Well, this explains why the Hummingbirds didn’t hang around this summer.  This little guy took over the feeder.  I love watching him (or her, maybe?) in the tree outside our living room window.  There is something so calm about it.  Soon he’ll be hibernating for the winter.

It didn’t exactly start out on the right foot, however.  We forgot about daylight savings time and woke up at 9:00 a.m. thinking we had over an hour to make it to church on time.  It wasn’t until I checked e-mails and noticed my laptop clock had the new time adjusted.  I ran to the shower and started hollering at Doug to get his butt up and ready.  I knew I’d need helping getting Owen and Dawson ready, too.

We made it to Mass at 10:30 on the dot and resigned to sitting at the very back.  Not a single pew was available so we sat in the gathering space (a fancy term for foyer, I imagine) and could barely hear Father speaking.  All the more reason to be quiet and listen intently.  I managed to catch most of the homily.

Post worship we took both cars to the gas station for refueling because we had a grocery store perk card that would give us 80 cents off per gallon.  I love saving money!  Two vehicles full of gas for under $40 is amazing.

Back home I fed Owen and then Dawson found a Star Wars marathon on Spike TV.  He was dead to the world, glued to the TV.  I had to drag him outside to ride his bike while I pushed Owen in the jogging stroller.  We walked to the park and took the hiking path down to the Little Plover River.  Owen loved being outside and fell asleep half way to the playground.

Once we returned home I played soccer in the backyard with Dawson.  He loves to dribble the ball and shoot it into the net I got him for his birthday last September.  He’s getting really good with his soccer skills.  He starts spring soccer at the YMCA next month.  I’m so glad it will be warmer this time around.  Fall soccer was so cold last season.

Here are some fave photos from today:

It was a beautiful Sunday!  I love Spring!

To celebrate Doug’s birthday we went on a family fishing trip.  Doug loaded and hitched the boat and we dropped anchor on the Wisconsin River at Galecki Park near our house.  After slathering on a ton of sunscreen we settled in for some line fishing.  Okay, I didn’t fish, because that whole thing is not my bag.  I read a book and took photos while Doug and Dawson waited patiently for the fish to bite.

The weather was gorgeous, around 75 degrees and not too humid.  The sun was shining, with a few clouds here and there, and a light breeze swept the air.  We had a marvelous time.  And three hours later, just before we had decided to go back to the dock, an amazing thing happened:

Dawson caught his first fish, a walleye, and he was beyond excited!  He was so happy and so proud of his accomplishment.  Doug and I were so proud, too!

Doug helped him cast the line, and showed him how to jig, and after many long moments of waiting and a few snags, suddenly something pulled on his line.  Dawson didn’t even realize it was a fish at first.  He thought he had another snag.  But Doug instructed him to reel in his line, and Dawson was so excited when he realized he had to fight the fish into the boat.

“Daddy!  It’s a strong fish!  Help!”

Doug told him to keep reeling, and once the fish was out of the water he helped Dawson get him into the boat for a picture.  The smile on our son’s face was so magical, and so priceless.  I was so happy for him.  Dawson couldn’t wait to tell his grandpas about his first catch.  We took a little video to remember the occasion:

(Please ignore my husband’s attempt to ignore the camera.  He hates pictures, and always looks so crabby on video.  He’s really NOT a serial killer, even though he looks like one in this vid.)

More fishing photos here.

Every morning, since late March, this little bird comes to visit us. She flies into our dining room window several times (lightly so she doesn’t hurt herself) and then perches on the windowsill outside, peeking into our home. It’s so darn funny. Dawson and I get such a kick out of her when she plays peek-a-boo. She never lets me get close enough to get a good photo of her.

Cute little bird, isn’t she?  (Or he?  I think it’s a she…) When she’s not flying into my window, she’s playing peek-a-boo when she sits on the windowsill.

Playing Peek-a-Boo.  I see you, Little Bird. When she’s not playing peek-a-boo, she flies to the other side of the house and craps on my car.  I think she’s ticked that I won’t let her in the house.

Mr. Cardinal stays at a distance.  He’s quite handsome, yes?  I happened to get this shot while waiting for my Little Bird Friend to perch herself on the windowsill so I could get a close-up.  Dawson ran to the window and scared the bird poop out of her.

