More Robin News...

Our Mama robin has been spending a lot more time in her nest lately (taking fewer breaks), and DAD has been hanging around making sure all is well! The first few days, He sure let us know when he thought we were getting too close! On Sunday, the 9th, I was out with the kids while they gave Raider a bath, and when I tried to get a picture of the nest, I seriously got yelled at! :) So, I decided to step back and take a picture of Dad instead!

The next day (Monday, May 10th), we had some pretty good rain showers in the morning. I was so excited to get this picture of Mama robin! Look how she spreads her wings over the next to keep the eggs dry. You can see the raindrops sitting on her back before rolling off without ever getting close to the eggs! It's amazing!

Later that day, Dad seemed to be a bit less worried about me, although he made sure to stay close. I didn't even get yelled at for being in my front yard! Instead, he just made sure he kept his eye on me.
Every once in awhile, Mama still needs to stretch her legs (I guess,) and we see her standing on the edge of the nest. I wonder if she's also making sure the eggs stay the right temperature (without getting too warm). This whole experience has been so fun!

Yesterday, (after FINALLY finishing all the costumes I've been sewing - I'll post about that later) we finally had the chance to attend to some MUCH needed yard work. We were interested to see how the birds would take to us getting the lawn mower out, and using it right under her tree. We were impressed to see that none of the work seemed to phase them... not even Daddy robin!! After the lawn mower, I even weeded all of the garden right under the tree, and she didn't even flinch. Well, if she did, there was no evidence given!

It's neat that they seem so comfortable here. It's like they know we're not a threat. This is so cool!

LOTS of catching up!!

I am FINALLY able to sit down and share something REALLY COOL that's been happening at our home for the past week and a half. At the beginning, I didn't have a camera other than the one in my cell phone (my Minolta somehow met it's doom at an indoor soccer game this winter), so the pics leave a lot to be desired. However, after receiving our tax refund, I was able to purchase a replacement camera which I LOVE! OK, it's not like Alli's or Kevin's, but I'm just a simple point-and-shoot kinda gal! Anyway... get ready for some pictures!

On Monday, May 3rd, after dropping the kids off at school, I came home and noticed a birds nest in the tree in front of our house! I guess the bird must have built it pretty quickly over the weekend, because it seemed to just appear out of nowhere! There was no bird in it, so I carefully looked inside and found it beautiful, but empty. I was hoping that we might have a little better luck this year, since we had a bird nest in another tree of ours last year, but it wasn't very secure, and the bird abandoned it before laying any eggs in it. Later that day, I took another quick look inside the nest and was thrilled to see a single beautiful blue egg resting inside! When the kids came home from school, I pointed it out to them, but made sure to also warn them to STAY AWAY from it. I really didn't want to spook this bird away from her nest.

5-3-10... Afternoon... 2 eggs! We're so excited our Mama robin has decided to make this nest a home for her eggs!

5-3-10... Evening... 3 eggs! We now have as many eggs as the nest I was reading about on-line!

5-4-10... 4 eggs!! We're getting SO excited! (Lee took this picture with his phone camera... Obviously MUCH better than mine! Thanks, Lee!)

5-5-10... Morning... Still 4 eggs. She MUST be done. How will any more baby birds possibly fit into this nest??

5-5-10... Afternoon... 5 eggs!! Can you believe this?? Mama robin is amazing!

5-6-10... 5 eggs. We love to see how she keeps moving them around!

5-7-10... Still 5 eggs. Looks like she's finally done!

5-9-10... Proud Mama robin taking great care of her eggs! (LOVE my new camera!!)

After finding the first egg, I found a web-site on-line that detailed a robin's nest from 1st egg, to baby birds leaving the nest. I learned that the eggs usually hatch around 14 days after the last egg was laid. Kendra originally marked 5-17 on her calendar with "Baby Birds!", but it may be later this week. Either way, we are getting VERY excited! Now that I finally have a camera, I am going to keep posting regularly through the end!

(If you're interested, the site I found was www.i-pets.com/rpet19.html)

BEST Book Club Report...EVER!!

All I Want for Christmas...

Oh, Come on now... you know the rest!!

Out of 4 children losing teeth, this is our first Christmas to really CONNECT with, and ABSOLUTELY LOVE this classic Christmas song!

What more can be said??

(Our Last),.... FIRST LOST TOOTH!!

Qiyana just lost her first tooth! I was pretty surprised that the little bit of blood upset her -- it's not like she hasn't seen 3 other siblings lose MULTIPLE teeth before -- still, it freaked her out a bit. But, a quick swish of water and the thought of a visit from the tooth fairy made everything OK very quickly!

Qiyana's top 2 front teeth are also loose, but it'll probably be awhile before they're ready to fall out. Hopefully, it won't be quite such a shock to her the next time around!!

Back To School!!

You know, when Leandra was old enough to start school, I didn't know if I was going to like the year-round schedule that Jordan School District has (due to all the young families out here). But I can honestly say that I LOVE it! It's been GREAT to have a little 3 week break every couple of months. It gives the kids a break from all the work, yet it's short enough that they aren't quite dying of boredom before it's time to go back. Next year will be interesting having Leandra at the Middle School (which is on a traditional schedule), but we'll figure that out when we get there. :)


Anyway, July 25th marked the beginning of the 2009 - 2010 school year for Hayden Peak Elementary (with Kindergarten starting the August 4th). So, as of now, all of the Utah Thornton children are back in school! This will be the one year where they are ALL attending the same school, at the same time (even though Qiyana's only 1/2 day).

Qiyana was especially excited for school this year since she would be able to go everyday. She's even excited to be able to go "off-track" with her brother and sisters this year. The PTA did something cute this year for the parents of Kindergarten kids. After we brought them to school for their first day, there was a "Boo-Hoo Brunch" held on the stage for parents to have muffins and juice and help each other get through this BIG day! They even had little packs of tissues for the parents. I didn't go, because I still had day-care kids to get home for, but my friend Heather is the PTA President Elect this year, and she said there were plenty of tears being shed up on that stage. I had to giggle. I guess if they had done this Brunch when Leandra was going into Kindergarten, I might have had some tears to shed too. But, as I told Lee, I think when you get more to my stage in life, it might be better called a "Woo-Hoo! Brunch". I don't know, maybe if I still didn't have 5-ish kids at my house all day, I might even feel a bit teary-eyed too. Aren't I just horrible??

I'm not sure I'm ready for all the work and projects to come -- I'm probably going to have some nightmares about forgetting some huge project for someone -- but hopefully I'll be able to stay organized enough to keep up with all 4 schedules! But if nothing else, even with the day-care kids I still have every day... can I tell you how quiet it is at my house before 11:17am these days?? :)