‘Twas the day of much anticipation. I had gone up to the top floor for a short rest while Harper was at school. As my ritual had become, before climbing into bed I looked out the window to check the mother swan…and lo and behold, I saw movement underneath the mother. I raced from the window downstairs as fast as my legs could carry me, grabbing Brad exclaiming “THE BABY SWANS ARE BORN”! We threw open the back doors, got out the binoculars and confirmed that the little grey signets had arrived. I pretty much spent the rest of day looking out the back window, bothering Brad to go and take pictures. Six of the seven eggs hatched. Here are some of the pictures Brad took. Enjoy!

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.thelifeandtimesof.com/thehuddle/myimages/signetpics/loader.swf" height="400" width="495" base="http://www.thelifeandtimesof.com/thehuddle/myimages/signetpics/" /]

-Julie

My friend, Mentanna, has started a new series on her blog entitled an invitation to the table. I like where she’s going with this. It’s worth a read.

Here are direct links to the first 2 posts.

http://mentanna.blogspot.com/2008/05/invitation-to-table-part-one.html
http://mentanna.blogspot.com/2008/05/invitation-to-table-part-two.html

Cheers.

The other day I gave you the commercial the kids are hooked on. Now it’s my turn. Enjoy…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2aRDacKANs[/youtube]

Cheers.

The weather has been great here. We went for a walk a couple of days ago to take pictures of the new baby swans. I also took a couple of the kids and Julie.

Cheers.

“S” is for Spring and Swans. And I just love swans. They became my new favourite animal quickly after we arrived in 2006 thus usurping the zebra. And what would you know, but a little over a month ago a swan plopped down right in back of our house next to the water to nest and lay eggs. You would have thought that I won the lottery. So, now every morning, noon, and night we can look out the back glass door window and watch her. Each morning the kids and I pull back the curtains and can’t wait to see what she is up to. Brad has even felt a closeness to our swan as he opens the window and shouts at any youth attempting to get too close warning them that she will bite and hit.

I just marvel at how great God is when I look at the swan and her 7 eggs. She is beautiful and she withstands the hail, rain, and snow to sit on those eggs. The male swan comes to visit often and watches after the eggs when she needs to take a swim. She even has a little friend, a mallard duck who is always within a few feet. It’s like they coexist happily, careful not to get into each other’s area. When the mallard duck encroaches upon her space, she gives him a little nudge.They must have such a fascinating little relationship. I’m wondering if soon those eggs will hatch, the cignets will go out into the water, and our swan will be gone? I don’t even want to think about that, but for now I know I’ll always have the spring of the swan.