HAWKWARD....

So yeah, It's been a while.. or not so little! Mmmmkay then! Working on it!

Omaha 2015

 What fun would eating oranges with out making funny teeth out of them!? This one barely fits in his mouth! Ha!

 Of course, Gabe's didn't fit well either!

But of course, Ivy tried, but she just wanted to enjoy the fruit.


















 Athena is so happy when it's time to eat anything. She can certainly hold her own when it comes to eating a meal! So glad she isn't picky either! With the exception of BBQ beans.

 

 What good is a selfie with the children if we aren't being silly! Gabe is so good about just smiling, not making funny faces, but Ivy and Noni were squealing.

On our visit to Omaha, we did have an opportunity to go to the Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. . I do remember that it has always been a great zoo. Exceptionally so since it runs neck and neck going back and forth from 1st and 2nd place over the years. Their competition? San Diego Zoo.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see.  All the enclosed exhibits are open. However, there is SO MUCH construction of mostly the entire outdoor animals so we didn't have an opportunity to enjoy seeing any elephants, rino's, etc...

BUT-- We did get to enjoy the Skyafari, Aquarium, Gorilla's and Sting Ray Beach.

We (3 adults) were in tow of 4 children ages 1 to 8. Yes, we had brought a double stroller! Surprisingly enough, our sweet -2 months shy of being 3- year old walked A LOT of the way! Kien, our 8 year old took his chance for a free ride! Naturally!

Being that our ultimate goal was to reach Sting Ray Beach to feed the Manta Ray's, it was CLEAR across the Zoo. Normally, there would be two entrances, which would have made it  1,000,000,000% easier to just go start there! The walk was good for all of us, we did realize in the massive inclines how out of shape we really are. Yes. Three days later I am sore. My actual hip feels fine, but  EVERY. SINGLE. MUSCLE. I have in my legs and back are SO SORE!!!  (This also includes a two mile walk the very next day and then sitting in the car for 8 hours the day after that!!!) LOL

Back to the story... Both Kien and Gabe had a fish to feed the manta ray's! Kien did it with no hesitation or problem and even said with a grin ear to ear, "That felt weird but soft!"

 This was a photo of Gabe's hand jumping back ever so quickly because the manta ray actually came out of the water to eat the fish!!! It made Gabe jump back and drop the fish! We were NOT expecting THAT to happen! It must have been famished! Gabe wasn't too sure what to think, but he did end up putting his hands back into the water to pet them as they swim by.

Ivy and Kien both thought it would be cool to feed the free roaming peacocks with crackers. Ivy threw her's down when it came close, but Kien let him take it out of his hand. They are not agressive at all, but don't prefer to be pet in any way. 

 Over all it was a FANTASTIC DAY with my parents and children. I can't wait to go back in Spring/Summer 2016 when all the construction will be finished so we can enjoy seeing their other animals!

We've Moved!

So, as many of you knew from this past Christmas, our address has changed. Not to a different Texas address, but to Oklahoma! If you happened to miss why, you can read that here.

You know, if you haven't already figured it out by testimony or first hand experience, GOD IS GOOD! All the time. Even when we stress about it. He doesn't. Our move was not a simple --everything falls in to place with out sweatin' it a little-- move. It was very involved and hoops to jump through. I can only make very clear that even though we were on the edge of the cliff with the timing, we sure did have a very awesome buyer (who was able to close in 2 weeks) and those we purchased from (who let us start moving in before the papers were even signed). Yeah, when does THAT happen?

Answer is simple.

God's plan.

It. Is. Amazing.

Every. Time.

So of course, we had to tweak the place to fit our own. So we turned it into a four bedroom rather than three! Great for us, the planning was simple because the builder created this layout for a 3 or 4 bedroom anyway. It worked out perfectly!

During...



And after...

Can't even tell it was an open formal dining area. Works perfectly!

One thing I have to say that has been a culture shock (mild for me, major for Greg) is the amount of work it takes to upkeep 2 acres. There is NO way it could be done with the push mower we had in Texas. No. Stinkin'. Way!

Thankful the owner let us purchase this riding mower with the house!!

Then we needed to buy two truck loads of gravel.

It was quite fun watching it dump out and then the tractor used to spread it all pretty-like.

