Babysitting..a different way

This past week we have had a little guest in our home. She is a Russian Blue kitty and belongs to Jason and Heather Wilbanks. Her name is Winter. Isn't that a pretty name for her. She has made herself at home here and strangely enough has won over our house cat of 8 years, Reebok. At first they hissed alot and Reebok didn't like her much, but after a day or so, they have become kitty friends.

Now, I can't say as much for FISH. Evidently, Winter hasn't ever seen one and she was very curious and almost put her little paw into the water. You can see Fish swimming furiously near the bottom of his bowl. I just had to get a pic of it.

Incedently, I have had 2 very, very sick little children for the past several days. High fevers, coughing and breathing trouble. I think they are starting to recover. Me? I'm a bit tired from getting up all hours of the night to give meds and check their fevers. You all know how that goes. God gives us strength and the stamina to go on though, doesn't He!

I am so blessed and thank Him for what He's doing in our life. Anyway, just a bit of what's going on around our home. I gotta go see how they are doing now. Have a great day.

Newest little one

Ok, I am realizing that this living out in the country is something else. I just love it! There are so many little birds and big birds, for that matter and cows and other animals. Everywhere. The kids love it and we are always watching now to see if another cow will get out. Anyway, we were out and about this past Saturday and decided to take the scenic route back home. It was so beautiful and mountainous. There weren't very many homes nearby and it was land on all sides. Just gorgeous. As we were coming around the curve I said out loud, "What is that little thing on the side of the road??" The kids said, "Eeeww! What is it?" Camille asks, "Mom, why don't you pull over and see what it is." I said, "Ok. I'll get out and see if it comes to me." So I got out and clapped my hands on my legs and it just came running right over to me. Practically jumped up into my arms...I know, I know. I AM A GLUTON FOR PUNISHMENT. Here she is. At first, we weren't real sure what kind of dog she was, but she is so sweet and cute. We brought her home, gave her a bath and got her a little blankie. She curled right up and went to sleep. We were undecided about her name. We thought of 'Sandi', 'Chikeeta-Bonita', 'Bunny', 'Sugar' and 'Rosanna-Maria-Banana' and none of them seemed to fit. We even waited a couple of days to name her and called the local radio station about a missing little white dog. I gave our number and the info and no one called. So we decided to keep her and now we call her "Dusti". She and Laci are getting aquainted pretty well and they both have their own little crates. She and Laci are exactly the same color and they both have little tan patches mixed in with their fur. Oh, did I mention, she is only about 4 1/2 - 5 pounds and when we looked up her size, shape and other info we put in, she came up as a 'long-haired chiahuahua. I couldn't believe it. It said they will only get about 5-6 pounds. She loves the kids and I looked up tons of info about how to train them. There's some good stuff on training.Anyway, I just thought I'd share our latest bit of news with you and post a little something different. Hope you enjoyed it! Have a great day!

it's a snow day

Early this morning I woke up and heard a loud howling outside. I listened closely and realized it was a fierce wind. As I listened I could hear the tree branches swishing and snapping with the blustery winds. I was eager to see outside, so I slipped over to the window and peeked into the newly dawning morning. You could not see the sun rising, but the clock told me it was time for the sun to be waking us up. I walked into the kitchen and looked out the window. This was the scene before me. It was so beautiful to see. By this time my husband was standing there with me and we woke the children. We had the beginning of a snow storm. It's so cold. It's blustery and windy. It was coming at a slant, but was soft and fluffy! We were tucked safely inside our new home, warm, snug and hungry! It was short lived and after about 5 hours of winds, snowflakes and snow clouds, it has begun to die down. Here are the two little ones out in the front yard. Now, everyone wants to know... "When is Mom going to fix breakfast?" I ask, "Ok, so who's going to help me?" Everyone says, "I am!" "Well, let's get started." I say. More coming...have a great day...Kimi

Out in the country!

Here are just a few pics of our new place out in the country. And the move didn't come too soon, with all the changes our little town is experiencing...moving out was a very welcome change for our family.

My back patio. (I think I want to set up my paints and easle out there) Directly in the center, you can see some of Alabama's famous chicken houses, some horses, cows and just plain 'ole land. The barn is to the left, 'down a ways' on past the patio. :) Here you can see the patio to the right. There's nothing much but pasture, cows and a few neighbors. I put out my favorite Adirondack chairs so I can sit out with the kids and watch them play. The other day, we went out and the kids were playing on that fort/tree stand thing (below) and Austin came running around the corner saying, "Mommy! Mommy! Look, there's a cow right in our yard!" I surely thought he must be teasing, but as I got up to check, sure enough, there was a huge black cow in our yard. The funny thing was, she was alot closer than this. By the time I got my camera and took this pic, she had walked away from the little stand they were playing on. You can imagine how we all stood gazing at this cow...just eating the grass. She actually came back for the next 5 days in a row. Right into the front yard. Finally, I guess the farmer started to miss her and came for her. That was a sight!! We named her Betsie. There are about 200 head of those Betsies across in the other pasture. I guess she just liked our grass. Hee-Hee! Since the temperatures were getting warmer, my husband had a day off and we were all feeling better we decided to spend the afternoon out of doors. You can see we actually made it into the 70's. Although school has not been high on the priority list here lately, we haven't been in want for keeping busy. There are so many new things to do. Since we have more land to take care of we must start with what is around the house first. Here we are getting limbs put into a pile to burn and trimming some trees so they'll grow nicely in the spring.

Here is the edge of the patio and the little barn. We are planning to clean up around it. I just love having a clothes line!! I really like to hang the laundry out on breezy days. I know that sounds funny, but I do. Everything is so fresh smelling. Way out behind the barn, we have huge burn pile. Gee-wiz! I remember my Dad keeping a burn pile, but I don't remember it being so much work. The kids don't seem to mind and always ask if they can take something down to the burn pile. I sure do hope they think it's this much fun when they've been doing it a while!! I think we're getting rid of it soon though. It's terribly ugly and the horses will be coming soon.

Well, here's one of those things that's going to be keeping us busy this summer. The barn is in need of some tlc. I guess we'll just start at the beginning. More on that later.

I am still unpacking and getting things organized. I sure do wish that I could get some ideas for organizing in a smaller space. I have 3 huge closets. In the whole house. I'm thankful for them, but boy is it tough to get all our stuff into 'em! :) I think the first step was to sort and divide. I did that and got rid of 1/2 of what we had. Even our clothes. So where do I go from there? If you have thoughts or ideas let me know.

We are in and up-n-running!!

It is true! We are finally moved in and we have the pc set up, inet working and other things like that! Yea!! We are so excited to share stuff with you. I am going to fix dinner and then take a little break from all the unpacking, decorating, organizing, yard work etc and sit down here at my little pc and blog for a bit. I'm so excited! I can't wait to see all your blogs and share some of the things that have been hap'ning too. See you shortly! Kimi