Texas natives

I took a few photos this afternoon of some Texas natives.

A mockingbird, our state bird.

This is Christmas cactus also known as Pencil cactus. Quail love to eat it!

Rope ~ Chain border

Someone asked me where I got the chain/rope border in the layout "Family Adventure". I told them it was a paper punch but that I thought I could do a digi embellisment of it...and I did....

It is a png. file...looks better than the rope boarder on my layout, same color...it is 1.4 MB as I do not have winzip I could not zip it but if you do not have dial up then it shouldn't take long to download it.

You can pick up the Rope/Chain border here.

Family Adventure

Here is another paper layout of a trip to Aransas Wildlife Refuge last August but this time Daddy (Fred) came with us....

The small quote on the page reads: Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to his parents.

Jake ~ 9 months

Jake was 9 months old at the end of February.

He weighed 65lbs and is going through his first shed.

We are so blessed to have him and he fills our lives with so much laughter.

I personally love his bounce! He is just like tigger on Winnie the pooh and loves to bounce!

This cooler weather is definitely agreeing with him and he has been a little imp! Fred gripes about getting a wet nose in his face in the morning, if he doesn't get up when his alarm goes off but I think secretly he thinks it's funny. We've taken to calling him Jakers as it truly fits him. Jake loves to be loved and coddled and I think secretly he thinks he might be a lap dog but he isn't!! He's definitely a family dog and keeps a look out for all of us, pacing from one room to the other to keep an eye on us. Him and KitCat have become best buddies and in the evenings they groom each other. Jakers has found his voice and if playing will add a bark and has taken to sassing us too!! We've lost our hearts to Jake and are so glad we have him!!

My son is very entertaining!

I wasn't paying much attention to what Michael was doing or should I say what he was wearing. I knew he was playing with his toy guns, I could hear the noise!!

I walked out of the computer/scrap room and when I walked back in this is what I saw...

Oh what a dull life I would have without him...As you can see he is using his imagination!! A boy needs somewhere to put his guns....He was standing there watching tv and didn't even notice I took a photo!!

Come ride the Carousel with ME!

I know I just did a digi layout of Michael on the carousel but I had planned on doing these photos in a paper layout so here it is...

Journaling reads:

The title of this layout truly fits Michael that day in Corpus Christi. His Father and brother Trey met us at the Carousel. Little did they know Michael had big plans for them? Come ride the Carousel with me Daddy! Come ride the Carousel with me Trey! Michael was able to ride the Carousel 3 times and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
August 6, 2007

Hmmp!!!

I normally try to stay positive!! I try very very hard...But this is ridiculous!!

NOW IT'S MY TURN TO GRIPE!!

It is March 6th and we live in SOUTH Texas.

Now mind you I did say SOUTH and does not SOUTH mean warmth!!!!

Apparently NOT right now...it is 43 F. with a windchill of 33 F.

I am FREEZING my A$$ off and it's just plum ridiculous!!

Yes we have the furnace running but the wind is bitter and this rental house really could use some new windows...so it's a bit drafty...and I am really sick of this...the Freezing cold front came through at 1pm and I have had 6.5 hours of this crap and it's ENOUGH!!!

Someone turn up the HEAT, lol....

Now come JULY and AUGUST I'll regret I said that but I just had to gripe!!

Okay I am done...now stayed tuned as I have another blog entry to do...

I hope everyone has a WARM & WONDERFUL weekend :o)

Boy and his dog.

Y'all need to check out the digi layout my dear friend Helen did of Michael and Jake...It is absolutely fantastic!!

Thank you Helen you made my day!! I love it!!

Click on the url link below to go see the layout.

Helen

When you get there click on the layout itself and it will pull it up larger on your screen so that you can read the poem/quote.

AWR ~ Paper layout

I started this layout yesterday morning before I did the wildflower digi layout and liked how it was turning out so I decided to do the wildflower photos the same way. That is why the latest two layouts are almost alike, except one is paper and the other digi.

I didn't want to clutter this layout up with journaling and descriptions so that is why I made the little envelope and there is a card in there with the journaling. I also numbered the photos and put a card in the envelope with corresponding numbers and descriptions of the photos.

The journaling reads:

"August 23, 2007. Michael had a dentist appt. in Corpus Christi. On our way home I decided to stop at the AWR (Aransas Wildlife Refuge). Michael wanted to see Alligators. It was late afternoon/evening and the animals were out and about. We had a great time and saw so much wildlife. This is only a quarter of the photos I took. Michael is the one that found the frog. He thought it was pretty cool and I loved the photos I captured."

Michael was looking at it last night and was loving the photos of the Alligators and was rattling on about that time at AWR...I was shocked that he still remembers when we went and he found the frog.

Wildflower digi layout and word art.

Some more word art and a simple digi layout.

If your interested in the word art you can get it here.

March 5 ~ Wildflowers

Today I drove down to check the mail and noticed two types of wildflowers on the side of the driveway and thought...hmmm...time to take a walk with the camera.

I found more than 2 different wildflowers, 13 different types in all, WOW!!

Of course some were really tiny and I was down on hands and knees trying to avoid the fire ants and get some really cool photos...and then I spent 2 hours trying to identify them, ugh! I may be incorrect on some of the identifications but I tried with 3 different books...and each book different...grrr...

