Barn Swallow eggs

New little bird eggs... not sure what kind of birds.

Mocking bird eggs... the prettiest

Hey cutie... like that hair.

I'm obsessed with nests right now. This time of year there are all kinds of nests, eggs and new little cute birdies. We have a mud nest that stays year round and the barn swallows come back every spring and have two sets of babies. Watch out because they like to swoosh by your head when you go on the porch. Then there's the mocking birds. I usually love to listen to them, but while they're protecting their babies they make the most annoying, screeching sound. They have the prettiest eggs though.... blue and speckled. I recently found their second nest in a bush by the front porch.. I'm a sneaky spy! This year we have new birds. I don't know what they are, but they're small and oh so cute. This little momma decided to build her nest in my hanging fern. Her little guy is the last picture. Isn't he cute? And look at that hair!

Childhood and Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I love chicken salad sandwiches. My friend, Julie, and I go to a cute little sandwich/bakery shop and our favorite thing on the menu is chicken salad sandwiches. The first time I ordered one it was probably the first time that I knowingly decided to eat chicken salad. (I may have had a few at church potlucks and didn't realize what I was eating.) I loved those chicken salad sandwiches so much that I decided to make my own so I broke out the cookbooks and found a recipe that sounded good and easy. Chicken, celery, eggs, sweet pickles, pecans and the thing that gives it that little pop... red grapes. On a croissant... it has to be on a croissant it just doesn't taste the same on a piece of bread. De-lish!

It's funny how your tastes change as you get older. I remember being a little girl and my mother making tuna salad. It completely grossed me out and I refused to even try it because she put apples and pecans in it. She was ruining my tuna sandwich! Now the more "stuff" that you can add to a recipe, the better. Everyone in my family loves my new dish that I've added to my list of recipes, except my 9 year old, Ethan. He reminds me so much of me. Picky, picky, picky! But speaking from experience, I know that one day he'll be coming back to visit me and say, "Hey mom, do you think you can make your chicken salad on croissant? Nobody makes it like you do."

In case you're now craving one here's the recipe:

4 c. chopped cooked chicken breast

3 boiled eggs, chopped

1 c. chopped celery

1 c. chopped sweet pickles

1 c. chopped pecans

1 tsp. lemon juice

Mayo to mix

Mix all ingredients. May add chopped apples, seedless grapes of drained crushed pineapple.

*I don't follow this recipe exactly... i tweak it a little. Tweak it however you like it!

It's been awhile

I've been gone a LONG time. My computer got zapped by a lightening storm about 7 months ago so I was without a computer the whole time. It was tough, but I did it! I'm so happy to have a new computer!! I just wanted to post a quick blog.... I'm off to the grocery store in a minute. I hope I don't have to load and unload groceries in the rain. ugh!

I wanted to post a picture of my kids.... just because.

I plan to blog again now that I have a computer......

My *Homemade* Windchime

I made my homemade windchime about a week ago. I call it my homemade hippie windchime. It was so much fun! I found a stick in the backyard and thread some big glass beads and bells on some twine and wa-la... a windchime! I hung it on my front porch and it makes me smile everytime I see it. I'm going to make more as soon as I order some more bells and chimes. Maybe I'll sell them or just give them away!

I'm in love with big glass beads right now. I order them from Fire Mountain Gems and they're very inexpensive. Some of them are HUGE! It's my new addiction :O)

Road Trip... Glen Rose Texas

So, I was feeling REALLY stressed.... kids, bills, insurance, doctor visits, college financial aid... you know, LIFE! I decided to take a road trip all by myself. I only had a few hours until the kids were out of school. I almost talked myself out of it since I only had a few hours for my road trip and I didn't want to spend money on gas, but I knew I needed to do it for my sanity... REALLY!

There's a little quaint town about 45 miles away from where I live and it's my most favorite place to visit. It's Glen Rose Texas. The Paluxy River runs through it. There's actually real dinosaur tracks in the river beds. The downtown area has such great shops and boutiques.

I shopped for awhile and spent just a little money, you know, for my sanity.

My last stop before heading home was Big Rocks Park. There's these HUGE rocks and the river running through them. You can sit on them and sun or have a picnic and then get in the shallow, running water to cool off. I brought my flip flops so

I could wade. It felt SO good.

I recommend a short road trip for moms everywhere!

~Lora

Yesterday my daughter and I sat in the porch swing and just enjoyed the cool breeze. It was actually cool if you weren't in the sun. We pet the cat, took pictures and just hung out. I love my kids, but sometimes I don't take the time to really give my full attention to them. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. Sometimes my kids are NOT enjoyable. Ha... but, it's true! Sometimes I'M not enjoyable to them I'm sure.

I love my front porch. It's the porch I've always wanted and now I have it. I have wicker chairs, a cute little bistro table set, porch swing, plants, birds nests with little birdies in it and wind chimes. The sound of a wind chime is just about the greatest sound ever. I have two wind chimes and they were starting to fall apart. So... I took them down and "fixed" them. I restrung them with twine and added some pretty glass beads. I love how they turned out! I've decided to make a wind chime made of glass beads, bells and whatever else I can find and hang it from the cutest twig I can find. I'll blog about it when i decide to do it.

Things I love…
*my kids
*wind chimes
*front porches
*porch swings
*baby birds
*cuddly cats
*flowers
*cool breezes

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Have a great week...

~Lora

~*~#~*CONGRATS TO CUSSIN' CRAFTER*~*#~*

She won the bracelet!!!! I'll have another drawing one of these days so keep checking back and reading my oh so exciting blog! :O)