If you live in Texas...

everything thing has been about rain...

flooding...rain...flooding...tornado...flooding...rain...

until now...

it is all about the sunshine...

soaking it up....feeling a smile on your face...

 and wondering when we will be able to use the lakes again...

this is the Trinity River...

not looking much like a river right now...

 A friend was talking about her FitBit...

she got me motivated...

I had a step counter on my phone..

but it was running my battery down fast...

so I bought a FitBit...

and one for my daughter and my Mom...

 so we can motivate...

and challenge each other...

nothing like a little friendly competition...

to get your butt moving...

I was surprised how many steps I take...

just doing my day to day stuff...

my goal is 10,000 steps a day....

 Today we had a Fun Girls day...

we had snacks...conversation...

then went for a walk...

I managed to get over 12,000 steps today...

Girl friends are so important...

I didn't realize how much...

while we were all raising our families...

it was hard to get together...

but now that the kids are grown...

we make it a point to get together...

and after loosing one of our dear friends...

it makes it even more important...

her visitation and funeral are this week...

it's going to be hard...

but having Girl friends will help us make it through...

 we had sunshine today....

after a night of thunder storms...

 we took advantage...spent time outside...

Stringbean and I went for a walk...

on the way back he saw a tiny frog...

he caught it...

then we found 4 more...

 Only a Oma would carry home 4...

jumpy little frogs...

they were very wiggly...

and two rolly pollies for the Chicks...

 we even chased a lizard...

almost had it...

but it jumped and I screamed like a girl...

we lost it...

 I've been swatting flies for the girls...

digging worms too...

they are growing soo fast....

they are at a not so cute stage...

also little escape artists...

we snuck off to do a little fishing...

we didn't catch anything...but had a good time...

 after a day of sunshine...

we have Thunderstorms moving again tonight...

I just don't know how much more we can take..

I lost 3 squash plants...

too much water...

I am fortunate so many people have been flooded...

trees blown over...

and my sweet blog pal Linda...

has been fighting water coming in her beautiful home...

Prayers to all...

It didn't rain last night...

but it sure made up for it today....

we went to my Son...DIL and Stringbeans house...

for lunch...my son cooked hamburgers on the grill...

luckily he has a covered patio...

we had a nice family visit...

Stringbean talked Pawpaw into jumping on the trampoline..

it was quite a sight to see....

I love family days...

when work is not involved...

just time spent together...

Prayers to all the storm victims...

tornadoes...high winds...floods...

Thank you to all who serve...have served...

to keep our country safe...

Prayers to all the families whose loved ones didn't make it home...

Prayers for my Uncle Tom...

he has taken a turn for the worst...

he served in Vietnam...

which has caused his Cancer...

he was exposed to Agent Orange...

more than once...

God Bless the USA...

 It has been quite a week here in Texas...

actually several weeks...

lot's and lot's and lot's of rain...

too many storms to even keep track of...

last night we slept through the tornado sirens...

one touched down on the other side of our town...

lot's of damage...so far no injuries...

The above photo is a train track over the Trinity River...

the river is way out of it's banks...

 our little chicks...

are at the awkward stage...

lot legs...big feet...

feathers poking out everywhere...

 but look at that sweet face....

 Hubby, Rooster and I have been walking

this weekend down by the Trinity...

this little guy had decided to rest on the train tracks...

we moved him off the tracks...

when we came back through it was gone...

 the city of Dallas in the back ground...

 Thursday...Stringbean Graduated...

He will head to kindergarten in the fall...

my photos were not the best...

too hard to take when you have tears in your eyes...

(plus the lighting...not so great)

The Mommies got to hand out the diplomas...

 Well Stringbean and his Best Friend...

decided to turn them into horns...

at the end of the program...

his class put on a little show...

Stringbean was the Rock Star...

he told me he would be playing a Rockin out guitar...

and he sure did...

When they were walking in to go to the stage...

they walked in one by one...

just like Big Graduates do...

I was video taping...

when he saw me...

he hollered OMA...

and ran to me...

well I ended up videotaping the floor for awhile...

gave him a hug...

shooed him back to the group...

we are expecting more rain tomorrow...

I don't know where it will go...

we are at our limit...

Friday Morning I woke up to one of my BFF's text...

she asked if I was up...

I texted back yes...

she called me...

she was crying so hard I couldn't understand her...

so she repeated...

my heart just broke...

one of our friends...

passed in her sleep...they think a massive heart attack...

she was 53 years old...

we reached out to all our high school pals...

we were all in shock...

Friday evening a group of us got together...

just to try to make sense of it all...

it helped just being with everyone...

