Birdie graduation day

......Put your right foot out....put your right foot in.......do the hokey pokey.........
Somebody's always lookin' at me..

The chicks were finally big enough to put outside. We put them in the new coop in a large wooden box with hay on the floor. We carried them out one by one....some of them cheeped so loud, I felt like Hitler...but they seem to like their new home. They will stay there for several weeks until they get the rest of their feathers and then they will be transfered again to a larger pen away from the larger chickens. So today was graduation day, and now it is so quiet in the house. Shelley asked me if we sang "Pomp and Circumstance" while we were carrying them outside...ha she is so funny...wish I would have thought of that...

Wish I was putting in a jaccuzi.....but no, it's a new chicken coop.

Pictures of what will be my garden....

Believe it or not, there are already many things planted here...blueberries, strawberries, head lettuce, broccoli, brussels sprouts, red and green cabbage, a few tomatoes, and several rows of potatoes. Also some seeds: marigold, peas, carrots, and spinach. There was a drenching rain the same day I planted the seeds, so they may have been washed away. I will just have to wait and see.
Mortage lifter tomato.
Head lettuce.
Red cabbage
Strawberries
My greenhouse full of tomatoes, peppers and lettuce. I love my little greenhouse.

Glenn Miller Night

Since Mother's Day is coming soon, I took the moms to the Rosebud Theater in Effingham, IL to see the world renowned Glenn Miller Orchestra. They played all of the oldies from that era and we enjoyed the evening so much. We had a sandwich at Arby's first, and also my friend, Eve works at the theater and she came to chat for a bit. We had a wonderful time.

Morel mushrooms in my back yard

Bill was mowing the grass and spied some mushrooms in our backyard..

They were by this interesting vine growing out of the tree, and some were on the other side of the yard.
We found about 12 in all.
Bill had already found some and had given them to his mom, so she came over and picked what we found to add to them.

They will be yummy, I'm sure.

I-64 bridge beams leave Salem, IL

Bill helped build these beams at Egyptian Concrete in Salem, IL, so we got up early and went to McDonalds for coffee and that is where this video was taken from. The beams are on their way to St. Louis, MO. It's pretty amazing that such large beams can be transported by truck.

Grandpa Bill meets Lucas

Grandpa Bill finally gets to meet Lucas, and after we got home said that he was the best little baby he has ever seen.
First, Garret was checking out grandpas mustache and then his jacket.
Great Grandma, also, finally gets to hold her new great grand son, for the first time.
Mommy and Lucas.
and, of course, I had to get my turn at holding him too.
Let's not forget about Garret, who never wants his picture taken, so Shelley was tormenting him to get him to smile.......we got a quick one, and then................................

he was back to acting like the crazy little person he is.....lol. We love him so much though, and SOMEDAY he will be glad we chased him through the house with the camera and got these pictures.

The australorps are here!!

We got some new baby chicks today, they are black australorps and are only a few weeks old. We had to buy 25, but we sold half of them to Bill's cousin. Here are a couple of pix.

Meeting old friends

After the Red Hat meeting Bill and I went to Effingham to buy groceries. First we ate at Ruby Tuesday's, the food was delicious. We went into Aldi's and there in front of us were Bob and Linda Haney. I hadn't seen them for a long time. Linda has MS and is in a walker or wheel chair most of the time now. Bob gets her out of the house though, and out to dinner and she goes to hear him and their daughter, Laura sing their wonderful gospel songs. Bob can sure play that piano, I used to sing with him too, years ago. They told us they were going to Neimergs's to have supper, so after we bought our groceries, we went there and found them in the huge crowd that was dining there. We just had some coffee, but it was wonderful visiting with them. We have been friends since Jr. High School, so it was a very special evening.

Red Hat ladies Crazy Easter Hat contest.

Snow on the appleblossoms and a robin on the satellite dish

This little robin was building her nest on the satellite dish today and while this was happening.......(see next photo)
It started to snow like crazy all over the trees that had blossomed out.....and in the meantime....

inside the greenhouse my seedlings await.........

Halterman's Best Blackberry wine...it's mighty fine!

So it took me 6 weeks to make this wine from blackberries frozen from last year's harvest, but I have to tell you it is delish! I can't wait to try it with blueberries and strawberries! However, the alcohol content must be 20 proof! Best served with FOOD!

More baby pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Shelley and Lucas
Aunt Christine and Lucas

Of course, we had to have a photo shoot....

So Precious.........
I love the reflection of the rose on his face...same roses as last week, they've seen better days.
Big brother, Garret, giving Lucas a kiss on the head...
I'm sure he will think we are lame someday with the rosebuds and all...

Garret helped me with the dishes while I was there, he actually scrubs the dishes, instead of just playing with the soap.
Garret and I had a good time, watching CARS, WALL-E and Sponge Bob, although a little sponge Bob goes a long way with me....
Aw, mom and her new baby...
We had lots of fun just moving him around on the blanket and pillows...


We gave Garret a chance to pose on the blankets too, he wasn't really into it....heee!

The Story of the Orange Car
Tuesday Shelley and I went to Walmart to get a few things, and to make some prints of pictures of Lucas for Cary to take with him to work. So, we took Garret along, since we decided he was probably tired of looking at he four walls and was running around like a crazy goon. Cary had smashed Garret's Flo car from the Cars movie and he kept wanting everyone to fix it. So we tried to find him a new one, but Walmart was out of Flo. We handed him a few things and he kept throwing everything in the cart. Shelley took out everything but some matchbox race cars, and a single blue race car. One thing that she put back was the orange car in the picture above. When we got home he kept asking for the orange car, wanted me to look in my car. For two days he kept asking for the orange car. It was so weird that he remembered it, it was only in his possession for a few seconds. He kept harping on it, so Shelley finally gave in and went back to Walmart and got it for him.....persistence is key to getting what you want. He's only three, but he already figured that one out...