2nd cup of coffee

Here's the new chicks on the farm,We have been very busy with the

start of planting season, and don't get to spend very much time with them. The first picture was not the one I wanted, but I could not figure out how to take it off. such is life in the bloggy world.

2nd cup of coffee: "Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Link Up Here for the Random Doz



1. How do you feel about 'Gladiator' sandals, also called 'Roman' or 'Jesus' sandals? A fashion yea or nay?
If it doesn't have arch support than I wont wear it.

2. What is your favorite pizza?

I found a recipe at All recipes.com for Valentino's pizza crust, it is so good I think my family would be happy to eat it more than once a week.

3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could?
[Ex: Hurley's 'I Love my Shih tzu' shirt from LOST, the plantation home 'Tara' from Gone With the Wind, or Tracy's tambourine from the Partridge Family.]

I don't care for material items, it shows in my house, I recently had my brothers and their family's over for Easter and it made me look at my house from another perspective, all my furniture is second hand, and or sounder end tables that look like they were dropped down the stares. it made wonder what they thought of me?. but I guess I don't care that much.

4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for.

Pizza king, they have the best Pizza.

5. What is your current favorite snack?

Hershey bar, and pecans eaten together.

6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose 'none.')

A. Dancing with the Stars (I have two left feet)
B. Biggest Loser(I would wimp out)
C. Survivor(I would die)

7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior?

Yuck ( its farming season, and I am top gofer, and run after two teenagers, that make me on call all day, driving dirty men and stinky kids when ever and wherever they need to go.

8. It doesn't feel like Spring until _________.

My hands get warmed up and I get to plan seeds in the earth, our last frost date is may the 10, and it feels like an eternity away.

9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ____.

My kids

10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward.

loosing my winter blubber.

11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week. cant come up with any right now.

12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. If you're not a parent, feel free to substitute 'friend' or nomenclature that works for you."

Getting ice cream, Eric is lactose intolerant so we try not to eat dairy and say yummm in front of him, so when we get out with out Eric we get ice cream.

Rileys post

Greetings! A blog post from the other fledgelings from the nest (Riley). I am taking this chance to brag about my hobby of keeping pets. But first I must apologise for the mess I have made of this blog. I absolutely HATE the setup of these blogs. I had a terrible time trying to get my pictures on and kept accidentally deleting them. Finally I gave up on organization and put my pictures on indiscriminately.

The corn snakes you see are two of my favourite pets. their is a male and a female. The males name is Julius Squeezer and the females is Scarlet. I got them as hatching's on August 30, 2009. That makes them about 5 months old.

In the plastic container pictures are before and after pictures. The one below the other is when I first got them and the one above is from a few days ago. They have both grown about 4 inches and will eventually get about 3-5 feet in length. Not your largest snake but impressive enough.

In two of the pictures you see Julius climbing on the handle of a door and then their is another picture of him climbing up in between the door without any support. This is a small example of their athleticism. I had to put clamps on their cage lid because they kept inch worming their way up the corner of the cage, pushing up the lid and escaping. They are constrictors and are quite Strong. Their is also a picture of Scarlet trying to be a hat on my head.

Their is also several pictures of my fire bellied toads. I got them for Christmas last year. They are very pretty and entertaining. You can tell I had fun designing their cage.

The picture of the Betta is a fellow I just got a few days ago. The plant in his boll is a live plant called a Java fern. He has been very entertaining to watch. Especially when you put a mirror up to him.

And lastly my least favorite pet. the garter snake at the top used to be my favorite but now he is about a year and a half older and a lot bigger and nastier. The cute thing in the picture is now about two feet long and has a grumpy disposition. He or she (I don't know which because it's wild caught) is relatively docile if you have been holding it for a wile but if you wake him\her up you might get bitten. Just yesterday I caught a night crawler for it and brought it up and the little devil bit me, then musked ( a nasty thing, garter snakes are somewhat like skunks in that respect, secreting a nasty smelling liquid when first caught, startled, or in this case just plane mean) then ate the worm. How is that for thanks? I am going to let it go this spring when it warm up more.

