...a cluck-cluck here and a cluck-cluck there...

Sunday morning, I was changing Anna's diaper in her room. The change table is right in front of the window that looks out into the back yard. As I'm changing her diaper, I see a rather large looking bird out by the garden. At first, I thought it was a duckling. I yelled for Eric to go check it out - and he looked out the window and said, "Kinda' looks like a chicken." Ok...a chicken. So, I snuck out to the back yard through the garage cuz I didn't want to spook whatever it was. As I got closer I realized that yes, it was indeed a chick. You may be wondering..."How in the world did a chicken end up in the back yard?" I have no idea. At all. Well, my mom came up with one possible scenario. If a larger predatory bird caught the chick, it could have dropped it into our yard. I suppose that makes sense. I don't see any signs of attack - but it is possible. There is no chicken farm around here that I am aware of. I don't know - it's a mystery, but I love it!

Isn't she adorable??

When she saw me, she came running towards me - no fear at all! Then Haylie came out and we got some bird seed and it ate right out of her hand! Now, I kid you not, I think the chick (by the way, we named her Clucky) thinks Haylie is its Mommy. Have you ever read the book "Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman? Well, it is one of Haylie's favorites - and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Clucky follows Haylie EVERYWHERE! If Haylie goes to another part of the yard, and Clucky can't find her, she starts to chirp really loudly, then when she spots Haylie, she takes off running as fast as she can to catch up with her! One of these days I'm going to get it on video and upload it for you to see - it is sooo cute!

Click on the picture to make it bigger - you can see her chasing Haylie

Last night, when we were eating dinner, the chick sat at the door chirping away because she could see Haylie through the window..

I never wanted to let a chicken in my house so badly! Look at that face!! ;-)

So yes, we have the most unconventional pets around: 1 painted mantella frog (oh did I mention 2 of our exotic frogs died? well, that is for another day), approximately 75 baby toads wandering the yard, 5 adult toads (that we know of), a box turtle, a desert tortoise, and a partridge in a pear tree...er..I mean, a sweet little chick named Clucky.

I think we're about a goat and a sheep shy of a petting zoo!

Haylie the Fish

We went to a friend's house today and went swimming - we weren't planning on swimming so that is why Haylie is fully clothed...anyway...she got those floaties on her arms and turned into a fish. She was swimming all over that pool and having the time of her life! It was totally her idea to jump off the side - and nobody was even in the water to catch her! I think it may be time to start the swim lessons - she is sooo confident that it just might get her into trouble...eek...oh and please ignore the deranged laughter coming from my mouth - I was just really excited. ;-)

My Dad

I am a daddy's girl. Could you tell? My dad and I have always had a really special relationship and have always gotten along exceptionally well. We even have similar interests. For example, for my 19th birthday we went to Magic Mountain - just the two of us. And it became a tradition each year after that, until I had Haylie. He taught me to shoot a gun, which I enjoy very much. We both love games. Mostly word games. My dad can do a crossword puzzle like nobody else. Someday, we will be on Wheel of Fortune together and win it all. Pat Sajak won't know what hit him.

I have always valued my dad's opinion - and I tried very hard to never disappoint him. I'm sure I didn't always succeed, but he was always there to guide me in the right direction. Like the time he asked me why I hadn't started dating Eric. Eric and I were good friends for several years - and never had any romantic interest in one another. One day my dad and I were driving somewhere and he asked me why I didn't date Eric. I told him we were just friends and it wasn't like that. He told me that he thought Eric was a "fine young man" and that he'd be happy if I chose to marry someone like him. (Something along those lines) So, after that, I started to see Eric in a new light and it wasn't long after that that we started dating. Now, I believe that Eric and I would have "found" eachother sooner or later, but I truly believe my dad was inspired to have that chat with me to get me thinking in the right direction.

I am also grateful for how wonderful he is with my kids. Haylie absolutely adores Grandpa Garry. And I'm sure as Anna grows she will come to love him just like her big sister.


I love you Dad, and am so grateful for all you have done and do for me. Happy Father's Day!

The People Have Spoken

OK...my poll has ended and the majority vote (4:3) was that Haylie was in need of a haircut. (Now I know that at least 7 people are actually reading my blog...woohoo!!!) I should have voted too, because I would have voted in favor of a haircut as well! Sooo....drumroll please....

This is before:


This is after:


And here it is after it dried:


Now for the kicker...I cut it myself. I know...I'm pretty sure it was temporary insanity. I had planned on going to a fun little barber shop for kids where she would have been able to sit in a cool chair that looks like a car and she would be able to watch TV, etc. So this morning I asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut. She strongly said no then brushed her hair out of her eyes and said "See, it's all better Mommy." I asked again a while later and the answer was still no. So, I didn't want to push it - it wasn't that important to me and I didn't want it to be a fight. I'm not going to pay somebody for a miserable experience. So, out of the blue, I asked if she wanted me to cut it and she said yes! Uh oh...now I have to cut her hair...I don't know how to cut hair...what was I thinking??? Well, it can't be that hard...just cut it straight across...no biggie. Yeah - it's harder than it looks. It is most definitely not all one length - and it ended up a bit shorter than I had intended, but I must say, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It helps that her hair is curly and hides the fact that it is a less-than-perfect cut. It didn't curl up tight like I had hoped, but we didn't lose the curl so I'm happy.


