If you give a bird a feeder . . . .

I found this cute bird feeder at Khols. It looks like a little yellow cottage and it's hanging in the backyard tree. So far, I've only seen a bird eat out of it once! It's usually being raided by a squirrel, hanging upside down with his toes clinging to the roof, throwing the seeds about. This brings me to my observations:

If you hang a bird feeder, it will attract a squirrel.
If you attract a squirrel, it will attract a cat.
If you attract a cat, it will attract a teen with a paintball gun.
If he paints the cat (AND the squirrel), the cardinals will come!

He had a great shot, too, from the upstairs window. I was impressed! No cats or squirrels were harmed, but a few of them are walking around with yellow paint spots on their heads. Don't worry. It washes right off and is non-toxic. Hopefully, it discourages them from using my back yard as their potty stop!

We have this hose in the front yard that drips a little bit. I bought a terracotta saucer and put it under the hose drip -- instant bird bath! I have been rewared already by watching the cardinals drink and bathe from it. They also love the little bird feeders that look like picnic benches placed where the squirrels can't reach them.

So far, I've only seen cardinals, bluejays, and mourning doves. I know there's got to be more bird types in Florida! Oh, I've seen them all disappear when our resident red-shouldered hawk comes by. That's one beautiful bird.

AWANA

Last night was our last regular club night for AWANA. Now we just have the AWARDS night and that's it! I can start focusing on VBS.

I know that AWANA, unfortunately, will have to be an area I cut back next year. I will gladly participate as a leader, but if there's no Trek director, there will probably not be Trek. I won't do this again where I sign up as leader and I'm expected to do everything a director does. I feel so badly for the kids because I was only able to give them about a 70% effort! I didn't do half the things I usually do with them, such as a Lil' 500 night, Focus Dinner, and Church-In.

I suppose doing SOMETHING is better than doing nothing, but I know home schooling is my priority over AWANA and my home school year did not go well, either, especially for Glenna. She slid so far under the radar -- it will be interesting to see her test results this year!

Ty has his last Valencia final today at 1:00. He got up early to study but has crashed on the couch. I'll wake him up soon.

Three Blogs in One

Who has time to read a long blog? While busy with the tasks of the mundane, my mind is free to ponder. I've three separate subjects and numbered them, so you come back and read them at your leisure.

1. Concert
Ty's band, Evangelin, practices here. Usually Wednesdays ends up with the girls and me locked in a room somewhere. It's a great time to do some spring cleaning! I'm glad they practice here because I love to hear what they're working on, and sometimes I get to feed them snacks or make them dinner. I love it.

However, I don't always get to go to their concerts! Largely, this is because it's not cool to have "band parents" around. Actually, the band Dad is cooler to have than a band Mom. I can respect that.

Imagine my momentary pleasure when Tyler informed me I was personally invited to their concert on April 30th.
"I am?" I gushed.
"Yeah!" grinned Ty.
"Wait a minute. . . isn't that the benefit concert for the Mexico short-term missions.?"
"Yeah!" grinned Ty, even more broadly.

Sigh. I'll take what I can get.

2. Overloaded
This year I definitely took on too much. It nearly killed me (not literally, but it sure felt like it).

3 English classes - this was for added income, but was basically a part time job when you include the grading of papers and preparation.

A US History class (see above, just not for income).

A Weekly Bible study. I didn't have to prepare to teach it, but I did have to do daily homework.

AWANA - I specifically said I couldn't play the director role this year, but no director stepped up. I did the planning and teaching as much as I could, but I know I wasn't able to give it 100% this year. Coaching the Bible Bowl team was especially a killer! HOWEVER; I love JV so much. It's such a pivotal age in a person's life when they're trying to discover who they are and who they're going to become. This is where they test the boundaries and see if lightning WILL strike them the instant they sin, and when it doesn't, they don't think about the consequences down the road.

Homeschooling my three - Glenna had the least of my attention this year. God have mercy on her education! I'm so thankful Tyler's graduating so I don't have to fight with him about school anymore.

SAHM - For those of you who don't know the term, it's Stay At Home Mom, Cooking, cleaning, laundry, driving kids around, etc. You can tell when we've had a GOOD SAHM day OR a good school day! Rarely am I able to do both!

Sunday school teaching - one quarter only, but it added to it.

VBS -- it's coming! I don't have time to prepare! Arrrggghhh!!!!

