Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Eva’ Category

Happy Thankful Monday!

Here’s what I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m thankful for a wonderful day Christmas shopping with Ben yesterday, and I’m very thankful and happy about our very first Christmas tree (pictures to come once it’s decorated).  I’m also thankful for a strong husband who is able to lift and move the tree and also knows how to take care of it (Ben wants to root the tree outside after Christmas is over).
2. I’m thankful for a wonderful weekend with family.  Friday night, Ben and I joined his parents and two nieces for our annual holiday trip to Richmond for the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens‘ Dominion GardenFest of Lights.  Then Saturday, I spent the day baking and doing Christmas crafts with my mother-in-law and nieces.  I made two terrariums that I’m very proud of!
3. I’m sooooo very thankful that I got to spend a day with my cousin Jennifer!  Her husband was in Baltimore for business so she came with him and drove down for the day on Wednesday.  We started off by catching up over lunch at Timberwood Grill, then headed to Monticello to do the tour since she had never been.  Then we went to the Downtown Mall, bought some Virginia Wine at Market Street Wine Shop, and met Ben for dinner at South Street Brewery.  We ended the evening by baking brownies at home.  Thursday morning, we had breakfast at Bodo’s before Jennifer headed back to Maryland.  I was sad to see her go but soooo happy that we got to spend precious time together.  I love my family!
   

   Jennifer & I at Monticello

4. I’m thankful for the wood stove in our house and for a husband who has been building fires to keep us warm.  Our heater broke again on Friday morning so we were forced to start using our wood stove.  Wow does that thing work great!  It heats the house almost well enough that we don’t need the heater!
   

   Eva checking out the first fire in the wood stove

5. Lastly, I’m thankful for the holidays and family to spend them with.  Last year I was somewhat of a scrooge because we couldn’t have a Christmas tree, I didn’t have much PTO saved up yet (and I work in retail), I was turning the dreaded 30, and I couldn’t go home for Christmas.  This year, we have a beautiful house to spend the holidays in, I can take a few days off of work, my family is coming to spend Christmas with us since we have plenty of room in the new house, we have our first Christmas tree together (after being together for seven and a half years), and I’m not turning 30 this year 😉 !

Have a great week and enjoy the this time of year!

Good morning and happy Thankful Monday!

Today, I’m very thankful for the following:

1. I’m so proud of and thankful for my hard-working husband.  Not only does Ben keep our house, indoor and outdoor, in top-top shape, he does it all while working a full time job, renovating our condo, and fitting in a workout every single day.  He really is my super man.  This weekend he spent hours stacking firewood for the winter, ripping up carpet in the condo to prepare for new carpet installation, and making the weekly trip to Lowe’s for supplies.  He even managed to fit in an evening of hunting and go to the grocery store for me.  I’m so happy he is in my life and I hope he knows how grateful I am for everything he does.
2. In honor of today being Veterans Day, I am thankful today and every day for all of the men and women and their families who have dedicated their lives and hard work toward this country.  It is the ultimate sacrifice and they do not receive enough gratitude in my opinion.  Thank you to them all past, present, and future.
3. I’m thankful for our kitties, Revolver Ocelot and Eva.  They turned 5 on Saturday and while I can’t believe we’ve had them almost 5 years (it will be 5 years in February that we adopted them), I also can’t remember a time without them.  They make us smile every day and I love them so much!
4. I’m thankful for the opportunity to mentor again with Computers 4 Kids.  I am mentoring my third student and she is so funny and clever and has a great eye for fashion.  I have been enjoying getting to know her and in the few short meetings we have had I believe we have both already taught each other several new things!
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for a clean bill of health from my Endocrinologist.  When I went to see her last, my thyroid was somewhat over-performing.  While that did help me to some degree to lose weight (22 pounds so far), it is not a good thing.  With this most recent appointment, she said my levels are right back to normal which makes me glad.

Have a wonderful day!

Good morning and happy Thankful Monday!

Here’s what I’m thankful for this 3rd day of June, 2013:

1. I’m thankful that God has blessed my friends Chris and Cara with a baby boy.  They are expecting him in July and I got to help celebrate him this weekend at Cara’s baby shower!  It was a blast…we shared great food and cake, made onesies, created scrapbook pages, and watched Cara open lots of wonderful gifts.  I’m wishing her an easy and safe labor and delivery!
2. I’m thankful for my cats.  We found a mouse in our house this weekend, and ever since, Eva and Revolver Ocelot have been busy tracking it down!  Thank goodness for my kitties!
3. I’m thankful for a very helpful mother-in-law and father-in-law who helped us do some work on our condo this weekend and have provided endless advice on our renovations.
4. I’m grateful for all of the men and women out there who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for this country’s freedom, especially those who have given their lives or become disabled while in service.  Ben and I ran the 4 the Wounded 5K on Saturday morning to support the cause to help our wounded service men and women.  I’m also thankful to my work for providing me with a free entry to the race.
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for the opportunity to see alot of family this coming weekend.

Have a great day!

Back around Easter, Ben’s mom decided to buy some chicks.  As a 4th grade teacher, she had hatched many eggs in her classroom over the years and then brought the chicks home to raise as pets.  These are the first set of chickens that she has raised in a long time and we have all been eager for them to start laying eggs.

There are 3 roosters, Big Red (the alpha male), Roger, and Adam (he was originally Ms. Pretty until we discovered he was a male).  The 3 hens are named Briana, Evi II (aka Evi 2 or Evi Too named after our cat Eva who we call Evi), and Henna.

Sunday, when we were visiting Ben’s mom, we discovered that one or more of the hens had laid their first eggs.  We found four eggs spread out in various spots between their hen house where they sleep and the fenced-in area where they eat and roost underneath an old Concord grape vine.  Unfortunately, before we were able to get to the fourth egg, the chickens all pecked it and devoured it.  That seemed like strange behavior to me, but I’m sure it’s not the first time it has happened in the history of the world.

Two of the first eggs laid by the Davidson chickens. We assume they came from different hens since they are different colors.

The chickens gathered together possibly hoping for us to give them food.

It’s been really cool watching them grow and mature over the past few months.  I remember how exciting it was the first couple of times we heard Big Red crow!  And I learned that roosters will crow at any time of the day, not just in the mornings.  I’m looking forward to lots of eggs from these beautiful birds!

A couple of roosters posing for the camera.

Looking for food

Underneath the grape vine

Beautiful Rhode Island Reds!

Big Red and his beautiful iridescent green tail feathers!

Roaming the garden

Almost every night, our cat Eva brings one of her toy mice to bed when she comes to join us.  Like a child needing their stuffed animal to fall asleep, Eva needs one of her mice before she can settle in for the night.  Ben and I will often wake up in the morning to find a mouse or two (and sometimes a q-tip) in the bed with us.

Last night, after Eva jumped into bed with her stuffed mouse that is pretty unrecognizable at this point, a scary thought struck me.  When we eventually have a house, where our cats may from time to time go outside, what if Eva finds a real mouse and brings that to bed?  I mentioned this to Ben and he replied that he’d heard of cats doing this before.  All I know is if I wake up with a real mouse in bed with me, dead or alive, I’m going to freak out!

I survived the Great Snowpocalypse of 2009…and so did my cats!

Ben took this awesome picture of the cats with his phone.

Revolver Ocelot was in mid-yawn, but he looks like he’s doing the “Wuzzzzzzzzzz Up” from Scary Movie.

This is Eva as a kitten discovering the other species that shares our home. It wasn’t long before she figured out how to find her way to the top. Now the goal is to find her way in. Hopefully that won’t happen for Shadow’s sake.