Another Teenager

Andrew just turned 13 on the 22nd of June! Happy Birthday, Andrew! We made a very yummy chocolate cake (a new recipe we all love!) and a huge pot of meatballs that we put on homemade sub rolls. Our freinds Clint, Clay & Chase were able to celebrate with us, making it so much more memorable! What a terrific bunch of boys - and believe it or not, they are all very Godly young men. How blessed we are!

The "bird" tree

I have told a few of you about my bird tree and you keep asking for a picture. The garden is finally full enough to make a decent picture - so here it is. I have 3 different colors of bee balm, yellow hollyhocks, blue-black salvia (the hummingbirds favorite), herbs, and many other flowering delights. I can not explain the pleasure we get while sitting on the screen porch and watching all the birds that come. We recently had some friends stay with us from Louisiana and I do believe they were enjoying the birds as well!

PS: Pictures do not do it justice, just come on over and see for yourself. We can throw something on the grill and sit a while.

Braud boy #5 on the way!

He is due on July 2nd and we are so excited!! His name is Vlad, is 9 years old and is from Belaruse. He will only be staying with us for the month of July, but hopefully, he will return every year. It is part of an organization called The Children's Chernobyl Program of Chattanooga, http://www.ccpgc.org/index.htm. They bring children over every summer to help boost their immune system, give them fresh air and teach them about God. It is going to be an adventure, for sure. I am just looking forward to seeing the world from the eyes of a child who has never seen much of what we have in the USA. I hope we can be a good influance on him and give him hope. Their lives in Belaruse can be rather dim with all of the people dying from cancer from radiation exposure from the Chernobyl disaster.

May days

We have been enjoying our May so much! The weather has been incredible and the bird watching has been even better! But first let me wish my youngest son a happy 8th birthday!!! We made him a scrumptious lunch today, and of course, a cake. He chose to have fried shrimp, so that is what he got! I also made some"to die for" hush puppies! For his cake, I made a fresh from scratch fudge cake and decorated it to look like the Confederate flag. He loved it!

My garden spot is looking great with every color bloom you could want. I have such a fantastic variery of plants, it really helps me to not bored. The kids have helped me so much in the garden - it has been a pure delight! We planted two balck raspeberry bushes for Mother''s Day and I think I am going to get some blueberry bushes, too.

Today, Keith and had a surprise visit from two Great Crested Flycather's. They landed on my feeder tree and just looked at us and flew off. They are so beautiful, and are rarely seen. We have several mating pairs of house finches, gold finches, white breasted nuthatches, chickadees, titmice, and a lone male indigo bunting. I am keeping my eye out for rose breasted grosbeaks, as they should be migrating through any day now. It is a birder's paradise here and I couldn't be any happier when watching my feathered friends.

Just when I think I can't perfect my pizza crust any more, lo and behold, I learn another trick to make it even better. Lately, I have been setting the oven to 550 degrees and that really makes all the difference. You must preheat your stone and put the pizza directly on the hot stone. I have also learned that hard red wheat works best since it is higher in protein and gluten. If you want to come over for pizza, give me a call. I'm always ready to throw some pizza into the oven.

We are finishing up school over the next two weeks - we are doing a lot of life skills, like phone etiquette, bill paying, first aid, and much more. I was sick of the books and thought we should focus on other things that are just as important as books. Oh, we went and saw "Expelled" the other day and the kids really loved it. Go figure, I have kids that love documentaries. It was very eye opening and thought provoking - go see it!

Well, I will try and post some pictures of my bird tree, but I wanted to wait until the blooms come in a little heavier. Be patient.

I hope your May days are filled with the kind of joy that the simple things in life bring. It it my prayer that God will touch you in a special way as you marvel at all He created for us.

One of our favorite waterfalls that we like to hike to and just sit there and reflect on His majesty.

Friends in Town

Last week, our very dear friends from Louisiana were in town. They bought a cabin up on Lookout Mountain in Mentone, AL. It is only a 45 minute drive from our house, and we are all anxiously waiting for them to move here permanently!!! Her twin sons got to come spend a few days with us after we met them at the canyon for a quick hike down to the waterfall.

The boys had a great time together playing airsoft guns, jumping on the trampoline and of course playing Wii. They play so well together, I don't think I had to intervene once. It was such a joy having them with us, and we have really felt their absence. Michelle says they may be back in September, let's hope!!! She and I have some shopping to do!!!

Little Lost Hen

Our Buff Polish hen seems to be lost. We let her and her Golden Polish cousin out to play, and when we weren't looking, we discovered that Woodstock was gone. We searched for hours in the woods, up and down the roads, in the neighbors yards - everywhere. We are all just sad.

I know she is just a chicken and if you want to be a real farmer, you shouldn't get attached to your animals. But we aren't real farmers, we just love animals. The boys name them all and handle them quite a bit.

Woodstock was also very special to us because in the fall, some possums broke into the chicken yard and killed two hens, and left Woodstock for dead. She was barely breathing, very bloody and had lost her entire tail feathers (OUCH!). We put her in isolation and nursed her back to health. It took weeks before we were even certain she was going to live, and months before her tail feathers grew back. It was pitiful, yet victorious because she lived, and she has even laid many an egg for us over the last few months.

I wish we could find out what happened to her today. We never found one feather indicating she was snatched by an opportunistic hawk. I feel very down trodden knowing she is either dead or alone in the dark......... I wonder if that is how God feels when one of us is lost??? No, I imagine that feeling is MUCH worse.