After taking these photos we headed to the store for bird seed and hummingbird nectar.  My in-laws told me the hummingbirds should be migrating soon, and I’ve been watching that feeder daily.  So far I haven’t seen any hummingbirds, but I know they must be around because the nectar is half full.  I’ll have to pay closer attention I think.

Any readers out there that are bird watchers, too?

Last Friday at work, my co-worker said the naughty ‘S’ word.  It seems our local television meteorologist forecasted a misting of that fluffy white stuff.

That’s right.  Snow.

I’m not ready for winter yet.  I miss summer very much.  Hell, I miss fall very much.  I didn’t get to take as many fall foliage photos as I wanted because I was so busy with all my commitments at work and at home.

Anyway, I had this clever idea to use “Reverse Snowology.”  Don’t steal that phrase my friends, I’m trade-marking it.

Reverse Snowology is when you say aloud, “Oh, gee!  I’d really love it if it would SNOW!”  The idea is that  saying those words will trick Mother Nature and then it will not snow.

It seems that whenever I say I DO NOT want snow, it always manages to cover my front lawn.  I thought my Reverse Snowolgy thing was clever, and that it would, you know, WORK.

But alas, it snowed.  Thankfully it melted less than an hour later.

After a long, extremely cold winter, I prayed for Spring every day. Dawson felt my pain. Every morning since January, he has been asking me when he could go outside to ride his bike. I kept telling him once the snow melted and the weather was warmer. He got his wish this weekend.

It was so warm and wonderful that we spent most of our weekend outdoors. I ignored the housework nagging at me, I tried not to worry about all the things I should be doing and instead decided to play outside with Dawson.

We went to three different parks and playgrounds. We took two bike rides. We took a long walk (3 miles) this afternoon. The temperatures averaged about 65 to 70 degrees and we took advantage of the first real days of Spring.

Dawson got to ride his bike, he was so excited to petal all by himself with no pushes from Mommy, not counting the part where he went off the sidewalk (we’re chalking it up to being the first bike ride of the season).

Murphy (our dog) was in heaven. He’s been dreaming about warm weather and a leash for months.

As for me, I was just happy to spend some time outdoors with my boys. (Okay! Okay! And to take many awesome photos with my new camera.)

It’s a brilliant camera. Here’s the proof:

Enjoying Spring at Mead Park

Snowbank in January, Duck Puddle in April

The Doodlebug

For the Love of Mother Earth

The Pensive Child

Thankful for Days in the Park

My Beautiful Boys

Petal to the Metal

“Holy Crap!” he said through his laughter. “Murphy! How did you get over there?”

I turned around to see our dog, Murphy, on the other side of our fence. He was gallivanting in the neighbor’s yard. I called his name and he came right up to the fence and laid on the grass, taunting me to come over and get him. He knows how to play the “chase me all over the neighborhood” game very well.

While Doug went around to capture our rebellious canine, I proceeded to walk the fence line to see if Murphy had dug any holes under the fence to escape. It’s just a cheap little fence to keep the dog and Dawson away from the road behind our house. As I was perusing the fence line, I shrieked! There in the grass, running the fence line, was a turtle. A TURTLE!

“Doug! Come here!” I yelled.

“What? Did you find a hole in the fence?”

“Ummm. No….but I did find THAT!” I pointed.

“It’s just a turtle. Are you really this girly? Here, hold him!” he said. He picked up the slimy looking thing and proceeded to hand him to me. I freaked out and said there was no way I was holding that turtle. He taunted me by dangling the little thing in my face.

“Chicken!” he said. “I wonder where he came from.”

“I’m not getting my finger bitten off. No thank you. He probably wandered over from the river.”

Little Plover River was a 1/4 mile away from our house. We always walk the path to the park and we figure our little pal walked a long way to get into our backyard. But we have no clue how he got into the fence!

“Awww. C’mon. He won’t bite.”

I declined again and Dawson toddled over to see what we were talking about. He immediately clang to my leg when he saw his daddy put “Terry the Turtle” on the ground. The little amphibian sure moved fast. Suddenly, Murphy caught wind of Terry and decided to poke and prod at the poor thing.

“Doug, we need to get him back to the river.”

