The journey of the American Robin

Let me just start this post off by saying, I really don't care for birds. Some might even say I'm a little afraid of them. I've never had any sort of encounter that has left me with a forever fear-scar, I just don't like things flying around my head. And birds can be mean, y'all. I don't trust them at all! So, when we saw the beginnings of a nest forming on our back patio floodlight, I wanted to be rid of it. Ross wasn't too keen on the idea of birds making our back patio their home either. 

So what did he do? He moved the nest. Not once, not even twice, but 3 times. He threw it up on the roof, tried to tear it apart, but that mama robin was seriously determined to have her babies in our backyard. Then one day, we looked in there, ready to toss it again, and saw these:

Even though we're not fans of birds, we aren't completely heartless, so we left it there and decided we would just deal with whatever having bird babies in our backyard meant. 

We honestly weren't sure what that would mean. I envisioned a protective Mama bird dive bombing my children as they played joyfully outside. 

I envisioned chirping baby birds that wouldn't be quiet...ever.

I envisioned our dog (or possibly even cat) eating the poor thing if it ever fell out of the nest, or even when it flew out. 

But, much to our surprise, none of that happened. In fact, it took so long for the eggs to hatch, we thought they were duds. Until one day, I saw this:

The boys and I were outside playing when the mama bird flew over to the nest with food. I saw the little baby birds' heads shoot up with their mouths wide open waiting for that tasty morsel of worm or whatever it was that Mama had brought them. 

And instantly, my heart melted. It was funny, I was thinking about how birds are on my top 5 not-favorite-things-of-all-time, yet I had this instinct to protect them, to scare off other birds who were waiting prey-like for the Mama to fly off and leave her babies vulnerable. 

I was scared to get too close those first few days. I wondered if I got too close, would the Mama abandon them? So, I kept a close distance. 

But as they got bigger, I got more daring. 

The Mama lost one egg and I'm not really sure whatever happened to the second, but I only ever saw 2 babies in there. And it was so sweet, watching how well the Mom and Dad cared for them, protected them, and cleaned up after them. 

It made me think of God, who loves, protects and takes care of us. We are so helpless, so needy and dependent, like these bird babies, and He holds each and every one of us in the palm of His hand. 

10 days after I saw the first little newborn baby bird head pop up, they started standing up and flapping their wings. I knew it was getting close to time for them to fly out of the nest. The boys were playing outside yesterday afternoon and I looked out the window to see Fiona going after something in the yard, while the kids were watching. 

I automatically knew what was happening. I ran outside, ordered Fiona back in, and stooped down to see the first baby bird had flown (probably more like hovered) out and was now needing to learn how to fly. 

It hopped around the yard and found a safe hiding spot. I watched it for awhile and finally came in, but not without snapping a photo of the other bird enjoying some solitude in the nest for some time.

This guy knew it was his turn next. He flapped and flapped, trying to get the courage. Finally, as I walked out the back door later that afternoon, he flew out! 

I felt like a proud Mama! I had grown attached to these silly birds and even though I was a bit sad, I felt pride as this little one had finally grown up. 

Neither of them are in the yard anymore, so I assume they learned how to fly and are off learning how to be grown-up Robins. This experience was a first for me, and it was a neat one. Nature is always a fun thing to watch and be a part of. And to be honest, it made me introspective about my own parenting and how I need to teach my kiddos how to live in the world, just like this Mama robin is going to teach her babies how to live in the bird world. 

Now, off to teach my own little birds how to grow up and fly on their own. It's a tough job, but one worth doing well. 

Homemade Icing and menu post

My husband isn't a big sweets lover. He likes candy, but cakes, cookies, brownies, none are really his thing. Except for strawberry cake. He does love a good strawberry cake. So every year on his birthday, I make him a strawberry cake, light the candles on it, and the boys and I sing Happy Birthday in our loud outside voices. 

Every year up until now, I have bought icing to put on the cake. In the past year for all cake-making celebrations,I've been making my own. So today, I got out the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla and got to work. 

I like making my own icing because even though its still not really healthy, even a little, it doesn't have all the preservatives, or any of the extra weird ingredients that I can't pronounce in it. That makes me very happy! Here is the cream cheese icing recipe I used. 

And here is our menu plan for the week!

Thursday
Baked chicken legs, corn on the cob & fried green beans


Friday
Steak on the grill & baked potatoes (bumped)


Saturday
Homemade pizza


Sunday
Chicken wraps & mac n cheese


Monday
Small group dinner at Chick Fil A


Tuesday
Baked tilapia and veggies (using one of my new season veggie recipes, yeah!)


Wednesday
Group night, something easy


I am ready for some birthday cake!

New ways to season veggies

I am feeling very unmotivated today. When that happens, I usually try to inspire myself in whatever area I'm feeling unmotivated in. Lately, I've been unmotivated in my cooking, not really wanting to venture out and cook anything new. So, what do I do? I get cookbooks and look online to try to spark my interest of things that look good and want to try.

When I roast or steam my veggies, I usually do the same flavors. Salt, pepper, butter and garlic powder (or salt). It usually tastes good, but I long to do something different with them, I just never know what.

