Know Your Snakes

Contrary to popular belief and the good common sense of intelligent city girls everywhere--not all snakes are bad.

The one that decided to take a swim in my pool when I was clearly trying to remove the vacuum, was a bad snake...

...and deserves the 7 bb's it took to it's tell-tale triangular head.  This, my friends, is a Copperhead.  Bad.

The one that greeted me on my front window this afternoon was a good snake...

This one gets the thumbs-up.

Oh.  Hello.

I'm told this is a King Snake.  And I'm told they eat mice and other bad snakes.  (He obviously missed the Copperhead earlier in the week.)  

And apparently baby birds that are nesting in the gutters.

Looks like he swallowed two of them.

 And then decided to hang out on top of my door frame.

Take my advice and come to my back door.

Welcome Friends.

When She's 16, She'll Curse Me For This Post

One of Lauren's favorite things to do at my house is look through the picture boxes.

Specifically, old pictures of Jeff.

She has a secret crush on uncle Jeff.  Not the grown-up uncle Jeff.

The 8-year-old uncle Jeff.

She cradled this one next to her heart.

It's not that weird.  When I was little, I had a crush on my teen-aged cousins, Roger & Larry.  Okay.  Maybe it's a little weird.

Anyway...when she finally took her eyes off her imaginary beau and looked at his brother, she screamed,  "O-M-G!  That looks just like Jacob!"

Indeed.

Car Games with Lauren

Nana. Guess what I'm drawing.

Okay.  What does it start with?

"A."

Apple?

No.  It ends with an "N."

Does it breathe?

No.  It's not an animal and it's not a plant.

Um...Um...Um...

It's our President.

Obama?

No.  Abraham Lincoln.

(I guess that explains the "not breathing" clue.)

Oh.  Are you learning about him in school?

Yes.  He was watching a play in a theater and a man shot him in the head.  And he was our best president.

Yep.  He was a good one.

Spencer looks like him.

Who's Spencer?

A boy in my class.

The girl keeps me laughing!

Triumphs and Heartbreak

This was a killer weekend.

Baseball tournament in Bixby and State Gymnastics Competition in Bartlesville.

It's a beautiful day for baseball.

42 degrees and rain/sleet/hail

The 10:45 game finally kicked off at 1:53. 

I've endured worse.  In March.  In Lincoln, NE.

On the bright side--I finished my book--Sarah's Key--which I highly recommend.  Not quite as good as The Book Thief.  But still quite good.

It was a tough loss.  Bottom of 6th, 2 outs, winning run scores. :(  Jacob was really down on himself for missing a fly ball.  All the boys were down.

Trista and I left before the second game started so we could make the hour and a half drive to the gymnastics meet.  On the way, she got a text that Jacob hit a grand slam! They won that game 12-4.

I'm pretty pumped that gymnastics is an indoor sport.

Presenting....Airborne Athletics!

Clearly, Lauren was not feeling her usual perky self.

You would never guess it by her performance.

 Catching some air.

I think she told me this was a "saché" but I get confused. 

And...the dismount.

She. Is. Awesome.

And I'm getting really good at holding my breath.  Just sayin'.

I thought I video'd her floor exercise.  It was fabulous!  Nailed the back hand-spring with no spotter.  But instead of video-ing, I got a picture of the start...

and the finish...

I'm such a dork.

Her best scores yet = Bars 8.4 - Beam 8.5 - Floor 9.35 - Puked her guts up all over her leo - Vault 8.7

In that order.  I told you she didn't feel good.

Anyway...

2nd Place All-Around

There's that smile.

Conversation in the car:  

Lauren:  Nana, do you know "2 Black Cadillacs"?

Me:  No I don't.

Lauren:  Oh, you just listen to Jesus songs.  Cause you LOVE Jesus.

Well I guess if that's the legacy I leave, I'll be happy with that.  I just hope she sees it in my life as much as in my radio station choice.

Jacob's game today went down just about exactly like the first.  Bottom of 6th, 2 outs, opponents score winning run.  But the weather was a lot more cooperative and the boys need more practice at losing with grace.

Cold. Exhausted. Sore back and butt.  I wouldn't have it any other way.