Hummers....

No, I am not posting about those obnoxiously large vehicles...I'm talking about the birds. Hummingbirds. I've always been fascinated by hummingbirds but had NEVER seen one until we moved to TX. They are just the coolest little animals!! I've put in, what I call, my hummingbird/butterfly garden outside our kitchen. I've planted lots of wildflower seeds and other brightly colored flowers. I put up a hummingbird feeder and a finch feeder. I thought it would be weeks if not months before I got anyone at my feeders. I was wrong (at least in the case of the hummingbirds)-no takers at the finch feeder yet. I have one little hummer (I think ruby-throated) who comes regularly many times a day and will tolerate little (and big noses) pressed to the glass right next to the feeder watching him. I hope when the migration begins in earnest he'll bring some friends.

Oh, and Spooky had her kittens. Grace and I went looking but couldn't find them. She comes by a couple times a day now looking for food. This morning she had two BIG ole tomcats escorting her. Hopefully they haven't killed the kittens. :-(

To get anyone not in the 'know' up to speed: Spooky is one of the many feral(wild) cats that we have here. I feed them at night. Spooky is a little female who has come to trust us and will let me handle her and pet her. Another is Blacky (tom) I'm certain he was a dumped pet because he is WAY to friendly to be wild-he'd like nothing better to be our housecat and he is so UNafraid of Murphy it's laughable. The rest of the bunch (about 5-10) are totally wild and skittish but they keep the snakes down so we feed them to keep them around. My neighbor and I are going to start catching and fixing (letting the vets do it) these cats. Blacky has an appt with the snippers in early April.

Flowers

Spring has sprung here in TX!! Thanks to a very wet March the bluebonnets are numerous and gorgeous. Growing up and living in very built up suburban areas I rarely got to see field after field of wildflowers. Most wildflowers I saw were growing in the medians of Rte 287 and 78.

This is a TX Bluebonnet up close.




















This is what it looks like around my stomping grounds.

Sorry for the hiatus

We've been pretty busy and I haven't made the time for the blog lately. it's the usual semi-organized chaos plus a couple projects thrown in to spice things up.

Look who's walking!!

Well, sort of. She can only take a couple steps unassisted but is burning up the joint with her little push-toy.
Oh, and you can kind of see how she is starting to wrinkle her nose up when she is peevish, just like Gracie did at the same age.

Rain.

It's been pouring in Southeast TX the last couple days. It's a good thing. We desperately needed the rain. We didn't get one drop in February.

Michigan or BUST!!

Katie's Odyssey of the Mind team. The bus makes it's first appearance on the blog. Yes, it is still running. If y'all thought we'd get strange looks riding in it in CT, you can't imagine the fuss it creates in TX!!!

Texas Velvet

She talks to the animals, walks with the animals....

We went to Sea World on Saturday with Mom. It was opening day, you'd think there would be quite a few people but it was pretty much empty. It was chilly ( low 60's) and windy which probably kept some folks away. Chris and Katie were in Austin so it was me, Mom and the younger 6 kids. Jack and Ian were let loose to go ride roller coasters, over and over and over and over. Mom and I took the little ones to feed the dolphins, ride some little rides and see some shows. The banner moment of the day was watching a special presentation by Jack Hanna. We were able to meet him and get his autograph and my little zoologist, Gracie, was invited up on stage to help hold a albino python. I didn't bring my digital camera because I anticipated a typical Seaworld day and didn't think I'd need it. Mom took pictures with her camera....real film...BAH!! After she gets them developed and sends them to me I'll post them.
Ben got to go on the Texas Splashdown with me and Emma. It's a log floom. He was very excited. After he got off he told anyone who cared to listen, "I went on Splashdown!! I went AAAHHHH!!!!!" with arms up in the air. :-)

How to eat refried beans and other musings....

I never had refried beans until I was in my twenties. My children, on the other hand and face and hair, try them much earlier......
Lucy likes beans!



My mom was visiting for the last week so I haven't as much a chance to update the blog.
Katie's OM team is going to State. \o/ WOOT!! They did an excellent job and it was intimated that a trip to World's is a possibility. The kids aren't getting their hopes up, they are going to just do the best they can and accept whatever happens, happens.
Here is a pic of their Rube Goldberg machine. I'll have to get Katie to give a step by step of how it works, it is super cool. It uses gravity, electricity, wind and pulley action to work. The point of the machine is to dump potion and transform the hamsters in the cage (balls of yarn).


Jack was promoted on Tuesday. He is now a Cadet Airman. Next step, Cadet Airman 1st Class. The officer giving him his promotion was incredibly impressed that Jack achieved his new rank in such a short time. This week's meeting was only Jack's ninth meeting. I'll post a picture of him in his BDU's next week, we're waiting on his blues. Ggpa would be so proud!!!

It's the little things......