I'll get my OWN birthday gift....

I'm thinking this is what Trae said to himself, once he saw that we didn't get him a birthday gift a couple days ago.

As I was on my way out the door to run errands today, my mother in law stops me and asks me to come look at something. We get to the deck door and find this...

Do you see it? Go ahead...try and look a little closer. Still can't see it? Ok, how bout this one...

Me and mom, for the life of us, couldn't figure out how this little guy climbed up a flight of 16 stairs. I thought I'd better take a picture of him, just in case he decided that getting back down was even more of a challenge, and decided to jump for it :-). Also, I wanted to show Jayla when she got home from school.

Mom told me that Trae wanted a closer look at this little shelled creature and almost got his nose snipped :-). So she made him go back in the house and started having a little conversation with the little guy...yes, my MIL was talking to a turtle (that she didn't even know, mind you!)

I went ahead and left for my errands. While driving, hubby called me so I told him about our new pet. After trying to figure out where the little fella came from, it became very clear that Trae must've found him. Now, as I mentioned in Trae's birthday post, the ole boy weighs in at 71 pounds. And with that size, comes a big mouth. He can actually pick up a soccer ball and carry it around the yard...it's true, I've seen him do it! So now it's all becoming a bit clearer. Trae found this new "toy" in the yard and brought it up on the deck so my MIL would have someone to talk to. Ok, that's a stretch. But he DID bring it up there. Can you imagine the look on that turtle's face? LOL

Later in the day, on one of Trae's many visits to the backyard, my MIL told him to pick up the turtle...which he did, and to take it back where he got it from...which he did. He's such a smart boy. Now you'll all be glad to know that no turtles were harmed...scared to death, but not harmed.

Maybe it's for the best that he went back into the woods. I mean, I sure don't need someone living with me who's camera shy! lol

We've got guests...

Now those who know me know that I'm not much of an outdoorsy type person. Nor do I like "uninvited" guests on my deck or in my yard....more specifically, things like bugs, spiders, bees or possums, etc. Note: I DO, however, realize that some of the aforementioned visitors are just part of life, so to speak...they are GONNA be around. And believe it or not, I'm ok with that...as long as I am inside and they are OUTside :-).

But today, we had some outside guests come and visit and we actually invited them. Jayla has been worrying me to death about getting a hummingbird feeder. We've had one for quite some time, but I never put it out. When it was given to us, it also included a box of the nector mix. But to make a long story short...our sweet little doggie, Trae, got into that box one day. He was less than 6 months old when he stumbled upon this sweet delicacy. And needless to say, his little snout was bright red and he was bouncing off the walls!!! I guess sugar has the same affect on dogs as it does kids.

ANYWAY...back to the topic at hand. Jayla asked for a feeder about a week ago while we were out shopping. Fortunately, I didn't buy one because I remembered that I still may have one laying around. I found it and in turn, found a recipe for the nector. I bought a little hook for it and put it out on our deck about 2 days ago. And today, we had some little visitors. They are amazing. Take a look....

Aren't they cute? Jayla was SO excited! She kept asking me what time they'd be back, cuz they had bunches of water to drink before darktime :-). I told her that he was going to tell his friends about what he'd found and that he'd be back later.

Welcome visitors!!