Magpie's!

O.k. folks, here's some more pictures of our little Magpie's. Sparky Sir Poops-a-lot is on the left and Erin Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetle Juice) is on the right. Our kids helped pick the names, no more explanation needed. Sir Poops-a-lot is the Wray's little addition and Betelgeuse is our little addition. We trade off every other day caring for them. So, the fun story behind these little guys is that Magpie's have always been one of my favorite birds. I even painted a picture of them in collage (I will locate it and post it later). I love how pretty they are and yet they're basically considered nuisance birds. They are related to crows and ravens and are actually extremely smart. They can talk if their tongue is split but that probably won't be happening with ours. They have such funny personalities. They love to pester other animals and occasionally people. They kind of remind me of me I guess. Anyway, I have always said to James that I would love to have one as a pet. Then a few days ago, there were two fledglings and a mother bird that were hanging around our house. One of them got caught in the window well and I had to get it out. I could have kept it, I suppose, but that would have been kind of like kidnapping. Then just a day or two later, we found these little guys. Ah, tender mercies. I love how God knows us, even down to a love of Magpie's.

Unplanned New Addition!!!

We have an announcement to make! However, it may not be quite the typical one. Instead of baby buggies, bottles, and diaper changes, it's home made nests, chopped up worms and who knows what else. These little additions came about when we innocently decided to take a nice Sunday stroll. We joined a couple of the neighbors on our walk. And little did we know what we would be coming home with. On the way home, our neighbor Chad spotted something unusual. On the ground beneath a very tall tree were two helpless baby birds. For what ever reason, out of the nest they had tumbled. Spotting the nest was impossible, let alone finding it in order to return the babies. (Contrary to popular belief, the mother will accept babies back even if they have your scent on them. They just have to be warm). We stood there not really knowing what to do but not wanting to leave them there to die. On a whim I asked James what he thought of trying to save the one that looked to be in healthy condition. The smaller one was almost completely bald and flopping around. We were certain it was injured. Chad and James discussed how we could possibly put it out of it's misery and who would get the nasty job. As they discussed I picked up the healthier looking one and began to walk home with it, a gleam in my eye and feeling a bit crazy. I couldn't think about the other one. I just had to leave. Then to my surprise, Chad decided he would have a go with the "injured one". He scooped it up and we were off. Now several days later to our complete surprise they are both alive and doing well. We have lovingly cared for them; feeding them pureed dog food and veggies, chopped up worms, and yes, even spam. They are omnivores so they eat just about anything but we have to start with pureed stuff because they are still so young. Now several days later, the one we thought was injured is just fine, he was just so young he couldn't sit at all. Their feathers are coming in very fast and they are so much fun. They like to cuddle and seem to like us quite well. We will post updates on them. Hopefully they will live. Oh, forgot to mention, they are Magpie's. There is more to that but I will talk about it later.

A Post of their Own

O.k. I really felt these pictures deserved a post of their own. Flashback...While on choir tour in high school we all went to the beach and all of the boys decided to play football. Well, James and I had just started dating (halfway through our Senior year) and I thought he was so good looking out there playing football that I just had to take a few pictures of him. I snapped one that ended up making James look like a regular super model but alas, I searched in vain for it and it is no where to be found. Anyway, that pic was the inspiration for me asking James to run on the beach in Grand Cayman so I could take some pictures. Thanks to my husbands inability to take anything seriously, and the joys of getting old and white, these splendid jewels of perfect form are the result.

My personal favorite.

VACATION!

o.k. I really stink at blogging when it comes to adding pictures in any type of sensible arrangement. But here are random shots of our wonderful vacation in April. I will add more details and more pictures about the trip soon.