I've been looking through this One Pot Meal cookbook and in the back, they had some really great flavors to try with your roasted veggies. These are the ones I'm going to try:

1. Cardamom-butter - Before roasting, toss the veggies with 3 tsp melted butter, 1 tsp canola oil, 3/4 tsp ground cardamom, 1/2 tsp salt.

2. Garlic-Thyme - Before roasting, toss the veggies with 2 tbsp EVOO, 2 tbsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried), 1/4 tsp each salt and ground pepper. About 5 minutes before the vegetables are done, stir in 1/4 cup thinly sliced garlic and continue roasting.

3. Maple - Before roasting, toss the veggies with 2 tbsp pure maple syrup, 1 tbsp melted butter, 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt and ground pepper. (Never ever thought of using maple syrup on my veggies, Yum!)

4. Mediterranean - Before roasting, toss the veggies with 4 tsp EVOO, 2 minced garlic cloves and 1/4 tsp salt. After roasting, toss with 1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp dried oregano and 2 tsp capers (optional).

5. Spicy orange - Before roasting, toss the veggies with 4 tsp EVOO, the zest of 1 orange, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper. (This sounds delish!)

I have been wanting to use more zest in my recipes, and am pumped to try some in my veggie roasts!

Alphabet photo challenge D!

D is for dirty! 

A storm rolled through last night, leaving quite a bit of puddles and mud in our backyard. Of course, true to boyhood form, my boys wanted to go out and play in it today. My only rule? "You can't throw the mud"...which was a rule given after they had thrown a ton of it all over the house, all over the back door and all in Ezra's hair.

After they came in and laid down, I thought, I should go get dirty too. Just a little. After all, can't a mama have a little fun in the mud? I haven't played in the mud since I was a kid. And while I didn't full on play in the mud, just stepping in it and letting it squish between my toes brought me back to my childhood and all the simple ways we used to have fun.

I definitely need a mood-lifter today, and doing that small thing did just that.

Happy Monday, friends!

Recent Goodwill finds

I know I've talked about the Goodwill before, but I've never posted any of my finds from there. Most of the time when I go in, I walk out with something. There's always a cute, casual shirt or a fun colored cami that I don't mind spending $2 on (I just found a royal purple one, yay!). It's also a really great place to donate unwanted or unused items! I have taken numerous things there to rid my house of clutter. On my last few trips to Goodwill, I found a few great summery items.

A super comfy/cute green flowy shirt...

Comfy grey skirt from Charlotte Russe

Springy cardigans (I've also found a light green one and an orange one that I love)

And a few other items I didn't post as well. I always love it when I find a good deal on just about anything, but especially clothes. Clothes are so expensive these days!

Obviously I can't say enough about Goodwill, it's such a great organization. So everyone please shop, donate, and save a life!

Menu post

I realized as I made this week's menu that we're grilling out twice this next week. That makes me very happy! It's grilling season, so we're warming up our grill and eating some yummy meats (salmon on the grill is YUM). Actually, just about anything on the grill is yummy.

What are your favorite grilled entrees?

Menu week!

Thursday

Burgers on the grill and fried green beans (bumped)

Friday

Homemade pizza

Saturday

It's my nephew's birthday party, so we'll be celebrating with them

Sunday

Something easy

Monday

Chicken, spinach, cheese quesadillas (bumped)

Tuesday

Steaks on the grill and baked potatoes

Wednesday

Small group night

A natural coughing remedy

There are so many things to love about Springtime. The sun, things blooming, nice weather, but one thing I don’t like that is synonymous with Spring? Allergy and sinus season. Runny noses and nights of coughing seem to be the norm around here these days. As I type this, I too, and fighting sinusy sickness. Thankfully I’ve been blessed with relatively healthy children, but they are no strangers to sore throats and mounds of chest congestion.

When my boys get sick, they cough all night long. It’s hard for a mama to listen to her little ones cough and cough and not being able to do anything about it, not to mention, it’s impossible for them (or us) to get any rest! While I am not anti-medicine by any means, in fact, I am pro-medicine on lots of cases. However, I do try to limit the amount of meds that I give to myself and my boys. With the all night coughing going on, I had to figure out an alternative.

I stumbled upon a natural remedy site that had some helpful suggestions and I came up with this remedy:

honey  lemon juice water

Now, you know me. I don’t measure anything. But if I had to guess, I’d say to put 1 cup of honey, 3 tbsp lemon juice, and ¼ cup water. (Or you could do less, which is usually what I do).

Let me clarify a few things:

Honey: I buy local honey. It’s the only honey I use with this recipe (and with other things too). Local honey is supposedly helpful in fighting allergy/sinus problems, and it tastes way better than store-made honey. I suppose you could use raw honey also, but it is more pricey.

Lemon juice: I bet juice squeezed right from the lemon is best. As you saw from the picture, I use the lemon juice concentrate, mainly because it’s easier and I already had some on hand. I think either would work just fine.

I typically put all three ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over the stove until very warm and well blended. Then I just can it and put it in the fridge. When I am ready to give the boys a dose, I pour out a tablespoon, nuke in the microwave for 10ish seconds (just to a pretty warm state), stir and give it to them.

I usually also couple this with vicks on the chest and it does the trick every time. No coughing through the night! It also helps with breaking up all that yuckiness in their chests and noses.

Yay for natural remedies!