A gift of time

My baby girl.

I took this picture of Gabby while touring her future elementary school.

I look at my little girl and all I see is a baby who grew up way too fast.

She will be 6 in September. She cannot wait.

Thanks to a September 1st cutoff date she could not start Kindergarten until this year.

I worried myself sick over this wait.

Now I am so THANKFUL for this gift of time.

About a Tree

There is an ongoing debate in our home involving this tree.

Every few weeks Gary wants to cut it down. "It takes away from our view" is his reasoning.


But every spring this big giant becomes a welcoming home to at least one winged family.


This year is no exception.


Last week the girls and I welcomed the first day of spring by buying some new bird seed and making some bird feeders for the above tree.



Gabby had already discovered a new nest in another tree and we were all excited about providing Mama Bird with nourishment.

Mama Dove

Two Dove Eggs

As I was adding seed to the bird feeder that Miss Sophie Cate made last year I was surprised to find a Mama Bird had taken residency. The Mama bird is a House Finch and is common in the Sonoran Desert.

Sophie's bird feeder from last year became a perfect home for the Finch family

Five Speckled Pale Blue Finch Eggs

Mama Finch

Dada Finch

The girls and I were thrilled to discover the next day that the eggs had hatched!! Here is an updated picture of our five baby Puff Ball Finches!!

Five Little Puff Baby Finches

This little one was determined to be fed. Such a big mouth for an itty bitty birdie!

Two Sleeping Baby Finches

To Be Continued...

Treasured Moments

Twinkle Twinkle

Little Boy

How YOU Fill

My Heart With Joy

Reduce Recycle Reuse

Gary LOVES to recycle and he LOVES that the girls have been bitten by the recycLing bug too... but I think they went a bit too far tonight.

Why I woke my sleeping child...

Gary found this incredibly cool bug today. Gabby took no time to fall in love with "Inch by Inch" and place her in a new habitat.

Tonight I wanted to check on Inch by Inch so I lifted the lid of the bug house and discovered this...

So, yes, I woke up my soundly sleeping little girl in order to share this incredible experience with her.

We will see if she even remembers this in the morning.

We will update as Inch by Inch metamorphoses into her new body... so exciting!!

A messy Friday

Daddy was out of town this week and Mommy was not feeling 100% so we decided to end the week by making a big ol' messy mess! The girls had a blast and Mommy got a clean bathroom.

We found this recipe online and in a few minutes the girls had a muffin tin full of beautiful paint to decorate their bath tub.

2 T. cornstarch

1/3 C. liquid soap

Several drops food coloring

Smidge of water to get a good paint consistency
I gave the girls some paint brushes but they had more fun with their hands (no surprise there).

Before playtime was over the tub was covered in a fresh coat of paint. I loved their art work but listening to their songs while creating made the whole evening a blessing. Both girls thanked me as I took them out of the bath... it made a long week end on a perfect note.

After they created for an hour or so it was time to clean up. This lasted another hour. They may of had more fun cleaning then they did creating. The best part... I never asked them to clean and they did a better job than I would have!

Broadway Babies

The girls performed at the Cardinal's Stadium this past weekend.

They had their curls, they had their smiles, they danced their best and above all else, they had a blast!

We were so proud!!