Where the wild turkeys are...

Lots of why's for this post in my head, running around. I also contemplated several titles, including Turkey...it's what is for dinner, why did the turkey cross the road, lots of titles. But, since Natalie has read Where the Wild Things Are very recently, this one popped into mind.

It started as a normal walk after dinner. One of our routines is to take Rosco for a walk. And, this time, Laci was here too. Normal to take the girls, Poppa, Woody, and me with the dogs. We normally travel down an abandoned road near our house. There are some construction crews working there every weekday, and this was no exception. I had heard truck after truck of gravel or dirt go by that day.

So, we walk about 1/3 of a mile down the hill as we normally do. Rosco is let off the leash as he likes to roam back and forth smelling different smells and doing doggie activities. Natalie was having fun running around with Rosco. Nicole had been walking, but Woody put her on his shoulders for a rest time. Poppa was walking Laci on a leash. I was walking back with him, soaking it all in. Suddenly, there was a noise from the side of the road where the grass was a bit taller. A horrible squaking and other noise. And, that's when we saw her. A mother turkey popped up and began chasing Rosco away. She then went towards Natalie and Natalie ran away terrified. I grabbed Natalie's hand and ran with her, hoping to distance myself from the dogs and the action. However, this turkey did not stop but followed us instead of going after the dogs. It was like Jurassic Park with the raptors in my mind. It's beady eyes and head seemed to dart around, following us. I definitely began getting scared for both Natalie and me. We alternated running and walking, trying to get away. The turkey would dart at us, then run into the woods. Then, it would dart back at us. I didn't know when it would stop. I didn't know what it would do! I thought it would return to protect the nest. Natalie and I made it back to the house safely without any direct attack, but we were both shaken. I begged Woody to go back and take care of the beast. I suggested sending one of his coworkers who was a hunter for it as well. I wanted to take a shotgun down and do the deed myself. For, we had seen this turkey in our front yard that week earlier, but it had run away at that point.

So, the turkey is on my list for things that have attacked in my life. All the rest have been dogs in my experience. All I can say is that if I see it again, it will be definitely a memory on this earth!

Mother's Day 2010

It was a good Mother's day! After a week of Natalie almost knocking off her toenail and Nicole almost busting her mouth again, Mother's Day was pretty much uneventful for injuries. I had a lot of handmade and bought cards as well as a nice bookmark from the girls where they had picked wildflowers, pressed them and then laminated onto a bookmark. Most unusual gift: a turtle made out of newspaper for Natalie to paint. It is from a devotional we have for an idea for a craft. So, we'll do that sometime. I also have Tim Lahaye's new book and I went out and bought Max Lucado's Fearless for myself. I probably really need that one! Natalie's school and Sunday School class both made books where Natalie answered questions. In the school one, she wrote my age is 40. In the Sunday School one, she wrote 14. I guess I'm somewhere inbetween those two! The funniest things written on the book--

• How do you help your Mom? She wrote washing dishes and cleaning her room (oh, that it were so!!!). HAHAHAHA.
• What food does your Mom make best? Macaroni & cheese. The best that a box can do....
• My mom's favorite food? Squash. She put this only because I make her eat a bite when we have it!

The cutest things written in the book--

• What do you like to do with your mom? Play with her.
• One thing my mom always says to me is: I love you. :)

So, when I awoke on Sunday morning, I had a banner of love across the kitchen...

And, Woody made pancakes for breakfast. We then opened the gifts and cards. Everyone then dressed for church. We should have made a picture! But, we went to church and it was nice to worship with Woody while the girls enjoyed their own classes. We then rushed home, ate some quick sandwiches and Woody went to work. So, I was able to play with the girls then put Nicole to bed. I had a few moments to do my Bible study before Natalie peeked out of her room (no nap for her most days). We then did a few things together before Nicole woke up. It was a quick snack for us then off to the grocery store to pick up some vanilla bean ice cream (we were almost out and still have fresh strawberries to eat! Back to eat dinner with Woody before he went back to work. We then played and the girls watched a bit of a video while I unloaded the dishwasher. Then, bath time and bedtime. Then, quiet time!!

