Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum...

You know, I can do a lot of things...canning, cooking, science, gardening, teaching, drama, etc., but there is one area of skill that I am greatly lacking...crafting.  I  have friends that can whip out the most beautiful things out of a paperbag in five minutes or less.  Me...not so much.

So when Hotrod asked for a sock puppet this morning I said, "ummm....I will try!" How hard can a sock puppet be anyway? Right??

I was reminded of the craft that my sister and I did with my Mammaw years ago.  She always let us pick out one craft for the weekend and we would accomplish it in the time we were there, but she has talent and that crafty gene I lack.  She managed to make a memento out of sticks and pinecones I collected at Pikes Peak one year.  I treasured it for years until it literally disintegrated on my dresser.

So, I pulled out my buttons, ribbon, and needle and thread and went to work.  Do you know how hard it is to sew a button on to a sock??  I had both eyes sewn on and was working on the ribbon mouth when one button literally just fell off...huh? How did that happen?  Didn't I just sew you on and then double knot the strings??? 

Right then and there the hotglue gun came out.  I said "enough messing around!!"  I hotglued both eyes and a mouth and handed  them over to my excited kids.  An hour's worth of effort.

They played with them for five minutes...

Do you think they will find out that their mother is craft challenged???

Stop laughing...you know you want a pair!  Yes, that is a sharpie for the nose. :)

It doesn't take much to make my kids happy!

What can I say?

Are you chicken???

I sometimes get a chance to wonder why I do what I do...for my family, I mean.  Take today for example, for three hours I stood over a vat of cold, bloody water and plucked the chicken feathers the machine missed.  Why would I do such a thing?  That is what you are asking me, because you think I am insane.  "You know they sell those at wal-mart!" (hehe...)
Yes, you are correct they do. And yet, I stood there and plucked as one bucket filled up with feet, one with guts, and one with feathers and such....
Thankfully, all I did was pluck.  I can do that.  It is really no different than standing at your kitchen sink with your raw chicken.
My kids reactions were interesting.  Hotrod was thoroughly impressed.  He loved what I was doing and the "hard work" Mom was doing.  He checked everything out, looked at the headless chickens, the plucking, the gutting...everything. Princess on the other hand..."Yuck" is all she would say.  She went near to check it out once. And only once.
The years of dissection in college and teaching prepared me for the smell, or I should say, how to avoid the smell.  It was not pleasant, but neither is dissection fluid.  How did I manage for all those years??? A trick I learned in college.  You breathe through your mouth, not your nose.  Yes, you get a whiff here and there, but for the most part it is like having a stopped up nose.  
Once I finally got home, I stripped and jumped in the shower.  If I could have cleansed myself with bleach, I would have.  I just scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then threw on a skirt and went to take pics for a friend of her little girl at a recital, as if what I did this morning was normal.
The thing is, for years it was normal.  It has only been the past 60 yrs or so that we have been separated from our food source. I like the idea of knowing where my food is coming from, what is in it, and how it was processed, and how it was made. This has been a slow process for me, but just like a snowball starts off slow and grows, I have done the same thing.
Anyway...those are my thoughts for the moments, I have survived.

Pizza

Sometimes my children surprise me with what they know and how quickly they pick up on things. Hotrod is currently interested in animal or science books...only.  That is just fine and dandy with me! I will read him all the science and animal books he can handle. How much he retains is what is surprising.

But that is not what I am writing about tonight.  My son loves...I mean loves my pizza. (ok, it is good...thanks to Melissa L. for teaching me how to make the dough!!). To prove how much he loves it, I will recite for you his prayer at supper time tonight.

"Dear God, thank you for this wonderful day.  (that is how he always starts)

I love you, God. (melt a momma's heart!)

Thank you for this pizza. I love momma's pizza. This pizza is great. (as if that wasn't enough...)

Thank you God for giving her the ability to make this pizza. (wait...isn't he five?)

I love this pizza, thank you.

I love you, God.

Amen.

Now if you know anything about my son's prayers, they usually come with a lot of repeating, "Thank you God for everything." Never this specific!

I love it! How can I not??? :)

Summer day??? all you need is a waterhose!

 Growing up, some of my fondest memories are with my cousins. Canoeing, swimming, building forts, Star wars, sleep overs... they were great!!! Hotrod and his cousins are building the same kind of relationships and they have so much fun together!!  Here are the pics from my last trip home...enjoy!!!

 This is my favorite picture!! Oh, what you can do with a water hose!!!

My Nieces!!!! (and hotrod)

When I went home last week, I stayed with my sister and got to see four of my beautiful nieces!!!  We had a great time doing a "photo shoot".  Here are some of the pics!!!

Oh, wait...Here is Hotrod!!

13yr Cicadas...whew!!

Every year I hear the cicadas during the summer, but I have never paid them much attention.  Their sound says, "summer is coming!!". This year our part of the nation is experiencing the "shock and awe" affect of nature.  The 13yr cycle Cicada!!! Wow!!!

Just in case you are not getting this "pleasure" here are pics to show what is going on in my yard. 

(ok, I am listening to bon jovi as I write this, and it is proving difficult) :)

This particular Cicada is dead.  How do I know??? I staged him using a stick, and look at his eyes.  They are black.

If you can imagine hundreds of these discarded shells around the base of every tree in my yard...you get the picture.  You can now see why Princess is having a hard time walking in the grass this season!

If you look close, you can see the slit that is cut in the back to allow the mature Cicada to slip out of it old skin.  I know! Cool right? (ok, I am a former bio teacher!!! Give me some slack!)

This one chose to do things different and molt upside down!

Ok, here is a live one.  See his eyes?  They are red and if I tried to poke him with a stick, he would very clumsily fly off.

"Hello, Mr. Cicada!"

You really don't have to stare at me like that.

This is my favorite one!  This little guy chose to molt on my Lamb's ear.

You will find scenes like this all over my yard.  It makes you wonder if they all planned to molt at the same time.

"Hey, Tony, how's two o'clock for you?"

I know, I am tired.

Samuri Hotrod Vs. The Sho-gun Girl

Hotrod's fortune cookie is strangely specific, "Seek a challenge amidst drying laundry."

 Sho-Gun Girl proclaims, "Your speech does not match your words...prepare to die!"

CLANG!  SWISH!  SMACK!  HIEEEEAAAA!

Sho-Gun Girl yells, "Crouching Tiger!"  Samurai Hotrod counters with, "Hidden Dragon!"

Samurai Hotrod and Sho-Gun Girl break for some Kung-Pow Beef.

Samurai Hotrod attempts the delicate "Silly, Drunken Crane" technique.

Sho-Gun Girl simply sticks her weapon in her opponent.

CRASH!  SLAP!  SPARKS!  SPECIAL EFFECTS!

Careful, Samurai suitors...this girl is packing!!

(Thanks to Dad for the narration!)