My Birdies Have Left The Nest

We had a little momma bird set up camp right outside our window. It was literally 5 feet from our bedroom window. First I told Zach that it was good fung shui because we had a fertile momma bird nesting outside our window (you know- because then we could also find ourselves prosperous with child... hahaha). Then the baby birds hatched, and it was so exciting the day I noticed it. The daddy bird brought back a worm for the momma bird. She took it in her beak, and hopped off the nest, and to my surprise- out popped three little bird heads with scrawny necks stretching so hard to reach their food. The daddy fed each of them one by one. I told Zach that now it's triple good fung shui. Three baby birds (fertile momma!), and also, note that daddy provided for them all!! We are not really superstitious- and don't buy all that fung shui nonsense- but fo' real- have you ever seen anything so cute!!!
I made it part of my loop around the house at least hourly to check up on the momma and her babies, and I was really a little depressed when I realized yesterday that the babies had left the nest, and (with no reason to stay), the momma has gone too. Empty nest :( Oh well. I wish them a full life and may they come back to nest next year!

That has to be one of the top 10 coolest things that has ever happened to me.

Small Update

Chloe learned how to use the computer mouse. She can now play "Hooked on Phonics," and play ABC's on starfall.com.
I just left her at the computer for a minute, and when I came back, she was playing the game all by herself... and getting all the answers right. Pop Fox (the fox on Hooked on Phonics) would ask a question, she would read all her choices, and choose the right one every time. She also can fix a word that is spelled wrong. Pop Fox asks what letter to change in the word "top" for example, to make the word "cop." Chloe clicks on the c and moves it to the right location in the word, claps her hands and cheers because she got it right.
I am stunned and amazed. What a brilliant little thing. When I left the room, she was doing the same old thing... just violently thrashing the mouse around - angry that she couldn't get it to do what she wanted to... and when I came back in, she was totally focused and using the mouse like a pro!!

I am also SO EXCITED!! Now I don't have to suffer through the whole alphabet on starfall.com! I can let her play while I read a novel right beside her (I will NOT be allowing the computer to be accessible to her now that she knows how to use a mouse- at least not without me monitoring closely!)

Anyways, just a little proud and wanted to share!!

April Fools

This is what we had for dinner!!

CLICK HERE for the recipe.

YUM!!! I made a couple changes. I removed the paper linings of the aluminun cupcake tins, and cooked them right in the cupcake pan *(the recipe says that you should cook them on a cookie sheet, and later I thought maybe that's so you can remove them easier... but I thought it would be hard to squish all the meat down without the cupcake pan).

I cooked them longer too- for 20min- and used cheddar cheese instead of mozzerella... and a little extra catsup. DELISH!

Chloe was so excited to trick daddy. We practiced saying "April Fools Daddy!" She kept asking for her cupcake for dinner. Daddy, as a result, figured it out, but he was surprised how much he liked dinner. They little cupcake meatloafs were surprisingly filling. We ate them all. The diet starts again Monday!

A New Job!!

Zach got a job (about a month ago). He is working at TDAMERITRADE!!! It's strenuous, and there is just so much to learn, but I am so proud of him. He is doing so well, and connecting with all sorts of great people.

TDAMERITRADE bought another company called "Think or Swim," and this is the part of the company Zach is working for. They are phasing in "Think or Swim," so this job won't be around all that long. We are pretty confident that Zach will be able to find another job within the company because of his training and degree. Also, the contacts he is making can only help.

Another great thing about TDAMERITRADE is that they have another headquarters in Fort Worth, TX. We hope to find a job there. Some of you may know that my sister Dori lives there... so that is one reason we would love to make the move. Also, Texas is a great place to live. Most importantly... Texas doesn't celebrate winter!!!

I just have to say that this winter was the most traumatizing I have ever been through.... and I lived through 2 winters in Idaho, and this will be my 8th midwest winter! It went something like this: 10 days no sun and gray, highs in the teens... one afternoon where you almost see blue in the sky... then 10 more days of gray with two of the days hovering in the single digits!

I am totally ready to move somewhere warmer.... even if it means that Chloe will learn to say "yall." :)

Winter.... Blech!

It's Been a While

2 1/2 year old fave's:

A fort! Made from a cardboard box.

A new beau! Chloe loves Daniel :)

The aquarium. I love it I love it I love it!!

ZACH IS 31!! We made the cake. The one he wants every year. This year we realized that this cake is like 44 points (Weight Watchers) per slice. :( We survived.

This was a picture from my birthday. Chloe and I had wonderful day. It was possibly the best birthday ever.

First, Chloe woke up at 6:30am. She was squaking (she squaks from her bed to get me up in the morning. She still doesn't open doors, and likes me to physically get her out of bed). I yelled through the wall "Go back to bed! It's still night time." Birthday miracle #1 .... she did! We woke up for real for the day at 9:30!!!

After leisurely getting ready, we went to brunch at this great little bakery in the old market with my friend Jenn and her kids. Birthday miracle #2 was that I happened to park at a broken meter, and didn't have to pay!!

We all had so much fun! She got the banana split waffle. It came with a big scoop of ice cream on top. I got a big fat sausage, mashed potato, cheese wrapp, and ony ate half... and I was STUFFED! It was SO GOOD!

Birthday miracle #3: The weather was so nice! It was about 60 degrees. It was our first nice day in months. To celebrate, after brunch we went to the zoo. We were all practically slap happy silly... it is SO GOOD TO SEE YOU SUN!!!

