Spring Has Hatched

Did you want an update on our little bird family?  First, we were happy to see Mrs. Sparrow seamlessly adjust to her new location, and continue to tend her eggs.

The nest is now too high for me to look into easily, so I sort of stopped checking on it, figuring we would hear "cheep, cheeps" if the eggs hatched.  Because I know basically nothing about birds except what I've read in board books.  Ed has been peeking in occasionally, and the eggs have remained.  We're not even sure what kind of bird it is, much less when the eggs were laid, and definitely no idea about gestation/incubation periods, just that babies are born in the spring (board book.)  Last Sunday Ed peered in, and wondered if maybe they wouldn't hatch, since we send Mother bird flying away too often.  That saddened me.

Then yesterday my sister and nephew were visiting and they asked about the nest.  I told them what Ed had said, so Thompson wanted to take a peek.  He raised his 6' frame up on tippies, and said, "Uh, they've hatched."  What?!  Flurry, flurry, what do I do?  "Yeah, there's a bunch of fuzzy babies in there."  Omygosh, where's my step stool?  Where's my camera?

Uh...

 Uh...

 There they are!  I couldn't believe it.  Even though that's how nature works.  But I'm not used to being this close.  And I love it. 

When Ed came home I was so excited to tell him, and he said, "Oh, yeah, I saw the mother feeding them the other day."  Thanks.  Because we communicate like that. 

Anyway, this morning we saw them feeding, so I interrupted just for a few more pictures, then closed the door and left them to it. 

Mr. Sparrow seems to be back on the scene, and both parents were working hard to get the hatchlings fed, only flying only to the nearest branch when I came out; I could feel the heat of their glare.

We have a field guide, but based on descriptions of several small eastern birds, we're still not sure exactly what we have.  Poppy likes birds, so my parents gave her this bird feeder for Christmas.  It sits outside our dining window, so she can see it from her high chair.  Word travels fast when it's filled up, and we have quite the aviary mob descend, to the point that Ginger gets scared by the storm of flapping when we leave the house.  So when it runs out, we let it stay empty for awhile.  But, inspired by our new little family, I filled it up today; maybe the Mr. & Mrs. can get a little something for themselves.  Call it date night.

Spring is at Our Door

This is our front door.

 How do you like our dried flower wreath?  People have asked me if I made it, but I got it at Home Goods.

I thought it would look nice.  Springy.  People do that, have spring wreaths on their doors.  I was making an effort.  And that's the last time I'll do that.  Does it...remind you of anything?

It reminded someone.  Turns out a sparrow decided to come make a nest between the wreath and our door.  Apparently she didn't mind the disturbance of our comings and goings, and apparently we didn't notice anything going on until one day she flew away as we opened the door, and we saw this:

And then we saw this:

Five little birds's eggs on our front door!  It's what one might call...a situation.

 It's a little freaky to have a sparrow fly off the door every time we open from inside or approach from outside.  Especially once when I came home late at night and woke her up.  Neither of us relished the encounter.

So today Ed put on his gardening gloves and moved the wreath to the closest non-door hook location.

We hope this is OK with Mrs. Sparrow and that she won't abandon the nest.  We couldn't really go on the way things were, especially with the prospect of live chicks in the nest.  In the wreath.  On our door.

So while folks and neighbors pass by our house and wonder why there's a wreath on our light, they will undoubtedly assume we are setting the latest trends in curb appeal, perhaps even rushing home to follow suit.  Only you, and I, and our little sparrow family, will know the truth. 

It's because spring was a little too close for comfort.  It was literally knocking at our door.

Spring Break

 

As much as this cords-and-sweater-loving Mom hates that it's already in the 80's in March, today we figured, if it feels like summer, do summer.  

 So as our magnolia tree opens, then sheds, her fragrant purple posies, we are playing in the baby pool the previous owners left in our shed, and the water table we picked up free off the curb last year. 

 We're licking popsicles, blowing bubbles, and sorting out everyone's next-size-up summer clothes. I'm even doing a bit of spring cleaning myself.  Today: washing the cushion covers.  And hoping they will fit back on!