Here is a picture of what is another part of my Mother's day gift truly. Woody has started this bookshelf for Natalie's room. It is a cross between a cube bookshelf but has the middle portion where you can put books. The side areas are for the organizer baskets. It looks great!!! Much better than what you can buy and it is custom fitted. Just a little stain & polyurethane are all it needs now. This will really help out if we decide to combine the girls rooms soon.

Smashing Time

Another time with no camera, but a phone! I had an ambitious day planned today, that all turned out great! Natalie was spending some special time with Grandma, so Nicole & I tackled a lot of things together just the two of us. Woody was working most of the time, so we started last night with Walmart. I hate Walmart and usually avoid it like the plague. With 2 kids it is hard to manage. But, they do have some decent toys, and we have 2 gift cards needing to be spent from Christmas. So, we went there and bought trainer skates for Natalie and eventually Nicole, and a play fishing rod for Nicole. I was surprised at how high the prices were there now--they are renovating the store to have a more Target-ty feel and nothing was really a bargain, especially in the food section! We'll be continuing to use coupons and grocery shop on specials elsewhere!!

After last night, we got up bright & early this morning to start shopping at an array of stores, even the mall! Then, we met Woody for an early lunch at Olive Garden, which was great! Nicole did really well at Olive Garden, using her fork like a big person. Although, the thing she most liked to eat seemed to be croutons? But, she did eat a good portion of her cheese ravioli, which made me feel a little better. We then parted ways with Woody and we went to what I thought would be a fun time at Toys R Us. They were supposed to have a Crayola Wonder demonstration. I had visions of toys out, being tested by many kids having fun. We got there and there was a piece of Crayola wonder paper, with a few markers beside it. I asked the lady if that was it. It was. Reason #535 I don't like to shop at our dinky Toys R Us! We markered a paper then left after looking around the store for any deals for birthday parties coming up.

We then sailed to go pick up Natalie! We were meeting halfway between which worked out great because I wanted to hit a pick your own strawberry place on the way back. I thought this would be a great opportunity, and I was flying high on the last 24 hours and the multiple successes. I even bought milkshakes to enjoy right beforehand so everyone would be full of sugar and excitement. We pulled up, and everything was great. I debated about just paying for the pre-picked bucket, but my sense of adventure was high as well as my expectations. It looked...easy.

Little did I know that we were in for a mini adventure. I took the cell phone picture at the first, thinking this would be a fun picture to celebrate later...
This was the start! We had a bucket to fill, 6 hands to pick, and beautiful strawberries to enjoy! It started well, I gave instructions on what a good strawberry looked like to both. My initial was no white on it, red & shiny, and no defects. As we went along, we got hotter in the sun, the girls were whinier, and the fight over who had the bucket began. I was the main picker, and would try to pick some that Nicole could put in the bucket. It wasn't long before Nicole was picking up overripe strawberries, squeezing them in her hand, and then rubbing arms or legs or my pants. Also, there were some strawberries previous people had "tested" and it was a struggle to keep her from sampling the same berry that was discarded. And, eating the foliage and not just a strawberry! My resolve melted and my qualifications for good berries lessened too. We ended up getting almost a full bucket, but didn't get it to the brim. We made it back to the car after paying and never did air conditioning and the knowledge we were headed home feel any better than it did at that moment!

We came home, cooled off, and the girls napped happily. I stole a few minutes myself too. Next time, we'll have to go when we have 2 adults at minimum!!

New Bird on the Block

The big discovery of the day was while the girls were playing outside this afternoon. We were running all around. Suddenly, I heard a bird cry and then Natalie rushing to look what was crying. We found this, a bird in the blocks around where we have a fire pit.

Now, if you have never seen a grown woman jump 2 feet, you missed your chance to see me jump. I kept telling the girls not to get too close. I went and filled a pan with water and added it to the block. All this time, the bird was silent and motionless. I then digged up a worm and thought to drop it in too. But, the worm just dropped ON the bird and it stayed there. So, I got a stick to move the worm off the bird. As soon as it touched the worm, the bird jumped and made a ruckus. I then saw what must have been Mommy & Daddy bird swooping around my head. I got the girls back and me too.

Here's the bird after the scare. We then went inside and are watching a video in safety. I'll get Woody to follow up on this one after dinner!