They've Come Back!

I have three things worth mentioning in this post.

Firstly, I achieved my challenge… Impressive, I know. I actually made the cards I set out to make, and they were great. The scans turned out just awful, and I re-did it numerous times. I don't know why it looks so gross, if it's any consolation, it real-life, it looks pretty good. So here's my Mum's Mother's Day card. Better late than never!

Birthday card for a friend. Again, the scan is just DREADFUL.

My cousin just had a breast reduction, and that needs to be recognized! She's so grateful to have had it done! I haven't decided what to write on the inside yet, maybe something as simple as "nice rack".

I also scrapped a travel mug for my Mum, with the kid’s pictures. This will be part of her Mother's Day gift. Nothing makes an Ama more delighted than being able to carry her little people with her, along with a cup of hot coffee!

I made of list of scrapbook related project I want to get done. Projects I’m in the middle of, projects I've stalled on, projects I've dropped the ball on, projects that I’m behind on. And one of my bff’s said to me “Why are you stressing about this stuff” and she’s right (thanks you…) so; I’m giving it the “whatever”, attitude. This is something I do simply for the joy of doing it. Why get all worked up about it. I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. Since I’m a “scrapper”, I feel like I need to document everything. I find it really hard to draw the line. For example, today we went to Calaway Park and I didn’t bring my camera. I agonized, and hesitated and labored over the decision not to, and in the end, left it at home. I thought, I just want to go, and have fun and not have to worry about the camera the whole time. As it turned out, we spent the ENTIRE day there, which is not what we’d set out to do. Just around the time we were thinking about heading out, we ran into some friends there with their kids. Mason was so pleased to be going on rides with a friend his own age. He even went on the B I G roller coaster… Yikes. I wasn’t too thrilled; the Mum in me came out in full-fret. At first I thought about all the great shots I was missing. Mason and his friend in line, waiting to get on the rides. The looks on their faces on the ride called "Octopus" (enough said) even a few times the both of them holding hands as they ran to the next line up. So sweet, so innocent, and not captured. (Too bad those days are coming to an end). I did miss catching any of that, but it was ok. (Of course, the pictures would have been great). As we emerged from the log ride, like a pack of drowned rats, the reality that having a camera with me would have been A LOT more stressful at that particular juncture.

My last bit of exciting news is our owl friends are back. We’ve been in our house now for 4 years, and each spring a Momma Great Horned Owl has brought her owlets to our neighborhood, where she teaches them to fly and hunt. It is such a marvel to see, we’re so lucky to have them in our back yard. As we're nearing the end of May, I was terribly disappointed, as we'd seen no sign of the owls. As only a mother does, I thought the worst. Perhaps something had happened, maybe Momma owl had been killed, or poisoned, or found a better place to nest... And that very night, they were back. This year she has 3 owlets that I’ve seen, and one of my neighbors said there was a 4th. The ruckus they cause, starts at dusk, and lasts through the night. There is screeching, shrieking, and ‘whoooooo-ing’. They don’t seem scared of us in the least; they just go about their business. The birds in the area (robins, blue jays, crows, etc) get very agitated, and we’ve seen some carnage over the years, (that's right, a rabbit foot, with the leg still attached, picked up my my then-preschooler, 2 years ago) But I say, it's a small price to pay to have 4-5 great horned owls flying around our neighborhood all summer long. Not to mention that we live in the middle of the city! It’s totally awesome! Last year I got some phenomenal shots of the Momma owl. The little ones were harder to capture, they only came out when it was dark. But this year, I have my camera at the ready, waiting for the perfect opportunity. It didn't take long, because we were awakened at 5:30 am, on Friday morning, I got out of bed and looked out my window and saw this…

Is that fantastic or what? It's owlet A and B. They looked right at me, when I drew the blind. In my 2nd floor, we could almost see eye to eye. This was a pretty good shot, because it was getting light, so the picture didn't turn out too blurry. Last years pictures were all blurry, because they come out so late.

This is Owlet C. It's trying to learn to properly land in a tree with that great big wing span. It really was struggling to try and get its wings tucked in. And finally...

Momma owl. She's never too far away. And I'm sure the look in her eyes is one that says "Gee whiz, these kids drive me CRAZY..." Especially as she was watching the one stuck in the tree.

It's Sunday evening, we're home from Calaway Park and:

1) My kids are tucked safely in their beds.

2) The owls are back again, keeping us awake at night.

3)I've crossed off a few things on my scrapbook 'to do' list.

All is well.