Baby Gators!

In celebration of Earth day (April 22nd) and the fact that Brady had to spend the day in a UIL band sight-reading contest, Bill, the girls, and I decided to head out to Brazos Bend State Park for a hike!



As you drive in, you see sign after sign warning you about the alligators. Apparently there are plenty of gators who make their home in Brazos Bend State Park. We were hoping to see one, but from a safe distance.

We started with a picnic lunch near one of the smaller lakes (hoping smaller lake = smaller gators)



It wasn't too far into our hike when we spotted the first gator:



Probably a bit closer than I would have posed the girls, but so far so good. Next guy was a bit bigger and closer (but sleeping):



Then we rounded a corner and saw a mother and about a dozen baby alligators!!



They were maybe 8 inches long, and really busy swimming and catching bugs and tadpoles. The mother floated nearby and didn't seem at all concerned about any of us, but none of us got very close just in case. They were really cute little guys!!

We also saw plenty of birds and ducks (no deer near the lake, but with all the gators, I can imagine they don't get too close). Our favorite bird was an eagle (we think) which soared really far overhead:



He looked just huge and almost floated in the air. It was really amazing.

We walked about 3.5 miles total before we had to scoot home to pick up Brady.



Hope you all have a wonderful Earth day!!

Abby, Abby, Abby . . .

Poor Abby has had a rough week. She had to spend the night with electrodes on her head Sunday night so they could start to determine why she doesn't sleep.

At first, it's not too, too bad. Just a few wires here and there:



Then they start really messing with you by sticking stuff in your hair:



But, really, the sock over the head and the tubes under the nose is really too much.



My poor baby.

Then Monday night she had to undergo allergy testing. Our appointment was for 4:15 pm (we were on time). We saw the doctor at 6:30 pm. We finished at 7:45 pm. If you've never been allergy tested, thank your lucky stars. They make 64 pinpricks in your back then put a drop of allergen on it and wait. Then they measure the bump and the rash surrounding it to determine how allergic you are to whatever they drip on you. I knew we were in trouble when she started crying as they wiped her back down with alcohol ("It stings!!"). After 20 minutes of torment, they determined that she is allergic to almost everything, cats, dogs, dust mites, grass, peanuts, eggs, mold . . . The doctor wants us to come back and consider allergy shots. They might need to sedate both of us for that one.

So Abby's had a long week. But she still likes to spice up everyone else's week, too. She told me this morning, "I asked a silly question at the assembly yesterday." I said, "Really? What was it?" She told me that Corporal Radar spoke at the assembly. She's a sheriff's deputy and she visits schools teaching them about safety, strangers, all that good stuff. At the end of her presentation, she said, "I'll answer any questions you have."

Abby raises her hand and pipes up, "When baby foxes are born, are their eyes open or closed?"

"Well . . . Any other questions?"

And in case you are wondering (I had to look it up) baby foxes are born with their eyes closed. They open an average of 8-10 days after they are born.

Injury update

As a quick update to my wild weekend (I can almost remember the days when a wild weekend was still a good thing), I have decided to try to find something positive to say.

Looking at the cuts on my arm from the airbag deployment:



If you look at them just right, I think they look a bit like a dragon:



At least I'm hoping that's what the scar will look like. And I hope no one underestimates how difficult it is for a right-handed person to take a digital picture of her right arm. Takes way more skill than I had anticipated . . .

And in response to the other inquiry, the light pole is expected to make a complete recovery with no financial assistance from me. Thanks for your {{cough}} concern. :-)

Quite a weekend . . .

For those who tease me that I live a Brady Bunch life, this was quite a weekend. You really never want to utter the phrases, "Mommy's clothes are in the pool" and "Honey, I think I totalled the car" within hours of each other. For the record, my clean laundry ended up in the pool hours before I totalled the car. Completely unrelated events.

Honestly.

Well, the ending to the weekend is that Brady, KC, and I are fine (sore and stiff, and I swear that light pole came out of nowhere). The clothes are rewashed and dried and the chlorine didn't seem to hurt them (thankfully). Abby may or may not have sleep apnea, we're waiting for results. That may or may not have been the worst umpire ever on Saturday, but let the record show that I did not actually get thrown out of the game. And I still make a great Boston Cream Pie (and did I mention that light pole came out of nowhere?). Oh, airbags make a very scary noise.

That is all for now. Hoping your weekend was glorious! Happy birthday to Krystal!! I'm so glad you liked the Boston Cream Pie!!

