Wildlife Rescue?

Since Friday, Taylor and I have noticed a baby bird living around our backyard flower bed. I thought that he had probably fallen out of the nest and would be on his way when he was ready. Well today is Monday and our little feathered friend is still roaming the back garden. I decided to call the wildlife rescue to see what I should do. They suggested just waiting it out a bit longer since he seems to be healthy-mommy bird must be feeding him from somewhere (some birds can hang around up to a week before they decide to try and fly away). You learn something new everyday! Taylor has affectionately named him: froggy, grass, net... name still to be decided.
Large nest up in the tree above where our baby bird is hanging out.

Besides baby birds hanging out in our backyard, we have a hungry bunny rabbit that has found my newly planted sweet potato plant! I've only had it a month and it was doing great (I'm not a green thumb so this was a huge success for me) but I guess our animal guests had other plans. Take a look at my poor plant now... leafless and helpless! Maybe we can blame that on the drought too and not my string of bad luck with plants?

Just stocks... must have been yummy!

More Pictures!

I LOVE professional photography- the colors are always so beautiful, bright and clear! We are so happy with how these pictures turned out. Our little baby is certainly turning into quite the little man!

Brandy Lewis Thank You! There really are so many good ones that I can't share them all:)

South Padre Island 2009

The Highlights:

We all made it there and back!

One borrowed (broke 5 min. into car ride) and one bought (where's a Walmart when you need one) portable DVD player for Taylor-awesome toddler car trip MUST HAVE!

One stolen Blue Marlin grocery cart-not by us!

5 days of sunny beach life, 6 nights of on-again-off-again sleep (shared a room with Taylor-"Mommy where is I"?? 2am, 3am, 4am...wake-up calls. By night 3 he slept completely through the night-thank goodness!)

Nightly crab hunting trips with cousin Garrett as the lead catcher

Swimming at the beach and in the beach house pool

Rinsing off in an outdoor shower-another MUST HAVE at the beach

Playing Scattagories-who knew my husband was a stickler for playing by the rules:)

Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner-we never missed a meal, a snack or dessert for that matter!

Digging and playing in the sand-many attempts at a sand castle

Boogie Boarding, Skim Boarding, boat riding with captain Uncle Andrew (dolphins and sea turtle watching for free), sea shell collecting...

Henna tattoos for the ladies! I got a flower on my right ankle

Consumption of pure junk food, yummy dinners, beer, margaritas, wine, and fresca vodkas (new fave)

Shopping, parasailing, and a water park...

FUN HAD BY ALL THE CURTIS-WELLINGS, JOHNSONS, and MACFARLANES-PRICELESS!

Leaving home bound for South Padre (only 6 1/2 hours away)!

The Beach House-Our Home for a week

The Gulf of Mexico-burrr cold, but felt and looked great!

Crab Hunting-Taylor named them Tucas, Poohsey, and Weedy

Windy Hair and just having fun!

Family Picture:)

Beach Bum Activites

Last Night on the Island- A Bunch of Winos

Cute Nose Shot:)

Strike a Pose!

Since Taylor would be turning 2 1/2 this summer (August 3rd) we thought that we would do another round of professional photographs. We did some when he was 1 1/2 at Windy Point on Lake Travis, so this time we decided to try two new things: a new photographer recommended to us by my friend Sara, and a new location, the Botanical Gardens here in Austin. We were absolutely happy with both. I've never been to the gardens so seeing them for the first time was a great way to spend a Sunday morning with my family. Taylor warmed up quickly to Ms. Brandy the photographer and was as active as ever... running, jumping, smiling, feeding the fish, feeding himself, playing in the water, and basically hamming it up like usual! It was a cloudy morning so unfortunately the humidity was high and both Taylor and I were a sweaty mess by the time it was over. Here's the link to Brandy Lewis' blog to see a sneak peak of what she captured today: http://brandylewisphotography.wordpress.com/category/babies-and-toddlers/

"Windy" at Windy Point

Day#2 with the inflatable boat. This time on Lake Travis-beach entry nowadays!

Economic Downturn....

THEN

Boating on Lake Travis in a Sea Ray Summer 2008...

NOW

Boating in an inflatable boat on Lake Austin Summer 2009...

**Actually our boat club went bankrupt in December (economic downturn) so we're out of a nice boat to use, but on the other hand we've gained this new boat and some new fun family memories.

Book Review

Nineteen Minutes

I just finished this book last night (took me about 2 months to read-easily distracted during the summer I guess). I thought it was a really good book especially if you're a mother and an educator. For me it hit home on both of those fronts. It's a fictional story about the lives that are affected after a school shooting. The most important thing I learned from reading it... bullying starts at a young age and it's my job as a teacher to recognize it, intervene on it, and talk about it! If you're looking for your next book I would recommend this one. If you've already read it tell me what you thought.

Here's an excerpt:

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennessee Titans to sell out of tickets to the playoffs. It’s the amount of time it takes to listen to the Yes song Close to the Edge. It’s the length of a sitcom, minus the commercials. It’s the driving distance from the Vermont border to the town of Sterling, NH. In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk two miles. You can sew a hem. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.