Recent D things:

Danielle and her pop looking for the box turtle in the garden:Danielle's recent artwork entry to Save the Children art contest (http://www.savethechildren.org/get-involved/kids-and-youth/kids-art-contest/)
Danielle's ever-growing rock collection:

Baby owl update

We checked theowlcam.com tonight and got to see 4 little babies!

Those 5th graders are so smart!

This evening we were watching "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" with Danielle. It came to a math question and the man won half a million dollars on it. The question was pretty easy so I said "THAT was the 500K question??!!" in disbelief . . . and then I'm guessing my sweet Danielle interepted my disbelief as something else because . . . she. . . said . . . "I sure wish you were as smart as a 5th grader." lol!

photos from Mother/Daughter camp

This is the first night---in our cabin, right after dinner and before the opening games.Here the girls are playing the opening games--

This is Saturday morning after we all got up. The little girls decided that they all wanted pony tails then they decided that the grown ups needed them too. After breakfast and the devotional was free time. Danielle, Ellie & Cari all booked it down to the pony rides. Here Grandmama leads Danielle on the pony.After the pony ride Grandmama, Danielle and I went to find the 3rd shoe (it was a scavenger hunt to find all 9 shoes and collect the stickers at each one) and wound up at the canoes. So we took a quick ride after 3 attempts to get canoes that wouldn't sink into the lake. We didn't tip over either!
After lunch & nap we went on more scavenger hunt that took us down a nature trail, under the zip line and across this beautiful bridge where we found the 4th shoe.
After cookie snack at the old log cabin we went to the crafts and made lots of bling.
Then dinner and the talent show. Danielle REALLY wanted to do the talent show so our impromptu act was Crazy Ol' Macdonald (Danielle is acting out the part of the horse here.) But since Crazy Ol' Macdonald is from Austin and our motto is "Keep Austin Weird" Ol' Macdonald's chickens don't cluck--they do the chicken dance. It was funny.
After the talent show it was a "hay" ride out to the campfire to sing songs (Fire on the Mountain). After the talent show and evening snack were over the young kids and moms went back to the cabins to sleep then all lights at camp were turned out so the older kids and moms could play Mission Impossible.
Sunday morning after breakfast Ellie, Lisa, Danielle and I found the last shoe down by the rodeo arena.
Then another devotional, games then free time with the man-powered ferris wheel. The kids LOVED it.
Then we had lunch and came home. Danielle fell asleep almost immediately. It was a great weekend--so special and so fun. I hope all my girlfriends and their daughters do it next year. I will send out all the info when the new schedule comes out.

Mother/Daughter camp

Danielle, my mom & I spent the weekend at a Mother/Daughter camp at Camp Peniel. It was INCREDIBLE. So much fun that I highly recommend and plan on going back next year. The devotationals were held by 2moms.com and they were so inspiring. I'm exhausted so will post photos tomorrow. Until then--some links:

Camp Peniel: http://www.camppeniel.org/
2 Moms: http://www.2moms.com/

RV

We watched RV with Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels last night. It was really funny with only a little questionable language. There were several times where we laughed out loud. I like Robin Williams anyway and the rest of the cast did really well, too. It also had a nice message. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Netflix? If I could just find the Magic School Bus DVD we've had for about a month . . .

Princess Josey

So this is our kitty, Josey Palmtree. We've had her about a year and a half. Danielle chose her first name from the two choices (josey or moxie) we gave her then Danielle got to choose the middle name.

Anyway...one day Danielle and I were sitting there talking and Josey wanders up. Danielle says "oh Josey, you're so pretty." I like Josey--she's incredibly sweet--but I've never really thought she was pretty. So I asked Danielle "you really think she's that pretty?" To which Danielle replied "well, yes. The colors on her head make it look like she has a crown."

So, I give you Princess Josey upon her royal throne of clean laundry.

my guilty pleasure

It is absolute junk, I know, but I absolutely LOVE the Real World/Road Rules challenges on MTV: http://www.mtv.com/#/ontv/dyn/rwrr_challenge-inferno3/series.jhtml. I guess I live vicariously through these extremely immature, drunk but very beautiful in-shape kids who get to live in beautiful houses in exotic locations and try all kinds of physical activities. And, possibly, win money! And this season I am extremely excited because the very annoying Kina from previous shows is not included.

Yes . . . I know . . . it's junk . . .

