Baby Finches!

I realize that most of you won't be as excited about this as I am, but after taking care of three females and watching dozens of eggs never hatch, we were pretty frustrated. We bought a male bird, and viola, three weeks later we have two baby birds in the nest. We noticed two eggs one day and then the couple were constantly on the nest, so we thought they were probably laying more eggs because that is what they used to do when they were all female. But then on Monday I scared them all out of the nest and there were two little dark-shaped masses wriggling around in there. I about wet my pants I was so excited. Here they are on Tuesday.



By Saturday they have doubled in size. And they cheep and chirp and open their mouths really big to eat. Both parents feed them and both sleep with them at night. I will try to get better pictures, but I didn't want to intrude on the family too much. They don't look like much I agree, but it is really exciting to have new-born life in our apartment.

Hannah's haircut

Ubercute with short hair.

Hannah's been debating about cutting her hair for a while now, and I think her job at the daycare center helped tip the balance. I think it's great. She's happy with it too, so far. Read more of Hannah's comments at her family's blog: plcarter.
Let us know what you think.

The Daycare

I started working at Child Time a week ago. It was quite the struggle at first. They are way understaffed right now, so there is no routine or stability. I was juggled around a lot between rooms and ages, but I spent a lot of time with the four year olds and infants. Mostly I feel bad for the kids, especially the young ones, that they have to be there all day. Some of the kids are there from 7am to 6pm. They have had infants in there as young as 6 weeks old. But it is a good place to work. I get home cooked lunches everyday no charge and it's air-conditioned. I have started liking the kids too. At first they were just a bunch of kids in a room, but now they are my kids and I probably know them better than their parents do. I probably change their diapers more than their parents do.

I have mixed feelings about daycare in general. For some parents I would suggest they leave their kids in day care forever because they are getting taken care of so well and they might actually learn something there. Of course these are the parents that I don't think should be allowed to be parents at all but that's another story. Most kids should be at home though. With a mom that will teach them manners and how to behave and how to work, and will play with them and not let them watch too much TV. I know that I don't want to put my kids in daycare, not because the daycare is bad, just because I feel it is my responsibility to raise and teach my kids, not the daycares'. If you think of it as a pre-pre-school setting it isn't bad at all, except for the infants who aren't being breastfed. I think it is very wise to get your children in social settings early, but all day every day? Anyway, there are my thoughts of late. Anyone seen any good movies?

Cars

This is the pinewood derby car that I made last week. It doesn't go too fast, but it was fun to make. I came to an impasse halfway through digging out the inside until Hannah reminded me that I have a Dremel (it was Hannah's birthday gift to me last year). The Dremel made all the difference, and all the guys were jealous. Thanks Hannah!





Check out our Empire State plates. We're official.


This is a picture taken from our front yard. Can you see the 30 mph speed limit sign (center background)? Another 50 feet beyond the sign is the Erie Canal. There's a nice paved path that runs along it for biking and walking. Hannah and I like taking walks there, though there are lots of bugs at times. There's also a lock about 200 yards from our apartment that's fun to look at (it doesn't look like it's been operated for 20 years).

Letchworth Park

Last Saturday we went to Letchworth State Park with our friends the Reids. We were planning on doing a lot of hiking, but the park turned out to be a lot more established than we thought it would be. There were short walks to these amazing waterfalls and lots of people there. But it was lots of fun and good to get out of the house. It was very humid! We are enjoying discovering the area; there is a great park close by for picnicking or softball, we still haven't found a good (cheap) camping place yet.

P.S. Any ideas on curly hair in the humidity? I'm pretty much ready to cut it short.








Brad and Becca

Beware the Jalapenos!

So I was going to write to everybody and tell them this story but maybe posting it will be easier. Friday night we were going to a BBQ. I, being the aspiring homemaker, wanted to bring homemade salsa. So I looked up a few recipes, picked one out, and headed to the store. Brad and I cut everything up quickly, because we were late, and then took off to the BBQ. On the way there I noticed that my hands were tingly and hot and I resolved to wash them again when we got there. The evening was cool and I didn't notice my hands, but if I touched my face it would burn where I touched it. We went home and my hands started burning pretty bad so I washed them again and took hold of an Otter Pop. We concluded that it was acid in the jalapeños that reacted with my skin/nerves. I had cut them up and then mixed the salsa with my bare hands (I had no idea!) As the evening wore on, the burning continued to worsen. I could cool them for a bit in some cold water or with something frozen, but the burning would come back regardless. It felt like I was pouring scalding water on the palms of my hands! We tried everything; aloe, hydrocortisone, benadryl, a wet wash cloth. Brad even ran to the store at midnight to get some Lanacane. He was so worried; it was really sweet. Nothing worked. Brad read online and apparently this is not uncommon. He read about someone who just put their hands in ice water and slept that way all night. I was holding back tears and totally exhausted (probably from the benadryl) as I told Brad to go to bed and pulled out all our blankets and put ice water in a pie dish. Brad, of course, didn't go to bed until I was settled on the floor with my hands in the pie dish holding ice cubes. I think I was asleep within two to three minutes. In the morning my thumbs were tingly but the burning had gone thank goodness! My only question was why didn't somebody tell me that jalapeños can burn your skin like that? Turns out that in the Chiles section of my cookbook it says that the oils can burn your skin or eyes so wear gloves while cutting chillies. I guess I learned my lesson the hard way. Warning to you all-wear gloves when cutting chilies!

P.S. The salsa was hot at first but after a day it was really good. I don't know what to do with the other jalapeños though. I certainly don't want to touch them.

New York City

We recently visited New York City. The trip was a little fast for all that we wanted to see;
next time we'll plan on 4 or 5 days, and spend less time at the most common tourist sites.
Transportation worked out really well for us; we drove 6 hours to Harrison, NJ, and then paid
$1.50 to take the PATH train into Manhattan. We were able to carry all of our clothes, etc. in 2
backpacks, which was nice.

Notice how the streets of Manhattan are arranged in a relatively simple grid.

Unfortunately (for Hannah especially), when Brad's navigating, the streets seem to look more
like this. We never got lost, we just took some scenic routes--I was trying to show Hannah
more of the city.


One of the first things we did was a boat tour around the island.

The cranes you see are working on the new WTC building.


Ellis Island w/random tourist.


subway


This is an early morning view looking west from our hotel room
(27th floor). Thanks to Stryker and my 56,000 Marriott points,
we stayed free for 2 nights in an $800/night room. Pretty sweet deal.


View from hotel of WTC construction.


Statue of Liberty




Trinity Church yard

Trinity Church steeple from Wall Street. "Let's stop in the
middle of the street and take a picture, OK?"


more WTC construction

The Turtle Pond was our favorite part of Central Park


There were tons of turtles

We though this was very funny! Is someone campaigning here?

ART:


Ellsworth Kelly


Brancusi (Romanian)


Pollock


Ubercute at Grand Central


Warhol


This one's for you, Adam!


Boccioni


We spent a lot of time in museums, we had to walk around a lot
but sometimes we found treasures

Rothko (one of Brad's favorite artists)

Manhattan skyline from the top of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Our 27th-floor view

recovery back in Rochester

Rochester, NY

Lake Ontario


New couch (notice, Ryan, that I'm not curling my toes)


Hannah's breaking out the sewing machine daily


The rug Brad found for free

Yellowstone summer 2007

Hannah needs to work on her smile


Almost a smile....


Excellent smile!




cool green water


plenty of nieces and nephews