Trust me, this is HUGE because...

 ...prior it looked like this. Nice that it was all clear, but-- can you imagine the dirt/mud/sand/clay that would be on the vehicles going in and out of the shop?! Yeah, this was a great purchase!

It would not be uncommon to find this site on the land through out the year. PJ's? Maybe not a norm. But the boys in the bucket while being chauffeured around to pick up sticks, rocks, move dirts... you know, the things that you do in the country. 

Then... Greg felt we needed one of these. He is correct. We DO need one of these, and can we actually biggie size it?! With all the dead tree's and limbs we will need to get rid of, this is much easier! We have enough burning to do we could totally keep warm for a few Christmases!

Ah, dirt. For the love of dirt. We will need a couple trucks loads every 2-3 years (kidding. kinda). Sand is a very bad thing if it's not on the beach. We will have to keep a constant leveling with how much rain we have had.

There remains to be a few stumps that need burned out. My dad came down and led the boys to cutting down dead tree's and making lots of firewood. We have probably 7 more stumps to burn.

Having a Koi pond has been awesome. Except when someone's dog (and ours, too) jumped into the pond and put a leak in the liner! So, we waited as long as we could. Can you believe a liner for a small pond like this was $200.00!!! Crazy! But we did it. We put the 5 fish in very large bins and clean the place up a bit. I had cleaned out the landscaping because Bermuda grass is terrible and it took over the decorative grass. I put 15 bags of mulch in. All. up cycled. Then, 15 more bags of mulch!

That's all for now. There will be more to blog about. Stay tuned.

Daisy Walsh

There she is. Old. Grey. One of the most timid, sweet-hearted puppy I have ever known.

9 years ago we adopted Daisy from the local Saginaw animal shelter as a neglected, malnourished all skin-and-bones girl full blooded brindle boxer.

She had been there twice before, but all she needed was a loving family who wanted her for her. She still had milk, but she came with no babies. (We probably would have taken the whole litter, too!)

She has been a great addition to our family. Her and Duke became close almost instantly. Duke needed a buddy, and he sure got one! We had her spayed, helped her become healthy and fattened her up. We weren't sure her history, but we tried to be as watchful as possible considering we had two cats as well. After her "playing" with our two cats resulted in a terrible loss, we ALMOST gave her back, too. 

A couple of weeks had passed. Then a few months. She was so good with the older kids (and even better with the younger ones) and so lovable and soft. Her manor was so very gentle, but yet at every drop of something loud she would cower and pee. It took her a year to learn her home was a safe place. We just couldn't bear giving her back. She was house broken, she knew basic commands. That let us know that SOMEONE loved her at some point to teach or have her taught. We just needed to bring her back to that love and security.

Daisy and Duke were a team. We learned after losing Duke at almost 14 years that he was mostly to blame for all the trash kaos and other destroyed things she may have gotten the blame for. (Well played, Duke. Well played!) Here we are 9 years later not knowing her true age, the animal shelter guessed 2-4 years at least. Which would put her at either 11-13 years old. Boxers typically live 10-12 years. She's had a great life with her third family.

Today, sadly for us, we are releasing her from her misery... her old body, the blindness, the cancer and the pain. According to Revelation 5:13, even she, too, will bow and worship our Lord. We told her to go give Duke a great big slobbery lick and a pounce --and to please apologize to Chevy and Mellow for playing too hard. But most importantly, she has been a blessing to our family and we love her.

So say a prayer for our family, especially our boys, -one of whom has endured much loss and abandonment- that God will protect their little hearts and minds since they are at such a young age and don't fully understand the circle of life. And also on the timing of adopting more fuzzy children

I am guessing the move was most difficult for her. She had so much room to run and roam. This is one of my many favorite memories. She actually walked out to the deer. Peed. Then walked back and laid down on the patio. I wish she would have been full of energy to actually try to make friends.

And all the critters inlcuded...

We didn't really have much *time* to prepare and get accustom to the living conditions. I mean, city folk like us? (Greg always city boy, myself -- it had been about 10 years since I lived in the country)

We could handle change. Right?! 

A rabbit! 

Awww, look! A cute frog! 

Wait, what?! Noone said scorpions (non-poisonous) were included! 