Random Dozen

Random Dozen


1. Have you ever fired a gun or shot a bow and arrow?
I grew up with three brothers, they didn't share there weapons very well but I did get to use their B. B. guns after they moved out and left them behind. our family had a perfect place to have a shooting gallery in the back yard.

2. Do you know where your childhood best friends are?
Yes, some.
3. Do you usually arrive early, late, or on time?
My husband broke me of the habit of being late, he is always punctual.
4. Are you more of a New York or California type?
Neither, I am 100% country girl, but don't care for country music.
5. Do you have a special ring tone?
no
6. What is your favorite type of chip?
I love homemade chex mix, I like to put candy corn in it. (sweet&salty)
7. Best comedy you've ever seen is ....
Abbot and Costello, Who's on first.
8. Have you ever cut your own hair? To quote Dr. Phil, 'How'd that work for ya?'
Just bangs, I always get them crooked.
9. If you were going to have an extreme makeover, would you rather it be about your house or your personal self?
My house! it was built in 1899 and hasn't had a face lift since the 1970's and it needs to be updated. I have gotten rid of the sea foam green and blue shag carpet, and orange paneling, but I have other plans I would love to fulfill.
10. Are you allergic to anything?
EVERYTHING !!
11. Why is it so hard to change?
It's not, I change my mind all the time.
12. One last question dedicated to February love: CS Lewis said, 'To love is to be vulnerable.' Please share one example of that assertion or share any thought you'd like to about this topic."
Don't get it.

Ice is the frosting

j

This is the whole flock of chickens. Whenever we let them outside, some of them won't go because they are afraid of the snow. It's funny to see their reactions.

These are some pictures of the beautiful weather outside. We have a family of eight to twelve blue jays that visit everyday to eat some bird seed.
Katie G. wrote this because she would do anything but the dishes.

new camrea

Random Dozen

Bugs in my soup!!!

yuck!

The organic long grain rice I bought from Meijer had bugs in it. They didn't show until after we already ate some of our soup. Otherwise it was so delicious.

Would you eat the soup if you found bugs in it? My son did.

1. Are you pleasant when you're ill, or are you a grumpy, fussy patient?
I turn in to a whinny baby who just wants to sleep all the time.
2. When you find out that school is canceled (due to inclement weather) what is your gut reaction?

I always tease the kids like its torture,but I don't mind, I remember how fun it was to get out of school for snow days.
3. What is one domestic skill you wish you could improve?

decorating and arranging my furniture
4. Do you decorate your home for Valentine's Day?

I have a box of decorations in the attic, but I just can't get inspired to get them out.
5. What song is on your mind today?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
6. Do you prefer contemporary movies or classic?

Hallmark Movies are my favorite.
7. How well do you "compartmentalize" your feelings? For example, how well can you put aside a really trying moment to deal with the immediate situation which is not related to the trying moment, e.g., putting aside a tiff with your spouse in order to finish wallpapering a room.

8. What is the first thing that attracted you to your spouse? (Or if you're single, to your best friend.)

Eric has the most beautiful smile, and his quiet character.
9. When was the last time your heart raced?

10. What are your memories of Valentine's Day at school?

When I was a kid they always had a valentine with a skunk on it, and you didn't give that one to anyone you liked
11. If you were going to receive candy for Valentine's Day, which would you prefer?

Dove milk chocolate, please
12. Red or pink?

I can't stand pink any more, my daughters room was pink for ten years, and I guess it made me sick of it.

Another day in paradise.

St. Maarten was so beautiful. We took a tour of the island and spent some time at the beach. It was three days at sea before I could even interact with the sea.

I didn't catch the name of the artist who painted these murials, but they were fabulous. They were painted on a retaining wall on the side of a hill, it looked like a dangerous place to be, to stand and paint.

This was one of the best pictures of our cruise ship because it was so big it was hard to get the whole ship in one frame.