Bluebird of Happiness

September 24 was Bluebird of Happiness Day.

 

I found it. I found the bluebird of happiness. 

And isn't it so cute?

Total coincidence that he wore so much blue that day. He even had a blue shirt under his jacket.

This little bluebird is happy visiting a local library.

 

This little bluebird went for a walk around the neighborhood where we heard several scrub jays, which are blue birds.

This bluebird is happy when he's helping.

Another recipe from A Season of Family Meal Plans by Jordan page while doing Shelftember.

Honey Mustard Pork Chops

Used pork chops from the freezer, lettuce (which my bluebird helped with) for salad before it went bad, homemade dough sitting in the fridge to make garlic rolls.

Another Day Off?

Since my day off didn't really work on Lazy Mom's Day, I decided I was going to try it again on Friday, September 24, Bluebird of Happiness Day. That ended up more of a lazy mom's day.

I had such plans for that day. Once we dropped kids off at school, Jet went back to sleep, though, so I couldn't do what was on the plan. I could have gotten so much done while he slept with cleaning and organizing but I watched a TV show instead and got nothing productive done (lazy mom).

After the kids got home from school, they knew they were in charge of dinner again, so Jet and I headed off to do at least something I was planning to do. I guess I was chasing that bluebird of happiness with a day off.

We went for a walk at Powell Lake but Jet didn't want to ride in the stroller and didn't always want to stay right by the stroller so there was a lot of running after him to keep him from falling down an embankment. I'd say the majority of the time was chasing after him so he'd be safe. 

 

At one point it wasn't worth trying to make it all the way around the pond so we headed back. I didn't get a chance to look at the birds much. No bluebird of happiness. It took quite a bit of effort to get Jet back to the van and get him in and buckled and etc. etc. etc. Sigh.

We've had better outings. But hey, at least we got a few cute pictures in the van.

We drove home by way of driving around the lake. Jet fell asleep then woke up when we were about as far away from home as possible and was unhappy for a while. Plus we got stuck in construction traffic so it took even longer to get home with a poor uncomfortable baby. Sigh.

I found no bluebird of happiness while I was out. When I got home the kids were watching "Muppets Most Wanted" because September 24 was also Jim Henson's birthday. Nichole had her puppets out as well.

When Jeremy got home I went up to help him bring things in and we chatted with the neighbor for a little while until I saw something in the sky? "What are those?" They looked like something on fire. The neighbor looked up and said, "Oh, those are lanterns." We called the kids up and we all got to see floating lanterns in the sky. We got to see quite a few before they burned out/burned up. They must have been sending them off somewhere nearby for us to be able to see them so well, but for what purpose? I don't know.

So no bluebird of happiness but we saw floating lanterns at home. The End.

We are Birders

Sometimes people will ask me, "What have you been doing lately?"  I tell them, "Birding."  They don't quite hear it the first time.  I have to repeat myself.  Finally I say, "Bird watching."  "Oh, bird watching."  Then they get it.  To me, birding is different than bird watching.  I explain it to people this way.  Bird watching is going out looking at birds.  Birding is driving down the road, seeing a bird, and turning the vehicle around so you can get another look at the bird.
The other day, Jeremy, the two littlest, and I went out searching for a rare bird, one not often seen in Utah- the Eastern bluebird.  Other birders had told us where they were and Jeremy had gone a few days before to see them.  We had to go down a bit of a hill to get to the trail to walk along to find them.  When Jeremy went before, there was snow on the hill.  When we went, the snow had melted so it was a hill of mud.  Jeremy held Lucky's hand through the mud, but Jr. Jr. would not set foot in it.  To make a long story short, I gave Jr. Jr. a piggy back ride all the way down the muddy hill to the paved trail.
The bluebirds were not in the spot Jeremy found them before, but we did find them a little bit farther down the trail.  Hooray!  There was a male and female and they were beautiful. 

It was worth it, especially since we had to hike back up that hill in the mud again- Jeremy helping Lucky up, and I giving Jr. Jr. a piggy back ride. 

When we got back to the van, Jeremy, Lucky, and I found a snow bank to kick to get some of the mud off our shoes and we had a towel in the van to wipe our feet because this is what our boots looked like when we got up that hill.

It's a good thing Jr. Jr. didn't get his boots muddy because by the time we got home, it was time for him to go to school.  No time to clean his clothes.
As I was washing muddy pants and socks, and later, as I was scrubbing boots, I again thought it was worth it.
And that is why we are birders.