chickens!

UPDATE:

wren has decided that the birds are perhaps robins.  or owls.  or bluejays.  hmmmmm...interesting thoughts.

**********************

this is the birds in our windowbox 2 days ago.

and here those birds are today!  check out their beaks!  and how much more fuzzier they are? (there is something seriously grammatically wrong with that last sentence, but who cares?!?!?!?)

when i asked the girls what kind of birds they are...

"CHICKENS," one yelled!

"ROBIN," one yelled!

although i am no avian expert or ornithologist,

i am 100% certain that there are

no chickens in my windowbox...

tweet, tweet

this is the window box on the front of our home.  and often when i am taking the pooch out to do her "business" there is this bird that zips out from underneath.  (yes, we allow our dog to do "business" in the front yard...why?  well....when we got her from the rescue group it was in january...during the below zero weather and heaps upon heaps of snow...so, getting down a flight of stairs to the backyard just was not going to happen, for the pooch or us humans.  oh, and we had to teach ruby how to go down & up stairs...so the front yard it is....but the girls get to earn some $$ each week picking up the "business"...)...anyhoodles...

earlier today it happened again.  and as i was telling that bird, "oh you better not build a nest in there, birdie..." i lifted up the fake greenery and found this:

not only had that mommy bird built a nest, she'd laid eggs there and hatched them!

so, i guess we have some new pets.  until they get big enough to fly, fly, fly away. 

in...ind...indi...indig...INDIGO!

so, for my birthday my best friend (since 1975) got us tickets to the indigo girls last sunday at the rococco theatre in lincoln.  we went to dinner.  we walked a few blocks to the venue.  i was instantly taken back to the years i spent in lincoln.  times spent in downtown lincoln.  although there have been many changes in the past 8 years, the feel, the vibe, the energy...it remains.

the indigo girls have been around since the late 80's.  they are an american folk rock duo, consisting of amy ray and emily saliers.  the have had a few of their songs played on mainstream radio:  closer to fine, least complicated, galileo, shaming the sun...and although those songs are great.  some of their more obscure, not radio-played songs are their best.  they have a flair for writing lyrics that cross boundaries, that play homage to topics that are relevant and important...not just to them, but also to their audience.  and to people in general.  sometimes they have a bit of history, or political, or social stance within their words.  but not over-the-top.  not to a point that their music is "exclusive" to a particular group of people.  and although their cd's are beautifully done and just a good listen...to hear and see them live?  A-FREAKIN'-MAZING!

amy & emily came on stage.  each dressed casually.  comfortably.  and each had a guitar.  no background singers.  no drums.  no horns.  no winds.   no pyrotechnics.  no huge number of "people" helping to "make it happen".  it was amy & emily, a sound-guy and their "guitar gal" (who brought out the guitars for each song...).  just guitars.  and their amazing voices.  the harmonizing is fabulous.  and that was it.  voices and guitars.  an occasional mandolin.  an occasional harmonica.  but otherwise:  voices & guitars.  they changed out guitars after every song.  they connected with their audience.  it wasn't them on-stage or above us.  they were part of us.  they sang.  they played.  they chatted a bit.  emily admitted that she forgot the lyrics of one of the songs...and she just threw in a "laaalaalaa..." and amy laughed and said that when that happens to emily, she (amy) just assumes that she (amy) is off and then she (amy) doesn't know if she should sing the words she thinks are right or if she should "laalaalaa...".  very funny.  very human.  very just 2 gals and their guitars playing their music for us!  they thanked us after every song.  amy with her usual "thanks y'all" and emily soft "thank you".  they appreciated that we were so enjoying their music.  they played their guitars...broke a few strings...they sang...and it was beautiful.  just plain awesome.  i think i love their music more with it just being guitars and vocal chords.  no drums.  no background.  nothing else.

sigh.

it was A-FREAKIN'-MAZING!  and the next time they are within driving distance...i think that my best friend & i shall be road-trippin'.  until then?  well...they are doing a christmas album...wonder what i should get sherri for christmas this year??  hmmmmmmmmm.....

for your listening pleasure:

http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684637772503836

http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684642067430802

http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684654894721460

rainy days and mondays....

..errr....i guess it is wednesday. 

anyhoodles...

hard to be grumpy

when these 2 love

the rain so much!

INDIGO GIRLS @ the rococco!

