oh boy...

Oh Jameson, it's obvious you have a big sister who likes to dress you up...

fun with a toddler and a laser pointer...

homey...

It's a fascinating world, y'all.  Get this.

A week or so ago, our next-door neighbor was doing yard work when he spotted this bird in his yard.  No biggie, right?

But when he turned on his leaf blower, he noticed the pigeon was completely unfazed by the loud noise.  Was he hurt?  Our neighbor inched closer to the bird, and the bird didn't mind a bit.  What in the world?! he thought.  A bird that lets you walk right up to him??

The closer he got, he noticed some tags around the bird's legs.  No identifying information, just a couple of numbers.  Was this someone's pet?

He called Marc over.  My husband, being the techie that he is, whipped out his smart phone and began looking up what these pigeon tags might be.  

As random as it seems, the information told him to call a guy in Florida?! (we're in Virginia) and report it.  So he and the neighbor did.

"Are you near Madison Heights, Virginia?" the man asked our neighbor over the phone.  

Surprised and intrigued, our neighbor answered, "Yes, that's about 20 minutes away."

"You need to call [so-and-so] and tell him you have the pigeon."

Well now, this was getting bizarre.

 So they called the number Florida-guy gave him, and this guy said he'd come by and pick up the pigeon in a few hours.

That gave us just enough time for Jameson to enjoy our little "pet."

Hi, little guy!

Pointing at the pigeon, "daah!"

He was intrigued.

 So sure enough, it wasn't long before this bird-guy named Paul came to collect the pigeon and tell us all about why it landed in our neck of the woods.

Apparently this was a homing pigeon. (like "home-ing")

We'll call him "Homey."

 Homey was in a race from North Carolina.  (several hundred miles away) Yes, that's right.  A RACE.  For birds.

Just HOW do you RACE pigeons?!? we asked.

And this is where it amazed us.

Apparently these homing pigeons can be trained from birth to fly back home.  You start them young from just a few yards away, and gradually increase the distance a little at a time until eventually, these birds can fly from hundreds of miles away and STILL get home on their own.  The owners clock the birds as soon as they make it back.  (whaaaaat?!)

Historically, these guys were used in wars to relay messages, too!

Crazy, right??  Who knew?!

So our little Homey was racing the weekend before, and had alllllmost made it back to his home when he ran out of steam.  That's how he ended up in our neck of the woods.  He was too weak to continue on.  With a few more days of rest, water, and food, he would've regained his strength and found his way back, but many times these pigeons are eaten by a hawk or die.

Essentially, Marc had called the pigeon a cab!  (ha ha!)

 So bird-man-Paul put him in a cage and loaded him up on his truck.  He said Homey will be ready to race again in about a month.  He even invited us to drop by and see all of his birds.

See you later, Homey!  So glad you dropped in to see us!

dress'm up...

Why dress up yourself when you can dress HIM up?

Getting everything just right.

Jameson, you'd make the cutest little girl.

Ha ha ha ha!

smokey keeper...

She'd been hoping for weeks.

"Mom, I really want to be Smokey Keeper!"

"The smoky what??" I'd ask, wondering what in the world she was talking about.

"SMOKEY KEEPER!" she'd raise the intensity and volume of her voice.  Because then I'd surely understand.

Well, turns out this was finally the week.

Caroline was to be the "Smokey Keeper."


Meet Smokey, folks.  He was our weekend guest.


He comes with a small suitcase of items-- clothing, bibs, books, food-- because he travels around to classmates' homes each weekend.  It's up to the student to care for Smokey and take him places with the family, then chronicle the weekend (with photos and words) in Smokey's scrapbook.  (fun, right?)

From reading the other entries in the books, it looked like Smokey is quite the adventurer!  Just this year, he'd already been to the beach, putt putting, to a playground, a pumpkin patch, etc.

Good thing we had some fun for him up our sleeves, too.


We took him to the farm!  Here's Smokey chilling out on the hay ride.


Then Smokey got a little wild on us and decided it'd be a good idea to wander off through the tall corn field!


But he wasn't gone too long before we found him.  Sneaky guy, that Smokey.


This way, Smokey!


Now how many bears get the opportunity to ride on a 76 year old tractor, eh?


Can't you see the excitement just BEAMING from his face?


