Birthday drama

There was a crime at our house this morning.

Some kidnappers came and took our daughter!

They were cleverly disguised in their pjs.

They crept down the stairs and into her room.

Woke her up!

And carried her up the stairs, blindfolded.

All the while she was saying "Mom, did you know about this?" hehehehe, of course I did!

They carried her out to the car . . .

Stuffed her in . . .

And drove away . . . .

To be continued . . .

A Milestone

As of today I no longer have any children.

WHAT? You may say . . .

My baby, my youngest child living in my house, turns 18 today.

So now all my "children" are officially "adults".

It is a strange feeling being the mother to adults.

We were thinking of all the things she can do now without my permission.

Scary, huh!

She can check herself out of school. Hmmm.

She can go to the casino. Don't like that, but I'm pretty sure she's not interested.

She can vote.

She can legally date her 21 year old friend. hehehe

She could move out and live on her own. I think she likes us too much to do that yet.

I guess you could say she can do whatever she wants to.

But, she is a good girl. She will do the right thing. She was raised well. even if I do say so myself

Here is a little trip down memory lane.



Her knight in shining armor is waiting for her.

Happy Birthday sweetie!

Feeling Squirrely

The squirrels are finished hibernating.

And boy, ARE THEY HUNGRY!

We like to feed the birds at our house. I think we have 6 bird feeders. As a result, we get lots of different species. And I think they love us.

Unfortunately, our bird feed also attracts the squirrels.

You would think they would be content to feed on the extra that falls on the ground.

But no, they are not content to be bottom feeders. They want the stuff directly from feeder, no matter how hard it is to get it.

We used to have a "squirrel proof" bird feeder. It had a spring attached to the top and when something heavier than a bird (like a squirrel), climbed on it, the spring would stretch down and the whole mechanism would slide down covering the holes that the birds would feed from.

We got such a fiendish delight watching those squirrels try to figure out how that thing worked. They were foiled at every attempt.

I would snicker every time.

Eventually the spring wore out and one day I noticed that a squirrel was eating freely from the hole.

Now we have just resigned ourselves to buying new feeders every 1 to 2 years.

One day the pole that our feeder was on was slippery. I thought maybe DH had greased it to try and discourage those little rodents. I saw one big guy climb up and slide back down. And then he did it again.

It was very entertaining.

But he finally figured out that he could leap to the top of the pole and then make his way to the feeder.

Little stinker.

This guy just reaches out and grabs it. But is he content with just that? . . .

He must possess the feeder and make it his own. Poor birds don't stand a chance.

You know it's spring when . .

Spring in Michigan is always a bit unorganized.

It can be sunny and 65 one day, and the next be 32 and snowing.

It's like the earth can't make up its mind whether it's winter or summer.

Then, suddenly it's 85 and summer has arrived.

But I have my own secret gauge for determining when spring is here:

There is a small cattle ranch on a road that I drive nearly every day. It is right in the middle of houses and neighborhoods.

During March the cows start delivering their calves. When that happens I know spring has arrived. Even if there is two feet of snow on the ground, I know those little babies signal spring!

So, a few weeks ago when I was driving into town on a windy, cold, blustery day, I saw the first little tiny calf nursing with its momma.

And I breathed a sigh a relief that winter was over at last.

Escape

DH and I are getting a little R&R.

We are "up north" in Traverse City. It is DH's spring break. Most people go south for spring break. They want to get away from the bitter cold and soak in the sun.

Not us. We are hardy folk. We go where it is COLDER.

Traverse City is one of my favorite places. And during the off season it is lovely here. And cheap! Another one of my favorite things.

Here is the hotel/condo we are staying it. Notice the lack of cars in the parking lot.

Here's me by our car in the empty parking lot. Notice the salt residue on the car? Notice my coat? Notice that I am shivering?

Here's the view from our room. That's the lake out there. No need to worry about anyone peaking into our room. The beach is devoid of any human life.

Our room is nice. Here's what we had for dinner. Well, the boxes that dinner was in anyway. It was yummy mexican food. It reminded me all night how spicy it was.

This is my favorite part of the room. I have spent hours in there.

This sign says that there is a maximum capacity of 45 bathers in the pool. Don't think that will be a problem today!

We went to the boardwalk for a stroll.

Cross country skiing here is fantastic. We have been skiing everyday. So much so that my legs barely work (hence the hours in the hot tub).

We will be here for another two days. It is a great place!

Wednesday blues

I can't believe it's been a week since I blogged last.

I've been having fun with my girls. It was so nice seeing the two of them together. Ems was only 10 when her big sister left home. They have a whole new relationship now that they are older. They are fun to watch.

Because they get together so infrequently, they always do a "twins" thing. They go out and find something that matches that they both can wear, or something that they both can do together. This time it was big (and I mean BIG) pearl earrings. One of them really liked them, the other didn't. I don't have the pictures downloaded yet, but I'll be posting some soon.

I miss big sister already.