4 owlets

In case you haven't been monitoring the owl cam like we have, there are now 4 baby owlets: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_ca/CA_baow_07_pics/3babies.jpg

And around 11pm CST tonight the mommy owl was feeding the very active babies. There is streaming video of live action here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_ca/

my boot camp adventure

So, I've been bery impressed with my friend, Sarah (http://princessbride42.blogspot.com/), and her blogging about her weight struggles and successes with weight loss. So I'm going to own up a little. About a month ago I saw an ad for Austin Adventure Boot Camp (http://www.atxbootcamp.com/) and on a complete wim signed up that day. So a month ago I started the 3 times a week a.m. class in NW Austin; today was my last morning. I've not told many people because I didn't want people to know if I failed (I hated my attempt at Weight Watchers) BUT I didn't fail this. Even with travel to Seattle I made 11 out of the 12 classes. (The 12th class I forgot my shoes--because I usually put them on in the car--so I came home and took a 2.1 mile walk instead) I also was usually the last to finish everything but I still made it.

So, in honor of Sarah I timidly post my stats:
Before /After
weight 191 lb/187.5 lb
hips 45"/43"
thighs 25"/24"
calves 15"/15"
arms 11.5"/11"
I also lost some body fat but I forgot to write that down. I missed the first timed mile (the shoe incident) but on the second timed mile I did it in 12 min 15 sec. I have no idea how that is--but I'm glad that I could actually finish. Do you know how long a mile is?? It's 4 laps on the track around a football field!!!!! I thought the coach was kidding at first . . .

The first day we had to run 2 laps or 1 walk lap around the parking lot and I was horrified that I couldn't run the 2 laps. So my goal became justing running the 2 laps around the parking lot; I met that goal last week.

I also met a really nice woman named Rhonda and I can see us staying friends.

So I would recommend but caution that there is quite a bit of running. If you look at the site my coach's name was Julie.

Now I've got to go click on "publish" and go to work before I chicken out on posting this info.
Have a great Friday and weekend!!

Mother Night

I am very saddened at the death yesterday of Kurt Vonnegut: http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=258339&GT1=9246

My favorite book by Mr. Vonnegut is Mother Night. I also enjoyed the movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117093/) with Nick Nolte and, for the record, I saw the movie after reading the book. If you haven't read Mother Night, I recommend you do: http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Night-Kurt-Vonnegut/dp/0385334141/ref=sr_1_10/104-0767064-2260731?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176419837&sr=1-10

no blackberries yet

A few years ago Trey discovered a blackberry patch near our house. Last year we missed the ripe season and drove by too late. So this year we've set an Outlook reminder to go check them. We checked them this evening and they still look about two weeks away from being ripe.

It was a beautiful night out so we walked around looking at the wildflower & weed flowers.

Then we drove through the few remaining country roads out here. We ran across a beautiful old house at the weird intersection of Sprinkle, Springdale & Cameron Rds. You could see the Historical House marker at the front door and some day I'll get up the courage to walk up and read it.

Easter weekend photos

Our Easter weekend:

The D'Souza family was in town

forward facing photo of Baby Gabrielle, Leesa, Danielle & Gerry
then we stopped by grandmama & pops to eat dinner and dye Easter eggs
Easter morning--on the way to the basket Danielle found so many eggs that she could barely get to the coffee table without droppingthe loot (& Cache Kitty)Danielle & her Sunday school teachers
Our family then a final Easter egg hunt at the Peters with Charlotte & Matthew

Easter bunny funny

Chris (http://new-conversazione.blogspot.com/) posted a funny Easter joke so I decided to as well:

A lady opened her refrigerator and saw the Easter Bunny sitting on one of the shelves.
"What are you doing in there?" she asked.
The Easter Bunny replied: "This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?" to which the lady replied, "Yes."
"Well," the Easter Bunny said, "I'm westing."

heeheehee. Have a pleasant (but in Austin--chilly, rainy) day.

recipes & budgets

My SIL told me about this website: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/index.htm It's good for some cheap recipes, planning, budget tips, etc. So now you know.

D's school Easter egg hunt

No school (or work for me) tomorrow so Danielle's school had their Easter egg hunt today. With my work being so close I was able to walk over and enjoy the festivities.

Ready . . . set . . . GO!!! Check how quickly Danielle can turn on a dime when she spies an egg:

"I've got my 12."
Happy class!On the playground after the egg hunt. These 3 girls have been in the same class since Danielle started school there.

May you have a fantastic Maudy Thursday and Good Friday.

Generosity

This evening I picked up Cari from her school to come play with us. On the way home I stopped at Lifeway Christian Store (183 & Mopac) to get a few Easter things for Danielle school's Easter egg hunt. After I made my purchases, with Danielle and Cari being VERY well behaved, the store associate gave them each FREE a coloring book and music CD of the Roach Approach series.

the yearly bluebonnet photo

Every year since Danielle has been born we've done yearly bluebonnet photos with Cari. This year we got the three good girlfriends together and had Ellie, Cari & Danielle photos. The 4.5 - 5 y.o. range, though, doesn't not make for "pretty" photos--but does make for "goofiness" photos.

Enjoy!