Birth of a Hummingbird

These were posted on a website my mom shared with me. They're so tiny & amazing!

Here is the proud momma - a tiny bird on a tiny nest:

The mom left to grab a bite to eat & this is what they found:

Two tiny pearl white eggs, all of 13mm (½") long!

A week later, the first born makes his appearance.

"I want my mommy!!"
Baby #1 gets a sibling:

When they're born, they are less than 1/2 an inch long. Tiny!!

About 10 days later they're starting to get
fuzzy & show some colors:

After about 5 more days:

They're so "big", they hardly fit in the nest now:

At the ripe age of 21 days, both babies had left the nest.
Here is a picture that was posted for a size comparison: WOW!!

It Arrived!

I never thought I'd be waiting with anticipation for our water bill, but the first one since we (uh-humm ... Eric ... ) fixed the leak has finally arrived. It's a whopping $36 less than the one before!! Waahooo!! Maybe I'll take Eric out for a nice meal ... a reward for being so handy! heehee!

TODAY!

So while I've been inside & in the cool updating this here blog, the hubby has been outside working his bum off in the heat.

For a few months now our water bill has been steadily crawling up - even before it was one hundred & eleventy degrees outside. We knew we had a leak somewhere because of the water bill & the loss of water pressure in the house, but unfortunately there was no way to find out where it was without digging up the entire yard. We decided not to water the grass for a few days & see what happened.

This is what we found:

Notice the grass where the flags are is a lot greener & taller than the rest? It's obviously benefiting from our leaky pipe!

The search begins ...
and Eric nearly passes out in the 100 degree heat
There it is!!
Eric & Manuel relax a bit while the cement stuff dries.
Percy stands guard ...
All fixed! Yay for handy hubbies & helpful neighbors!!

I can't wait to see our water bill next month! Hopefully
we'll see a big drop in usage!

An Amazing April Flies By!

See, I have an excuse for not updating in a long time. April was a crazy-busy month. Eric went out of town three times - once for work, once to the deer lease & once camping. There was something fun going on every weekend!!

We joined the Dresslars on their annual camping trip with neighbors & friends the last weekend in April. Christi & I have been friends almost our entire lives ... well, since 2nd grade anyway!

It was our first time on a beach with Sophie & Percy. They were unsure of the waves at first, but ended up loving it!! They did really well with all the kids there as well - I was so proud!

S&P playing in the waves:

Leave it to Percy to find a giant stick!

WEEEEEE!!

Seri & Maya getting a snack & taking a break
Percy waits patiently for Maya to drop some food

Eric & Sef playing washers
Portrait Time ;o)

The Dresslars = Christi, Sef, Seri, Maya & William

Our spoiled kiddos, Sophie & Percy
And of course, us.

We had such a good time & can't wait for the next trip. Thanks so much for inviting us, Christi!!

Mighty Texas Dog Walk

The 11th Annual Mighty Texas Dog Walk was held downtown on Saturday, April 11, 2009. In addition to attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records title for “Largest Dog Walk” (which is currently set at 10,272), the Mighty Texas Dog Walk is an event held each year benefiting Texas Hearing & Service Dogs. We love participating in this!!

Of course the Big, Black Dog Brigade was in attendance!!

And we're off!
Susan, BooBoo & Coco are ready to go as well!

Half way there!
Eric helped a man & his seeing eye dog. He told us that this was his first time out in a public place with that many people.
If you've read "Awesome Afternoon" you know that Wallace likes to make his deposits at the most inopportune times. Here he goes again in true Wallace fashion...
little dogs = little legs
Coco & BooBoo hitch a ride on their mom

My mom with her baby, Wallace
Me with Percy & Wallace
Nicola consoles a very tired Simon
And Eric & I ... ready to go home for a nap!

Dogs crossing the finish line:

8,333!

Wow! That's a lot of dogs!!

Nearly double last year’s total, but still short of the World Record. Looking at the dog bowl as half full, our progress is amazing. With the awesome turnout we had this year magnified by word of mouth, next year’s win should be in the bag!

3 Months Since I Last Updated? For Shame!!

Well, here we go ... I'll try to get my update on without getting too long winded...

Easter seems sooo long ago new, but I have to share these pics. We went to a meet & greet/fundraiser for Austin Dog Rescue & took pictures with the Easter Bunny. I need to scan those in, but here are some we took ourselves...
Yes, I do realize that Sophie & Percy are dogs & not children, but bear with me. They are my babies!

Sophie's impression of a bunny:

Some of you may have seen this one on my FB page ... Sophie is wearing bunny ears & Percy thinks it's hilarious!
After many attempts at a group photo ... this is about as good as it got! That's Wallace front & center, Sophie's butt, Percy is smiling in the background & Simon is hiding - behind Wallace maybe??

The following weekend we went to my parent's house for our Easter celebration. Nicola brought "dognuts" for the pups & they thought they were super yummy!

Our very polite dogs sit & wait for their dognut.YUMMM!

That's it! No more, stinkies!
Sophie throws politeness out the window
& takes a chance on helping herself!

Then she chases Nicola down ...
Hey, hey! Come back with those dognuts!!

Yes, that is Sophie, the once super-shy, quiet one. She's a totally different dog when she's around food or if a swimming hole is present. She's come so far since we brought her home & I give a lot of the credit to Percy, Simon & Wallace. Thanks boys!!