We went home after the zoo and took a nap. Birthday miracle #4 is that I also took a nap!

When we woke up, we went on the balcony:

After discovering how georgous a day it was, we decided to go to the park. Chloe had been actually crying talking about how she wanted to go to the park just the week before. She was so happy she was rediculous. Here is her in the sand:

On the swing, she kept yelling in her most excited squeaky voice, "Look at you!!!" *(instead of 'look at me!') She was so excited to ride the "big girl swing." She is such a big girl!!

And then she fell in love with the slide. I was so overjoyed. We have been offering her the slide forever, and she has been terrified of it. I was as proud as could be when she ran herself up the stairs and slid on the slide over and over. When we had to go, she cried like she was heartbroken. Such a cutie!!

For his birthday, I got Zach an Ipod arm band and some nice shirts for work. For my birthday, Zach bought me an hour massage at the massage school across the street. Actually, I am redeeming it this afternoon. YAY!!! I love birthdays.

Christmas Blizzard of '09

We had such a great Christmas! It was just us and Gary and Kathy this year, and it made for a very relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Christmas Eve, Chloe and I had a little lesson about the nativity. We made cocoa and ate oreos, and sang songs about snow and Christmas while we watched the weather start to get a little blizzardy outside. I really enjoyed it, and Chloe did too.

Zach had to work at night, so we thought we would not be able to leave town to go to grandma and grandpa's till about 9. We ended up being able to get out of town early (by 6), and made our way across I80 in a blizzard. It took us an extra hour (4 hrs total) but we drove carefully and made it there safely. We were so lucky, because if we had left any later, we would not have been been able to make it, and might have spent Christmas and the next few days in a motel. The storm got worse all night, and they closed the interstate soon after we drove on it. The first 3/4 of the drive, we saw about 4 semi's flipped around on the wrong side of the road. The last 1/4th of the ride, we saw about 10-15 cars all over the place... in the middle of the two sides of the interstate, and on either side... flipped, rolled, and just stuck in the snow. Snow was blowing all over, and there were brief seconds at a time when we had zero visibility. We had the car stocked with all sorts of emergency preparedness items, and food/water, and we drove slowly, but it was still pretty precarious. Zach does well driving in the snow though (growing up in the country with all those dirt roads and driving all kinds of vehicles). Anyways, it was super lucky because if we hadn't gone when we did, we would not have been able to make it there for Christmas.

Christmas morning it was a raging blizzard outside, and we didn't leave the house all day. The flag hanging outside was ripped in two after that day, and the wreath hanging on the door was beautifully covered with windblown snow. Christmas was very fun and good to us.

Here is some of our loot (some of this was a graduation present too):

A digital photo frame from Nana and Papa Pierson

Chloe's favorite: the "book worm book" she calls it, because when you turn it off, it says "bye bye book worm!"

Zach got his mom to make us a roasted duck with orange sauce. I was (after much nagging) persuaded to try some. It was good! Best duck I have ever tasted!

An enjoyable bubble bath in the middle of a winter snow advisory.

Chloe looking out the window for Bella Rose, the great big coon hound that runs amok in the yard. Chloe includes Bella Rose in her prayers!

Chloe wearing the crayon apron I made for her when I was fooling around on my new sewing machine.

Gary took me to the barn and made me this beautiful ring out of an old fork!! He cut it to size, buffed it up for smoothness, and bent the stainless steel around a socket wrench bit to fit me! I absolutely LOVE it! He also made me necklaces, but I want to see how they look with a chain before I post those. They are the bottom of a tiny ornate spoon, and the top of the same spoon, with a loop bent into the tops to make pendants. Cool.

My first real project!! A plastic bag caddy! We went to Kearney the day after Christmas and bought all the materials. It was good to get out of the house. I made four of these caddy's. I want to take a class to learn how to sew all kinds of things properly.

We so enjoyed the company and the gifts that were sent our way, and given to each other. It was a holly jolly Christmas.

Graduation Day

What can I say?! We are so excited and proud of Zachary. He worked so hard, and he did it! Zachary graduated on December 18th 2009, with a Bachelors of Science from the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Business Administration majoring in three areas; Business Finance, Financial Markets and Banking, and Investment Portfolio Management.

We started off the day by going to brunch at our favorite little restaurant, Le Peep. I had stuffed french toast. It was so good! Bob came and ate with us, and was really happy to catch up with little Chloe. When we got home from that, Gary and Kathy (Zach's parents) made it into town, and we all went off to graduation!!

It was a Christmas miracle when Chloe fell asleep a little way into the ceremony. It was supposed to be three hours long, and though it only ended up being about two and a half, Chloe would have been a wreck if she had stayed up any longer. Here she is sleeping on mommy's puffy coat, and sucking on a sippy. Very cute. When she woke up, she was in a bad mood and this is the best picture we got of us three together.

Smoochy smoochy
So proud of you Zachary!

Grandpa Bob also came, along with Zachary's sister Karie. They were at the ceremony too, but we couldn't find them for pictures. It was so good to see them! We all went out to dinner afterward at a place that didn't have a kids menu. They laid plastic under the high chair, and it took us a whole two hours to get food. Phew. Bedtime for Chloe was a long time coming, and we were so happy when we could tuck her in for the night.

But before we went to bed, CAKE!! I bought this cake for Zachary from Whole Foods. I am sure it is not good for you, but it was all natural. It was the best cake I have ever eaten. Worth it.