The animals in our new home

 When I saw our new house with a fenced-in yard and a dog house I thought it would be fun to have chickens.  A friend of ours heard that and decided to give me a pair of half-grown chicks that they had.  So these two were named after my nieces-Ashley and Allisyn-and they came with us from Ankara.

One day I came into our living room and there was a pair of sparrows perched on our chandelier.  When they saw me they started flying into the windows trying to get out.  We finally chased them under the bookcase one at a time and caught them and put them in this box.  I gave them some water because they were totally exhausted but every time I opened the box they were completely still like statues.  We let them go of course and I often see sparrows flitting around our house and wonder if it is these ones.

Button Cookies

These were quite easy and turned out very cute.  We made them just for fun but shared them with our friends and neighbors.

The Black Hole Road

The road that we live on is like a black hole.  They've dug it up and repaved it at least 3 times this year. After they're done it always looks so smooth and nice. But then I'm walking out to buy milk one day and I see that the road was actually just a thin layer of payment, over, well, nothing, by the looks of the open space that can be seen underneath where the pavement has pulled away from the sidewalk.  They dump some dirt and rock on it and then pave it over again.  And then the middle sunk in.  So they put some pavement patches over that and now those have sunk in too.  I think there's a pavement monster under there...

Overflowing Nest

This mama is raising 3 teenagers.  We switched the eggs so they are raising other pairs babies.  It makes for a colorful family.

Kid's Day

Here in Turkey, there is a holiday for children every April 23rd. First they give a program at their school with songs, poems, and dance and then they have no classes for the rest of the day.  We celebrated by going to the mall with my friend's son's classmates and their moms.

 The kids tried their hand at bowling and some of us moms did too!

We ate at the food court of course!

And the kids played a round of laser tag.

 While we sat and chatted with the ladies.

Children's Day Celebration

Well it was supposed to be a celebration for the kids, but I think we ladies had more fun than they did taking pictures with the clowns.

Our friend's daughter showed off her karaoke skills by singing an English song for everyone during the talent show part of the program.

Cute baby birds

 Aren't they just adorable!

And now this black pair has grown up a bit and started to come out of their nest.

 And here is a new pair growing up.

 And the newest baby.  His mom squished his head by sitting on him. Don't worry, he's happy like that.