this morning/my summer life

Dad and Mom and I went for a walk at a beautifully done park/nature preserve this morning. We spent about an hour walking around the pond and on the natural trails in the wooded area.

We saw several fun things while we were there! First off, I saw a couple Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. I love Scissor-tails - they're so pretty and polished looking ;-) We also saw what I think was an American Bittern - but he was up in a tree! He sure looked funny up there :) Shortly afterward we saw a pretty Indigo Bunting - he was singing up in the top of a tree. Indigo Buntings have a really pretty song! Later, we saw two big Great Blue Herons flying across the lake - also a big white Egret. We even noticed a cute little hummingbird feeding from some red wild flowers! While we were there we saw and heard several hawks, one of which was getting chased away by a Kingbird :) Of course, we did see things other than birds too ;-) A couple little frogs, tiny skinks, a spider that was wrapping something up, and a bunch of moths on a tree that startled me. The moths were big ones - probably about an inch wide and an inch long. They blended in really well to the tree bark, and there were 7-10 on the same side of the trunk! Well, we were walking by, and they all flew off the trunk at once - and that's what startled me :D

So - about the rest of my life this summer...I only have one month left before I head back for the fall semester at JBU, and I am really starting to look forward to it (as in, I'm starting to miss school and all my friends from there!!!). I'm very very thankful to God for the way He's provided for me this summer. I have my nanny job (20-30 hours/week) that pays very well, and then I also have other babysitting, working for my teacher from high school, and house sitting. I did one house sit in June, and I'll be doing another one next week. So I feel a lot more financially "secure," thanks to God's provision :) Oh, and we had a garage sale that I made $50 from! ;-)

Only downside is that I've been working a lot and so that has kept me pretty busy.....I have been able to hang out with friends here a few times, but the summer has been running away a little too fast.

Nathan is away at the US Air Force Academy, so I miss him tons. I try to keep up with WebGuy, a blog that talks about what the basics are up to. I then post stuff that deals with Nathan on the blog I developed for him. I post on that one a lot more frequently than I do on here...partly because I know people read that, and I'm not sure anyone really reads this.......

We're going to go see Nathan's "graduation" from Basic Cadet Training (ie, boot camp) about a week and a half from now. I'll be super super excited to see him!!!! even though it will only be for a couple hours :(

I'm finally getting back to exercising consistently again! I took most of May and June off from that because I was too busy :P I should have kept it up. Now I'm trying to work back up to doing more. But it's going well, and I am making progress :)

I've also been able to read several good books, which has been really nice. There's two I'm reading right now that will get book reviews on here like Grown-Up Girlfriends did (see below).

Well, that's about it...ta ta for now!

Oh Be Careful Child Caretakers What You Do!

(In case you couldn't tell, the above is supposed to be sung to the tune of "oh be careful little eyes what you see") ;-)

I'm feeling bloggy today...just posted one about a good book, this one will be about "my" boys, and then I think there's going to be another one about this morning and/or the other parts of my life :)

I thought of this title yesterday while I was working at my nanny job. And it's so true!!! Little Christopher (turned 2 a couple months ago) mimics just about everything I do. Here's proof:

• A couple weeks ago, I sat down cross-legged on the floor to put his shoes on. He promptly used his hands to get his legs into the same position as mine :D I had to straighten out my legs so that he would straighten out his so I could get his shoes on! To this day, whenever we sit down on the floor, he crosses his legs - even if I don't :)
• I have an exercise I do to help rehab my back after a car accident several months ago. It involves standing with my knees bent and my back up against a wall, putting my arms up against the wall and then sliding them down the wall. Whenever I do it, Christopher watches very carefully and then says "my turn!" and stands up against the wall and tries to do it. And he's getting better at doing what he sees me doing!
• When we played with play dough, he was doing his best to do the same things to his that I did to mine! If I rolled it in a ball, he tried to do the same. If I put it on the table and started rolling it into a long string, he did too. If I squashed mine, he did the same. You get the idea.
• He also tries to mimic everything that Brian (just turned 6) does. This sometimes causes problems :/

Christopher is also one of the most observant little 2-year-olds I've ever seen! I wrote about how he noticed my shoes back on June 15th. Well, this week I got a new pair of tennis shoes, so when he saw them he was like "Esther's shoes!" and I said "yes, I got new shoes." One day I wore a yellow shirt that has hummingbirds. I have another yellow shirt (about the same color) that has pictures of lots of different birds, so when I got in the car and he saw my yellow shirt he said "birds!" Later, when we were playing with play dough, he said he was going to make a bird and he pointed to my shirt :) Isn't he adorable??? :D

Now that he's not in school, he seems to be forgetting some of his colors and shapes :/ So I obviously need to work on those more with him! He's really good at remembering songs though! He can sing the ABC song pretty much by himself, and he knows the Eensy Weensy Spider, Old MacDonald had a Farm, the Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes :D

I think it's so funny how little kids breathe really hard through their mouth when they're concentrating on something ;-) Just thought I'd mention that.

