More of the same with a little change

On October 22nd, Kylie learned to ride a bike and three days later lost her first tooth. How is this happening? She's just 6! :)



Doug and I are back from our vacation. We had a lot of fun together, met fun people, and really enjoyed are two scuba diving trips. After peace in Christ, the next best peace to experience is the quiet under the ocean. We never get tired of it (except for the water that is still lingering on my left ear).

I wanted to add a picture of the catfish tank where we go in the evenings, and a sample of the tracks we see each day. You can see raccoon, deer, and heron crane in these two pictures.







Tonight was pretty fun for the kids. My mom made a cherry cobbler following a new recipe yesterday for Doug's birthday. Doug and I got in too late to celebrate with the kids, so we were supposed to have the dessert for breakfast. Without saying anything bad about my mom's cooking, just let say the recipe left a lot to be desired. So we all looked forward to tonight - we put the whole cobbler out in front of mom's kitchen window and waited for some action.

Without fail, a raccoon appeared, as if on cue. He started to nibble and nibble and nibble. He actually liked the stuff. All three of the kids were on the counter watching. Karis said, "Doe (that's what she calls my mom), your window is like a movie theater screen, and this is like watching a movie out your window." Then it got better.

The fat raccoon that I scared the other night, sauntered up like he was going to enjoy some too, and a fight ensued very quickly. The fat one lost. He eventually wondered off. I couldn't believe it. Next, a big opossum tried to sneak up and get some cobbler, but the raccoon wouldn't leave the dessert. He had found gold, and he wasn't leaving. A smaller opossum walked around, but was way too scared to approach the dessert. I think there were many animals scattered away in the bushes waiting for the cobbler to be abandoned. Can I tell you, I put the kids to bed, cleaned the kitchen, and got ready for bed myself, and that raccoon only left that pan twice for water and went right back at it.

One last trip through the kitchen revealed the true gluttony of the raccoon. He climbed the tree in front of my mother's window and got on the roof. I got out my dad's maglite, and went outside a few minutes later and saw the raccoon "hunkered down" on the roof for the night. I told my dad about the raccoon, and he said, "He's too full to make it home." I said, "Do you really think that's what happened?" And he said, "It's like a drunk that can't make it out of the parking lot of the bar he endulged in." I think that says it all for tonight.

Karis's New Haircut