A SLEEPOVER AND A PARTY

Cora spent the night at Cara Beth's house, then went to a spa party birthday party for their friend Presley the following day. She had such a fun weekend!

DINNER WITH MY BOYS

When Cora goes to a sleepover, I always get sweet and silly time with my boys :-)

(Aren't they handsome?!)

HOW MANY CATS?

Do you see?...

LINT NO MORE

Only my OCD daughter would be as excited about the new lint remover I bought as I am...

PATCHES

This beautiful cat showed up at our house shortly after the tornado event last month, then disappeared, then reappeared a couple weeks later, then disappeared, and now seems like she plans to stay here permanently. Of course, Cora has been feeding her and brushing her and loving her, so I'm sure that helped sway her decision to stay. From what we can tell, she was an indoor cat (well fed and taken care of, and very sweet and friendly) wherever she was before she came to us, but we can't add another cat to our already overly cat-filled house, so perhaps she'll be our outdoor mouser. (We do still miss Maxine and wonder whatever happened to her...)

COTTONWOOD SHENANIGANS

Sometimes the middle of the week calls for a very early dinner of pizza and some family game time before one parent has to head out to an evening meeting

ART CLASS WRAP-UP

The kids finished up their free art class semester today with a viewing of all the different projects they've been working on. They were excited to show us what they'd created and truly loved the experience, and we're thankful to the ladies at the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation for providing such a neat outlet for the local youth.

CHICKS OF 2019

We weren't going to get chicks this year, but after losing half our flock to a fox family, we decided to get some babies. Cappy Martin had some Rhode Island Red pullets that had been rescued from Tractor Supply during the aftermath (power outtage) of the tornados and our veterinarian had some silkie bantams that she was looking to home, so we got 3 of each.

I zipped out to grab the chicks as a surprise while the kids were at soccer practice, and they were pretty excited to get home and find babies in the sunroom!

Cora named the lighter black/gray silkie "Little Blue"

James thought it was funny that the reds wanted to climb all over him

5K A DAY IN MAY (ON THE BLUE AND GRAY)

I'm participating in my Bootcamp instructor's "5K a Day in May" challenge this month, where you need to run, walk, hike, elliptical, bike, or swim a minimum of 3.1 miles per day. Since I know my body won't tolerate 31 days in a row of running, I'll be breaking my miles up with some fun activities with the kids. Today I took them on a hike (on a couple portions of the Blue and Gray Trail at the military park) after school and it was just what we needed after me being gone all week. We explored and played and just enjoyed each other's company along with a pretty view and a little adventure!

One of our favorite monuments was knocked over during last month's tornado event:

THIRD GRADE STATE TESTING

State Testing is a BIG DEAL for 3rd Graders in our state (they more or less determine the school's "grade"). Our school makes a huge effort to encourage and support the kids during this time with sidewalk chalk, mini celebrations during the week (and after things are finally done), and even special notes from older students (this year Cora and Cara Beth received a note from their favorite Cadette Girl Scout friend, Bailey). It's an extremely stressful time for most of the kids, and while I wish there wasn't so much pressure on them, it's nice that they are given so much positive reinforcement both before, during, and after testing.

(Cora also won a prize in the daily drawing)

SWEET MESSAGE

Came home to find this sweet message on our chalkboard:

(We use the board to meal plan, write out important weekly events, or leave each other messages of encouragement - this one is a product of finishing the book Wonder)

CERC TRIP #2

I returned to CERC this week to sub-sample tissue from the 150 or so black carp that have been captured (and turned in to the research lab) in the past year. I didn't have Xin with me this time since it was just tissue splits and no eDNA sampling or water filtering, so I spent my evenings running the local trails (adjacent to campus) and sampling the local beer...

(Flat Branch Pub & Brewing)

Unfortunately, my flight home was delayed (huge storm came through the night before - it was my first time staying in a hotel that didn't have power for many hours - it was very dark), and delayed, and then canceled, so I spent the "night" (about 4 hours) on the floor of the very busy airport (continued storms and tornadoes in the Texas/Oklahoma/Missouri region). I couldn't help but notice that all the men were sleeping soundly (and snoring) on every available surface and in many different positions, while most of the women were awake, pacing, working on laptops, or playing on their phones. I tried to sleep, and think I napped about an hour or so, but it was definitely not one of my more favorite travel experiences. It was really good to get home midday and fall into my bed!