All Other Easter Stuff

After the baskets post, I realized I do not want to be posting Easter stuff after Easter! So I'm throwing it all in hodge-podge into one great post.

First of all, look at this. Family Style has posted their Top 10 Easter crafts. I admire, but am not likely to ever do, most of them. But the Paint Chip Easter Garland stopped me in my tracks and I can't get over its loveliness and simple genius. I have got to make one next year! Who's with me?

And do you know this book? We don't have a lot of Easter books but I'm glad we have this one - yes, it's about bunnies and eggs but with a Christian moral, and even a parallel to the Savior if you choose to find it. The author/illustrator, Jan Brett, has great coloring pages here. And if you're looking for an overtly religious Easter book, The Story of Easter by Aileen Fisher is my favorite. It describes Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, then moves on to explain the origins of other springtime rituals and their connection to the biblical traditions, which so often seem completely disconnected. Basic facts about the history of Easter, Passover, the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs, and other forms of religious and secular symbolism are conveyed.

"Grandma Marsha" (Ed's Mom) has been in town all week and one of her favorite things to do is dye eggs. I can't even remember if we colored eggs last year. I would have been 8 1/2 months pregnant so who knows? But this year we did it up proper, with scotch tape, crayons and stickers for effects. I've tried rubber bands and they just slip off. I've also tried oil to make it swirly but it just made them oily. Again, Family Style has some oh-so-chic dying techniques, but I like the basics and I'm sticking to them.
I forgot how much I love doing eggs until we sat down to do them! I don't have a deep artistic streak, but I love making designs with crayons, and partial-dipping different parts of one egg for a multi-color effect. I boiled a dozen but we finished them up in minutes so I did another dozen and put eggs on my shopping list.Thursday we met some friends at a park for a very informal egg hunt. It was just the right kind of park, set back from the road and a big field with trees & shrubs and fenced in on three sides. Everyone brought a dozen filled eggs and the moms hid them while the kids played. Then they hunted and played some more. Then everyone ate their own picnic lunches and went home. This is the perfect kind of Easter activity for me and my family - minimal, shared preparation, minimal effort/stress/commitment, and fun for all kids. Unless one has an eye infection and has to miss the actual hunt to be at a doctor's appointment, where they also discover she is one shot short on her immunes so they just stick it to her while she's there. Poor Ginger.

Yesterday we attended the annual Chik-Fil-A Egg Hunt at Fairfax High School. It was a cold day but well-organized. We arrived early to play on the free inflatables until it was the girls' age groups' time to hunt. "Hunt" is a loose term for this activity. They rope off a big section of the football field and spread out filled eggs. Then they count down and kids in the given age group (2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9) rush the field and grab as many as they can. I watched the 2-3 yr old "hunt" first to see how it works. Parents filled the field with their kids, either helping to gather or taking pictures, and it was a zoo. But for the next age groups the announcer said for parents to stay off the field and let the kids do the hunting.I thought that sounded great, so the kids would have more room and everyone could get some eggs. Ginger is a very, very, sensitive kid, and I saw disaster looming but no way to avoid it. I explained that there were going to be a lot of kids out there, so I hoped she could get at least 2 or 3 eggs, estimating that should be a safe goal. She scoffed and I knew it was going to be ugly.

"5-4-3-2-1..."It wasn't as bad as it could have been. But it could have been a lot better. I took this shot, then lost track of her in the hoards of PARENTS storming the field. They rushed in and quickly blocked out all the kids trying to make it toward the center of the field. I turned to the Mom next to me (we had been chatting - she had the yellow-slicker-clad triplets in the picture) and cried, "Why are parents on the field?!"

"Oh, it happens every year. They go in to help their kids get the most eggs." I wanted to go in and rip someone's head off. Another Mom nearby said, "I guess I understand if they have an autistic kid who needs help, but I have a hard time believing there are that many kids with special needs out there." Amen. I was TICKED, and even more so when a hunched and sobbing Ginger returned to me, four eggs in basket. Knowing nothing would help, I cheered anyway at her great success of getting even more than I expected. I got screamed at and hit on my shoulder for my trouble. So we sat on the ground and cried and hugged, and I wondered, like I do ten times a day, "How can I help this girl?" (But all that is another post.)

