Life

To provide a stark contrast from the nasty photo in the last posting, here are four sweet, live, baby Mockingbirds in our Cypress. We are keeping a close eye on them because we're sure Maddie and Dora will take quite an interest when mama starts teaching them to fly [gulp]. Here's a family of dirty feet. We're trying to encourage our boy to GET DIRTY, because he gets weird about it sometimes. (Remember Captain Pavement?)
Three concerned kids awaiting Daddy's arrival.
Yesterday's pool fun. Stuffed Bert took a surprise dip.
Bet he was thrilled.
Andrew was, at least!

The Best Kind of Copperhead...

...is a dead one, of course. We took the babe and hounds for a little hike yesterday morning near the new BHS band practice field site. This was the only really interesting find; pretty glad he had passed on before we got there. My only guess is that this guy had an untimely meetup with one of the bulldozers driving through to work on the field. Better that meetup than one with a Maddie or Dora snout!

Wise Beyond Her Years

Since there have been no photos for days (or postings, for that matter) due the massive bringing home of the proverbial bacon, I will post with a recent anecdote from my adventures as a substitute teacher:

Yesterday, I subbed for an all-female 4th grade class at one of the district's more urban schools. It just happened to be the day the girls got to go to the gym for the good ol' human growth and development video - female version, of course. Lucky me, right? The girls were nervous about what to expect in the film, and for that matter, I could tell the school nurse wasn't any more at ease about the upcoming presentation.

Before it started, a student asked me why I was staying in the room with them and not taking a break.

I told her I wanted to learn something.

She paused for a moment, pointed to my five-month-along belly, raised her eyebrows, and replied,

"I think you know enough already!"

Busy but Great

We've had a busy few days around here.....

Lots of family drove down to see Jon's percussion students put on an AMAZING concert Thursday evening.

We checked out a butterfly exhibit at the local children's museum.

A great day of boating was enjoyed by all on Saturday, thanks to Uncle Jack and Aunt Kim.

(a necessary siesta on deck)

Is this the epitome of sheer joy, or what? We've got ourselves a major water baby.

Mother's Day was also really rewarding... I got a Roomba (trust me, I vetoed flowers or jewelry this year and the hubby came through VERY WELL with this present)! Of course, that's Dora's butt in the corner - just another household nemesis for her to have to run from.

Night Night

Lately, Andrew has taken to putting his babies (aka Sesame Street characters) "night night." I know this has to have been inspired by the organized line of napping toddlers at Miss Debby's. We've been waiting months to see this imaginative play that is promised to parents... just so sweet and hilarious. If your attention span allows you to get to the end of the video (1:20ish), he even pats Bert's back, like we do with Andrew when it's time for him to go night night.

Halfway There

Well, I'm 20 weeks along now, and being halfway there is a good feeling. We had a level II ultrasound yesterday and everything looks great. The kiddo is unmistakably a boy, too. I spared you the photo of gratuitous genitals, but you can most definitely take my word for it.... there will be two crazy boys running around here in a matter of months.

And here's a shot of Andrew and his friends, taken at Miss Debby's house last week. The kids are lined up L to R from the youngest to the oldest (Andrew's third from the left). This photo alone is a testament to Miss Debby's major skills as a child-care provider; who knew you could line up nine wee ones and that they would actually sit happily still long enough for a photo? Debby is a saint.