Baby Leah

She was a little late on her arrival, but she made her grand entrance last week and I couldn't wait to meet her. She is so cute! If her parents hadn't been watching so closely I might have brought her home with me! She weighs over 7 pounds and has lots of hair. Her nursery is all fixed up in pink and brown elephants and giraffes and her closet is filled with pretty dresses.

Here I am with Leah and new Mommy Alice. Never in my life have I seen a man in so much pink! New Grandpa Mark and his granddaughter, Leah Constantine.

Albino Cicada

We found an unusual looking cicada emerging from his shell. He was mostly white, but still had red eyes. These cicadas are SO Loud. If you are driving down the interstate with the windows up, they are still loud.

School

Nana and Pappy joined us last week at Kaden's preschool promotion. This is a picture of him and his teacher at the cookie reception that followed. He had a great year and is looking forward to the 4's class next fall.

Soccer

The boys soccer season ended well. Both boys scored their first goals during their last games! It was a rainy, cicada-filled morning so it was a big highlight to watch them score. They got trophies with their names and their respective team names on them.

They're BAACK!

We saw the holes in the ground two days ago and this afternoon we found our first cicada of this 13-year cycle. The boys have not formed an opinion of them yet. There also isn't any noise, yet, as the mating period hasn't started. They look smaller than what I remember in 1985. I wasn't here in May 1998.

It doesn't sound like they will harm the garden, they look for pencil sized tree branches. I just started spraying the fruit trees so they should be protected. I'm not going to buy nets for all of them, so I hope the spray keeps them at bay. I also read they are only in middle TN and a few surrounding counties and are a part of cicada Brood XIX, in case any scientists were wondering about that. They only live about six weeks so if you want to experience them live make your travel plans to the Rocking K Ranch quick!

Aaron's office

Yes it is pink, but this is Florida after all.

Kaden insisted that Uncle Aaron clean his teeth. I am so happy they enjoy going to the dentist.

Florida

Pappy drove the boys and I down to Florida for spring break. We got to see Aaron's new house and his new dental office. His house is one house off the beach. It's a shorter walk to the ocean than some hotels and condos.

Kolin has been to the beach before but he was too young to remember, so essentially this was their first trip to the beach. They loved it, I always love it, and we had a great time.Pappy handing the kite over to Kaden.

Strawberry Patch

This is the strawberry patch that I planted on top of the old compost pile. I have a soaker hose hooked up to it so it's easy to water. And of course there's my chicken guard on top. So far it has been effective, but so far there aren't any strawberries. You can see Nancy in the background.

I'm warring with snails right now. I went out just after a rain and collected 200 snails! Also a hand full of slugs, which I refuse to touch with my bare hands but picked out with a stick and smashed. I later showed the boys my collection and they offered to kill them for me. Not sure how I feel about that. It is good to allow your children to kill creatures no matter how destructive they are? I'm not sure it's a good idea. I did throw out a couple of newly found snails for them to run over with their bikes. Doesn't that crunch bother them? Ick.
The last time I picked up snails, just a cup full at that time, I threw them out in the street to hopefully get run over. I wasn't there for the crunch. Are they good for anything? Do you think the chickens would eat them? Mmm...

and did I mention that I have 100 or so black walnut treet growing in the garden? Remember all those walnuts I collected last year? Well all the ones I didn't shell I put in a pile and what do you know, the pile sprouted. So if anyone needs a black walnut tree let me know. I might just send one (or twenty) to you anyway.

Grapes!

I have teeny tiny grapes on the vine! All three vines have them. I am so excited! Now I just have to keep the chickens from eating them.

I caught them eating the blueberries off the bushes so I have fenced them all off. I also clipped their wings in an attempt to keep them from flying over the fences. That was several days ago, I haven't seen them fly over since, but they still find a way under. It's almost funny.

Busted

Kaden had a trucking accident today. He was pushing his truck through mud puddles with his head down and ran right into the fence post. It put a gash in his scalp. I brought him in, put him the shower and cleaned him up a bit. I was concerned so I woke up Konrad to see what he thought. He didn't think he needed stitches and they'd have to shave his head to put any kind of steri-strip on.

It has been raining here and the boys found more mud puddles this afternoon and Kaden got another shower tonight. So the would is clean but still hasn't formed a scab yet. There is also a knot on it but he says it doesn't hurt unless you touch it. Poor guy.