State Champs!

We now have two State Champion players in our household!!

This is the second consecutive year for Caitlin's team to win it and the first time for Hayden's team. Congratulations to both of them!!

Out with the Old, In with the New

We've had our Purple Martin birdhouse for about 8 years now and we enjoy the birds who return every spring to their summer home. This year was the first time that our bird family didn't return and I believe it's because they knew something we didn't know; this humble abode was on it's last leg. And before we were aware of just how urgently we needed to find a new condo for our visitors, the wind assisted with the removal of this old, rusted out shack. The house hung teetered to the side until Ray took the final step of bringing it down. But, before it's removal, we encountered casualties as the house leaned over and spit baby birds onto the ground.

I assembled the the new home and Ray installed it on the pole. I think it looks perfect and any bird should be proud to call it home.

As I sit here now, I can hear the birds chirping their approval of the fine accomodations we have furnished for them and we are hoping that next year they not only return, but bring relatives with them.

2007 Graduation

Well we've succeeded with getting one of our children through high school. We attended the Claremore High School 2007 graduation tonight. The weather was great and the ceremony was nice but it was a little too long for Hayden and Cody.


After a long wait we finally watched Dylan cross the stage to receive his diploma. I hope we get a good picture from the photographer because our seats were not close enough to see him very well. I looked forward to the end where the entire class celebrated by throwing their caps up in the air. They also sprayed silly string at the end and threw beach balls around during the event which was fun to watch.

Abby

You can't crash on the couch around here without an animal taking advantage.

Are you smarter than a third grader?

Caitlin, Cody and I were eating dinner out tonight when I spotted a painting hanging on the wall and I couldn't place where I had seen it before.

Me: "Where have I seen that picture before?"

Caitlin: Shrugs.. "I don't know."

Cody: "Oh that's a painting by Henri Matisse or it could be Roberto Clemente."

Me and Caitlin: (staring in disbelief at Cody) "What??"

Apparently he learned this in art class at school. Was he right? Who knows. But he named artists that I wasn't familiar with and we were impressed. Kudos to Roosa Elementary.

The Tasks of the Week

This week has been extremely busy and I was only too happy to be confined to my room for most of the day due to having the house fogged because our pets have fleas. I haven't actually seen fleas throughout the house, but I wanted to make sure that if any were lurking around, they wouldn't be lurking for long. I fogged the entire house and stuffed a towel at the bottom of my door to keep from being gassed while I hid out in the only place I had to go today. It already feels pest free and I think the dogs and cats are thanking me with every scratchless moment they have.

I cleaned the garage on Monday and took Hayden to his soccer game that evening. I went to Tulsa and picked up my new computer desk on Tuesday and starting the assembly. I took a break to take Caitlin and Hayden to practice and continued my project later that night, finishing at nearly 1:00am in the morning. On Wednesday I moved the computer to it's new location, including running the wiring from it's current location to the other side of the wall. I had to move files and office supplies which sounds easier than it was. Then I was off to take Caitlin to her soccer practice. I made a point today for all my tasks to be less laborous. I'm exhausted and still have things I need to do, but today was nice and relaxing. I think I'll reward myself with another day of rest. Afterall, a couple of events that made it an extra special week consisted of me almost blinding myself and Caitlin with flea spray and nearly killing my favorite cat.

Somebody is sleepy

It takes a lot out of her being the alpha cat!

Crawdad

Look what I found crawling through the yard this morning. At first glance I thought it was a scorpion and then you can't help but think "a lobster?". :-)

I haven't seen a crawdad in our yard in quite a long time. When we first moved into our house, we had rain by the buckets and so we had lots of crawdads. This season has been very rainy so I should have expected to see them return. When my mom was here visiting one year, we went out to the yard to try and find them, she suggested we catch them and eat them. I suggested we NOT do that.

This little guy was very angry with me for trying to take his picture... I think he snarled.

Much Preparation

Leslie and I spent all Wednesday evening organizing our goods for the garage sale this weekend. Both of us are going to be busy the next couple of nights so this was the only day we had to get'r done. After borrowing a table from a neighbor we got down to work. And now that everything is in place, it's nice to have it all ready a few days ahead of time.

We have so much stuff to get rid of that I'm afraid one day is not going to be enough. We have smaller items marked very low in hopes of getting rid of it so we won't have to haul very much off to good will.

Oklahoma's drought is over

5 inches of rain in one day is more than enough. That's what we received yesterday and more rain is expected today.

Taking baths now have to be minimal and there are restrictions on toilet flushing because the septic is backed up.

I also discovered that our carpet in the living room is wet along one of the walls. I'm sure it's seeping in from outside.

As soon as it dries up a little, we need to get out there and clean that gutter spout.

Mammogram

I had mine today. No longer will I brag that it was no big deal from my first experience from it about 5 years ago. I think I was reciting a prayer while that machine had me in it's grips. And afterwards, as I sat waiting for the technician to check my films to see if I would need anymore pictures (which I did), I noticed that my chest was on fire! Kind of like getting an indian burn when I was at elementary school.

In the next couple of weeks

Ray starts his new job in Texas on the 14th. It’s funny how some things take so long to get done and then the next thing you know, the big day is right here in front of you.

I’m having our garage sale on the 12th. I'll spend the next couple of weeks getting everything ready for that. Look forward to getting rid of junk.