On the homefront today the boys and the neighbor girl have been busy saving and nurturing a pesky baby starling. Now, any other time a bird is around Judah likes to shoot at them. If the bird happens to be in the cat's mouth or too small to fly he then has to save them. I think he is finally giving up when Tiger has caught one. I think the boys have witnessed Tiger killing three birds this week. Pretty impressive considering the cat has no front claws. 
Here is Lauren holding the bird. I think they decided to name him flappy. Pretty original, don't you think? Judah got out the old bunny cage and they have a bowl of worms, a bowl of bird seed and a bowl of water in the cage with the bird. As well as a bright blue plastic hanger for the bird to perch himself on. Overall they have been very creative and he seems to be doing well. The mother bird isn't too happy though. The alternative to the kids taking care of the bird would be Tiger taking care of him. If only we could communicate with the mother bird to let her know. There was one instance this morning where Lauren left crying because Judah said something about shooting a bird - he claims he meant a different bird. Anyway....she was quite sad.Which brings me to this: Lauren moved into our neighbors apartment with her parents sometime during the winter. She is a sweet little thing and the three of them play really well together. Three isn't usually a real good number when it comes to playing but somehow they all get along pretty well. The problem is this: Lauren is at our house ALL the time. And I mean ALL the time!! We have never met her parents yet she spends hours a day here. She will come over at 4:00 after school and stay until 9:00 when we tell her the boys have to get in bed. She is starved for attention and it breaks my heart. We are definitely going to have to implement some boundaries this summer. I am just not sure yet what we need to do. Obviously she is lacking something and she seems to be finding life here. The only thing that kind of bothers me is that she comes in the house whenever and helps herself to drinks and sometimes snacks. I don't mean to complain but I am still getting used to mothering 4 children. Her presence here switches up the dynamics but all in all we enjoy having her around. I just want to shake her parents and say, "What parents let their nine year old daughter spend hours in someones house without meeting the family?" She is such easy prey for someone. Ahhh!!!! Why don't her parents care enough to come meet us? And why don't they check on her at least once during the evening? Somedays I want to tell her to go home and then other days I can relax a little more. I keep saying to Mark, "What if in 10 years she says that this summer was the best summer of her life. What if me giving her a drink, asking her how school was, wiping her tears when she is upset and just being interested in her awakens something inside of her. I don't want to judge her parents simply based on this but I will admit they will have a hard time digging themselves out of the hole I have already dug for them. Isn't that terrible? Judgement is such a harsh and unfair assessment usually. I just want to love her and speak life to her during this summer.
What else - I have the garden almost completely planted. The strawberries are blooming, the raspberries are growing good, the onions are peaking out of the ground and I just got my green beans, lima beans, peas, broccoli, peppers, lettuce and tomatoes planted. I am soaking our watermelon and pumpkins seeds. I love gardening! It brings me a lot of enjoyment. Of course if I had to garden in order to survive I may view it a little differently. In the summer we eat a lot of fresh food - this is why I enjoy summer so much.
I also planted some gerber daisies that we are growing for Mark's sisters wedding. She is having most of the flowers done professionally but wanted her bridesmaids to carry bouquets of gerber daisies. So.....we are hoping to grow them for her. I think I am going to go and spend some time in the sunshine now since the "Babies" are sleeping. They are so sweet by way. Especially when they take knockout naps!! I love that!!
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