Wow - our big boy is all grown up!  Jacob started his first day of school yesterday and I'm so happy to report that he loved it!  We've been a little concerned about how he would react to being away from us all day because he's never been in daycare or anything, all of his caregivers are relatives, and he's never been away from us for longer than a Sunday school class.

We've been working with him all summer long, making sure he can handle his own belts and buttons for bathroom breaks, letting him know that daddy and mommy will be dropping him off in the morning then leaving for work, but we'll back and waiting for him when he gets out in the afternoon.

Well, we both went together to take him on his first day and he was raring to go!  We got out of the car in the parking lot at school and he says "give me my hug and kiss" then tries to take off and leave us there!  We took all our pictures at home so we wouldn't embarrass him too much at school, but we darn sure weren't just dropping him off in the parking lot on the first day!

I took Jacob to an open house last week to meet the teacher and see his classroom, but even with all the preparation we weren't sure where he needed to go, so we walked him inside and he graciously allowed us to each hold a hand while he went bee bopping along, SpongeBob backpack just a bouncing.  The teachers and school personnel were wonderful - on what has to be their longest, toughest day of the year they were all very patient with everyone and I'm not sure how we managed but all of a sudden we found ourselves back in the car without our baby, and he just didn't seem to mind at all when he said "see ya" and sorta waved bye as he disappeared down the hallway.

I don't know who was more nervous, Jacob, or Mommy, or Mamaw, or Nana.....but I know I spent the day kind of quietly freaking out, hoping he was doing okay and having a good time.  I thought I was making it to the school early to pick him up (newbie mistake apparently) and ended up at the backend of a long line, worrying the whole time that he'd be able to find me.  Of course all he wants to do when he jumps in the car is show me a new dance and sing a new song he learned.  He had a wonderful day and is looking forward to going back tomorrow, whew, maybe tonight I'll be able to get some sleep

        

On the way to our house we pass over about six miles of dirt roads through the woods and we often get to see all types of wildlife like wild turkeys, armadilloes, possums, deer galore and more than our fair share of snakes.  My husband insisted that we stop to check out this huge rattlesnake on our way out the other day, of course we did that from the safety of the car.  He took this picture with my cellphone and I readily admit to being too chicken to even lean out the window to take a peek.

We come across snakes sunning themselves in the road all the time since there's never much traffic back here, but usually they slither away pretty fast when they figure out that we're coming.  This guy was in no big hurry to get out of the way, acted like we were annoying him.  Actually waited for us to figure out how to get the cell-cam going, then finally got camera shy and crossed the road.

The hubby insists on driving around any living thing in the road (even the multitude of snakes) to the point of scaring me with the swerving at times.  I'm not gonna say what I do when I come across them while I'm driving, but this big fella better look out if I'm on my own the next time I see him.

        

Thank goodness the kids are all completely potty trained, the diaper bill was killing us!  Funny thing is, they've just turned it into a larger food bill   Even though I'm happy we don't need it, I'm bummered that Pampers didn't offer this free potty training kit when we DID need it!  Just go to the Pampers potty training kit page, fill in your mailing address, and they'll send you a sample of Easy Ups trainers, fun stickers and coloring pages, a progress chart, potty training tips, coupons and a Dora or Diego statue to reward your child's achievements.

        

Education.com is sponsoring the 2009 Summer Activities Challenge where families have a chance to win prizes while enjoying fun summertime activities with their kids.

All you have to do is sign up at Education.com and select 20 activities from over 1,000 fun projects listed on their website.  Whenever you complete one of the activities you simply click the "we did this activity" button next to the project and that activity will automatically be added to your Challenge Progress page.

Every family that completes the challenge will get a personalized certificate of achievement and they will be entered to win one of 100 Lego mini creator sets, or the grand prize Dell Latitude 2100 notebook computer. 

Every kid that participates will be a winner with great projects like paper making, creating outdoor stepping stones, and making a back to school calendar among many others!

        

It's been about a year since Ryan left us to go into the Army and we've all missed him terribly so we were thrilled when he was recently able to come and visit for a couple days.  Ryan had told us not toooo long ago that he'd met a girl he was crazy about and they had gotten engaged.  Well they took the opportunity on their way down to visit us to stop in and visit her family in South Carolina and get married along the way

We hadn't met Angela yet and I'll admit that we anxious to check her out!  Well I got the opportunity to interview her and I'm happy to report that, even though it was a little belated, Angela passed with flying colors.  They're such a cute couple, obviously very much in love, and Angela really seems to have a good head on her shoulders.  She's warm, personable, and is trying to take good care of Ryan and we liked her very much!