A reminder...don't let time go by...

take time to spend with your loved ones...

tell everyone how you feel about them...

what you love about them...

how much you appreciate them...

I saw this bird at the park today...

I've never seen one before...

so I emailed TexWisGirl ...

she knows so much about birds...

and of course...she knew the answer...

It is a Brown Thrasher...

a very handsome gentlemen...

so happy to add a new bird to my list...

 the girls are growing....

they are busy little ladies...

we have a temporary pen for them to play in outside

at night they stay inside in a box...

they are on their third box...

 I have been killing flies for them...

they know when they hear me swat one...

they look up and wait for me to drop it in their pen...

we have had so much rain...

the flies have been terrible...

I've made some natural fly traps...

you just use a plastic water jug...

poke holes in it.....

add 1 cup apple cider vinegar...1 cup molasses...

I have caught several...but have lots more to catch...

 the trinity river is out of it's banks...

this is usually a grassy area with a road...

now it is a big lake...

 Hubby and I use to ride his motorcycle down here...

you need a boat right now...

there is lots of flooding in Texas....

 This was taken at a local park...

you can see the debree in the background...

we had a lot of rain last night....

this waterfall is usually a trickle...

not today...

I woke up at 2:30 am Saturday morning...

with a terrible pain in my neck and shoulder...

I had rolled over in bed...and it hurt...

I had fallen asleep in my chair watching TV...so I guess

I was crooked or something...

It hurt to raise my right arm...to walk...

to move my neck...

I got out the trusty heating pad...

took Ibprofin...and took it easy all day...

it is hard to do things left handed...

today when I woke up it was better...

still not back to normal...

but getting there...
you never realize how much of your body
you use every day... until something hurts...
then you notice it...

 Which came first???

the Chicken or the Egg...

this is Linda Lou....

she is named after Hubbies Mom...

she was small but mighty...

so is this Linda Lou...

she is the smallest of the group...

we lost one of our chicks...Loretta...

not sure what was wrong with her...

 the other 5 are doing great... 

they have already grown...

they also love worms....

and flies...they get in a tizzy over flies...

I never thought I would be catching flies...

 Stringbean has became quite competitive...

he is now the King of the Quiet game...

no one at school can beat him...

Yesterday he beat me in Chutes and Ladders...

then he beat me in Candy Land...

we never let him win on purpose...

If you could give kids today advice....

what would it be?

 Saturday Morning....

We picked up 6 little cuties...

little ladies...

they are Buff Orpington...

born on a Organic farm...

 There names are:

Lola

Linda Lou

Lula

Lucy

Laverne

and

Loretta....

 they really look alike...

except Linda Lou...

she is the smallest...

and Lola has a darker beak....

 the rest...we will figure out...

as they grow up...

hopefully....

or they will just be called the girls....

 Stringbean spent the night Friday night...

we took him to a concert...

it was a Brooks and Dunn cover band...

they were pretty good...

Stringbean and I practiced dancing before we went...

he is a really good little dancer...

he has good rhythm...

we danced to 5 or 6 songs...

he set down in my lap...

and fell asleep...we couldn't believe it...

so we decided to go...

he woke up as we walked out...

then was wide awake...

he was up bright and early on Saturday...

first words out of his mouth...

Goodmorning Oma...we are getting chicks today...

he is in love with already...

we all are...

so darn cute...

Happy Mother's Day everyone....

can you see the goose bumps???

that water was cold....

but the sun was nice and warm...

Thank you everyone for the well wishes...

and prayers for Stringbean...

he is doing better today....

his fever went up to 104 Sunday night at the clinic...

so scarey...I found out a lot of kids in our area...

have been running high fevers...

I'm ready for it to end...

it's to hard on us Oma's...and Momma's...

not to mention the sweet babies...

As you see...my Dad is not crazy about 

having his photo taken either...

but he puts up with me...

well I think it is finally going to happen...

we are getting chickens...

it has taken a little nudging...

thanks to the help of my Daughter...

we tag teamed Hubby... 

to pen him down...

This sunday...Mother's Day...

we are going to build a chicken coop...

a family project...

with a Brisket dinner as a reward...

we are getting chicks...

so it will be a few months before we can get eggs...

I found a local person that raises organic chickens...

not only will we get eggs...

but more fertilizer for the garden...

less bugs....

I'm feeling almost like a farmer....

I have a few tiny squash and zucchini...

my cucumbers are blooming...

We had thunder storms last night...

not a lot of rain...but every bit helps...

chances of rain all week....

come August we will be crying for rain...

so I'm going to feel blessed with it now...

and we haven't had to turn on the A/C yet...

Happy Wednesday.....

HUMP DAYYYYYY......