Poop On the Stoop

It was so frustrating when we got home from our trip to Omaha to find that the newly-washed window above our front door had bird poop dripping down it. Upon closer inspection, we saw that some birds were starting to make a mud nest up high in the corner of our porch. We weren't happy. Last year some birds were trying to make a nest on the decorative molding above our front door and that about drove us crazy. This year it's different birds making a different kind of nest right onto the wall of the stucco. And both sets of them leave lots of bird droppings.


Who really likes to open up their front door and see poop on the stoop?


Glen was not happy and was just sure he could knock some sense into those birds with a tennis racquet. All you animal--or should we say fowl--lovers out there will be happy to know that no living thing was harmed during the making of this blog.


Instead, Glen got out the hose and long brush attachment and went to work trying to get all that nest stuff and poop mess cleaned off the wall and the stoop.


And then he rigged up his make-shift scarecrow that deterred the birds from perching above the porch last year and so far has worked keeping the smaller birds from building their nest on the wall this year.


I keep wondering what all the people driving or walking past our house think when they see a yellow extension light bulb replacer with rags tied to the top hanging from the would-be bird perch.

More Memorial Day Weekend In Omaha

There were several projects Glen helped with while we were in Omaha. He put in a new kitchen faucet for Laurie. He helped set up a gliding bench for the front porch. The kids enjoyed watching him and playing in the bench box.




Glen helped Jacob put the new trampoline together. All the kids were eager to get that job completed so they could jump on it.






There was another project going on in the yard over the weekend and that was cement for a basketball court and the area under the porch was being poured.



The kids and I enjoyed sitting around in lawn chairs watching everything going on in the back yard.


The girls and I enjoyed making chocolate-covered strawberries together and then we all enjoyed eating them.


Emma was a big helper watering the new flower plants and tree in the front yard. She also loved posing by the American flag that was in the yard for Memorial Day.



We spent some time at the amazing Pizza Machine.




Jacob topped off our trip by grilling dinner for us. Good thing the propane tank ran out at the very end of cooking and the meat turned out cooked to perfection.


It was a great trip! We enjoyed all our activities and loved seeing Jacob and Laurie and the grandkids once again.

Visiting Jacob's Family

It was so nice for us to go visit Jacob's family over the Memorial Day weekend. They are such a cute little family and we did lots of fun things while we were there.


The kids insisted that we have Grandpa's famous French toast for breakfast every morning. It required the kids donning their aprons so they could assist in the process.




I loved the miniature "Ben Mail" mailbox that sits on their cabinet. Sure enough, the red flag was up showing that there were letters in there that needed to be sent to Ben. What a cute reminder for them of their missionary uncle who would love to receive letters from them.


It was fun to see Logan again and see how much he's grown since we last saw him as a newborn.




We went to Natalie's school for school lunch--but note how we didn't eat school lunch--and then went to her room so she could show-and-tell Logan to her class.



The kids loved going to the park and looking for 4-leaf clovers--or weeds in Luke's case.




The kids all loved doing artwork. This is Natalie's rendition of herself, her using white board markers to write on the window using the technique given in practicing her spelling words, Emma and Luke coloring and then Emma's finished coloring page.





Laurie even got in on the artwork action when she got busy coloring a draft of where she wanted the placement of various things in their garden to be planted while Natalie colored a very accurate picture of everything in their backyard.



Farmer Jacob had gotten the garden all tilled and then got a little help from Glen in planting the garden.



I really love sitting at their kitchen table and looking out their big windows at the back yard.


They have a great yard and lots of open field space beyond the yard. Omaha is a really beautiful place to live.

It's a Baby!

Just when I was convinced there was a watermelon growing inside Sarah's tummy...


...she proved me wrong. Sarah gave birth to a baby boy today. Eli Excell has arrived weighing 7 lbs. 14 ozs. Congratulations to Jeff and Sarah!!