Ryan tells us that they're both supposed to be shipped out within the next two weeks.  They don't know yet where, or exactly when, or even if they'll be sent anywhere near each other since they're both enlisted, but they're ready to go and they're making the most of every minute until they have to leave.  Congratulations Ryan and Angela!!  We love you and miss you already

        

A friend with twins forwarded me this article about a triplet who just gave birth to triplets.  Amber Ali of Detroit, Michigan is one-third of a set of triplet girls, and she gave birth to boy triplets in May.

Amber told the local new station that she nearly passed out when she was told she was having triplets.  That's the way we felt too - they told us for months it was triplets, then when they found our fourth baby we were literally speechless for at least an hour after we found out.  Of course we wouldn't give them up for the world!  Congratulations Amber!

Read more about Amber and her beautiful babies at AOL News.

        

We have a skink, a rather large lizard, that lives under the refrigerator in the garage.  He scares the mess out of me occasionally, even though I know he's there, he'll catch me off guard and it seems I just can't help but let out a scream.  We don't mind him sticking around because he eats bugs, apparently lots of them given his size, so he's just a little more welcome than they are.

Just recently we've started having a problem with the garbage that we store in bags in the garage until trash day.  Something has been chewing through the bottom of the bags and strewing the garbage around, and my husband suggested that it might be the skink.  Well, as hungry as that big fella must be, I don't think he all of a sudden took a liking to our garbage.

So, the other night, the hubby goes out to the garage to get something from the freezer and the HE lets out a big scream.  Turns out our garbage bandit was a possum.  The possum was either too blind (or too dumb) to be scared of us so he wouldn't leave and we never did get our ice cream that night.  He did pose for a few pictures, and we have since learned to keep the garage door shut at night!

        

        

Wow - the heat wave here in Lower Alabama has been unbearable!  Within seconds of stepping outside your clothes are already sticking to you and the gnats are driving you crazy.  It's been so bad that we were finally able to talk the little boys, Brandon and Zachary, into getting a buzz cut like daddy.  They were terribly sweet afterwards, asking everyone to feel their heads, then telling them not to mess their hair up

We gave the boys their buzz cuts while Jacob was gone because he HATES haircuts, so bad that we've resorted (more than once) to cutting his hair while he sleeps, and we didn't want him to be a buzz kill.  Well as soon as he got back home and saw the boys hair, he decided he needed his done too!  I still can't believe he let me finish - I think the only reason he let me start at all was because the boys told him it tickled.  Hey, whatever it takes!  And even though I kinda miss their hair, they do look adorable.

        

I get most of my work done during the kids afternoon nap - in fact that's the quietest time of day around here.  They think bedtime at night means "wrestle around on the floor for an hour", but they usually settle in for naptime without much trouble.  I always have a mile long lists of things to do during naptime so I'm usually sitting quietly at my desk, focused on my computer.  Well a few months ago I was startled out of my seat by a loud popping sound at the window about 15 feet behind me.

I went to inspect but couldn't figure out what had made the noise so I got back to work.  Darned if it didn't happen again!  Every time I'd get back to work, I'd hear a loud crack against the window, but there was never anything there when I went to look. 

Finally, feeling like a fool even though no one was around to see, I crouched behind a bookshelf at the doorway to the room and just watched for it to happen again.  I couldn't believe it when I finally figured out what was going on - a gorgeous red cardinal was slamming itself into the window over and over.  I could see a more brownish female cardinal in a tree not too far from the window, and my guess is that the male was probably seeing his own reflection in the window and thought he was scaring off the competition.

Unfortunately, I think the poor guy has sustained some brain damage because he comes back at least 2-3 times a week now to torture me during my "quiet baby time".  He hits the window with such force that he's actually fallen to the ground in a daze more than once, only to come back time and again to protect his woman.  Well you certainly can't question his devotion!

I've been on a mission for the last couple of months to get some pictures of him in action, but he never appears when the kids are awake (maybe the noise level? ) or when the cats are in the room, and if he sees me moving then he quickly disappears.  I was finally able to get a few shots  - these are taken through the window and the screen so they're not the greatest, but I'm proud I was able to get some pix of my kamikaze friend.