Overheard

Miss E: "Mommy. I'm unhappy."

Me: "Why are you unhappy?"

Miss E: " Duchess L is crying that she wants to be in the kitchen."

It's Raining Squirrels: Part 2

I don't know if you remember the Great Squirrel Invasion of 2011.  To briefly recap, Princess N came running inside to inform us that a mouse fell out of the tree in our front yard.  She had been outside doing her homework when it nearly landed on her.  A couple of days later, I spotted an unfamiliar cat wandering our yard, stalking something.  I went outside and saw it dip its head into the grass and run off with something in its mouth.  I noticed a baby squirrel in the grass and assumed that the cat had run off with a second baby squirrel.  I chased the cat but it got away.  The two squirrels we did rescue took a trip to a wildlife rescue center on the other side of town.  (two separate trips) 

And that brings us to this afternoon.  Princess N was outside working on homework while Lady A and Miss E were next door playing with our neighbor.  Princess N stood up to keep an eye on the younger girls and saw something fall out of the tree.  You guessed it... another squirrel!  Princess N ran inside to tell me while the boy from down the street ran to tell the other girls.  Then the adults had to come take a peek as well.  I kept telling everyone to back off and leave it alone so the mama squirrel could come take her little one back to the nest.  She came down briefly, but the children were loud and close.  After about an hour, almost all of the children had left and the adults had returned to their respective homes.  The boy from down the street came and knocked on the door to let us know that his sister had picked up the squirrel when it began crying.  The mama squirrel quickly returned and with the crowds dispersed, she was able to return her little one to the nest.

I, of course, did what I do best in a situation like this...  I grabbed my camera and took a couple of quick snapshots.

Baby squirrel right after he landed on the ground

Mama squirrel on the left, baby on the right and slightly out of focus

Blending in

Beginning to move (almost 45 minutes later)

Catching his breath

Camouflage

Trying to climb the tree

Nifty little app and website

One early morning, while feeding Duchess L and looking up something else on my phone, I stumbled across this neat app called Instructables.  They also have a website which is just as fun.

On this app, people post (occasionally) complete "How To's."  They include things like "How to maintain your lawnmower" and "How to easily use key rings."  The app has several categories including food... which is quickly becoming my favorite for new desserts to try for our Bible study group.

I have tried the Independence Day Surprise Cake, known here as the "Captain America" cake.  I made a few slight decor changes to these Rainbow Cupcakes for Miss E's birthday.  I made Slider Cakes for our group last week and this week I am trying the Summertime Cheesecake.

Here are a few pictures for you to drool over enjoy!

Slider Cakes

Rainbow Cupcakes (ready to bake)

Rainbow Cupcakes (finished - on left) and "Captain America Cake" (on right)

Warrior Challenge

Princess N is involved in a class at her school called Leadership Development Corps.  On Saturday, she participated in what they call the Warrior Challenge.  It is consisted of a 1/4 mile run, a hill climb, hurdles, a rope crawl, a tire flip, box jumps, sit ups and pushups, carrying weights, and a final run to the finish.

Michael had agreed to participate with Princess N but Lady A really want to join in too.  We got them all signed in and in line to wait their turn to start.  They went in groups of four, starting with the run.

Michael gave them two rules.  Don't walk and don't give up.

Lady A took that to heart.

She started out with the rest of them, but soon was in the lead.  

 She waved briefly for the camera, but quickly turned her attention back to the task at hand.

Princess N was a little more relaxed about the run.

She smiled and waved until I reminded her to pay attention to where she was going.

She put her head down and focused on her running.

 I'm not sure if you can see, but in the photo below, Lady A is exiting the photo while Princess N is just barely coming into the right-hand side. (You can click the photo to make it larger)

At this point, I would guess that Lady A had a 20-25 yard lead on Michael and about a 30-35 yard lead on Princess N.

Then came the hill climb.  Lady A just didn't stop!

I wanted to get a photo of Princess N as well but Miss E decided to walk away from the long jump pit with another child's toy.  Plus, I wanted her to move quickly so she decided to walk slower.

 Both of the girls thought tire flipping was fun.

Of course, Michael thought it was easy.

 I am glad our girls are enjoying being active.

It was so much fun to watch them.

Then came the box jumps, sit ups, and pushups.  Each of the girls was determined to complete the challenges.

Princess N actually had fairly good form for her pushups.  I believe they had to do 10 sit ups and 10 pushups.

Lady A struggled through hers, but she made it!

Princess N was getting tired, but she ran while carrying two 10 pound weights around a cone and back to the start.  I'd guess it was about 20 yards total distance.

Lady A was carrying 15 pounds.  She was NOT going to give up! I love the determined look on her face.

Finally finished!  Princess N was exhausted and it shows!

Lady A was ready to go through it again. She made all of us laugh with her loud proclamation that she "wanted to do that workout EVERYDAY!"

All three of my "Warriors" and the three of them with a little girl who wanted to be in every photo. (If you look closely, you can see the corner of the hat Miss E is wearing in the bottom left corner of the first photo here)

 

The girls

From the left (clockwise):
Lady A
Duchess L
Princess N
Miss E

Ewww!!!

I ate a bug!

Michael & I went for a bike ride last night and I was in the lead.  As I inhaled, I realized that I had just been hit by a bug.  Next thing I know, I felt the bug in the back of my throat.  All I could do was swallow... and try not to be completely grossed out.

BUT........


We rode for 29min and 53sec and went 4.32 miles!!

Mini-goals

I have a big goal.  I know when I want to make that goal, but along the way I have several mini-goals.

One of them was to ride my bicycle for 20 minutes.

I made it 10 minutes a month or so ago.

I made it 15 minutes a couple of weeks ago.

Today... I rode my bicycle for 30 minutes!!!

Guess I need a new mini-goal.  What do you think?

Mosquitos

One memory from my childhood is the mosquito truck.  We played all over our yard and into the neighbor's.  There was a fairly deep ditch that separated our neighbor's driveway from the neighborhood next door.  The mosquito truck would spray along the ditch in an effort to keep the mosquito population under control.  We knew it was time to head inside when we saw the truck since it came at twilight almost every day.

We have been dealing with a booming mosquito population over the past couple of weeks.  No one has been immune to their bites including poor Duchess L who is swelling in a few spots from the bites.  I took a picture of our beige colored front door area a couple of days ago.  It appeared to need quite a bit of cleaning, but it was just mosquitos that made it look dirty.  I sprayed not only mosquito repellant but wasp spray in the hopes of cutting down the number of mosquitos that had swarmed our front entrance.

On Thursday, I picked up Miss E from her preschool.  She walked up to the house while I got Duchess L out of the truck.  Miss E walked back toward me and said that there were a lot of mosquitos by the front door.  I sympathized with her and told her we would get into the house as fast as we could.  Miss E then told me that the mosquitos were talking to her.  I asked what they said. Miss E's response?

"Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.... Miss E!" (think Dora the Explorer)

We laughed for quite a while on that one!  I love the things my girls say.  I am so thankful for the joy they bring, even with the challenges we have faced with stubborn personalities.