Around town

My parents got a new kitten, named Fergal. He and Dani get along great! Mom made s sign for the girls' coop. Dani loves homemade whip cream. Here we are at story time at the library, and Dani's new favorite pastime, vegging out in front of the TV watching Baby Signing Time. At least its educational.

More summer pics

Craig and Sarah took a trip to Washington DC for the weekend. They had a fun if tiring time!!!

Blazing hot

Summer is here in Texas! Its been a while since I have posted because Dani now thinks that the computer is solely for playing kneebouncers.com. Any time I sit down here its Dani play time. She is snoozing on her futon mattress on the floor in her room right now. She's such a big girl, she can sleep a couple hours there by herself at night, giving me a chance to catch up on some things. Then she moves on to our bed ( which has her crib sidecarred to the side of it to give us some extra room)

more coop pics

Dani is also a big helper. Today she started throwing things out of the shed. I guess she thought she was unloading it for us.

Chicken coop build

Craig, Mom and I have been building a new chicken coop and run. The chicken ark that Dad built is really nice, but we have found that there are drawbacks to an ark. Its hard to get in and change food and water, and if you need to catch a chicken you have to climb in and get it. These could be improved by adding a bigger door but Tuffy also runs around it and terrorizes the poor birds. So we are making a permanent, more sturdy run and coop. We have missed Dad's building prowess, but we are almost done. It is not very square but we are making it work!

more pics

Many wonderful spring days

Here in Texas we have been having some great weather. I have been working on a new chicken coop that will be more Tuffy-proof, since he has turned out to be quite prey-driven. Mom and Craig have been helping me, but we sure do miss Dad and his building know-how.
Sarah has been diagnosed with Crohns disease. We were both disappointed to hear of her chronic illness but glad to get an answer. She is doing very well, pray for us to manage it well.
Mat is making a swift recovery from his bike accident, but not as swift as he would like. I know it is tough for him to be in a wheelchair while his hip heals and tough for me to see my little brother in a wheelchair as well, but he has a great prognosis.
Dani is getting so big and grown up. She helps me around the house so much, she feeds the chickens, puts away the cat food bowl, wipes her own potty messes, and wipes the windows and cabinets. She is very into reading books lately. She will bring me many throughout the day and then climb in my lap to read. Her favorites are The Big Book of Dogs and I Don't want to Kiss a Llama.

Rangers game

much family news

Wow, where do I start? Well lets see, my brother Mathew came down for Easter, and we all had a great visit with him. Dani loves her Uncle Mat, she sits on his lap and is entertained by his antics. He went home on Wednesday, and on Thursday night on his way to the movies with a friend, had a motorcycle accident. We still aren't sure how it happened but he has a few fractures in his pelvis, vertebrae and leg. He is having good days and bad days accord my parents ( they flew up to Portland right away) today is a good day, Praise the Lord! He is looking at several weeks of recovery,and my Dad will be staying with him until he is fully recovered. My mom will probably come back this week.
Sarah has been weird, vague GI symptoms for several weeks, and it has finally landed her in the hospital with dehydration and severe bowel pain. Her doctor in my opinion dropped the ball on this by waiting until it was so severe before doing anything, but tomorrow AM she will have a colonoscopy to see if she has ulcerating colitis. I pray it is not as this is a lifelong disease. However, if it is we will manage it with diet and medications.
Lots of prayer requests! Dani and I are doing great at least, and she is such a joy. Here are some picks to cheer everyone up.

Birthday party!

Dani had a great birthday party. We visited with family, and had yummy food, cake and brownies. Dani had a homemade carrot cake with whip cream and cream cheese frosting. She enjoyed opening her presents and playing with her new toys! Thanks everyone for helping out!!!

Dani sporting a new outfit from Grama Cathy, my mom and her birthday cupcakes from Aunt Sandy, Dani and "Tony the Pony" and opening a present from G.G. Ma! ( my Grama)

Almost one year old!

I CANNOT believe how fast time flies!! My baby is almost one!! We have had such a great time with her. She is so fun to hang out with, and just lights up the room when she enters it. She is actually using some signs now, like 'soft", "more" "ouch or hurt" "milk" "all done" and "toilet". She answered the phone and brought it to me yesterday. She walks all over the place. She eats people food. Its crazy! She has her birthday part next week, and her one year checkup at a new doctors office. Wow!

Chickens and other new stuff

The chicks have arrived! We have Rose and Donna, a Rhode Island Red and Rhode Island Red cross ( any Dr. Who fans out there recognize their namesakes?)and Dolly, an Aracuana who is named after Dolly Parton because of her beautiful blonde feathers. Dolly is the most docile, and Donna is the fiestiest, she has even challenged one of the cats already. I think they are about 3 weeks old, not sure though. I am going to keep them inside until the temps outside are around 70. So hopefully not too long and they can go out in their coop during the day. Dani loves them!! She petted them yesterday, looked up and signed "soft". How cute! Tuffy is driven mad by them, I hope he can get over it soon.

More sewing attempts

Here are some more of my creations for Dani and Sarah. Training pants, with a waterproof layer and an absorbent flannel soaker. Also Sarah's Christmas present was pillows with UT applique. It was the first time I had tried applique, I think they turned out great!