I was chatting with my pastor last night and without going into the details, I confessed I took on too much this year. He asked me what I was going to cut back on NEXT year . . .

Lord help me, I honestly do not know.

3. Mugs
At last year's women's retreat, I had an interesting conversation with Debbie B. about mugs. I'll try to shorten it as much as possible, but basically she likes all of her mugs to match. She says no one really likes the gift mug from Uncle Edward; it just kind of gets pushed to the back of the cupboard and is ignored.

I have mugs that match for formal occasions, but I like mugs that DON'T match for every day. I asked Debbie how everyone keeps track of their mugs throughout the day if they all look the same? Her simple and amusing answer was, "Mine has a chip in it."

Ha!

Still, there's something to be said for ditching the ugly mugs. We all have them. Most of the time, the kids love them and keep using them while the mom hates them and wants to toss them.

How do I keep individual mugs while still adding beauty to our home?

I came upon the brilliant solution of getting different mugs, but making sure they have a similar THEME. I love red, so I thought if I had mugs that had some sort of red to them we could all keep track of our mugs and yet still have some uniformity. I wouldn't mind a black or white mug, either, since those go well with red! Ta-Dah!

I present this idea to John and Kelly. The response?

John - Whatever. I'm keeping the mug that reads "DAD" all over it.
Kelly - I want the mug with the pigs! I know it's kind of lavender, but I love that mug. I want that mug when you guys die. It will be part of my inheritance.

I haven't even talked to Glenna about tossing her Winnie the Pooh mug, plastic, with the handle completely broken off.

I did, however, throw out a mug I myself had purchased from Lakeshore learning. At least, it's sorta thrown out. it's sitting on the counter, WAITING to be thrown out.

That says it.

The suburbia-living citizen has succumbed to this means of daily informational indulgence that has pushed the social limitations of moral and dignified communication. -- Tyler Welsh

Drat

I am sick.

It feels so strange to stay home from church. It always seems that when my family is sick, I care for them. When I am sick, they abandon me! They say they're "letting me rest." I appreciate that, but would love to not have to get up for the phone or juice!

I walked out of the sick room (John's office with spare bed) after John woke me up. He had this smiling, trying not to laugh smirk on his face.

I've seen my hair. I know why he's laughing. I just don't appreciate it.

So I hear Ty home and he wants to take my car to House of Blues to see Maylene and Haste the Day. Jeremy's here with him. I quickly grab something, anything to put on my head. A blue knitted beanie!

Kelly has this smiling, trying not to laugh smirk on her face when she sees it. Ty speaks his mind with, "You have a beanie on your head." He pats my hand sympathetically. Jeremy is eager to leave.

I hate being sick.

Sickies

Glenna was sick on Monday, and now Ty's knocked out. He did get up and head to Valencia to turn in his paper, but he didn't stay for class. Poor kid. I hope the rest of us are able to avoid it!

Glenna got her cast off yesterday! It's sooo good to see her arm again. As soon as they said we were finished, we headed to the bathroom and broke out the scrubbie and shower gel. She had been "cleaning" her hand with Q-tips as far as she could, so she had (grossness alert!) this thick ring of dead skin around her wrist. She said a scrubbing never felt so good!

John's in Miami for a trade show, but he's supposed to be home (hopefully) today. I miss him when he's gone, but I get a lot of work done! I'm caught up on laundry and dishes, and now I need to finish grading papers (how DOES Kathy Robertson do it?). Kelly stayed home from AWANA last night and cleaned the kitchen top to bottom, cleaned the dining area, and baked a banana cake. I'm going to leave that girl home more often.

Keep praying

Please keep praying for Ellie. They have her heavily sedated to try to get her body to recover enough to find out why she can't breathe on her own. Pray for her parents and her entire "team" to get some much needed rest!

Oh yeah . . .

I guess I should have mentioned that the guys in the pictures with Ty are his bandmates. Go Evangelin! Can't wait for Cornerstone!

Tyler's 18th Birthday!

My firstborn is a legal adult today! How I thank God for my son and everything he has become. I can't wait to see what God has planned for him!

Below are some pictures of him and his friends. (THANK YOU, Jessie!) He's the one in the brown, button down dress shirt.

Happy Birthday, Ty! You are loved!

From left to right are (Standing on fountain) Haylee and Aleah, (standing in front of fountain) Brendan, Ty, Jessie, and Zach, and (seated) Jeremy and Tali.