Hazel's hunt was a bit more successful. Fewer parents rushed in, and having watched two hunts, I gave her a strategy - skip the outliers, everyone goes for them, and run straight to the middle where the concentration is greatest and before others get there. She did it like a champ and came out with nine eggs and a grin.
Since it was cold outside, we finished the morning with lunch at the nearby Chik-Fil-A that also has a rockin' play area. Ginger fell asleep on the way home.

If you have a moment, I direct you to my cousin Katy's post about their Easter week preparations. I find their plans thoughtful, reverent, and meaningful, and while I missed the boat on meaningful traditions this year for us, it gives me food for thought for future years, and pause to remember the Savior Jesus Christ's glorious resurrection. I am especially taken with the powering down idea, both as a symbol and as a peaceful-family-bonding tool. Unfortunately we are such slaves to Ed's job...I don't know, I wonder if there's a way we could do it... (obviously not this year since I am blogging on Saturday!)

And finally, here's the view out of our second story window this month. This gorgeous magnolia tree brings us huge purple blossoms in spring and shades most of our back deck all summer. It makes me happy, especially with my neighbor's birdhouse.

Happy Spring

Happy Cherry Blossoms!

Park Party

When it came to Hazel's birthday party this year I gave her two choices:

1. A small tea party with only a few girls, or
2. A big party at the park next door, and she could invite more kids.

I thought she'd at least have to think about it but there was no hesitation: PARK PARTY!
It was great to take advantage of living literally next door to a park. I figured it would be pretty easy because all the entertainment is taken care of; they just play at the park and we provide food and supervision. Which was mostly true. Of course there's the weather, and it's been an especially rainy spring this year. We only had to reschedule once and on the second try got a sunny, if blustery, day. There were no major injuries or problems beyond one friend from preschool who demonstrated her mortal terror of balloons by screaming bloody murder when she arrived. We quickly got rid of the balloon bouquets I had tied to the park entrance.

Activities were jump roping, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, soccer and "monster" with Ed.
Snacks were pretzels, strawberries, bananas, juice boxes and water bottles. Cupcake cones for the treat.

Goody bags contained 4 sidewalk chalks, a pencil and one candy-filled Easter egg.
Most parents dropped off but a few made the party a whole family thing and stayed with younger siblings to play and hang out. It was an awesome time, but I'm so glad we're done with birthdays for the year!

National Building Museum

Last weekend Hazel's friend Levi had his birthday party at the National Building Museum. His dad is an architect so it seemed only fitting. I'd heard of the museum, and vaguely knew they had stuff for kids there, but I'd never gotten around to going, partially discouraged by the unknown parking situation. It was tight but we found a meter spot as someone was leaving. It's literally across the street from the Judiciary Square metro station, so maybe in the future we'd take the metro. As we entered the building, this is what we saw:
It was breathtaking. Cavernous. Palatial. I immediately envisioned bringing kids here on a cold or rainy day to run around, though the running part might not be allowed. Hazel was fascinated with the fountain and probably could have stood and watched it all day. But we were late for a party upstairs.
The party was great. Adorable. We started with building, of course.
And knocking down.
Then a NBM worker read us a book about trains, handed out engineer hats, and opened bins of craft materials for the kids to make their own train cars.



Then we sang Happy Birthday to Levi and ate cake and juice. The museum gave him a t-shirt from the gift shop, and everyone got pencils and patches to take home.

After the party we wandered around the museum a little. On the other side was this transportation street projection thing. It has sensors so when you stand on a bus, car or bike and then walk, the vehicle moves and stops with you. The girls were entranced. We probably hung out there for 20 minutes, and Hazel was sweating from running back and forth, and never tired of it. We finally had to pull her away, literally kicking and crying.
On the way out I popped my head in the Building Zone, a building playroom just for 2-to-6-year olds. We didn't have time to stay and play, but I put it on my mental list.
As you can see, I'm actually learning there are some cool things to do with kids in and around DC. And the parking and traffic so far have not even approached New York, so I'm getting braver and more confident to go into the city. Speaking of, check out my VGP post on Georgetown Cupcake - yum! And with spring and summer approaching, well, there's almost no end to the possibilities!