It was a great afternoon for Smokey.  (and for the rest of us, too!  I'll share our pics soon, but first things first, right?)

Sunday morning, Smokey, of course, came along to church with us. (Caroline carried Smokey's diaper bag complete with snacks, a book, and a sippy cup)

And would you believe he got to be introduced UP FRONT during announcement time to the WHOLE CHURCH?!  We didn't get to snag a picture of that one, but it's a good thing.  Smokey was already too embarrassed as it was.  Not sure he liked all the attention.

Welcome to this family, Smokey.  You get lots of attention....


We gave this bear some culture, too!  I (Amy) had a Halloween symphony concert to play, and all the kids in the audience got to dress up.  Thankfully Smokey stayed quiet for most all of the performance.


Smokey was the BOSS on the bells.  You should'a heard him.

We loved having our guest of honor.  Maybe he'll come back and see us again?


Smokey, you're the best.

potential career paths #19...

Can you believe it's been over a YEAR since we've done one of these posts?  (Where has the time gone?)  And now we have a SECOND child to observe and guess where his future might lie!....

Will he or she be...


A select taste tester?


A fashion model?


A baseball player?


A plumber?


The next Stevie Wonder?


Or a sunglasses salesman, perhaps?


A period actress?


A costume designer?  (you forgot your hat, ma'am)


A telemarketer?


Or.... ????  Got any creative guesses for this one?  Leave a comment and we'll pick a winner!

pampering...

Okay, now for some lighter fare...

(I suppose I should start off with an apology to you, dear little Jameson:  We, the girls in this family, would like to go ahead and tell you we're sorry.  We realize that while this post might be cute and funny to US, we know that in about ten years time, you will probably look back upon these pictures with a healthy dose of embarrassment.  That's okay.  Welcome to the family.  But you must understand-- we gals can't help but having a little fun fussing over you...)


I'm sure you all can guess which gal did this to the "cool guy"...


Umm, yep!  You guessed right.  :)


And the other gal in the family... (ahem) me... did this...


These small finger coils, as they're called, are not just for looks, but they're also a protective style that promote hair growth. (and as you can see, we need all the hair growth promotion we can get these days!  he he)


Pretty cute, huh?  (here's the great blog, Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care, where I'm getting all my help with his hair stuff)


Sweet boy, I know in a few years' time, you won't care a THING about being pampered and "done up."

But we're sure having fun with you now.  :)

the highs are high, the lows are low...

Oh, this gal.

The love of my life.  The joy of my life.

And if I'm being honest... the challenge of my life.

I'm sure every parent has to feel a bit schizophrenic, right?

One minute I can be filled with soooooo much love and patience.
And the next?
She'll say something to me or do something
that has my blood pressure feeling like it's through the roof.

I'm so beyond grateful to God for both of my amazing children.
But they also stretch me above and beyond what I had ever experienced pre-kids.

I need His grace daily, and there's nothing better than parenting to show that to you.

I want to be a great parent.  Like, really great.

And yet, I fail.  Over and over again.

So thankful for grace.  It's humbling.


When you're five, the highs are very high, you know.

And the lows are indeed, low.

Potty humor has entered the vocabulary.

Apparently "poop" is the funniest word ever.

And it's also super funny at this age to do the things
you know you're not supposed to.

The things that your Mommy has just asked you not to do.

But the highs?


They are high!

It's fun to be a rockstar!


It's even more fun to turn your little brother into one!


These gals are rockstar best friends!

Well, until they both decide they're not friends anymore.  Then ensues typical girl drama.


On a particularly rough day with each other at preschool yesterday,
they were both sent to talk to the "principal."

Hence, 50 "Be kind to Leah" 's were in order.  And no sweets for the rest of the week.

Serious business, folks.  :)

Thankfully, they talked to one another on the phone that afternoon,
apologized for what happened,
and quickly started making plans to be ballerinas together once more.

Oh, five years old...


But then, this gal makes our days so bright.

(with more than just the great fashion shows she gives us)  :)


She fills our home with energy and music and imagination.

She leaves little love notes on my pillow at night.

And here's what she filled out about her Daddy.
(see above- if you click on the picture, it will show larger)

Did you see my favorite line?

"The best thing about my dad is: [and she wrote] I love him and he loves me."

That makes my heart sing.

But regardless of all the highs and lows...


We couldn't be more grateful that she's ours.