...details later...photos now!

besties...

it is sometimes impossible to keep these 2 away from one another. 

and, well, that is most certainly not a bad thing. 

who says a bestie friend has to only have 2 legs?? 

growing...

the other day, while waiting for our pre-schoolers to get out, some other moms were talking about their hostas, and daffodils, and pansies, and other plants starting to burst through the dirt.  it made me kinda sad.

you see, we have grass.  errr, maybe green sod is more accurate?  since you can see the striping of where the rolls were placed.  now don't get me wrong, i love our new yard.  but it's naked.  no peony bush to check for buds.  no hydrangea to see if any green shoots have popped out.  no spring rhubarb to make some deliciousness with.  nothing.  we got a deck and some grass.  no trees to watch green up.  no tilled garden spot to plan the rows of. 

nea & i went to a local nursery a couple days ago.  there were some gorgeous lilac bushes.  and flowers.  pretty, pretty flowers.  but they did not have a particular plant i was looking for so we left after taking a lengthy tour of all the prettiness.  and nea got "buzzed" by a bee.  scared her into hysterics.  poor thing.  she has told me that we cannot ever (and she means E.V.E.R.) go back there.  i am fairly certain that any other nursery we go to she will not want to be there.  for fear of a bee flying near us.  hopefully this will not traumatize her into not being able to wear her bee costume for her dance recital next month.  that would be a shame.

it's the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine...

well, just the world of this momma working outside the home during tax season.  you see, today is april 15th.  and last night was my last night of work.  i am done with the 3-nights/week & saturdays work schedule.  i am officially unemployed.  until probably january 2011. 

we, being the girls & i, are quite happy about this.  no more momma gone at night (well, unless i am doing an uppercase living show...or need "momma alone time"...).  no more momma getting home way past bedtime (the girls' and the momma's).  no more sad lil pupster because the momma is not home. 

i will now have the time to get the storage room unpacked and organized.  have the time to get the rest of our things out of storage.  get some estimates on window blinds.  and landscaping.  and do some more painting.  maybe even build some shelves and seating in the "playroom" section of the basement. 

oh the list is lengthy. 

so, perhaps today will be a day of rest. 
and a walk with the dog and kids. 
and some good ole snuggle time.
maybe a nap during potential afternoon rainshowers.
maybe some dr. phil.

tomorrow the checking off of the "to-do's" shall begin.

first soccer game...ever

(i was unable to attend wren's first soccer game...so the daddy took some action shots for me to *see* how it all went.  and for the record:  wren did not have a jersey...no other reason for her being the only one in pink)

pre-game peptalk

taking the field

sizing up the competition

game on

run

wren defending the goal

a bit of a timeout

shaking hands and "good game"-ing that other team

after that it was snacktime!  wren was responsible for snacks and chose chewy granola bars and peanut-butter-crackers ("just like a peanut butter sandwich only with CRACKERS not bread, momma!")...it is truly the little things...

this is what you get when trying to take a picture and getting distracted by a certain 3-yr-old.

al fresco

al·fres·co (l-frsk);
adv. - in the fresh air; outdoors: dining alfresco.


adj. - taking place outdoors; outdoor: an alfresco conference.

[Italian al fresco, in the fresh (air) : al, in the (a, to, in from Latin ad; see ad- + il, the from Latin ille; see al-1 in Indo-European roots) + fresco, fresh.]

*****

springtime soccer

(someone got a bit chilled one of the days watching big sister play...of course, had she worn what she was supposed to and not a tank top, that might have helped.  she sneaked the t-shirt that was laid out and told the daddy that the tank top was what the momma had put out for her to wear.  she is sneaky like that.)

*****

springtime picnic

(two of our family members did not enjoy being left out of the deck-picnic...it is tough being furry.)

*****

springtime arts-n-crafts

and this? 

a fun rainbow & clouds that wren made at school. 

just makes me smile!

new kicks!

i like shoes.

especially tennis shoes (which, by the way, i do not play,but calling them "running shoes" would be odd, too, since i do not do that, either, i guess i could call them "workout shoes"...but that is not as...ummm? cute?)
anyways...i digress.

recently, baby needed new shoes...and we got nea a pair of pumas for her to run and soccer and play in.  she loves them! 

karl prefers either reebok or new balance for his feet.

wren has a pair of nikes.  pink, of course.

and i have toggled between aesics and nikes.

until today.  well, actually, until this past monday.

i got myself a pair of pumas on monday.  and totally love 'em!  they are light!  they have great arch support!  and they are my new faves!  plus they were $10-$20 less than the aesic and nike styles i liked.  they are not pink.  nor are they sparkley.  i guess one could say i wanted to be just like my nea.

so...in case i thought i made a mistake by not sticking to my good ole faithful nike brand...today i received my answer:

nike's latest ad featuring tiger is pathetic.  digusting.  and completely inappropriate.  and i think i might be done with nike for a while.

without going into great depth of my own personal feeling about tiger, i will merely say this:

tiger became a spokes person for nike because of his amazing athletic ability on the golf course.  nike should've kept on topic.

easter 2010

humble bumbles (or, alternatively: the bee's knees!)

their recital is about 6 weeks away, but we had to try on the costumes they got to pick up today!  daddy took them while the momma worked at the cpa firm.  but they waited to try on until i got home...the straps may need some alterations by auntie brenda...but otherwise?  very cute!  both of the bumbles are excited to buzz around on the stage of the rose in late may!  (then wren will zip across town to participate in her pre-school graduation...not everyone gets to be so fancy at their graduation!)  and there is talk about being bumble bees for halloween.  daddy responded, very diplomatically:  "halloween is a long time away..."