File under ‘Things to do in my spare time’.  Feed and care for a baby squirrel…make that a paralyzed baby squirrel.

Would it not have been for the fact that my cousin introduced this adorable little thing to my three kids, I would have let nature run it’s course.  However, that was not possible when my kids were about to burst into tears.

“He won’t survive even if we try to help him,” I said.

“But you didn’t think Nibbles would live either, and he’s two now,” was the response from the twins.  

Nibbles is a bunny who was the only one of his three siblings to survive a run in with our riding mower.  You can see his story here.

So I lost the battle and am now caring for the squirrel, who I adamantly refuse to name for fear he won’t make it.  Yet he seems to be flourshing, as evidenced by the way he tries to attack me every time I go to feed him.

Which has now led to the question, if he continues to thrive, what do you do with a paralyzed squirrel who  obviously can’t be put back in the wild?

Anyone know a good wildlife rehabilitator in Eastern Pennsylvania who would be willing to take on a squirrel for it’s lifetime?

Sometimes I get so stressed trying to find things to occupy the kids that I forget the basics.

Like watercolors.

Over an hour a peace and quiet.

They’re cheap, they clean up pretty easily as long as you have down a weeks worth of newspaper, and old clothes (or in Alex’s case, no clothes), and the resulting artwork is generally quite pleasing, if you keep them away from black and browns.

How do I forget these things.

I know, summer is coming to a close already, but pretty darn hot around here, so I thought I’d share a snack we reach for all the time to cool off.

Frozen bananas are a healthy alternative to all those freeze pops that invade the stores in the hot months.  And don’t worry if you’re not a big banana fan, they have a somewhat different, much creamier taste when frozen.

Just grab a bunch of bananas.  Peel them.  Cut them in half and put a wooden stick in the end.

For easy clean up.  We place a piece of plastic wrap on a large plate and then lay the bananas towards the center and cover with another piece of plastic.

The wooden sticks can be found at any craft store for about five dollars (make sure to use the 40% off coupon), and you’ll have 1000 to last for summers to come.

For a special treat, dip them in chocolate and roll them in coconut or crushed candies before eating.

For more frozen bananas check out Neverhomemaker and Choosing Raw.

Matthew 12:34

Just look at Chirp checking out stock prices.

and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Genesis 15:6

2.  Oh, I’m just kidding, I also really missed tucking them in at night.

3.  Yet another girl/boy difference when I picked them up at camp.   

Makenna begged, ‘Mom, can I please go back and give my counselors and friends another hug before we leave….Oh, and take some pictures…and get their addresees.”

When I asked Jarod if he’d like to go say goodbye to his counselors and friends he thought about it for two seconds and said, “Nah.”

for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:7

If you’ve ever bought any plants for you yard then you probably have a few of these not so attractive black pots stored somewhere in your home.  (You may also have an adorable, although very loud, stubborn and moody toddler, if you do, this post will not help you with that.)

But, if you’re like me, then you have dozens of them (the pots, not toddlers) floating around your garage, shed, basement and attic just waiting to be used because they’re pots and they must be useful for something.  Right?  So you keep them, indefinitely, and you accept more of them from friends and family, who know you like plants, because they can’t bear to throw them out either, but unlike you and me, they don’t want them cluttering up their house. 

Meanwhile you go out and buy similar pots because they’re prettier colors.

Enter the always useful can of spray paint.  You have your choice of any color, and one $4 can will cover a dozen or more pots depending on their size. 

We’ve previously done pink and blue pots for the twins to each have their own flowers, but this year I went bland and got a terra cotta color to match my other pots.

Oh, and one last thought, as far as paint durablity goes, we’ve found that most of our pots look nice for about 3 years before we have to repaint them.

Matthew 3:8