Chronicles of the snake hunter

No, the snakes haven't eaten me yet. I haven't been hunting again yet, either, though. I decided to take Peyton to the park the next day instead. It was a cool, overcast day and perfect for the snakes to be on the move. And it occured to me that I might uncover a nest with many, many snakes and I don't want them to be moving very quickly when I do. I'm planning to hunt the first warm day we have. We should have two pretty chilly days when they should get good and cold and good and slow moving!
I do feel that I should clarify one point on the snakes, though. These are tiny little pencil sized snakes. So small, in fact, that one got in under my sliding glass door! They're about a foot long but very, very thin. The way I talk about them I'm afraid I've given the impression that they are much more anaconda-like. They only exist that way in my head! For most people they wouldn't be much of a problem but I really, truly hate snakes and now that they've invaded my house, well, they all must die! Or go away on their own. I'd be completely happy with that scenario. Oh, and no, I don't buy into the 'they were here first' thing. Nope- I was here 4 years ago and I haven't seen one until now. All of these houses have been here for 25 years. They are definitely on my turf now. And, yes, I know they can be good for the garden. But I can deal with garden pests myself. Walmart has an entire section dedicated to helping me with that chore. And not one snake is on those shelves!

Miniature Farm Update

Well the farm is off to a great start! I have 5 itty bitty corn sprouts- the tops look like they could have teeny ears of corn in them, 12 thriving tomato plants and 12ish thriving lettuce plants. The bell peppers have yet to sprout. I dont know why. Tonight Brandon and Ryan and Peyton and I selected the rest of our crop. We now have three varieties of peppers (in addition to the lazy bell peppers), cilantro, parsley, congo watermelon (which is ready to eat in the middle of the summer), sugar baby watermelon (which is ready to eat in the beginning of the summer)... when I asked Brandon which he wanted, he said 'its our garden, why can't we have watermelon all summer?' ... good point... big, 2 pounder yellow onions, dwarf impatiens, giant zinnias, regular size petunias, and sweet pea.
After I very carefully and lovingly planted all of these seeds (12 pods each for all of the new seeds), I realized that they all have different transplant dates. Some need to go outside after 4 weeks, some after 6 weeks, some 8 and some 10. Some I actually could have spread on top of the soil right now and they promise they will grow. Thats the new ones. The ones that have already sprouted may need to go out in a couple of weeks. Oops!! Im sure I'll figure something out but I might have had a different planting strategy if I had read earlier. Oh well! The biggest problem is that I have absolutely no garden to move them to. I was originally going to just use my big pots but I now have the potential for 181 little plants! But Brandon has already volunteered to make a garden- and a grand garden I'm sure he has planned! Except that he didnt realize that his buddy Ryan who has helped him build the shed and renovate the garage, would be gone exactly six weeks starting tomorrow! We'll get it done and we'll enjoy the work but I know he was really counting on Ryan's help on this project! The other problem is the snakes. Only three have been eradicated so far. I stupidly looked up the number of garden snakes in a litter.... there can be up to 75!!!! Oh how dumb I was for going after that answer! I was hoping for more like ... three.
Stay tuned for more on my new babies!

Miniature Snake Hunter

So who would've called it? I'm growing 16 different species of flora (oh yes, I said species of flora) in my kitchen and today I became an official snake hunter. The 16 species of flora will be detailed in another story. This one is just for the snake hunting saga. Today I was raking the leaves and debris from the front yard as I have done every week for the past three weeks. Our house is one of the two on our block that seem to collect all of the leaves, snow or trash that is blowing around. Today was the first calm day in a long time and it was nice not to have all of the leaves blow back in my face when I tried to put them in the trash can. I have been motivated to clear out all of the debris by a number of factors, not the least of which is I know snakes love to live under the leaf piles and we've had two in the house so far. I was very aware that I might uncover a snake and actually was counting on it. Afterall, the whole point was to find and destroy, right? Well I got all of the leaves pulled out from the front bushes up next to the house which just happened to be one trashcan full and had decided to call it a day. I was ready for lunch and Peyton was bored of playing in the front yard so we were putting everything away for the day when I decided to move a heap of leaves from one side of the driveway to the other. (It wouldn't fit in the trashcan so it would have to wait until next week) It was piled up in a corner of the driveway in front of the garage door and I thought I should probably get it away from the house just in case something was living under there. Well there were my snakes! I saw one- which I would have sworn was the one we killed a couple of weeks ago! So I lopped its head off with the metal rake I was using. I made a phone call to Brandon and another to Kathy to congratulate myself on my accomplishment- I had conquered one of my biggest fears, afterall, and Peyton didn't seem to be giving me the accolades I deserved! I really don't know what I was doing when I found the other one. I was off the phone and I think just going over to see if my job had really been done- the body was still squirming around when last I checked, when I saw another, bigger one. It was maybe 1/2 again as big as the first one and I didnt know if I could behead it with the rake. So very calmly, Peyton and I went and got the shovel from the backyard where it has been serving duty as a pooper scooper. I had Peyton sit down away from me and I went to work on snake number two. It took longer to quit squirming- in fact I just figured it was done for and went inside. I didnt see any others but then, I think I was actually standing on the crack in the driveway where number two was hiding when I killed number one. So now I'm pretty sure a litter of eggs hatched in my front flower bed under that big bush. It didn't occur to me until I was putting Peyton to bed tonight that his stroller had been sitting in the middle of those leaves for two days! We went for a walk with the stroller just before I moved those leaves! Oh the thought of a snake in that stroller....!!! They're just garden snakes and I"m told they are good to have around but they just can't be coming in my house!! Well thats it for my rant today. Tomorrow's another warm hunting day! Kathy's text message says it all... yee haw!!