My Grandfather

My grandfather was born March 22, 1908. On March 22, 2008 he celebrated his 100th birthday. I can hardly imagine all the wonders he saw over those 100 years.

He was a Master Electrician, and loved to invent things. Every time I saw him, he was talking about a patent he was trying to get on something. He and my grandmother built a motel from the ground up in Waterville, Maine, and ran it until he retired in 1979. He and my grandmother moved to Florida for a while, making a couple of trips yearly to Las Vegas (my grandmother was an amazing Bingo player) then they moved back to Maine in 1998. He’s spent the last couple of years in an assisted living facility, but other than hearing loss (which I can remember him having when I was very small) and migraines, his health has been good.

My Grandpa Jim loved knowledge more than just about anything. I can remember he made flash cards for me when I was about 8 with the states on one side and the state capitals on the other. He was thrilled for my sister and I when we graduated from college, and also wrote me a letter when I got my Masters degree. Over the years he wrote several letters to me, some of which I still have. My sister went to visit him last year, and said that he had pictures of she and I and our kids scattered around his room. My uncle joked with her that he didn’t have any one else’s picture up, just ours. I think because we lived so far away and didn't get to see him much that we were kind of special to him. I think my sister reminded him a lot of Grandma Lil, so seeing her probably brought back a lot of good memories of her.

My mom and dad have visited Grandpa Jim and my grandmother just about every year since we moved to Texas in 1977. Grandma Lil passed away in August of 2002. We were fortunate in that I finally got up there and the kids got to meet her in June of that year. She had Alzheimer's, and I'm fairly sure she didn't really know who we were, but she was sweet to the kids because she loved kids, and I'm thankful that we have a few pictures of them with her so they can remember meeting her.

My Grandpa Jim died Saturday morning, April 5, 2008. 100 years and 14 days old.

I found some of the letters he’s written me over the years, and he almost always typed them because he had trouble with his vision (hitting 90+ years will do that to you). I did find one that he hand wrote about 10 years ago. His closing was:

“We have been quite happy over the years and we would do it over again. George calls and writes. They seem happy – go dancing. So far away. I will never see you again. Life is so short. We enjoyed our visit to Texas. Hope you are happy. I close sending love to all. Grandpa Jim“

I am thankful that my dad was with him for his 100th birthday. My Grandfather led a full life, and I know he missed my Grandma Lil terribly once she was gone. If I reach the end and can say that I’ve been quite happy and I’d do it all again, then I can go peacefully in my sleep, I think that’ll be good enough for me. Rest in peace, Grandpa Jim.

More Softball Game . . .

A quick update to the softball game pictures.

Here's our lovely squad of cheerleaders:



The (ultimately victorious) student team:



Here is Abby teaching the adult cheerleaders how to do the Cha Cha Slide (she's really pretty good):



And here's the handshake at the end of the game.



This game is a wonderful tradition because it honors Commander Joe Baker, our first NJROTC instructor, who died from cancer in February of 2002. He was a good man who worked hard for the students at our school, and really inspired excellence in all those around him. We raise money through ticket sales, a midway, and donations from clubs and sports, and award student scholarships and make a donation to a local charity. This year, we raised close to $3000 for the Fort Bend Women's shelter!

I've been lucky to have been a part of the organizing committee for this game since the first year, and it's wonderful how it brings the students and teachers together for a great cause.

But I may have to move into a supervisory role as a cheerleader, because it's Friday and my back and knees are still aching . . . Maybe Roger Clemens can put me in touch with his doctor . . . kidding, kidding.

Seventh Annual Commander Baker Faculty-Student Softball Game!

Tonight was the seventh annual Commander Baker Faculty-Student Softball game, and I volunteered another year to be one of the faculty cheerleaders. The best thing I bring to the game would be my girls, who dance and cheer better than I ever could.

This year, KC had dance pictures, so only Abby could join me on the field tonight.



It's extremely hard work to be a faculty cheerleader (in fact I'm so exhausted, I may have to re-read this tomorrow to make sure it makes some sense). We cheer before the game, during the game, between innings . . . basically any time that things seem quiet, we try to get the crowd stirred up. We even throw candy in the stands:



Abby even helped them deflate the inflatable dog head that the team runs through before the game:



It was fun (I'll post a picture of the whole cheerleading squad if I can get one. I didn't get a chance to get a group shot). Very, very tiring, though.

BTW, the teachers lost 11-7. That's two losses in a row for the teachers! We'll have to come back strong next year. The cheerleaders were flawless, as usual. Or, maybe not. LOL We did have plenty of school spirit, though!!