Gettin' Crafty Again (and other news)

Before I get into the story, I have a couple other things to share...

First, I just want to point out that the silly tickers to the right are NOT WORKING! (I HAVE SINCE REMOVED THEM) I've never had this prob before & I've tried to redo them but they just won't "tick." So Mason is now (just slightly) older than what it says & we leave for Vegas on WED. MORNING!!! Yippee! We haven't packed a thing, but started washing lots of clothes this evening. Rest assured I have at least 4 ongoing lists of things to buy, pack and do before Wed morning! We're so excited!

Which brings me to the Second mentionable: Wayne has Shingles!
Not to roof the house, but as in a rash on his face & chest!!! I know-gross, but it has really put a damper on things. He started getting it Thursday and by Friday night we realized we had to get to a Dr, so we got up early on Sat morning & went to the walk-in clinic (left Mason with my parents-don't worry!) Long story short, he has Shingles.

For those of you who don't know, it's a virus that is dormant in your body after you have chicken pox. When you get stressed, your nervous system can kick it into gear-in the form of a rash that is itchy and can be very painful and cause a lot of bad side effects. It can last up to a month or longer. He's on 3 different meds and trying to get lots of rest before our trip. Please pray that he feels well for the trip and gets better soon! Thanks!

OKAY~ here's the Crafty Story...
Mason and I worked on another craft the other day. He had found some pine cones in our backyard, so I thought I'd show him how to made Pine Cone Bird Feeders-you know the ones.

I laid out some newspaper, tied on yarn to hang them, and then slathered them with peanut butter (a little messy!) I let Mason roll them in the birdseed to coat them. We then took them outside and hung them up. About an hour went by and I noticed a squirrel was having a wonderful time eating off of them & Mason could not have been more proud. It only took about 2 days before they were completely stripped and we took them down! He also made one for his Mimi & Grandpa.

I realize this is way too many pictures to document such a small occasion, but he just looked so cute and excited in each of these, I had to share them!

A Little Bit of This & A Little Bit of That

I have some random misc. pics to share so I thought I'd lump them all together into one big crazy post!

Mason got to make a new animal at Build A Bear a few weekends ago while we were out shopping with my Mom & Grandma. He chose a bear because he's never had a bear of his very own~the bear that he's always played with was Wayne's teddy bear when he was a child. He chose a soft, chocolate brown bear and we named him Hershey.
Every time we've been in Build A Bear, Mason only wants to play with the strollers that they sell to push around the stuffed animals. He's TOTALLY distracted & can barely focus on making an animal b/c he's GOT to push the stroller. So we finally caved & bought him one so Hershey could ride in it. (They have a blue one for boys) Mason was in heaven. He didn't want to dress his bear, so we chose a little AR Razorback t-shirt to put it in & some sunglasses & called it good.

Foot on the pedal, filling his bear with stuffing

Waiting...

Washing...

Strolling...

I meant to post this a few weeks ago~Our "Pet" bird update:
The baby birds in the nest right next to our sunroom window hatched & flew out of the nest about 2 weeks later! They grew SO fast! Mama Bird & Baby Daddy taught the babies how to fly, hunt for food in the grass, & all the other things birds need to know how to do. It was such a pleasure to watch them grow from eggs to teenagers...

Mason drew his very first Faces!!! Up until now all of his drawings were just (beautiful) scribbles. we were playing the other day & he just decided he was going to make a face. He drew eyes, a nose, cheeks, a mouth...and then a moustache! hilariously awesome. I am SOOoooo proud! (can you tell?)

If you know us or have read any of this blog in the past, you probably know Mason's fascination/obsession with vacuums. Well, you may not know that he is also in love with robots.
Enter: Robot Vacuum. Not many things in this world make this child happier than our Roomba vacuum. My parents have one too, so he gets to play with one constantly. He knows how to turn it on & off, do a spot clean, & return it to the charger. He follows it around with HIS little "robot vacuum" (that unbeknownst to him is actually an old portable CD player. Ha!) What a cute, clean kid!


Mason also still likes to line random things up in an orderly manner like, say, these pillows...

That's all for now but I'm still playing catch-up. I'll post pictures from Touch A Truck & then celebrate my 400th post (holy geez!)

Our "Pet" Bird

Warning: If you care nothing about birds or the wonders of nature, this will be boring to you. :)

Last week, while in our sunroom, we discovered that a robin had built a really awesome nest on top of our meter outside, right next to the sunroom window. (The construction of it is amazing, although you can't tell by the picture) It's in a great place since it's tucked in a corner & under the overhang of our house, but we worried for a minute if it was a fire hazard. We figured it was ok and of course didn't want to disturb it or the Mama Bird who was diligently sitting on her eggs. (See her in the pic?) She keeps a close eye on us when we're in the sunroom and has stared Wayne down a few times.

Wayne saw something we thought was very interesting. On a chillier, rainy day last week, he said Mama Bird was sitting on the nest & Baby Daddy flew up & fed Mama a worm!!! Now we had no idea that Baby Daddy stuck around after doing the deed, let alone was willing to feed Mama bird. Nature is Amazing!

On Monday I got curious to see the robin-blue eggs and Mama Bird was not on the nest, so I pulled a chair up close to the window to try to peek in and I saw 2 baby birds! They have huge beaks and are pretty scruffy looking. Wayne mowed the lawn on Wed. & got dive-bombed a few times, but all is well.

This is my 4th post tonight & I still have Chloe's 16th Birthday to post but I'm too tired. Go see the other posts from tonight & I'll be back soon!