There's so many other little things I could say about Christopher. He's just really cute :)

Brian has been doing a field-trip program through his school last week and he'll be doing it next week too. So that means I don't get to see him much :(

Grown-Up Girlfriends (book review)

Last semester at JBU during one of the Women of Walker nights, Erin Smalley from JBU's Center for Relationship Enrichment came to talk to us about how to be "grown-up" girlfriends (this is a girl-girl friendship kind, not a girl-guy kind). I really liked what she had to say, so I soon went down to the bookstore and bought the book she wrote with her friend Carrie Oliver. I finally read it this summer! And it is a very good book.

Book info:

Title - Grown-Up Girlfriends: Finding and Keeping Real Friends in the Real World

Authors - Erin Smalley and Carrie Oliver

Publisher - Tyndale House Publishers, 2007

Paperback, 13 chapters, 223 pages

My review of it:

This is a terrific book that takes a good look at how to have deeper and more lasting friendships. Writing from a Biblical Christian perspective, Erin and Carrie discuss various characteristics of friendships that are "grown-up" rather than childish and selfish. The chapters include subjects such as "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Experiences Levels of Intimacy," "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Embraces Differences," and "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Forgives." The authors use many real life examples, both from their own lives and from other's, to illustrate their points. Each chapter has several reflection questions at the end to help the reader apply the principles to her own life.

I know for me, this book pointed out some of the ways that I could be negatively impacting my friendships through my selfish actions. Some of the things I hadn't ever thought of before, or hadn't quite pin pointed what I was feeling. It took me a while to get through this book - it's not really a difficult read, it's just a little meatier than some books are.

If you feel like you're missing out on something - if you feel like you don't have any really good friends, I would highly suggest reading this book. It can help you think through how you approach and maintain friendships.

oh dear.....

Yesterday was my last day of nanny work for a little while, and boy was I glad of that! Thursday evening had been really tough (no details because that would be gossiping), and I was glad they were going out of town all next week so I could have a break. Then yesterday the parents told me I wouldn't be seeing Brian (the older one) for three weeks because he's going to do a summer program through his school for two weeks after they get back from vacation. And now I'm sad because I won't see him! So even though it's very tough being a nanny sometime - I really do love those guys!

Last week was, for the most part, fun. I went in the mornings, and the boys and I went several places. On Monday we went to the Museum of Nature and Science at Fair Park. Christopher loved the fire truck down stairs in the Children's Museum part :) Tuesday and Thursday mornings we went to the park and to Barnes and Noble (the park is Christopher's favorite, B&N is Brian's) and I also stayed for the afternoon those two days.

On Wednesday the boys and I rode DART down to the Dallas Zoo. That didn't turn out to be what I had expected it to be. I thought we would get to see lots of animals, but Brian was more interested in the activities at the Children's zoo area. But they had fun, so it was ok. They both freaked out when birds landed on them in the aviary though ;-) The birds were the sweetest cockatiels, but the boys weren't used to birds flying onto their heads...for some reason.... ;-) Brian enjoyed the train ride too, and Christopher did fine with it.

Yesterday I took them to their local swimming pool. Christopher is a bit afraid of the water, but he did pretty well. We just stayed in a shallow baby pool (only gets to two feet in depth) and in the splash area.

Boy oh boy, I really am going to miss "my" boys.....but I think it was time for a little break.

P.S. Brian asked on Monday why I couldn't stay all day - quite a change from him asking my first day what I was doing there ;-) And I've been invited to his birthday party :)

Heard Wildlife Sanctuary

On Thursday morning, Mom and I went with a friend of ours to the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary up in McKinney. I hadn't been there in a l-o-n-g time, so it was fun to go back and remember it. We went there a lot when I was younger :) One of the main reasons we went this time is because they had a baby ring-tailed lemur that Mom had seen when she and Dad went in March or April. Here is a picture of the baby. He's sitting on the door to the little playground set, and his mom is on the ground.

We also went into the butterfly house for a while - here's a couple pictures from that. I'm not good at knowing what butterflies are what species though, sorry ;-)

Then we went back to watch the lemurs more - baby was riding on his mom's back. They knew it was about time to be fed :D
The volunteers came and fed the animals - here's an albino raccoon!

I forget exactly what this one is called, but it's a relative of raccoons that lives in Mexico/South America.

And some Capybaras (or something like that!) They are actually rodents, but they are more like the size of pigs! And they love being in the water.
One more peek at the lemurs - they were all sitting together. The dad is in front, the mom is in back, and the baby was nursing. It was pretty cute :)
Then we went to an area inside that has big windows with feeders outside to watch the birds a bit :) Right when we got there, there was a beautiful male Ruby Throated Hummingbird. Sadly, I was too busy watching him and didn't get a picture :/ Below are House Finches at the tube feeder. There were lots of them.
Several other species of birds that we saw - on the left is a Hairy Woodpecker (or maybe a Downy), on the top is a Nuthatch that we saw just before leaving, and on the bottom are Mourning Doves, a male Brown-Headed Cowbird, and more House Finch. We also saw Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.
We had lots of fun spending a couple of hours there :) The bad part is that we got chiggers :P So I'm still a little miserable from that :(

Nannying - the joys :)

My main job this summer is to be a part-time nanny for two boys. I was hoping to get a "real" job at a restaurant or retail store, but this is what God has provided for me and I am very thankful for it :) The family is related to a friend of a high school teacher of mine - so that's how I heard about the opportunity.

