Happy Blog Birthday to Me!

I nearly forgot to celebrate--this blog just had its 5th birthday this past Friday. In blog years that makes it ancient, you know. My first blog was a test message; the one later that day was about my grandma's funeral. I still miss her.


In other news, there's a lizard in the back yard who seems to like bird seed--I'm not sure the cardinal appreciates that. (Click on the photo for a better view.)

In even more news, I bought three tickets to Ethiopia a couple days ago. It wasn't easy convincing the credit card company to let me spend my money, but finally I succeeded in getting tickets for July 13-29. Baby Isabella will postpone the celebration of her 1st birthday until we arrive. The third ticket is for Rachel--she hates being left behind, you know. And since she has her own job, she can buy her own ticket. Next thing to do in the preparation list: get 5 immunizations! Yikes!!

And still yet more news, I'm proud to say that on Thursday my baby David passed his oral qualifying exam and is now an official Ph.D. candidate.

A Little Help From My Friends

Today I was doing a little community service by pulling weeds at the entrance to my neighborhood. A group of young boys came by, ages about 4-10, and started helping me. It was nice to have the help. It was also amusing to hear them discussing among themselves the pro and cons of homeschooling vs. public schooling. And, like typical males, they all wanted to use the heavy tools instead of pulling the weeds out with their hands.

Birdwatching on Easter

We went to church with the Martins in Arlington, then had a wonderful lunch with them and other friends. After we came home, I went to Joe Pool lake and did some birdwatching. You already know my camera isn't that great, but here's some birds I saw today:


At least two pairs of scissor-tailed flycatchers. They seemed to be playful and enjoying the nice weather.



I saw three great egrets, and got this one in flight.

I also got to add a new bird to my life list--a bluegray gnatcatcher. They are tiny, but I got a good look so I think I made a good observation.

Happy Easter - Easter Song

This is from a live recording, so the mixing isn't as good as in a studio, but this is the YouTube version of my favorite Easter song.