Favorite recent pictures

These are a few of my favorite recent bird pictures. The top one is a goldfinch, the second is a great egret in a tree, and the third ian Anna's hummingbird. I have been trying to photograph owls and ducks and not having the best of luck, especially with the owls. I think I need a tripod AND a camera that works better in low light to make it work. The ducks are all so lovely this time of year. Mr. Geek and I are planning to go birding in Seattle and see even more glorious ducks in winter plumage and bald eagles. They are a pretty rare sighting here but extremely common in Seattle.

Weekend Fun!

We've been having a lot of adventures on the weekends lately. It's so nice to be out enjoying the cool weather, the wonderful migratory waterfowl, and crisp air. We went to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento this weekend. It was nice, although the boys weren't very into things there. Mr. Geek and I had to work hard to keep them interested. I suppose they are a bit young for that sort of thing, and they haven't been feeling well. It has sparked Rob's interest in "how things used to be." He's been asking for more and more information all weekend about "the old days when they didn't have plugs." Haha. It's hard for him to even fathom it, even though he has been camping and things like that. It may be time to find some historical fiction books from long ago and read them.

We stopped by Vic Fazio on the way home to do the auto tour and catch a glimpse of some birds. We saw a lot of shovelers and coots. Our very nice sighting was a burrowing owl, but it was a fair distance off, too far for my camera even. I remember seeing a bittern last time we were there, but no such luck this time.

Today we went to Tilden and visited the Little Farm and walked out to and around Jewel Lake. We saw some bufflehead and a merganser out there, which is a nice sighting. It's always fun to see the animals at the farm. The boys had such a good time watching the geese, chickens and turkeys. I took some fun pics of them there.

I can't believe the kids only have 4 more days a school, and just a few days after that it's Christmas! Where has the time gone??!! It's almost 2008!!

A few of my favorite things!

Well, Christmas projects anyway!!

Great birding last weekend!

We went to Cosumnes Preserve and took a nice long walk and saw lots of birds, including sandhill cranes and even a short-eared owl! I was pretty excited about that. Of course it was too dark to get a good picture. I did, however, get a few bad pictures of the owl.

On Sunday we went to Hayward Marsh, which is such a great place to see shorebirds. At least a hundred American avocets, long billed curlews galore, assorted adorable peeps, and quite a few shovelers, an eared grebe, some scaup, and the list goes on. I'll have to back in spring and see if we can find some skimmers and some other terns. The swallows are also great there in spring, we only saw a couple last weekend.

Cookie time!!

I have been busy making cookies and breads and candy. Must be December. Here's what I've made so far...

Chocolate crinkles
Cranberry Hootycreeks
Lemon cookies
Joe-Joes chocolate fudge
cranberry orange bread
spritz
pineapple coconut macadamia cookies
toffee bars
russian teacakes/mexican wedding cakes

I have more to go too!! We need lots of cookie gifts and treats for schools and others. It's fun but it gets to be a chore. :(

Andy hasn't had an accident this week! This makes more than 2 weeks without accidents. Yay!

7 days and counting!!

He's doing it!! He's gone 7 days without having an accident in his pullup! I think Andy may finally be on his way to being toilet trained. He's had times before when he's used the potty here and there, but still sometimes pooped in his diaper. He hasn't had a single accident in a week. This is about so much more than just potty training. This opens up options to him academically and allows for some time being mainstreamed in Kindergarten next year. This lets him do more activities with neurotypical peers. For every child it is a sign of becoming more independent and growing up, but for my Roo it is all that and more. I can't begin to explain how happy I am about this. Mr. Geek's idea of using Rob as a model teacher has worked brilliantly. I told Rob this morning what a great teacher he has been. He looked at me seriously and said "Mom, I can't be a poop teacher when I grow up, just a substitute in a classroom." The kid cracks me up. Way to go, Mr. Andy on your awesome achievements!!

Ready for the holidays to begin?

It seems like 2007 just began sometimes...and it's almost over. Thanksgiving is just a few days away. And that means that Christmas is soon to follow. I can pull out the Christmas movies like the Muppet Christmas Carol (love it!!), A Charlie Brown Christmas with the wacky metal trees, and other seasonal music...like the Nutcracker and the Messiah. Woo hoo! The Playmobil nativity will grace our mantel soon as well. You can see the boys getting ready for Christmas a few years back on this scrapbook page I've posted here.

The stores are getting ready as well. Who are we kidding? They've been getting ready since Labor Day!! Even the grocery store has the trees and light out now, so you know things are getting serious. But the sign that Christmas is really close at hand is that Trader Joe's has Candy Cane Joe-Joe's now. Pure perfection and bliss right here on Planet Earth. I LOVE candy cane joe-joe's!!

I've done only a tiny bit of Christmas shopping, and it has all been online, primarily at amazon. I didn't buy much for anyone last year and this year won't be much different. We tend to buy the kids things periodically throughout the year. Dh and I tend to buy what we want when we want it. I have learned that the man doesn't do gifts very well, so it's up to me to take care of that. I'll do my usual Shutterfly calendars for the parents with kid pics and then another small gift to go with it.

Rob and I'll be making candles for teacher and grandparent gifts this year, as well as decorating bags and filling them with homemade cookies, a homemade ornament, and a candle. He loves working on this. We have done it since he was in preschool. I know that wasn't THAT long ago.

They have this week off from school, so it will be a good time to make the candles and bake some cookies and get some of the projects underway. He has made a few of the ornaments already. I let him play with my alcohol inks! How many moms of 6 year olds would do that?