Birdhouse In Our Soul

Something New

2010-05-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Finally Spring!

2010-03-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today was beautiful - here are some pictures I took of the kids....

Some other pictures of the garden...

Autumn in the Garden

2009-11-10T16:52:00.001-08:00

This is my first year gardening. I've already killed some things, most notably the pink creeping phlox that started the whole obsession. I have a black walnut tree near my little front yard garden - they are notorious for poisoning plants that try to grow beneath them. After he dumped some enormous tennis ball sized nuts all over everything, I started giving him a sideways look whenever I crossed his path - which is every time I leave the house. The upside of this is that I have an excuse for any and all failures, and I use it liberally.

Here are a few pictures that Frank took for me in October. I figured I better get some photos before the first frost hits, and I spend the entire winter wondering what will come back in the Spring.

Trick or Treat?

2009-10-31T17:36:00.001-07:00

We had a great time trick or treating. The weather held out well enough for us to fill up half a treat basket. The only casualty of the night was our cat, Play-doh...Frank did not have a Halloween costume so he shaved the poor guy and, well, the picture says it all.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

Happy First Year, Alexandra

2009-09-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hell is....

2009-08-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Target in Atlantic Station the Saturday before back-to-school. What was I thinking? Oh well, it could have been worse - I could have been at Walmart.

What did we really need so badly? Um, panties. I had been noticing that Ariana was looking... well... uncomfortable lately, and finally I realized that the poor kid had been growing and needed me to upgrade her unmentionables. So off to Target we go, and the whole time we're there, she's tugging at the ones she's wearing, and I am really ashamed for not noticing she had an issue sooner.

Of course, when you go to Target for one thing, you immediately realize that everything you're running out of at home (and more) is sold at Target, so 1 hour later, I'm carrying Alexandra, and pushing one of those ginormous buggies that has side cars big enough for 12 kids. Neither of my kids are in it. I have a basket full of stuff and I can't find the panties. I ask. They are in a new section that I've never been in - full of little girl undergarments. OK, so Ari is delighted to find they have a pack of 7 with each day of the week written on them, and Alexandra by this point is crawling around on the floor. I'm amused too, but I have to get out of here. So I round the corner to collect our Cart/SUV and there, just one aisle over, I find myself face to face with the training bras. It's a wonder I didn't wake up at the ER. Turns out the only thing you can't get at Target is a stiff drink.

At least my girls make everything fun....

Alexandra played with the panties for the rest of the afternoon....

Ariana and Alexandra making each other laugh.

Last Monday I started teaching Ariana to read. I wasn't sure if it would go well, but so far it has been fantastic. The material is not over her head and she's enjoying it and learning very well. It's so rewarding for me! She spent some time on Saturday teaching her Lion how to read. I think he's catching on quickly too. Here they are...

The summer drought has taken a few victims in the garden. Lost a few perennial geraniums and a cushion spurge who managed to rot. Here are some happier residents....

And instead of crying over the rotted spurge, I picked up a new silver spurge, called Shorty. The little nest he's planted in is made up of Dragon's Blood sedum.

We've Been Busy

2009-08-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

First we got to meet the new baby.

We all high-tailed it over to Tupelo to meet the new star of our family. Reed Chase Henson. Isn't he beautiful?

Not only is he lucky to have such a terrific aunt, his big brothers are awesome. William and Wes are so generous with the kisses and hugs for baby Reed. Sweet Wes also gave Alexandra special attention too, bringing her toys to play with and patting (kind of like petting) her on the head. Adorable.

Here is baby Reed with his mama, Laura.

Alexandra has her first go at pancakes, compliments of Chef Uncle Chase.

Honey and her 3 handsome grandsons. How many grandmothers get a grandson who can leap tall buildings in a single bound? What luck!

Frank, Ari, and I with baby Reed.

We got to see my grandmama too. Ariana and Alexandra loved seeing her, although getting Alexandra to sit still for a photo was just not in the cards.

Honey and G with 5 out of 7 grandbabies. Mom & Dad - Good luck getting anything usable for your Christmas card this year.

Alexandra checking the performance of her investments with her Godfather, Uncle C. Actually she's probably wondering what the newspaper tastes like.