Ahhh.. but back to cute peeper frogs. 

But-- wait. Is that a BLACK WIDOW (very poisonous) and a wolf spider (bite hurts but not poisonous)!!!! 

I have NEVER!

 EVER 

EVEREVEREVEREVER

 EVER

 E.V.E.RRRRRRR

 seen a wolf spider this size! And this is a VENTI sized starbucks water cup and the spider was bigger than the base of the inside! OH- EM-- STARS! 

ANOTHER scorpion in our house! Our master bath! This couldn't possibly have had anything to do with the fact that we just had a storm shelter put in and disrupted their living space. SIGH

Not sure the species of this spider, I am going to say it's a wolf spider, because the markings are similar. But it was way cool how this mama survived the wash down of the patio and still sought asylum in a closer area to the house.  

From a family who has a tree business for the past 50+ years, and are familiar with this ugly but awesome locust, they sure did get excited. I think this one was guessed to be 12 years old?!

Um, ok. So here, with this spider. Can you possibly guess what it is?! That's right. We have seen over a couple DOZEN of these INSIDE the house. This is a brown recluse. A BROWN RECLUSE! 

And this one was HUGE. They have never bothered anyone, but I have found them high and low. And that is ENOUGH for me! Yes. I caught them--carefully. Yes. I allowed them to die. Yes. I paid for someone to come spray!! 

Another scorpion. Outside. Lovely. 

Oh! Wait! Here are some wild turkey! I can deal with wild turkey!! 

But this, tho.... 

This would be termites. This is what it looked like behind my white board that crumbled as I erased a "black bubble mark" and these things just started falling out! I whipped the board off the wall and out the door. Called the exterminator --who happened to do our inspection-- who happened to come drill the concrete and treat the inside and outside of the area. For free. 

So, crazy story, right? Yeah, this was the "termite art" on the back of the white board. Kinda creepy if you see the face of a girl. Yes, this really happened.

So a day or two after the spraying the baseboards and outside perimeter of the house for insects and spiders, I found this guy up at the top of the ceiling on the crown molding. Never would have thought these suckers were smart enough to avoid the baseboards. Caught him, and he actually lived 5 whole months with no food or water. NONE. I looked it up. It was true. 

So I save the best for last. Deer! A squirrel. And a squirrel that was holding his own on our nifty corn cob feeder my dad gave us. We see deer often. I really enjoy the deer. I'm going to stop watching all the cute video's of deer letting people pet them. Because-- I want to pet one! HA!

Moving trucks!

Courtesy of iPhone *screen print photo* here are two photos of our moving vehicles. 

Yes, you do see a 26' Uhaul with an attached trailer with Greg's project truck on it. 

Yes, you do see a 20' Uhaul truck. 

Yes, you do see a full sized semi truck. 

And yes.... we filled all of them! Well, all minus about 1/4 of the semi. 

Oh! And yes! For THREE HOURS I drove the smaller Uhaul truck! Greg drove the 26' and the company paid for the movers to pack up and move the house. Mind you, we rented two storage units to fill while we "staged" our home to sell. It actually was a lot of work, but it worked out so very well. 

We are eternally grateful for ALL the help we received in every process of this move! Thank you for your time, your strengths, and your friendships. We are truly blessed. 

MDO, AWANAS, KOINOS

I am sad to announce that Gabe has completed his last year of Mother's Day Out. WOAH-- where did the time go? I remember the day that I first took him and he cried and cried and cried and cried. (It was 3 weeks before he would actually go without crying!!!) So how did the time go so fast!! Here is Gabe with his precious teachers that love him so much! 

Here are the trio boys! Kien, Nicholas and Gabe. (in that age order)

Since we are relocating to Oklahoma, this is their last Awana's group awards night! I am so proud of them both for being such a great Sparky and Cubbie! Kien loves his friends! 

Here is Gabe receiving his Appleseed Book Award! 

And here is Kien recieving his WingRunner Book award! 

Koinos Homeschoolers has been such a blessing to our family and I have been able to connect with other homeschooling families in this program. Kien has taken Gymnastics and Karate and this was their program for the year. I am praying for both an awesome Awana's club AND a wonderful ministry like Koinos when we move!!