Our Friends The Chickens

We'd like to introduce you to The Chickens! They are good friends of ours. We visit them almost everyday. About a month ago we got up the nerve to ask some neighbors we did not know if we could look at their chickens. Mr. Sam and Mrs. Rita were delighted to share the fun of their chickens with us. They have 2 chicken coops. Now, we not only have chicken friends but Sam and Rita are also our friends!

Everyday it is not a decision as to if we are going to visit the chickens but what will we bring to feed them. They love grapes and zucchini, lettuce, bread and apple peels. Cooper points and says, "Chickens, bock, bock" over and over again to alert you to what kind of animal you are viewing.
If you'd like to visit some chickens we'd love to share our friends with you!

- Messes and Mosquitoes -

Cooper is so funny these days. He is almost 2 yrs. old and has just started communicating in sentences which is pure joy to this mom's ears. His first sentence was "I made a mess" Yes, quite funny to this mom's ears but not so joyful on the eyes.

I do catch myself saying, "ohhh you made a mess" in a -not so joyful- voice and sometimes laughing at the messy messes I come upon.

Cooper also tells Allie "Aow-ee a mess" when I feed her cereal.

The 2nd sentence we're hearing is "I see a moon!" in jubilation and then shortly after "...and a star". We then talk about how God gave us the moon so we can see at night and how pretty the stars are (meanwhile we are getting eaten alive by mosquitoes). Tonight as we drove home from church Cooper was so quiet in the backseat. As I glanced back he was watching the moon follow us home. Did you ever notice that Wal Mart has a star in the middle of the word (between the L and the M)? I didn't either until little Coop alerted me to the fact. Did you know that the Nike Swoosh looks like a moon - yeah, I thought that was a stretch too but now you understand how much Cooper is into finding stars and moons around town.

Anyway, it is quite fun to relive the marvels of this world through your child's eyes as he begins to take make sense of it for the first time despite the messes and mosquitoes!

Gustav Gone - Yikes Ike!

At Grandma Lena's Memorial Service

We are a little nervous around our house during hurricane season. The reason - our 3yr. new house flooded during Katrina and we lost just about everything except our photo albums. What a huge mess it was but I've got to say what an awesome character and faith builder it was as well. As my sister said, "You have learned many life lessons from hurricane Katrina and you learned those lessons very well. You don't need another storm!" Yes, I agree!

Katrina was supposed to be a 30 year storm - one of it's kind for several years. The first 2 years after Katrina were very quiet in the Gulf of Mexico, but this year is quite different. First a mandatory evacuation for Gustav a "3" and yikes here comes Ike just about 2 weeks later.

Gustav came at 'as good as time as any' we had to be out of town anyway for Grandma Lena's memorial service. The 7 hour drive took about 9 hours. I guess our kids aren't quite used to long car rides yet. We had to stop several times. We evacuated on Saturday one day before the mandatory evacuation took place. We left our dog at my sister Heidi's house, (her house doesn't flood and Duke likes to hang out in her garage) only to return to see a tree had fallen on the garage. Duke and his friends (Woody and Bear-Heidi and Shaw's Dogs) found their way out of the garage with a wild story to reminisce about. Tiffany and Daryl are the greatest Dog Care Takers!

We are simply watching, waiting and praying that Ike is not another Katrina.