Back to Atlanta -

We all went out to dinner at the Flying Biscuit and had a blast. Last time the 4 of us went out, Alexandra almost got us kicked out of a "family joint" for all of her squealing. We braved it again & turns out she's ready for fine dining. All we needed to keep the girls entertained were two straws and some tap water. We have discovered that Alexandra's tastes are very grown-up and she's already snubbing the kid's menus. She wanted our food.

The next day was Papa's birthday. Here he is with his little babes. Ariana couldn't stop licking the candles long enough to look at the camera.

One of Papa's presents....

The upright Sedum is coloring up now and turning a soft and pretty pink. See the fountain in the background?

What a beauty! Her name is Lola and you can see how she glows. Her flowers weren't even opening when I got her, and she was still a knockout. She's a large rosette and is making about six babies if anyone wants a stunning succulent.

Papa left for London yesterday. I didn't know if I was allowed to mention it before (all 6 of my readers already know anyway), but he sold the business he has been running. Huge congratulations to Frank, we can't wait to confiscate your passport!

If you've read this far, you must be exhausted... and I'm definitely going to bed!

Never Too Young for Good Hygiene

2009-08-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

We were all really happy to have Ariana back home this week, especially Alexandra. I think Ariana missed us too. Maybe a little. Just a tiny bit?

Ariana had such a good time with Honey and G that she came home and asked me if she could move in with them when she grew up. I told her she could and I'm thinking I will too since they had donuts, ice cream, brownies, an oreo Blizzard, and a few rounds of pizza.

Alexandra is too little to dive into a DQ Blizzard yet, but while Ariana was gone, she stopped eating baby food completely. All of a sudden she eats salmon, mushrooms, pesto rice, salsa, guacamole, goat cheese, arugula... basically whatever we're eating, she wants it. At least she's brushing between meals.

Guess we'll be taking her out for tacos soon.

Papa's Home so Bring out the Cake

2009-07-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

We got our papa back again this week, but before he arrived on Wednesday we started the week off with two visits to the doctor's office for Alexandra's fever. The test results revealed a UTI so we reluctantly hit the milestone "baby's first round of antibiotics". She's doing much better now & her fever is gone, which is a huge relief. Here she is waiting for her exam...

Ariana comes to every doctor's appointment that Alexandra has - she is so fascinated with doctors that she actually likes going in for her shots. She always takes her own doctor's kit and "fixes up" the ubiquitous lion. She watches the pediatrician like a hawk and performs every step of the exam with her own instruments on her own patient. It's so cute!

The camp theme at Ariana's school last week was "Superheroes". Here she is in her Super A cape. Also she came home with a mask and homemade gadget. Not sure what it's supposed to do, but I'd be really impressed if it could clean the kitchen on its own. That's what I call a Superpower.

Super A giving Super Papa a welcome home smooch.

Here she is in her mortal disguise, wearing the pretty nightgown Honey made for her & ready for a chocolate chip pancake breakfast.

Super A has recently added swimming to her list of super powers. We are very proud of her!

Alexandra at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, discovering what a living lawn feels like.

Yesterday we celebrated my birthday again cause Mama knows how to milk it. Ariana made the pancakes this time with some instruction from Papa.

Alexandra enjoying the shade.

Papa helped Ariana and Alexandra get a present for me.... This gorgeous bird bath. Maybe one day I'll get a photo of the daddy cardinal on it.

Ariana carried the cake. I'm glad her shoelaces were tied.

Playdoh photographs the whole family at the table.

I received yet another beautiful gift. A very handsome man showed up to install it...

It's a water fountain from Frank. It makes such a soothing noise & isn't it stunning? I love it! Honey and G gave me these adorable bumble bee lights for my birthday and they are in the gardenia bushes behind the fountain. I'll have to try for a photo as dusk sometime.

Ariana dictated a note to Papa, which he wrote on my birthday card. Enjoy... "Mama - I love you. And thank you for making two nice daughters. When Alexandra gets old, she will get so many spankings she won't even believe it. We love Willie (Nelson). We all have children in the whole world. We were outside getting dirty making soup. New dirt for us. We all eat at the same time. We are sorry for going in "time out" two times. Love, Ariana & Alexandra"

Do I sound like a meanie or what? But just to be clear, it was Ariana in "time out" 2 times, not Alexandra. Ariana must be ready for Alexandra to get what she thinks is coming to her. The kid has only had one spanking in the last 10 months, but clearly it was memorable.