Pointed Phlox

Cockle burrs...not a wildflower but rather a HUGE pain in the rear, specially when Julie gets them in her mane and tail...I loved the blue sky in the background!

Daisy member of the Aster family...I admit by the time I got to this one I had had enough of identify flowers...not sure what type of daisy but I know it is a member of the Aster family!

Wine cup also known as a Poppy Mallow

This wasn't blooming yet but is a Texas Thistle...I've heard some people refer to them as Bull Thistles...Not something I would want to step on barefoot!! OUCH!!

Dewberry bloom...The berries are something like a LARGE blackberry.

Pink Evening Primrose

Okay this flower threw me off....I spent at least an hour looking for it and was very frustrated as I could not find it in any of the (3) Texas wildflower books I have...It has 6 petals! Well I decided to look at another photo I had taken and realized the other flowers only had 5 petals...grrr...that 6 petaled flower threw me for a loop....I still wasn't able to fully identify it but think it is from the Phlox family...It is very tiny and growing close to the ground...I'll keep researching and see if I can find out exactly what type of flower it is but after an hour I was finished!!!

Warty Caltrop...a very tiny flower and considered a weed!

Took me awhile to figure this one out too but I think it is a Corydalis.

This one has me stumped...it's not a very clear photo to begin with but none of the Texas Wildflower books had one that was even close to it...I think it is from the Pea family.

This was another one that took me awhile but I think it is a Sleepy Daisy also a member of the Aster family.

False Garlic also known as Crows Poison. Normally one of our first wildflowers to bloom in the spring...

I notice there are a lot of wildflowers blooming that normally don't bloom until our spring season is almost over with and think that is really strange as spring has basically just started for us...We don't have the wildflowers blooming in mass like we did last year and I wonder if we will get that type of mass blooms this year.

I hope you enjoyed your wildflower tour and I will try to do this once a week so we can see the different types of wildflowers blooming in this area.

(On another interesting note Texas has over 5,000 wildflower species and I have 3 wildflower books...one lists 381, another lists 370 and the last one lists 482...a far cry from 5,000 but they do lists the most popular and common ones. I hope you now know why it takes me forever to identify and why sometimes I can't identify a wildflower....)

Anole lizard vs. Snow

Easy choice for me....Anole lizard any day!!

I was outside working in the flower beds and watering when I spotted this little guy...he is a Green Anole lizard...a lot of people refer to them as Chameleons. The do change colors but they are referred to in the books as Green Anoles. Anyways enough lessons on lizard types...I love them! Glad to see this guy has taken up residence in our yard too! He had the end of his tail missing so he was almost lunch or dinner for something! And if you know me I couldn't resist grabbing the camera and getting a few photos...and of course Michael had to come check him out. Michael almost stuck his nose on him as he didn't see him, lol...

What Children See ~ Digi Layout

Here is another digi layout that I did of photos from our recent trip to Aransas Wildlife Refuge...and if the quote is true I think I might be in trouble, lol...

I did this layout for the challenge Breeza was having and you can check out her blog and the challenge here.

The date font was from a freebie I downloaded by Scarlet and can be found on her blog, here.

The photo corners I found on my digi program Scrapbook Factory Deluxe and the wordart is something I created in Paint Shop Pro...the wordart can be found here.

Hope you all Enjoy and thanks for looking!

He's not a puppy anymore ~ Jake ~

Ahh poor Jake his brain is still in puppy mode but his body says something else...Whenever I am on the computer this is where Jake lays...and it's so cute as Michaels horse chair is just a wee bit small for him but he still trys to curl up on it...

Tonight Jake and I start another obedience course with the Victoria Dog Obedience this time. I am hoping after Jake is a year old (he's 9 months old) he can become a therapy dog for the adult foster care homes in our area. He loves people but needs to learn a few manners first, one is that we do NOT bounce when the time isn't right for bouncing...lol...Jake loves to bounce! He doesn't bounce on people but just bounces all around...but I am afraid it might scare some people...and of course he needs more socialization with other people and dogs...

Michaels Birthday Scrapbook layouts 2007

Here are the Birthday layouts I did for Michaels 4th Birthday.
They are a bit busy for me but they aren't for me they are for Michael and he is a busy busy little one...

This was a layout I did of the cake and ice cream we had for him the Sunday before his birthday.

Journaling reads: Whats new Scooby Doo?

It's Michaels 4th Birthday, thats what's new. There is no mystery to be solved just cake and ice cream to be shared with family.

The journaling reads:

Its hard to believe that 4 yrs ago on this day you were born. I asked you what you wanted to do, you said Splashway water park & Incredible pizza. So that is what we did. A very fun day! On the way home we saw a rainbow and it came to me that we are so blessed to have you!

Thank you for bringing so much sunshine and love into our lives. Happy Birthday!

When Michael turns another year older I like to make a layout of his favortie things at that age. This is his 4 yr old layout...Michael at four with the tabs listing what he likes.

The journaling reads:

Michael after returning home from his busy BIRTHday found a package waiting for him. Grammie and Grandpa (Pridmore) had found a train piñata for Michael. He loved the piñata but after Momma put it up for safe keeping he really loved the packing peanuts. Since it was his BIRTHday I let him have fun and before he was done we had packing peanuts all OVER the house!! What a mess, but it was worth it to hear Grammie laughing on the phone and Michael smiling with joy!!