Just as I was typing this she came in and said "Mommy, cut my hair again." So I trimmed up some of the spots that were left a bit too long. At least I know she's not traumatized!


So let me know what you think, all you who voted!!

Zoobilation

Before I get started on my post about Zoobilation, I wanted to share a couple of cute pictures of Haylie with her hair done. My poll has a couple days left to vote - but it's looking like the majority vote is to give her a haircut. We shall see....

Ok, so we went to Zoobilation on Saturday - an event only for people who have zoo memberships. We got to do 3 different "Behind the Scenes" tours. When I graduated high school, it was my dream to be a zoologist. I love animals. I love the zoo. I always wanted to work at the zoo. Unfortunately, science is not my best subject. Not to mention that when I started college I was WAY too excited to be out on my own and not nearly as studious as I should have been. Anyway, the point is, I love the zoo and I was thrilled to be able to go behind the scenes. DISCLAIMER: I started this blog not only to share our lives with our loved ones, but also to keep a sort of journal for myself. So, my apologies for the ramblings that you are about to read...

First we got to go behind the scenes in the reptile house.

I got a kick out of the little handwritten sign that says "Caution: I bite". And I learned that the "BLUE" sign means that the snake is shedding and they get very irritable when they shed, so they leave them alone until they're done. Talk about a risky job...

We also got to go behind the scenes in the animal hospital. There was one little animal in there that looked like a hedgehog that didn't have any eyes. I think it was a permanent resident. We also saw x-rays of all kinds of different animals, even an x-ray of an elephant's foot! They have a portable x-ray machine that they can take to the exhibits.

Lastly, we went behind the scenes into the elephant barn. It was a HUGE concrete building where the elephants sleep and get their morning inspections. The keepers have to stay behind this huge steel cage - and there are little doors in the cage that they can open to inspect different parts of the elephant...and the elephant is trained to stick his foot through or his trunk or whatever.

The thing that struck me about this room was how HUGE it was, and how THICK the metal bars and concrete walls were. Did you ever see that episode of "When Animals Attack" where the elephant kicks the zookeeper around like a ragdoll? Well, that is why they have the bars now!

Anna and me in the elephant barn

Haylie and her friend Jordyn outside the reptile house.

Our little family

Jordyn and Haylie - ALMOST as big as the gorilla...haha...

Anna had fun too...this is a short video of Anna talking while Haylie was feeding the giraffe (which, by the way, she still would not do...that big long tongue comes out and she freezes!!)

WHAT????

I was just scrolling through my blog and happened upon a picture that was most definitely NOT mine. I don't know how it got there, but it was incredibly offensive and I hope hope hope that nobody saw it. If you did see it, I am so sorry. It is gone now, and hopefully it will stay that way. I am going to change my password and cross my fingers that it won't happen again.

Random Happenings

I uploaded a bunch of pictures from my camera today so this post is going to be a hodge podge of things from the last couple weeks.

FROGGY LAND

We have some friends who have recently found a ton of baby toads in their back yard. So many that they have begun farming them out! So we (OF COURSE) willingly took a large number of them off their hands and set them free in our back yard. Haylie has a daily frog hunt and carries them around in her little pet carrier until I get worried and set them free. There have been a couple of casualties but we won't talk about that.


Taking the toadies for a ride in the Dora mobile.

Anna's First Taste of Cereal

"I'm not so sure about this..."

"Do I have to eat it, Mommy??"

"Do I have something on my face?"

She actually fell asleep with cereal in her mouth! I gave her a bite then walked away for about 3 minutes to help Haylie with this...

(Don't ask...I have no idea...)

...and came back to find her asleep. Eating is exhausting!!! She has had a rough time getting the hang of it but I have a friend who is well versed in the ways of teaching a child to eat. (It's not as easy as it looks...) She came today and taught me some techniques that I think are really going to help. We saw a lot of progress in the short time we spent with Anna today.

My Little Geisha

I have some sparkly eye shadow that Haylie likes to wear. I usually help her put it on. This time she was unsupervised. Notice the dirt on her face just under her nose and near her mouth? Such a ragamuffin! She is such a Tomboy and a girlie girl all at the same time!

CHOO CHOO!!!

Haylie made a train with the kitchen chairs and got some of her stuffed animals to be passengers. I'm not sure if she saw this on TV or what - but she did this all on her own.

Story Time

Haylie was reading stories to Anna this morning - Anna loved it!

Looking at these pictures has made me realize that Haylie's hair is a little bit out of control. I mean, she has beautiful hair, and it is really cute when I take the time to style it and I have hesitated because she had such beautiful curls, but they are starting to grow out. Maybe they will come back if her hair is shorter and not so heavy...what do you think? I just posted a poll in the right margin...Vote now!!!