Baby Birdies!

One day after school I opened the door as Alex was getting off the bus so I could watch him cross the road. On the concrete by our front door I noticed a broken egg shell from a bird.  

We have had a nest on top of our door light for awhile but didn't think anything was going on in it.  Bill grabbed the ladder and the camera and discovered three baby birds in the nest.  The kids thought it was the neatest thing ever!

It was fun to watch them open up there beaks when we made a noise because they thought their mama was bringing them food.

Of course a few times we opened the door and had the crap scared right out of us when mama bird was sitting in the nest and booked it out of there.  It was really neat to see her sit on her babies when the temperature dropped outside.

We also got to watch them get bigger... and one day I saw only one bird left which was standing in the grass of our yard.  It must have learned how to fly.  We haven't seen them since.

We discovered another nest under our deck which has three Robin's eggs in it.  I haven't checked in a few days to see if they have hatched yet.

I love sharing these small experiences with my children.  Last summer we were able to witness baby bunnies and this summer we get to witness baby birds growing.

When we first discovered them in the nest.

Growing up!  This is about how they looked when they left the nest.

Another nest full of eggs.

Chores

I am so proud of Alex when he tries to complete chores on his own.  I usually ask him to help with small things around the house, but every so often he likes to earn a little chore money so I make him a list of chores to complete.

I usually only have to help him a little bit and he does most of the chores on his own.

Today he cleaned the bathroom counters/sinks, wiped down the toilets and toilet bowls, helped put dishes away from the dishwasher, put all of his laundry away, and helped wipe down the kitchen counters and table.  It's so cute because after he cleaned the bathroom counters he was going around wiping down the light switches.  I didn't even ask him to. =)

He got $1 to go towards his spending money.  I don't give him a lot for doing chores because he needs to know that he has to help out and not always get money for helping.  Plus he is still young and doesn't know the value of money.  It's been a bit difficult teaching him that it is good to save some of his money to put into his savings account.  We are getting there though...