This past Monday, Israel was able to take his day off so we planned something fun to do together.  Imanuel really wanted to do a “craft”.  So, in the morning, I went shopping and among many other things, I bought a 3-D Chalking Kit.  It came with plenty of 3-D chalk, stencils of jungle animals, 2 plastic 3-D glasses, a brush and sponge, and a couple chalk holders.  So, in the afternoon, we drew many pictures on our large circle driveway and watched them “pop out” with the glasses.  Micah didn’t really get into it.  He prefered going up and down front porch stairs.  But Manu had fun.

Later that evening, we had worship and put the kids to bed.  Then Israel went outside to bring all of the stuff back into the house, but he came in with more than the chalk set.  He was holding a baby bird!  It had been standing right on our chalk drawings and appeared to be all alone.  It wasn’t even afraid at all.  It was just sitting on the palm of Israel’s hand.  A couple times when Israel put his other hand close to the bird’s head, it opened its beak up.  So, I immediately went out to our garden to look for worms.  I found two and we tried to feed the baby bird.  It ate one.  Then I decided to look on the Internet to find out what we should do.  It took us to a link from Yahoo Answers and we learned a few things from a bird biologist:

1.)  If you find a baby bird on the ground and its nest may be nearby (-trees or shrubs nearby), leave it there because the mother is probably still around.  If it has fallen out of a nest and you can see the nest, you can gently put it back in.  If you can’t see the nest, still leave it there because the mother will still take care of the baby from the ground.

2.)  If the baby has feathers, it is probably learning how to fly, so leave it there!

3.)  Only handle the bird if you are positive that the mother has died and it cannot feed on its own.  Carefully take bird in but don’t try to feed.  Different birds eat different things – worms, seeds, fruit, etc.  Never feed human food.  Call local wildlife shelter immediately.

4.)  MYTH:  If you touch a baby bird, you will leave your scent and mother bird will kill or reject baby.  Birds actually have a very dull sense of smell.  Mothers will take their baby back so if you ignorantly touch/handle a baby, put it back where you found it!

So, considering the fact that our baby bird DID have feathers, it wasn’t injured, and there are a bunch of birds that nest in our many trees that surround our driveway, we immediately brought the baby bird back out and left him on the grass by where Israel had found it.  By this time, Imanuel woke up because we were making too much noise so he was able to see the baby bird too.  When he first saw it, his initial statement was:  “Is it REAL?!”  🙂  It was just so calm and never struggled or try to get away.  We took some parting pictures (& video): 

Anyone know what species of bird this is?

We left it out there and went inside.  However, Manu started getting very concerned.  He was wondering why we were leaving the bird out there all by itself.  I tried to explain that we learned that the mama bird was probably out there and she will take care of her baby.  And that we have no idea how to take care of a baby bird!  But then he was concerned because we didn’t know where the mama was.  Then in a fit of emotion, he burst out in tears and demanded that we get the baby bird back because we can’t leave it out there all by itself!  We promised that if it was still there in the morning, we would take it back in.  Then we prayed together and Manu asked the Lord to help the mama to find her baby bird. 

After Manu went back to bed, I kept an eye on the bird through our window.  After about 10-15 minutes of just sitting there, it ran a few steps and then FLEW into a nearby tree!  It must have been learning to fly!  I was so relieved!  And about a minute after it flew away, we heard Manu in his room burst into tears again saying that we needed to get the baby bird.  So, thankfully, Israel was able to go in there and assure him that we saw the bird fly to its home.  It was a happy ending. 

We thank the Lord that despite our ignorance, we didn’t do any injury to the bird, AND that we actually had the opportunity to see and handle one of God’s beautiful creatures.  It was almost a heavenly experience.  🙂 

So far, Daddy has surprised us with a large painted turtle and a baby bird (which we were able to release together)…what will be next??

A couple weeks ago, I created a 2009 Things-To-Do List for myself. I’ve been consciously and subconsciously working on them. There definitely are some things that I need to work on more deliberately (-like calling to schedule a massage), but I’m trying to pace myself so some these things can actually become habits. Here’s the list in no particular order and how I’ve been progressing:

10. Find a hairstyle that I really like and find a hairdresser that can make it happen.
– I’ve been looking all over the Internet for styles that I like that may work with my face shape, hair type, etc.. Not been too successful. But I was looking back at pictures of me with different haircuts and I think I may have found one that I want to try again. We’ll see what happens.

9. Not gain more than 35lbs during this pregnancy. (Never been done before.)
– Okay, not much done differently in this area. Except I’m working on #6 so this may help.

8. Make it a habit of reading more.
– I started reading about an hour each day right when I wake up and/or at night. This is more for my devotional time, so I’m thinking that I need to find another good book that I want to start reading. Perhaps I should start reading the newspaper…

7. Transform the current office into the new baby room.
– I cleaned out the office of everything I felt at liberty to clean/throw away. I’ll have to get Israel to do the rest. But we do need to create a list of items we need for the new baby. I’m thinking we may end up getting a nice set of bunk beds for the boys and some clothes drawers. Then the new baby can use the furniture that the boys are using now. I just can’t wait until Friday to find out if we’re having a girl or another boy. Then I can go through all of the baby clothes we have. If it’s another boy, I can start organizing them. If it’s a girl, I can pass all of the boy clothes to my brother and Aileen, sort the unisex clothes, and start building her wardrobe. So, we’ll see what happens.

6. Develop an exercise routine and stick to it.
– So, I’ve decided to start off, that my exercise routine will be to brisk-walk on our treadmill for 15 minutes a day. It sounds sorry, but this actually causes me to break a sweat and feel tired. That’s how out of shape I must be in!

5. Learn how to cook more healthy, yummy meals.
– Now that I can eat most things without feeling nauseous, I’ve been doing more cooking. But haven’t found (or been looking for) new recipes to try. I think I want to find a crock-pot cookbook.

4. Get a massage regularly – since for us, it’s free!
– Need to just make a phone call! Maybe I’ll do it after ministerial retreat next week.

3. Cultivate a deep devotional & prayer life.
– My devotional life has been much better since I created the list. I really covet my time in the morning and/or night and/or whenever I have time. It helps that Israel gets the boys in the morning so if I’m not done reading yet, I’m not forced to cut things off prematurely. It has been a blessing for the whole family. I find that I’m much happier and less stressed.

2. Take a nice family picture…(after I get my nice haircut from my nice hairdresser.)
– No progress. Maybe after my haircut I’ll be more motivated.

1. Train Bentley not to bark and go psycho on visitors or passing trucks.
– Bentley has been getting better. I just need to find time to train him and have practice sessions with people coming over. Today we did have a minor break-through though. I was inspired by an episode of “The Dog Whisperer” to see if I could get Bentley to go on our treadmill. This would be perfect for our long harsh winters since there is no place we can walk him (unless we dig a long path). Today, he trotted on the treadmill for 10 minutes. He did a great job and I think he enjoyed it!

I enjoy seeing progress made and things getting done. Perhaps that is why I love to-do lists so much. I really hope I can work through these and make them happen. It helps to know that many of these not only benefit me, but my whole family. I pray that God will be my strength.