After playing with Terry and giving him a dip in our rain barrel, we grabbed an old pail and put Terry in it. I called it the Turtle Taxi. We packed Dawson in his stroller and attached Murphy to his leash and the four of us went to release Terry in his natural habitat. Such good little environmentalists we are. We found a low clearing by the river and let Terry into the water.

“Buh-bye, turd!” Dawson said, his little fist opening and closing into a wave. “Buh-bye.”

When we got home, Dawson seemed a little sad.

“What’s the matter, bug?”

“No mo turd, Mumma.”

“Oh!” I laughed. “Yes, no more turtle. He went home.”

Last night I took Dawson and Murphy (our boston terrier) for a long walk. It felt good to sweat out all the yuckies in my body. You know what I’m talking about– the stress, the headache, the back ache and all the other “Mommy Ailment” I seem to be suffering. Even my mind felt clear during our jaunt.

We walked down our block first and saw the neighbor out side with her two American Water Spaniels. They were so cute with their curly black fur. Immediately upon seeing these little canines, Dawson shouted, “Mumma! Sa Puppy!” Yes. That is a puppy. Two puppies.

We then walked toward the public library and I dropped off an over due book I was reading. It was a boring book. I don’t even remember the name of it now. And it certainly wasn’t worth the 4 day late fees of $0.50 per day I’ll be receiving, but hey, the library needs to make money, too.

After our short stop we continued walking down Roosevelt Drive. Memories of walking home from school down the sidewalk on this road came flooding back. My brother and I would race to see who could get home faster. It was not a short run — at least 3/4 of a mile. I know that’s nothing but as kids it was quite the workout.

We passed the “high class” neighborhood of Shadow Haven where all the gigantic mansions were built 15 years ago. I remember all the snotty, bratty kids who lived in that subdivision and thought they were king of the world because their parents bought homes there. I have to laugh because some of them had such high mortgages and had foreclosures for non-payment. Heh. Who’s high and mighty now?

We walked all the way to Roosevelt Elementary and Dawson played on the toddler playground. He adores going down the slide and crawling through the tunnel. It’s so funny to see all this brand new equipment. When I went to school there, it was all wood with a tire swing and lots of miscellaneous monkey bars and jungle gym things. Those are gone now. Man, how time flies.

We then walked down Washington Avenue to the Heritage Park. Heritage Park is a neat little project of the Portage County Historical Society. They relocated the old train depot building, the old post office, an old church, and a few historical homes to this neat little block in “downtown” Plover. Dawson loves to see the train car.

If the weather is nice after work, I’m going to take him back there and take some pictures. I think that would be fun!

Well, off to work for me! Have a great weekend!

Your dear blogger, Dana, did something really dumb. I forgot to pay the cable bill. But it wasn’t my fault. Charter Cable has been screwing with me for months. I paid online one time and they stopped sending me my ‘paper statement’. Needless to say the cable was turned off for two days because of this mess.

Anyway, I don’t miss television. I’m tempted to call the jerks and tell them to disconnect it because my husband and I actually spent time as a family yesterday with NO DISTURBING TELEVISION NOISE.

You’d think I discovered a new invention the way I’m carrying on about this. When I got home from work last night, Doug had the house in the same form as when I left– CLEAN! And he had dinner in the oven, Dawson was playing nicely in the hallway and Murphy was chewing on his dog bone.

Doug even agreed to go for a walk with us to the LPR park (this is our favorite thing to do). He never likes to go for walks. I was so happy to have him along, not only so that I didn’t have to tackle the stroller and hold Murphy’s leash at the same time, but because my husband was actually spending time with me!

For dinner he made BBQ Ribs. This isn’t a surprise, he does most of the cooking (he was a cook for many years at a restaurant). What surprised me was that we actually ate dinner — are you ready for this? AT THE TABLE!

I couldn’t believe it. Usually we grab our plates and eat near the TV to watch the news and other junk. But this…this was new, THIS was wonderful.

See what I mean about no TV? I thought I’d miss my favorite shows, but I didn’t. I’m sure Doug was a little irked about missing the news and Seinfeld, but I couldn’t be happier.

Our little family is blossoming. Just like the pretty white flowers we saw on our walk. After dinner Doug took us to get ice cream at the little shop down the road. I almost had a heart attack. This is something he’d never do.

I think I should not pay the cable bill more often.