Adventures in bird catching...

Today I had the opportunity to work at my favorite school. I knew it would be a good day...and it was. My kids know....from the moment they get on the bus in the morning....where I'm going to be that day in case they need me. Only one time have I gotten a phone call while I was in the classroom. Today, was the second.

Josh called at 3:00 this afternoon....telling me there was a bird in the house and he couldn't get it back outside. He said he had all the windows and doors opened, but he could not shoo the bird out. He wasn't panicked...he just didn't know what to do.

Then I got another call that the bird went into the laundry room...but he couldn't find it. So, I told him he could either stomp around and scare it out or he could just not worry about it. I told him I would be home shortly to pick him up, grab the other kids and head to the airport to pick up Joe. We would worry about it after Celebration Night. After all, we have cats. If there was a bird in the house...it wouldn't take long to get the attention of our pretty kitties.

I grabbed Dan and Trey from the bus and headed to the house. When I walked in the door, I found myself looking up at the ceiling...almost ducking down expecting to be dive-bombed by this bird. Harken back to the days of bat-catching and you'll know why. I scanned the house but did not see anything. Trey went in to get his basketball shirt and drop off his backpack and I headed into my room to check email. Nothing seemed out of sort. In my room, at least.

When I walked into the kitchen I could see that yes....a bird had, in fact, been in the house...as there were feathers strewn around the kitchen floor. I stopped right there and decided that looking for the source of the feathers was not in the cards for me at this moment. We needed to get back in the car to get Joe. He had already arrived and was waiting for us at 'our spot.'

We picked up Joe and headed to dinner then to church. We had a wonderful time at Celebration Night. The speaker/entertainer was fantastic. Juggling, unicycling, fire, bouncing balls. It was great. The kids were captivated and I laughed until tears were stinging my eyes.

Then, home. Julia and Josh were the first up the stairs. Daniel and Trey were playing basketball in the basement. Joe was grabbing his suitcases from the car and I was close by. That's when I heard it. Her voice. In a nice, even tone. "The bird is laying in the middle of the kitchen floor. And there's blood everywhere." Then Josh. Again, in a nice, even tone. "And it's still breathing!"

Wh-What??

Bird. Blood. Breathing. Three words I really didn't want to hear in the same three sentences.

But Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow! Because I didn't have to worry about it. I had a husband who had just come home from drill....and he was more than happy to come to my rescue.

Before I knew it, Daniel and Trey were upstairs checking out the 'victim.' Joe told me to stay on the staircase and not look at 'the mess.' Julia decided to let me know that the blood looked like ketchup.

Nice.

Within a few minutes, Mr. Bird was put in the back yard, the blood was cleaned up and the cats were found. None of our pretty kitties owned up to the deed, but I'm sure they had a lot of fun playing with the moving target.

I know cats are smart....but ours are really smart. The decided to maim the bird on my tile kitchen floor....instead of my white berber carpet.

They're so good to their mama!

Again....it's just another day in our crazy household.