momentous occasions

i have not blogged in ages.

not really felt it lately.

not sure why.

or how to fix it.

but i will force myself today.

because lots of wonderful things have happened lately.

and i need to document them all.

so some future great great grandchild will see.

how blessed i am.

and how grateful i am.

for the beautiful life i call mine.

dane was in his 4th grade play.

i think i need to teach him how to hold a violin, though.
i was sweatin bullets thinking he was going to drop it.

we received more shots from edens senior portraits.

in a word...gorgeous.

that girl has some eyes on her, huh?

thank you kamee june photography.

brendan and hunter tried on danes clothes.

and they fit.

we made friends with claudines beautiful dog bailey.

she is some sort of rare breed.

and weighs more than toby.

gotta love a girl who weighs more than her boyfriend...well, we are working on that match.

we get to babysit her in august (cant wait) while claudine goes to england for two weeks.

three dogs in the house (two of them rather large).

seriously will be so much fun.

eden graduated.

pretty self explanatory.

these pictures tell the wonderful, happy story.

so proud of her in that white robe...

then the motherlode of surprises...

a birthday party for me, and i HATE surprises.

(i had a bad experience with a previous surprise birthday party...we wont talk about it)

but this one was ok.

way ok.

totally ok.

did i say it was ok?

thank you to melissa again...and again.

for pulling this off without me knowing.

with such grace and finesse

thoughtfulness and sacrifice.

cant ever repay you for everything you do for me.

words cannot say enough.

love you big sister.

and to all my friends. 

 i love every single one of them.

very much.

very very much.

thank you from the bottom of my heart.

and i think i have eaten enough cake for a year.

not gonna lie though...it was glorious.

this is her

my beautiful one

my quiet one

my quirky one

my dependable one

my one who seems like a dumb blonde, 

but surprises everyone when they find out she's a genius

my one who still bites her fingernails

and wears pajamas everywhere

my one who i can count on

my one who i am going to miss 

a great deal

words cannot describe

how much i will miss her

when she goes on her way

but thats a good thing

and i am happy for her

birds of a feather

i am visiting my parents in st george.

a welcome visit.

a nice change of pace. 

my mother recovering so well from a months stay in the hospital,

which included major surgery and bunch of bloodclots floating around her body.

to be perfectly honest, i wasnt sure if she'd get out.

but she did.

she's tough.

so for her first "outing" we went to DI.

yes, my mother with the walker, went to DI with me.

i brought her carefully into the store, then we slowly ventured to 

where the furniture is displayed.

we found a nice counch for her to sit on.

a nice, well worn 70's version i think.

so she sat there patiently for me, while i scurried

around the store in search of some discarded treasure.

i came back to her, and showed her a china plate i liked, 

she verified it was from the 40's,

then we compared iron skillets, and 

brand new shirts for dane.

"dont worry about me" she said.

sitting there with a smile on her face.
her walker propped up beside her.

and it was rewarding for some reason when my mother needed my help to get up.

i carefully wrapped my arms around her, and steadied my legs.

on one two three, i lifted her out of that saggy sofa.

and away we went.

next stop...

texas roadhouse for a cowboy steak.
medium well.

so back to my title...

my mother loves birds, my grandmother loved birds.

so do i.

something in our genes or something.

must be a huntington thing.

i have had several birds, chickens even.

apparently my grandmother loved her chickens.

i loved my chickens too, until they started eating each other. 

that was not good.

my mother said, "you need to get all the same kind, then they wont fight"

what a novel idea, and maybe the saying is true,

birds of a feather flock together.

when you think about it, have you ever seen ducks flying with geese?

no.

anyway, she feeds the birds here, and we watch them.

and watch them more.

i even picked one up this morning who flew into the window.

i propped him up on his feet.

hes still on the pavement, recovering.

hope he makes it.