Snake season

One thing I dislike about living in the country is there are alot of snakes, most of which we don't see thankfully!  However, today they have been out and about which I have NOT liked!

This morning, we saw this little guy on our driveway.  Karis yells at me while hanging her head over him, "MOM!  Come look at this snake!  It's alive and it's tongue is sticking out at me!"  So I come thinking, it must be half dead or something.  OH NO!  REALLY ALIVE!  I scream, "GET BACK!!!"  Then I snapped a picture and off he slithers!  It was small, but not so sure it wasn't a copperhead?!?!  AAAHHHHHHH!

Then this afternoon the kids were out jumping on the trampoline when they come in screaming, "MOM!!! There is a HUGE snake and I mean HUGE!" So on my way out the door I grab my camera, of course, as I run out the door.  If I can't kill it, I at least want to know what kind it is!  The big shed was locked so I couldn't get inside to get a shovel, so I put my big panties on and starting beating it with a bat!  It coiled up and started hissing at me, mouth wide open.  I surrendered!

Then he found a hole in the side of the shed and escaped.  EEEWWWWWW!  Mr. Joe, our new friend that works on the grounds has been looking for it but hasn't found it yet.  Hopefully at least I injured him and he will die in that hole!

Photos courtesy of Karis as I beat the snake.  Like momma, like daughter!

I will probably be a snake pro by the end of the summer! 

Or maybe not...but I sure will have a lot of pictures of them!!!

Here are some links to other snakes we have found on our property in the past 5+ years we have lived here...pet grass snake here, another dead one found just 2 weeks ago here,  5 ft. snake here, and this rattlesnake and water moccasin...

Random Monday

My post today is all over the place so excuse me from the beginning.  This morning we woke up to seeing this out our kitchen window in the tree....

Look closer....

This is the best pic I could get of it but it was a HUGE owl!  I kept seeing something moving in the tree and thought it was a cat or raccoon and then realized what it was.  It kept turning it's head and it's eyes were HUGE!  The kids loved seeing it and we even got to see it fly off.  It was so neat.

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Brayden did NOT have a good day today.  I think it was a combination of his allergies, asthma and lack of sleep.  But tonight when Jay was talking to him about his bad choices today, he said something really funny.

Jay:  "Brayden why did you have such a bad day today?"

Brayden:  "They were just being wild and acting up!"

Jay: "They who?  WHO was acting up?"

Brayden:  "My ALLERGIES dad!  They were just acting bad."

Yes he is talking about his allergies like they are people.  Those darn allergies...he blames them every time.  He is one smart fella!  haha And no, we didn't believe that excuse.  Try again son!

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When I went to get Lucy up from her nap today this is what I saw when I opened up the door....

She had her shirt up over her neck!  I have no idea how this happened!!!

"WHOA!  What happened here???"

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Last week my computer crashed and yes, I lost everything.  The only thing I am upset about are the pics...about 3,000 of them.  However you all know I take lots of pics so those are just from the summer.  I do have them however on Facebook and the blog they are just not as easily accessible.  We had to replace the hard drive and I got my computer back today. So tonight I have been trying to get all my stuff on my computer back in order...pain!

PLEASE back up your computers!!!  I know I will from now on!  The sad thing was that I was just thinking last week I needed to back them up to our external hard drive, but I put it off and now I am paying for it!  UGH!

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And last but not least, my mom posted a new blog today about how she and my dad got their "grandparent" names Lolli and Pop!  Go HERE to see it!

Fish, swimming and Huck Finn

***I saved this as a draft a couple of weeks ago (July 26) and just realized I never posted it.  But I wanted to post it even if it is old.  It is dated back to the original date.

Jay went fishing with his friend John this morning and check out this fish they caught!!!  It was probably 8-10 lbs. and 2-3 feet long (per Jay).  It was massive!

In this pic, I had Jay touch it's tail to the ground and it came up past his knee!

They caught alot of brim too.

Partying with the popcorn....

And then I caught Lucy cleaning it up herself...

I kept Axton today so we all went swimming.  They loved the floats today and I was excited about that.  It made my job alot easier!  :)

Mari-Morgan and Nathan came too...

It's a train...

Brayden came down dressed in these overalls which are WAY too small.  We rolled them up and he looked like Huck Finn.

He's Baaaaack!

Our BIG snake that we have seen outside the house (but can't catch) left his mark this morning.  We woke up to this snake skin near his "home."  Do you see it?

        

Closer look....

Ewwwwww!

Creatures big and small...

We have had a momma bird make nests in our garage for several years in a row.  It happens to be in the same area so we are wondering if it is the same bird?  Don't know but they are so cute.  Momma bird is a good momma...she is busy all day long bringing things in to make the nest and lately, bringing food to her babies.  When she flies into the garage, you can hear them start chirping.  It is so sweet!

        

This one...not so sweet!

Jay called me from outside the house the other day and said you need to bring the kids out in front of our house by the big tree.  There we found this....

Jay killed it with a hoe and it was dead when I took this picture.  I wouldn't dare get this near it if it were alive!  He says it wasn't poisonous but I don't care whether it was or not...it is still disgusting!  But it does  have a pretty skin don't ya think?  Ok maybe that's pushing it.   

They are all God's creatures, big or small.  Sweet...or not.