This is my sometimes blue sometimes purple hardy geranium, Rozanne.

Here are some of the succulents again, thinking they've died and gone to heaven with all of this sunshine.

Thanks to my wonderful family for a very special birthday, especially Frank who made it all happen. Ariana just left the house for a week in Mississippi with Honey and G. She was so excited, not the least bit hesitant. Dropped me like a dead fish. I'll miss her though. It will be way too quiet around here without my little sunshine!

Mama Turns 23

2009-07-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

Frank had to be in London on my birthday, and of course I missed him very much - but that just gives me an excuse to celebrate twice. Stay tuned for photos of my 2nd birthday party. Ariana, Alexandra, and I went to Whole Foods and got a cute little birthday cake. Poor Alexandra - too young to eat cake. She was thrilled to have a half slice of whole wheat bread instead. I wonder how long she'll consider that a "treat". Ariana is looking forward to growing up like me so she can stay up late with me and clean the kitchen. Yes - I'm putting that in writing for a reason.

Alexandra waiting for her bread....

Ariana, Alexandra, and Lion singing Happy Birthday.

I love the conversations I have with Ariana at her age. Although I might need to go back to school for another degree for some of our discussions. A seminary degree would have been handy this week.

Ariana - "Mama, does God hear us all the time?"

Me - "Yes, baby, He does"

Ariana - "OK. (pause) Except when he goes grocery shopping, right?"

Me - (Long Pause) "Um.. no baby... he even hears us when he's grocery shopping"

Did I get that right?

Here's Alexandra hamming it up. It just wouldn't seem right for me to post without a neked photo of Alexandra. Poor thing has been running a fever on and off for two days. Tonight she didn't want much supper, so I picked her up out of her chair and held her. She immediately put her head on my chest and fell right asleep. So sweet. Can this please last forever?

Do you think I raised you in a barn?

Alexandra must be double jointed. She contorts her legs in all directions. She puts them up on everything. Everything I ever taught Ariana about manners is now out the window.

Here they are banging their cups on the table. Alexandra starts it and looks at Ariana for a laugh and for her to join in. I guess she's going to be the instigator.

We got a visit from Laura and Walker Hipps last week. It was so much fun, even though Walker was really mad at us at first for waking him up from his car nap. I don't blame him. Laura looks great - 6 months pregnant - all baby - no lunch-lady arms, no big thighs. She's one of "those" girls. Walker and Ariana made a Picasso, or maybe a Pollock.

The first trick I ever taught Alexandra was how to "smell the flowers". She crinkles up her nose and breathes quickly out of her nose. It's so funny and so endearing to me because Zeb had the same trick when he was a baby and in my mind's eye I can still see him doing it now. Here she is doing it - doesn't she look fierce?

I am obsessed with rock garden plants, but I don't have many places to grow them because I have a shade garden (thankfully). Here are the few that I have found a place for...

I have two containers at the door with a variety of sedums and other stone crops. I'll take a photo in Autumn when the tall upright sedum blooms. She's called Neon and her blooms will be bright pink (just in time for some girly birthdays). She's already turning violet on top.

Here are my Sempervivums glowing in the sun. Ariana loves these because the big ones are called Hens and they have little babies that grow from them on the side called Chicks. Great plant for kids. I hear the squirrels like to eat them, so I'm sprinkling them with cayenne pepper. Should be fine as long as I don't have any Cajun squirrels.

The little chartreuse one is sedum makinoi and the golden one is euphorbia, cushion spurge.

We've had baby cardinals in the holly tree out the window by our table. We've seen the mama and papa get food from the feeder and bring it to them. Very sweet - now they are big enough to visit the feeder themselves. I wonder if they get to stay up late to help clean up.

Congrats to "G" for winning the Biggest Loser contest between me, him, and Frank, which has been going on since January. I guess he'll be showing it off in his designer 7's jeans this fall. Truly, he deserves some serious bragging rights.

We all miss Frank - he'll be home in just 4 days! Hooray!

