Snake Trick

Okay . . . for those of you who may not know . . . this is an Eastern Hog Nose snake. It is not venemous to us humans, however it is a venemous snake. It is not a constrictor so it eats it prey whole. Which means a lot of wiggling and such. So God gave it a set of rear fangs at the back of its throat so that when it is eating a frog for example it will inject a venom that will paralyze it to make it easier to swallow. Okay okay so what is the trick. When you pick at or threaten this snake, the first thing it will do it flare out it's neck like a cobra and make a loud hissing noise! However, if you are not scared and continue to pick at it, it will play dead. Seriously ya'll! It will roll over on it's back, open its mouth, and usually hang it's tongue out and "appear" dead. Of course all you have to do it flip back over on its belly and it will very fastly FLIP back over dead again! haha It is hilarious! Just look at the picture above. Now this is a baby only about 12 inches long. We got him from a friend's yard and of course named him "Possum". This was just too funny not to share.

Daddy turns 36!

Surprise!!

Daddy blowing out the Candles!

My Daddy and Pa

Orlandus, Michael, and Steve

Ashley, Joao, John, and Mark

Kathy, Colleen, and Rebekah

Joao and John

It has been about 6 or 8 years since we had a surprise party for daddy so this year we pulled the old trick out of the bag. What fun!! We invited a few close friends and family to be here at 12:00 lunch. Daddy wasn't expected back until around 12:30 from buying groceries. He usually doesn't go by himself but he had a feeling Sarah might be making him a cake or something. Of course, he had no idea about all of this. Our friend Steve Skinner did all of the grilling...thanks again Steve...and we also had a couple of friends "watching out" for him. He was surprised and truly enjoyed the fellowship we had. His gift from me and the kids was the air compressor you see in the picture...that too was a huge surprise. Yes, I bought that thing, unloaded it at home, got it up 6 steps and hid it in Sarah's closet! Anyway, we played horseshoes (one of his favorite things to do) and a game similar to tether ball. Lots of fun. Thanks everyone for coming!!!

Garden

We are going to try again this year for another garden. Last year, we got tons of wonderful corn and tomatoes, but everything else failed. We are trying a few things different this year including getting all of our seeds and plants from the co-op instead of Freds!!! HAHA The garden is a family affair and has something for everyone. Mommy wanted tomatoes, Daddy wanted corn and green beans, Sarah wanted canteloupe, and Michael Jr. wanted watermelons. Julia just wanted to be able to plant seeds which she did. Everyone lended (or lent??) a helping hand and I hope it continues. We will now pray for God's blessings on our little garden and hope to be able to share much of it!!!

Happy Birthday Julia

Well, my "baby" turned 3 Friday. What fun! She has been waiting on this for almost a year. She didn't really know what all of her bday was about last year. It seemed like right after her bday she started realizing what bdays were. But the bad thing for her was hers was almost a year away. Almost everyone she knew was having bdays all the time!!! When was hers going to be? Well, it finally happened. I think she had a great time. We just had family over, plus Hanna, for cake and presents. Of course the theme was princess. She got her own little princess cake all to herself. These little cakes are similar to the ones you get for babies first bday but better. Much cuter and cheaper. All you have to do is just get some cupcakes for everyone else! She got dresses, thumbalina movie, princess backpack, princess dolls, princess bedroom accessories, play makeup, and more! What a spoiled little girl. She learned how to hold up 3 fingers and tell her age. She doesn't always get the number right but her fingers always show 3. Thank you Lord for another year with my babies!

Just 3 belts away!

Lil' Michael received his Senior Brown belt Thursday night. He is now just 3 belts away from his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. He started karate Feb 08 and has moved so fast over this past year! In about 6 months to a year he could very well be a black belt. His instructor has said that his form is excellent and expects to see great things as he gets older! Of course, he just probably wants more money, but hey, we think he is great no matter what! Who knows? Maybe one day, he will have his own Do Jo. Is that how you spell that?? :)

American Village

Wow. What a fun day. Thursday, Sarah, Hanna, Margie (Hanna's mom), Michael Jr. and I went to Montevallo to the American Village. We had a great time learning about the Revolution, America's declaration of independance, and eventually the constitution. The actors treat you like you are actually reliving this time period with them. You really felt like a Patriot upset with the "Redcoats" trying to govern us all the way over here in this new land! Actually I feel toward the IRS the way they felt toward the tax master then! It was very strange how similar it is today to the way it was then! We got to tour the village and then have a picnic with all of our homeschool friends. Where was Julia??? I left her for the day with a babysitter!!! Actually she is our normal babysitter the few times we have had one. "Aunt Cathy" also keeps another little girl Morgan who is 4. So from 7:00 am that morning until about 3:30 pm I felt almost like a working mother. I guess because I was out during the daytime and actually had a paid babysitter. That was weird but also a relief because I was able to totally focus on Sarah, Michael, and our field trip. Plus, I knew that Julia was very well taken care of!! Thank you Aunt Cathy and Miss Ashley. :)

Feeding the Ducks!

We went behind the Gadsden Mall yesterday and fed the ducks. There is a bird sanctuary and a 2 mile walking trail back there. It is really beautiful back there. Not to mention, there are hundreds of ducks and geese. Take a huge bag of popcorn and you will have a blast.