Best Birding Season Ever

Our family has long enjoyed backyard birding. It is an activity that the whole family follows. I love that my boys are growing up enjoying this activity with us. They are getting better and better about being able to identify the birds that are regular visitors in our backyard and common birds in our area.

Brett has built a number of bird houses over the years, and always cleans them out, fixes them up, or replaces them as necessary each spring. This year Brett was surprised to find that two of our houses were already inhabited by flying squirrels. Though not birds, we do enjoy watching the flying squirrels when they visit our feeders. Brett is always the one to discover when they come. He will hear them when he is out working in the garage after work. It is fun to take a few quiet minutes watching them glide from one tree to another and find their way to the feeder.

We have three tray feeders, one of which is on the outside window sill of our kitchen window. We also have two hanging feeders right outside the kitchen window. The boys are looking forward to putting up the hummingbird feeder. In the middle of the summer they are pretty much guaranteed to see the hummingbirds come to the feeder while they are eating breakfast--and lunch or dinner, for that matter. We always see the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, but I'm pretty sure I saw an Allen's Hummingbird last year!

This winter/early spring has been one of the best backyard bird-watching seasons for our family. It started with a brown-headed nuthatch who came to our feeders before Christmas. We have been thrilled that a pair of them stuck around all winter and are still here this spring.

We have had our usual visitors: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Eastern Bluebird (a few times this year--we'll see them more regularly soon), American Robin (they've moved on already), Mocking Bird, Brown Thrasher (at the feeder, even!), Northern Cardinal (or a "Red Jay" as one of my students called it, much to our amusement), Chipping Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch (more this winter than ever before), and House Finch.

We had a surprise visitor during a rainstorm this weekend. We have heard the Northern Bobwhite before, but this was the first time what we actually saw one--and on our back porch, no less, around 5:00pm. We assume he was trying to get out of the rain. I had to leave the house, but Brett said he hung out for at least an hour before moving on. We also saw him the next morning in and out of the bushes in the front of the house.

One of the most exciting visitors for me has been a pair of Indigo Buntings that showed up last weekend, and have been back to visit every day since. They are a beautiful blue.

We have also had some occasional sightings of a Mississippi Kite, Belted Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker, and a Rufous-sided Towhee (also this weekend).

Around town we regularly see: Osprey, Herons/Egrets (I especially love seeing a roost of Snowy Egrets in the middle of town off the main highway), and Wild Turkey (especially in the spray field).

Bonus sightings around town within the last month: a great view of a beautiful Swallow-tailed Kite (in Creekside), two Bald Eagles (White Point Rd. and Mossy Head), and a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers (Bluewater marina).

Post Note: Immediately after publishing this post, I walked over to the kitchen sink and saw a Mississippi Kite perched on the corner of my neighbor's chain link fence. Awesome!

Developing a Vocabulary

Ryan: You use all of those big words (in this case, "recollection", which I don't think even qualifies as a "big word").
Mom: That's because I want you to learn them.
Ryan: I just want to learn the basics.

Christmas Letter - The Punchline

I mentioned in my last post that I am terrible at corresponding. I haven't been able to get myself to send out a Christmas letter in about 7 years, much to my dismay. I was talking with a couple of friends about this problem and came to the conclusion that perhaps I am overwhelmed by having to sum up our life in a one-page letter. Trying to sum up 7 years is nearly impossible! Or, is it? This is probably all you really want to know. The basics haven't changed.

Still married.
Still in the same house.
Still have just the two boys.
Still active in church.
Still happy.

The end.

What a Wonderful World

I have been thinking about this Louis Armstrong song for quite a while--as in every year that goes by when I don't get around to sending a Christmas letter yet again. I can hear his voice as I sing along, "I see friends shaking hands sayin' 'How do you do?' They're really saying 'I love you.' ... and I think to myself, what a wonderful world."

I am terrible about keeping in touch with some of my favorite people. I wish I could see each one of my family and friends face-to-face and say "How do you do?" I hope they would be able to see that what I'm really saying is "I love you ."

