The Birdfeeder

This weekend, Robin and Anna went to a bird feeder store (who knew there was such a thing!) to purchase a feeding station for our feathered friends in our yard.  Robin set it up yesterday afternoon, and despite the warning on the package that said it might take up to three weeks for the birds to discover the station, we had little birds within five minutes.

When he returned in the late afternoon from dance lessons (Amy's, not his), he checked and the large tray on the bottom, which had been previously filled with seeds, and it was completely empty.  A little disappointed, thinking it to be the work of the squirrels, he and the kids headed out this morning to replenish the feeder.

Even as they were piling seed on the tray, the littlest birds were still coming.  Amy thought she could train them to come to her hand.  Given they still came onto the tray while she was there, we are thinking they eventually might just do as she wishes .

This morning I have been monitoring the station to see if there are any squirrels dining, and so far, have not seen any.  I have seen a wood pecker on the wood pecker feeder . . .

 . . . two blue jays . . .

 . . . some little white and blacks . . .

 . . . and little ones with an orange chest.

By 10:30, the food on the large tray was completely gone and one feeder is half empty.

It's kind of like having a fire in the fire pit; there's not much to look at, but it is completely fascinating to watch.  I think we're (us and the birds) are going to like this new addition to our yard.

Carol's 40th Birthday Party

Carol's 40th birthday is in a few weeks, but we thought we would celebrate her birthday a little early.  She loves red velvet cake, but I had the ingredients for tiramisu, so we had both for a birthday dessert. 

To someone, 40 seems very, very, very old.  As in I can't even count that high.

Carol had lots of help in blowing out her candle.

Her look was priceless as she opened the final gift . . . a trip to Maui so she could spend her actual birthday in the sun ("Now the Hawaiian theme makes sense!").  A few days ago she had been complaining that it had been so cloudy, overcast and miserable here for the last month (unlike our usual "sunny Manitoba"), that she just wanted to get out of here.  It was all I could do to bite my tongue and not say anything!

Happy birthday from a little someone who just had to sneak into Daddy's lei.

I love surprises.  Have a great trip Carol. (Picture curtesy of Mei Mei.)

Halloween



This year for Halloween, the girls wanted to be . . . princesses (surprise!).  After our glut of princess outfits purchased in Disney this summer, I was not going to even try to dissuade them.  Carol came over to hand out the candy to the masses (we actually had three kids this year!) which allowed me to join Robin and the kids to scour the neighbourhood for treats.  I had great plans to make Robin and I new costumes, but ran out of time.  Aah.  That seems to be the theme of my life lately.  Oh well.  We just slapped on our Cruella and Perdita costumes and away we went.

The night was cold and quite windy with the odd sprinkle thrown in, but the girls managed to go for almost two hours.

They got quite the haul!  Our neighbours across the street (Honker the dog's family) gave the girls the huge gift bags with stickers, colouring books and of course mounds of candy.  The neighbour across the creek handed the girls their bags of candy and then whipped out his wallet and gave them five dollars each!  Robin promptly put out his paw too, but our neighbour only shook it - there's a good doggie.

Some one gave out root beer!  Woo hoo!  The kids rarely get to have soft drinks, so that was a real treat.

The kids spent a huge amount of time going through their candy, but much to my dismay, did not sort it!  As an anal child, categorizing my candy was the first thing I would do.



 Poor Daddy hit the chow as soon as we returned. We left as soon as he got back from work, so like a good Dad, he went without his dinner.

I went into the archives and pulled pictures from Halloweens past.  Here's Amy and Kristin a few weeks after arriving home in 2007.  I had completely overestimated her size when I made it, not thinking that she would ever be a tiny as she was.

In 2008, she had grown enough to fit the costume.  Yeah!

 What a cute face.

 In 2009 as a pumpkin.

 In 2010, she was a dinosaur.  Oh look, Daddy's a dog.

Yeah!  In 2011, there's an addition to our family.  We now have two Cinderellas . . . and a dog.  Okay.  Daddy gets a new costume next year.