary probably spent a great deal of time in those first few days just holding, feeding and loving on her little baby.  It just makes this nativity all the more sweet to me.

Do you have a special nativity scene in your house? 

a visit to my grandma's

Last week I packed up the baby birds and headed down for an overnight visit with my grandma.

We basically just relaxed and enjoyed spending time with "Ma" as we call her.  We did spend some time enjoying the outdoors.

Playing in the leaves:



Finding pinecones for our "collection"

And I spent time just soaking in the details of Ma's house.

My grandparents built this house in 1971.  It's the very last house on a dead end road, several miles out of town in the county.  When they built, I think they were the only house out here.

The house is very rustic on the outside.  Lots of stone and wood.



The property backs up to some woods, and if you walk through the woods, you are right on Green River Lake.  My grandfather loved to fish and at one time, my grandparents ran the county boat dock on the lake.  I vividly remember Granddaddy cleaning and scaling fish on the counter in Ma's kitchen.  She tolerated that better than I probably would have!  Although I guess instead of fish scales, I deal with cow crap.

It is so peaceful here, like a retreat.  Whenever I visit, I always feel a sense of calm and peace.  So many of my best childhood memories are here as well.  This is where I woke up every Christmas morning until I got married.  We also spent quite a bit of time here in the summer.  My grandfather would always raise a huge garden, and I remember picking beans, and helping my grandma make pickles.

Granddaddy liked roses.  I remember during the summer there was always a rose or two in a vase on the kitchen table.

I could go on and on, and maybe in another post I will.

I know you're reading this Ma, so thanks for letting us invade your house whenever we like!
I love you!

wordless wednesday

the fire pit

OK, let me clarify what I meant a couple of posts ago.  I don't hate fall.  I really don't.  It's just not my favorite season.  I'm trying really hard this year though.  I feel the love coming...

One thing I do love about fall is the chance to make a fire in our fire pit and roast marshmallows.

Daddy Bird (and I helped a little) built this great brick patio behind our house a couple of years ago.  We've just this summer been able to get some furniture out there and we added a fire pit as well.

From the time we built the patio I had envisioned some brightly colored adirondak chairs surrounding our fire pit.   Daddy Bird painted these for me!  I'm really loving them.

The other night we made a fire and taught the Boy Birdie the art of roasting marshmallows.

We all had a great time.  Daddy Bird likes building fires.

Why do men like fire so much?  The Boy Bird and Myself enjoyed toasting and eating the marshmallows.

Girlie Bird enjoyed just hanging out.

I ate so many marshmallows I almost made myself sick.  It was fantastic.

There is something so relaxing about a fire, and even better when it's in your own backyard!



meet mable

I realized today that I've never really introduced y'all to our dog, Mable.  Poor thing, she's really moved down the food chain now that we have baby birds...

Without further ado, meet Mable:

Full name: Mable

Age: 10

Birthday: Dec. 25

Likes: Barking at cows, rolling in cow poop, barking at horses, rolling in horse poop, herding anything that moves, having her butt scratched, getting on the couch when no one is looking, stealing food.

Dislikes:  Baths, being clean, the doorbell, being locked in the bedroom when guests are over.

Daddy Bird was given Mable as a gift from a friend that bred Border Collies to sell as working dogs.  Mable has been part of our family before we were even a family!  She's gone from being a full time outside dog when we lived in Alabama, to being a full time inside dog when we moved back to Kentucky.  Needless to say we do not knowingly allow Mable to roll in poop anymore, since she lives indoors with us.  Not that that stops her from an occasional romp in the poo.

Nasty.

Border Collies are great dogs, but I will say this.  They. Are. Neurotic.  Border Collies that have been bred as working stock will drive you insane if they do not have a job.  Right now, Mable really doesn't have much of a job.  Therefore, she drives me a bit insane. 

I still love her though.

state fair

We took our annual trip to the Kentucky State Fair last week. 

This was the beginning of the day, fresh and full of energy.  The whining had not yet begun.

My big boy birdie chose his own outfit that morning and it was just easier to roll with it.  His ensemble consisted of khaki shorts, boots, a curious george t-shirt, and a belt with an enormous belt buckle.  What can I say, the kid is inheriting his dad's sense of style.

We enjoyed all the exhibits, the petting zoo, the beef cattle (duh!), the border collies herding ducks, and most importantly, we enjoyed some fair food and ice cream.  For me a pineapple whip.  Yummy!  Oh, and the duck slide.  We can't miss the duck slide.  I could watch that thing all day.

So what I want to know, is the duck slide a Kentucky thing, or do other states have duck slides at their fairs too?  Who came up with the duck slide?  Who figured out that the ducks would continue going down the slide over and over again, just to get a tiny bite of food every time? 

This is how I feel about the fair:



Not really sure what's going on there, but whatever.  This is how baby girl birdie feels about the fair:

This is how boy birdie feels about ice cream:

Who doesn't feel this way about ice cream, though?

three

Ooops.

Someone around here turned three and I didn't even mention it.

There was a cake and ice cream, and lots of family, and probably the best thing was...

A new tractor!

Happy Birthday Big Boy Bird!

a package from japan, via atlanta

My Mom came over Monday and we loaded up the two birdies and took a trip to the zoo.  When we got back, there was a package in the mail for the girlie bird from my cousin Meredith.  Meredith lives in Atlanta, and the last time she was in town visiting she mentioned that she and her brother Patrick (also my cousin, duh!) had picked a little something up for the new little birdie when she was in Japan visiting. 

Patrick lives and works in Japan.  You can read all about it on his blog, which he doesn't update very often, but when he does it's super interesting. :)

Well!

I tore into the package and this is what I pulled out:

What a sweet little baby kimono!!!  How thoughtful of them!

Look at these exquisite details:

The sewing part of me is nuts over this decorative stitching

And I love the little pleats on the arms

I'm seriously thinking about framing this when she outgrows it.  It's really a keepsake as well as something to wear.

She looks cute in it too.

I've always really loved Asian inspired clothing and decor, so this is really the perfect gift.  Thanks Patrick and Meredith!