Pay It Forward

I was looking at my sister Jen's blog and she was doing a fun 'pay it forward' game. I posted on her blog at http://writingrhapsody.blogspot.com/ and, woohoo, now I get to play too. And so can you - if you want to. Here are the rules:
The exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will pass the kindness along and pay it forward in their own way. This is how it works… I am going to send something fun, inspiring or uplifting to the first 3 blog owners who post a comment on this entry (please leave your email address if I don’t all ready have it.).In turn, you will then post about this on your blog, link to me, then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. There are no rules on what to send, but don’t go crazy! The little something you send can be something you made, bought, were given or found. No biggie, just a gift that will make the person smile. Maybe something unique from where you live? And remember that kindness doesn’t have to involve money; there are untold ways to help others every single day, everywhere you go - just look around.

So, why did the little bird cross the road?

Funniest thing happened to me the other day. Dar and I were driving home from his swimming lessons and as I turned the corner on the last stretch I had to stop. There was a little bird crossing the CROSSWALK from the park to the tower on the other side. I stopped but the nose of the van was barely entering the crosswalk. Since we drive on the other side of the road here, I was on the same side of the car as the bird. I looked down, the bird stopped and looked up at me. He then turned around walked a little ways back and then waited for me to proceed. I went on ahead, and looked in the rearview mirror. As soon as I cleared the crosswalk the little bird finished crossing the road climbed up onto the sidewalk and trotted along his merry way. It was so funny because the birds behavior was full of reproach at my infringing on his rights and blocking his path.

On other bird news...I was attacked by a seahawk last week. You know, several people warned us upon arrival how aggressive these birds could be and cautioned us to cover food constantly when having picnics in summer. One of these birds actually tried to grab one womans baby thinking it was food once. Anyway, dar and I had walked across the parking lot to the Pierce's house for lunch. I had taken two boxes of bagel bites in case Jared and Ethan wanted some as well. Turns out they had already eaten so Dar only ate one. I was carrying the extra box in front of me walking home and from behind me a seahawk drops down and claws at the box, well, the picture of the food on the front of the box anyway. When he couldn't grab anything he flew off. His wing hit me in the face and completely made me jump. Dar was a little too short to be affected, I'm not sure he even realized it was a bird or what had happened until afterward. So the warnings aren't joking...beware of birds!

Major Milestones

We are done! with diapers that is. For at least the next 5 months and then we are back at the grindstone. Dar woke up dry for an entire week on his own. We then decided to try and bribe him for another week to see if we could go for two. The next morning he was wet but then proceeded to be dry for the following week altogether. So as a reward, he was given this Indiana Jones Whip. He loves it. Includes realistic whip sounds and Indiana Jones theme music. He wanted a hat to go with it...luckily his halloween costume for this year is a Cowboy-Wyatt Earp style Sherriff...with a hat. So I pulled that out. He got in some great whip practice yesterday on my Pointsetta plant. I wasn't too happy, but it actually was a perfect wrist snap on the whip action. He's a cutie. Tonight we start his swim lessons. We shall see how it goes, but he is excited at least. Always a great start.

Roller Park

New Years Eve was uneventful...in fact we didn't even stay awake. Although I did wake up to all the ringing of the bells at the Temples, fireworks, and what sounded like car horns/and loud party makers combined. I turned to wish Louis a happy new year and was greated by his gentle snoring. Heck, we didn't even open a bottle of sparkling cider. We are such party poopers. Anywho, New years day Louis and Dar joined our neighbors in going to a roller park out in town. It's actually pretty dangerous, But Dar did ok. He was a trouper actually. He ran up the hill, came down, and even trucked around on the obsticle course all on his own. He wore himself out, thankfully.

Christmas Morning

Christmas was a fairly quiet event stranded over here. We had Louis' co-worker Mike over for Waffles, strawberries, and homemade whipped cream. He made the whipped cream. :) Not bad, really, for his first time. We had a lazy day opening presents and trying to keep up with Dar's excitement over his new toys. Luckily, the two big boys seemed just as excited over some of the new acquisitions. They went into the hallway and played with our neigbors and their new fun things. The impromptu party was rather enjoyable. I was very happy when I was able to convince Dar to take a nap with me after lunch, he wasn't as reluctant as I thought he would be. I guess there was just too much fun and excitement for the little guy. :)