"A bird is three things: Feathers, flight and song, And feathers are the least of these."

After our trip to Alto- we are now the proud owners of a whole bag FULL of pine cones! What better way to use them than to turn them into bird feeders? You know the kind you made in Girl Scouts or at camp when you were little? We spent some time this afternoon covering them in peanut butter and then rolling them in bird seed.


Even Bailey joined in on the fun! I think they turned out great. While we were out of town, our neighbors- Chris and Holly, took care of Reagan and Chelsea for us. With the temperature being 100+ - we didn't want them to be outdoors the whole time we were gone. The kids decided making a bird feeder or two for Chris and Holly would be a nice way to say thank you!!


I thought it was a great idea too! I had talked to them earlier in the day and knew that they were going to be gone into the evening- but the kids couldn't wait. We decided to surprise them with the bird feeders and hang them in their tree while they were gone.

The kids can't wait to see what they think of them when they get home!

Summer is kind of like the ultimate one-night stand: hot as hell, totally thrilling, and gone before you know it.” Cosmopolitan

With the temperatures often topping out at 100 (or more) even before noon these last few days- you can imagine that it is hard to grow much of anything outside. All the pretty flowers I planted in the pots on our porch have long given up on fighting the heat too! True- I could have watered them a little more to try and help them out- but it was too darn hot for me to be outside! LOL!

So- in order to continue to ward off the summer blues- we are planting and growing things indoors this summer.

Bailey got this Sponge Bob Chia Pet at Christmas from Grandma Dee. We have already grown out his hair once before- but they give you plenty of seeds in the kit to grow it several times. This time a few of the seeds have started to grow in areas other than his head. LOL! Gotta' love the nose hairs and the one growing up between his toes!

We have also decided to try and sprout our own avocado seed. I remember doing this often with my mom and my grandparents as a kid. It has been about a week and there are still no roots- but we are not giving up yet! Let the summer projects continue....

Spin 'til your dizzy!

We have got to keep busy on these hot summer days! Today - Kaci found a neat spin art set she got for her birthday (back in November) in the "art cabinet" upstairs. Her and Bailey quickly headed outside!

It is tiny, but fun!

I haven't heard the words, "I am bored!" just yet.....
But I am sure they are on their way! ACK!!!

Sugar Hill Ranch

Well, it has been a few too many years since we have visited Auntie and Uncle Bubba in Alto, Texas- but we finally did it this summer. We coordinated a few days that worked fro everybody and made our way to the farm! So much to do and so little time....

We made it into Nacogdoches to the Cotton Patch for a great supper!

Just look at all those smiling faces! The Borchgardt Dinner Curse didn't follow us here!!

We got up bright and early to go and watch the cowboys round up the cows! Look at them peeking through the fence at us!

Look at those bulls strutting their stuff~ Too bad they are "blank shooters" They might make better burgers!

We watchted the cows get loaded on the trailer and they watched us too!

Clint and Dad were taking a good look to see what their burger will look like in a few weeks at Fuddruckers! LOL!

Uncle Bubba even let us ride all over the place in the Kubotas! FUN!

We got to play with Dolly! Here she is taking a rest in the shade.

4- wheelin' anyone??

We had a great time on the farm. Thank you Auntie and Bubba! We love you and hope to be back soon!

Catch and release program!

For all of my friends out there who are fans of the "Catch and Release Turtle Program" I want you to know....we did it! We finally released Crush back to the wild! It was a hard decision- but we finally all agreed it was best for him.

Crush has been in our family since Kaci was 3 years old. Some of my sister's students found him in the p0nd by the school and he became her class pet. Well, when summer rolled around she asked if Kaci would like to keep him at our house until the following school year. Of course she did! She named him, Crush- I think we had just recently seen the movie, NEMO! When the summer was over and it was time for him to go back to school with Aunt Amber- Kaci refused to give him back!

At the time we got him, he was about the size of a half dollar. Over the next 6 years he grew to be larger than the palm of my hand and he outgrew several aquariums. We think over time he began to get lonely. He didn't have much room to swim and he didn't have anyone to be friends with - other than us! So- we decided to let him go back to the wild and what better place to let him go than with family. We drove him to Alto, Texas and let him go on my Uncle Bubba and Auntie's Cattle Ranch.

We all gave him a kiss goodbye and the kids picked the perfect pond to let him go in...the one right behind the guest house!

He liked the feel of the cool red dirt underneath his feet and it didn't take him long to find his way to the water.

He is going to be so happy in Alto! The pond is full of turtles and we just know he will be happy there. Kaci says he is probably already "hitting on a girl!" lol

Bye Crush! We love you!

Cute a a Button!

Still warding of the "summer blues" with lots of silly projects!

Still trying to keep the "I'm bored" phrase from crossing the kid's lips! ha ha

Kaci and I worked hard on this cute button tank top this past week!

I just love how it turned out.

So cute...but what isn't cute once you put it on her?

Keeping cool!

A trip to the Dollar Store should keep the kids busy for a little while! We picked up a couple of packages of water balloons today! Water balloons are cheap and fun.

It takes about 30 minutes to fill them... and 10 minutes to use them all up! Bailey is getting drenched!

This is my favorite pic!