The two boys are Brian and Christopher. Brian will turn six next month, and Christopher just turned 2 last month (Christopher is above, Brian is in the picture riding his bike).

I babysat one evening in May as a trial run of sorts, but I really started my job on June 1st. The first week, I worked during the mornings and only had Christopher because Brian was at a tennis camp. Christopher and I had our schedule down pat :D He and his dad would pick me up from the train station at about 9:00, and then he and I would play with his yellow truck out front, look at the flowers, and walk along the rock pathway counting the rocks. Sometimes I would push Christopher in his tricycle. After a while, we would go to the park not too far from their house. The first day, all Christopher was really willing to do was go up the regular steps and walk around on the playground. By Friday, he was climbing up just about every way to climb up, going down the slide by himself, and swinging in all the swings :) We would play for a couple hours, then go back to the house and eat lunch, look at a couple of books, and then he would go down for his nap.

Even though Christopher just turned two, he is very smart! He knows the ABC song pretty well, can count up to about 7 (though he often says "one, two, four, five..."), is fairly good at identifying colors and shapes, knows what and where all his facial features are, knows lots of words, and is almost potty trained! Both boys go to a Montessori school, and I think that is where Christopher gets most of his training.

These second two weeks I have gone in the afternoons and have had both boys. I get there at about 12:30, feed the boys lunch, and put Christopher down for his nap. Then Brian and I usually do play dough, play with his pirate ship, he gets dressed up in costumes, and sometimes we look at books. I also take Brian to his swim lessons, and last week I took him to Ride and Glide (a bike camp at the YMCA). Sometimes the boys and I go to Barnes and Noble and look at books there.

Christopher is super cute, and thankfully he and I hit it off pretty well :) I taught him my name on Thursday or so of the first week, and he's always excited to see me when they pick me up from the train station :D I was going to put in some of the cute things he's done, especially the first week, but I feel like I've already forgotten some of them :(

One is that he says "Peek-a-bo, I see you" in the cutest voice! He also says "I've gotchyou, I've gotchyou" any time he's feeling nervous/scared/uncomfortable. He has the biggest blue eyes - lots of people comment on them when they see him. And he can say "yes!" or "okay" in the cutest voice possible if he wants to do something you're suggesting. Also, he always notices what is on my shirt! I wore two different horse shirts two days in a row, and so now he keeps asking for horses when he sees me :)

His dad told me this funny story - evidently the mom has the same kind of tennis shoes that I do. So one day she was squatting down talking to Christopher and he looked at her shoes and said "Esther's shoes!" So that shows you that he is a *very* observant young fellow! :D

Brian and I get along pretty well too....we had more of a rough start, but that's rather understandable since he's six and thus has stronger opinions! I think we have come to a fairly good understanding, but we still have a couple tough spots once in a while. I can't really think of anything cute or funny he's done yet...oh well.

I'm only going to blog about the positive/fun things that happen.......but believe me, that doesn't mean that's the whole story. These boys are, of course, human just like all the rest of us. But I just try to focus on the positive and love on them a lot.

a messed up morning..........

So I'm house sitting for the next few days...and this morning I was going to ride the bus/train/bus to get back to my house after spending the night at the other house. It was all going to work out very well, because I wouldn't have to wait very long at any of my transfer points! Well, it did not end up working out like that. At all.

I left the house plenty early because I didn't know how long it was going to take me to walk to the bus stop. It only took me 10 minutes to walk the .4 miles, so I had 12 minutes to spare! I went to a Starbucks on the corner and got a parfait, then went back to the bus stop and ate it. I could see the bus on the other side of the intersection. After a few minutes, I realized that the bus was just sitting there with its hazard lights going! I was pretty confused...I waited for a while, until the pick up time had passed, and the bus was still just sitting there.

I was getting worried, because I only had one minute to spare between my bus arrival and the train departing. Looking back on this, I wasn't thinking very straight at all!!!!! I decided to walk to the train station since the bus wasn't seeming to come. Well, I did. It was spitting rain. At one point the bus zoomed past me. To make a long story short, it was a little over two miles to the train station. A couple times I ran because I didn't know how far it was and I was still hoping to make my train. That was a crazy hope.

I missed two or three trains as I walked to the station (it took me 24 minutes), so when I finally got there I had just missed one and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. I finally got on the train and rode down to the station closest to my house. Took a bus that got me a little ways toward my house, then had to walk another .6 miles.

All in all, thanks to my impatience and not being rational, a trip that was supposed to take one hour took two. The end.