Okay, I lied.
More baby birds. This time, I got video of mom feeding her babies.
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Growing up!
I know y’all are getting bored with my bird photos, but our baby birdies that live right outside our door are growing like weeds! But cute weeds. 
Photo of birds in nest
Today, I took this photo of the barn swallows we have living outside our front door (click to enlarge): Read the rest of this entry »
Our baby birds have hatched!
The barn swallows that have built a nest right outside our front door have new babies! It’s been a great science lesson for the kids. Although, Mikaela saw the baby bird and said “she eyes are broken.” 
Photos: Read the rest of this entry »
Self-sufficiency
I’ve recently started reading about self-sufficiency or sustainable living, a concept similar to/also known as living off the land, living off-grid, green living, living simple, homesteading and permaculture.
Some pages I ran across that explain some of these concepts:
Another Site on Self-Sufficiency
This is by no means a comprehensive list … but you get the general idea.
It seems like a lot of people involved in this type of lifestyle are … honestly, either paranoid anti-government types or extreme earth-worshippers who are mainly concerned with reducing their carbon footprint. I am neither, but the more I read, the more interested I am. I don’t think this is anything we could pull off soon, and I might be more apt to have a more modern home (as opposed to building your own) with things like solar panels and windmills to power it, which I know are expensive. But honestly, I try not to be paranoid, but it’s always nice to plan ahead for your family’s future. There’s a lot of “what-ifs” I could go through, but basically, the bottom line is, how bad of an idea could being self-sufficient (even just somewhat) actually be?
Whether or not you have a “green” bone in your body, I’m sure we can all do more to reduce waste and slow the rampant pollution of the planet we call “home.” After all, God gave us the earth and I’m sure he didn’t mean for us to be careless with it.
I don’t know if we’ll ever actually do anything as drastic as those Web sites above … what an adventure that would be, huh? This all reminds me of “The Farm” in Tennessee. I took a class with a guy who’d grown up on The Farm, and he was really interesting.
Bluebonnet photos 2008
Taking photos of your children sitting in the bluebonnets is a time-honored central Texas tradition. We’ve done it every year since we moved here. This years’ were a little bit better than last year’s …. but I guess they would have been better if the kids weren’t squinting from the sun’s glare.
What kind of bird is this?
Bird in driveway next door 1/08
Originally uploaded by jayandmelanie1978.
I saw this bird in the driveway next door to our house. I thought it was a beautiful bird, but I don’t know what kind of bird it is. I swear, I thought it was a sandpiper when I first saw it, but we’re not exactly near any large bodies of water. I thought I’d post this and see if anyone knew what kind of bird this was.
Zoo
This is from our zoo trip last Saturday.
Unwanted Houseguests
During the last few weeks, we’ve had a lizard infestation. I know they’re not poisonous or anything, but I would prefer they stay outside and not underfoot in my home!
Critters
Tonight Jay and I were out back in the hammock, looking at the stars above. I heard a noise to my left, and turned to see a ‘possum walking along the fence-top like a tightrope. Jay told me not to worry, that it was probably just a cat. And I said, ‘no, it’s a possum! I’m sure! It had a long, skinny, pointy tail.’ I hopped out of the hammock and ran inside.
Jay went to investigate, confirming my suspicions. He scared it off, coming back inside the house and snickering at me for being such a city-slicker.
I don’t care. ‘Possums look too much like rats… I don’t want anything to do with them.
We sure do have lots of varmints ’round these parts. You’d think we lived in the middle of a forest.
Leezard
This little fella was outside our front door tonight, clinging to a small plant. We sure do have a lot of lizards ’round these parts!
Well, at least the flowers looked pretty…
I tried to get pictures of the kids in a field of bluebonnets this weekend, to no avail. It was windy out, so Mikaela kept having to brush her hair out of her eyes. And Gabriel wouldn’t look up at me because the sun was in his eyes. This is what all of the photos look like:
Somebody get me a BB gun
I love the great outdoors … to a point.
One example? This obnoxiously happy songbird that sings melodies into the wee hours. Like right now.
That song is so beautiful! Now shaddup so I can sleep!