Peyton's very first ice cream cone, courtesy of Aunt Kristine. He refused to eat from my spoon after that!

Peyton at his friend Esther's house. Daddy is proud of him for being interested in the piano but I think there are seriously mixed feelings about a PINK BARBIE piano!!! (Ok maybe they're not all that mixed!)

February Update

Peyton turns 19 months old this weekend! And he's rapidly on his way to the terrible twos! Normally he is a pleasure to be around but several times a day he is bound to get frustrated with whatever is (or is not) going on and let you know about it! Usually, though, he is a loveable kid! He loves to give hugs and kisses and waves at anyone entering or exiting the room. He even gives the dogs a hug every now and then. Many times I've looked over and seen him sitting on Atlas' back watching tv! Atlas never seems to mind, though. In fact, I think the dogs are happy to have him around most of the time. I have to be sure the back door is locked at all times because Peyton will open it to let the dogs in when he thinks they're ready to come in. One day he decided to trade places with them. He went out and shut the door behind him!

Brandon started working at the Earls Rib Palace in Moore last week. Moore is a suburb on the south side of Oklahoma City. Its certainly a change but he likes it. He is doing essentially the same job there that he did in Edmond. It's a larger restaurant and, so far, has been more busy. The new job came with a new schedule that is taking some time to get used to but is really a great schedule. We see him a little more often this way so that's great! He still does deliveries out of Edmond so he gets to see his buddies every now and then.

I'm meeting with new and existing clients all the time and filling up Brandon's free time with babysitting! My first wedding will be the first Saturday in March and my spring and summer should be busy from there on out. I've started a little garden in my kitchen that keeps me occupied when I should probably be doing something else. I'm really enjoying watching the seeds sprout! So far we have tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce and corn sprouting. When they're ready I'll move them to a garden in the yard... that has yet to be prepared! I think we'll probably add a few more things to the garden, too. It should be a fun project, I think!

I hope all is well with everyone! Write when you can!

We're growing our own!

Vegetables, that is! I've decided to become a miniature farmer. Miniature refers to the farm- not me! Right now the entire farm is located on my kitchen counter. I've planted seeds in peat pods and some are beginning to sprout. I have 12 teeny little tomato plants, 14 soon to be bell pepper plants, 7 soon to be lettuce plants and 5 soon to be corn plants. The 'soon to be's were just planted today so they haven't sprouted yet. The tomatoes are a week old and I already have some really strong sprouts. Some haven't peeked out yet but I've really enjoyed watching them grow this week! I really better get started on their permanent home in the yard. Brandon became inspired today when he realized how much money we'd save on produce and we're supposed to go pick up some more seeds tomorrow. I also decided I'd try to grow the flowers we'll put out front, too. My miniature farm is rapidly expanding... It should be a fun spring and summer project, though. And if you live anywhere close to me- I'll probably be calling you to unload some of this produce if it works out!

Snow Stomping

Beware, its a long video!

Peyton playing on the computer

Peyton Pictures

Here are some of the latest Peyton pictures. Enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=vhoov5i.3yu843lm&x=0&y=myv6dq&localeid=en_US

Tell me how you really feel, Peyton!

I thought I'd record Peyton's new words with everyone while I had him captured in the tub... he had other ideas...

Welcome to our new blog!

I'm hoping to replace the monthly email updates with monthly blog updates. I'll probably send an email letting everyone know a new post is up but I'll keep the content on here. You can follow to this blog, though, by clicking the link to the right. I think that will alert you everytime we have a new post. If I see that you have subscribed, I'll probably take you off the email list. I'm still very new to this whole blog thing so you'll have to bear with me while I figure everything out!

January 09

I can't believe another month has passed already! Peyton turned 18 months old this week! We all survived the holidays and are back to life as usual, whatever that is! Peyton had a terrible stomach virus the week between Christmas and New Years but he got over that and is now on to a mild cold! It hasn't slowed him down yet, though! Lately his favorite thing is getting the dogs to chase him around the house! He's pretty good at it, too! He throws cheerios at the dogs and then starts running around. Of course they follow him and the game usually ends with the dogs licking him in thanks and Peyton giggling so hard he can hardly stand up! I haven't been able to capture it on video yet but I picked up on what he was about to do and got a few pictures. I think they have all adopted each other. This past week Peyton learned to climb onto the couch which has been the dogs' domain for the past 4 years. I watched for some territorial issues but I think he's one of them now....

Brandon is very sad about the football season drawing to a close. I keep reminding him, though, that golf season is always right behind football season! He's been going to the gym a lot and is really enjoying that (most days).

I've begun working on filling my 2009 calendar with weddings. Lots of people got engaged over the holidays and thats good news for me!!

The weather has been reminding us where we live this week! Yesterday it was 75 degrees (maybe higher) so Kristine and Peyton and I went to the park- along with all the other moms in Edmond and their kids! We had a really good time playing. I included some of the pictures in the slideshow. Today it was miserably windy and cold. The high tomorrow is 36 and we might get ice on Monday! I'm glad we got the nice day in, though! Peyton had a blast!!

I hope you're all having a great January! Keep in touch!

Here is the link to this month's photos. Enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=vhoov5i.80y94ube&x=0&y=jz93qo&localeid=en_US