I feel so grateful to have become acquainted with so many wonderful people. Each of you has blessed my life and made me feel that this truly is a wonderful world.

Books Read in 2013

Why didn't I start this list earlier, instead of the last week of May? I didn't realize how much I would enjoy looking back at the books read.
P.S. Just because a book shows up on this list doesn't mean that I recommend it. Just that I read it.

A Scoop of Desert: Lessons From Being Baked on Deployment by Travis Stephensen (Non-fiction/Memoir?)
The Importance of Bing Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Fiction/Play-via iBooks)
Swim by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction-via iBooks)
The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (Young Adult Fiction)
The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks (Fiction)
Drops of Gold by Sarah M. Eden (Fiction-via Deseret Bookshelf)
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (Fiction-via audio)
Airhead by Meg Cabot (Young Adult Fiction-via audio)
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Juvenile Fiction)
Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson (Juvenile Fiction)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (Fiction-via iBooks)
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (Juvenile Fiction)
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (Fiction) 6/7/13
Unbroken: A World Ward II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (Biography 92-via audio) 6/7/13
Pegasus: The Flame of Olympus by Kate O'Hearn (Juvenile Fiction-via audio) 6/14/13
Rules by Cynthia Lord (Juvenile Fiction-via audio) 6/15/13
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George (Young Adult Fiction) 6/16/13
Invaluable by Holly J. Wood (Religious Fiction) 6/21/13
Lemon Tart: A Culinary Mystery by Josi S. Kilpack (Fiction) 7/2/13
The Report Card by Andrew Clements (Juvenile Fiction) 7/2/13
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (Fiction) 7/15/13
Jangles: A Big Fish Story by David Shannon (Easy Fiction) 7/16/13
John Blair and the Great Hinckley Fire by Josephine Nobisso (Easy Fiction) 7/16/13
Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale (Fiction) 7/18/13
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (Fiction) 7/23/13
The Host by Stephanie Meyer (Fiction) 7/29/13
Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich (Fiction) 7/31/13
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Non-Fiction 646.7) 8/2/13
Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich (Fiction) 8/4/13
Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George (Juvenile Fiction) 8/8/13
Saving Wishes by G.J. Walker-Smith (Young Adult Fiction-via iBooks) 8/11/13
Second Hearts by G.J. Walker-Smith (Young Adult Fiction-via iBooks) 8/12/13
Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin (Inspirational Fiction-via iBooks) 8/22/13
The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman & Ross Campbell (Non-fiction 649.1) 8/25/13
The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (Fiction) 8/30/13
Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella (Fiction-via Overdrive) 9/13
Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden (Inspirational/Historical Fiction-via Overdrive) 9/13
Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements (Juvenile Fiction-via Audio) 9/13
The Magic Horse of Han Gan by Chen Jiang Hang (Easy Non-Fiction 398.2) 9/13/13
Chocolat by Joanne Harris (Fiction) 9/19/13
Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown (Easy Biography 92) 9/20/13
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Juvenile Fiction) 9/25/13
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt (Easy Fiction) 9/30/13
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road by Various (Easy Non-fiction 741.5) 10/2/13
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Fiction-via iBooks) 10/11/13
The Third Sister: A Continuation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (Fiction) 10/20/13
Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson (Fiction) 10/21/13
Zen Ghosts by Jon J. Muth (Easy Fiction) 10/23/13
Wonder by R. J. Palacio (Juvenile Fiction-via Overdrive) 10/30/13
Zen Shorts by on J. Muth (Easy Fiction) 10/30/13
Longbourn by Jo Baker (Fiction) 11/8/13
Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (Fiction-via iBooks) 11/12/13
For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas (Juvenile Biography) 11/22/13
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (Juvenile Fiction) 12/13/13
Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulman (Juvenile Non-Fiction 598.9) 12/16/13
Glimmer of Hope by Sarah M. Eden (Fiction) 12/28/13
Storm Shells by G.J. Walker-Smith (Young Adult Fiction-via iBooks) 12/30/13