Happy Summer and Happy Birthday

2009-07-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

First and most importantly - welcome to the world baby Reed Chase Henson. He is Chase & Laura's 3rd boy, born yesterday 07.09.09 - he looks just like me, doesn't he? I can't wait to meet him - he was actually supposed to stay put until I made it to Tupelo for his birth, but he just decided it was getting too cramped in there. I'm so glad they finally named one of their babies "Chase" - isn't it a great name? Congratulations to Laura, Chase, William and Wes!

Here is a photo of my garden at the end of June before the daylillies turned to dust. Makes me think of the sermon on the mount. The snails also turned my coral bells into swiss cheese, but that only makes me want to take an eye for an eye.

Things to do with your summer....

(1) Drink from the garden hose

(2) Play in the grass

(3) Make your own bandana at "wild west" summer camp (just in case we get an Atlanta dust storm). If you look closely, you'll see the rainbow flag hanging on the Virginia Highlands Baptist Church. I bet you Mississippi people don't have one of those. Another one of those things I love about Atlanta.

(4) Join the rodeo. Later we took turns riding around on the horse she made at camp.

(5) Learn a new skill

(6) Paint with watercolors

(7) Necked puzzle working. (Really, I do dress her, I just can't resist getting the camera out when she's not)

(8) Play with a bowl of cooked spaghetti. Seriously... if you ever need to entertain a baby for hours this is your ticket... you should see the video of this.

Happy Summer!

Independence from England

2009-07-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.... Let me think about that for a moment.

Two years ago I was strolling Ariana around London for a unremarkable 4th of July. Funny, they do nothing to celebrate it over there. What I remember most was that I was wearing jeans, boots and a leather jacket. She was wearing a polar fleece coat. I repeat... Po-lar Fleece. I told her that would never happen again.

So today I was thankful for America and for the endless supply of sunshine and warmth we've been having. It may well be extreme, but I can gladly take it.

This morning we strolled up to Peachtree Street for the famous road race, danced to Michael Jackson, ate Tiramisu for breakfast, and cheered for the runners.

In the afternoon we chilled out in the sunshine. Ariana played in the garden hose & Alexandra tried her best to eat the grass, which we have totally given up on for the season btw.

In addition to the remains of our lawn, Alexandra also had her first go at Mac-N-Cheese for dinner. I guess she just slurped it down, since she only has two teeth, but she had no trouble and loved every bite. Who wouldn't?

And finally.... is there anything in the world better than a necked baby?

I'm watching fireworks out the window while I type this. Happy 4th of July! I do love America.

But I'm Just Not the Blogging Type...

2009-07-02T10:26:00.001-07:00

Tonight we realized at dinner time that we were all out of wine. Sometimes you just don't notice the important things in life until it's too late.

Here are some pictures from last Saturday. Alexandra has her first cold and is dealing like a champ, even though she did feel really badly that day. Here she is swiping her breakfast spoon from Ariana who desperately wanted to feed her. Notice Trixie in the background stalking the birds (and squirrels) who are visiting my new Mother's Day bird feeder. The birds drop seeds all over the ground and the squirrels serve as the cleanup crew. One day I'll post a picture of our resident hawk.

Papa spent the morning working on his retaining wall project near the little people's "playground". Ariana is startled.

Are you?

Actually I asked him for his most macho man pose since he was hauling and shoveling cement after all. He is truly the human swiss army knife.

Frank took us to Atlanta Water Gardens because I asked for a water fountain for my birthday. We love this place. There are so many fun things. Wind Chimes, Fish, Fountains, Donuts...

Alexandra loved the fountains.

OK, I couldn't resist. I don't know how long she had her dress tucked in to her bloomers. I just noticed when I was behind her in the parking lot.

The giant Koi are beautiful, although I always think they look like they want to eat you.

Here is a picture from my garden - this is my favorite flower right now. It's my Jackmanii Clematis. I just planted him in the spring & I check on him at least four times daily. Somehow I have become a garden freak (though you can't tell it by my dead lawn). Who would have bet on that?

I saw a hummingbird today. First one I've ever seen in the garden. We do have so many animals - woodpeckers, chipmunks, purple finches, nuthatches, red-tailed hawks, blue jays, cardinals, and some stray black cat. It's like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, but we live in midtown Atlanta.