Merry Christmas! (a few days late)

All the "cousins" on my side of the family
(Sara, Ashley, John, Nathan Horn and Luke, Hannah, Andrew Robey)

Well, it's a few days late in coming, but Merry Christmas! Here's what we've been up to.

We left for Indiana and it was not under the best circumstances. However, God was in control and made things smooth sailing. First, Chris and I got some sort of short lived stomach bug the night before we were to hit the road. Thankfully, the kids did not get it and we recovered in a few days. Second, the forecast was for freezing rain from our house to Indiana - ugh! We headed out a bit later than anticipated despite the forecast. There was ice on the fields and even our windshield wipers, but not on the roads. It didn't take us long to get ahead of the weather and we didn't have any problems traveling. What an answer to prayer.

The next day we arrived in Indiana to one C-O-L-D weekend. It didn't take away from the welcome we got from our friends in Indianapolis. It was a refreshment to our souls to be able to see so many people, attend our home church and have meaningful fellowship with several of our friends.


Then, it was on to my parents. On Christmas eve, we visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum. If you're ever in the Indy are, I would highly recommend it. We'd been there before and it was even better than our last visit. We then ended the day with a Christmas eve service at church.We had a low key Christmas day and then the following day all of Luke, Hannah and Andrew's cousins arrived. They have had a great time just running around with others their own age and learning new tricks :)

We are currently enjoying time with my family and look forward to visiting with Chris's parents next week.

There are so many highlights, but here are a few.

- We let our kids open one Christmas gift before we left our home and then they got to open one gift on Christmas day. Before we opened all the gifts the next evening, Luke was asking if he could just open "one gift". I think he loved opening more than just one. He has even more to look forward to when he gets to open the rest of our gifts at home.
- Singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and having some birthday cake for Him.
- Luke and Hannah enjoying their first carousel ride at the Children's Museum
- Playing with so many friends and enjoying all of their trucks (that would be Luke's favorite)
- Andrew sitting up for over an hour while we opened Christmas gifts. He loved playing/chewing the ribbon on his gift and just watching all the other activities of the evening.
- Playing outside when the temperature reached a rare 60+ degree day
- Just having everyone together for the first time in three years. What a special and treasured time!

Captain Robey

Four years ago today Chris became an Air Force officer. In some ways it doesn't seem like it's been that long, but in other ways that it seems like we've done quite a bit since then. We've done things like have three kids and move four times. I guess that would make time fly.

Anyway, I just wanted to brag on my husband for a minute. He was promoted to Captain today from his Lieutenant status and I'm so happy for him. First, "Captain" is much easier to spell. Second, he's worked hard and is continually gaining experience. It's nice to see it all paying off. Well done, Captain Robey!

Random Observations of Today

Thought you might enjoy some events from our home today - random of course!

- Luke put his own pants on this morning - backwards. I let him wear them that way. Can they really be that comfortable?!
- When your 3 years old and dying to open Christmas presents, but not allowed to touch them, you go around smelling them. According to Luke, they smell like toys :)
- Hannah was ecstatic when her very special "babies" finished their bath (they definitely needed to be washed, but finding the perfect time is a bit tricky - she uses them when she's sleeping, but she knows when they are missing when she's awake.)
- Andrew loved the toy piano Luke gave him to play with this afternoon along with the kids' nativity scene that plays "Away In the Manger". Maybe he's my musician.
- When you're in trouble, just say "yes, ma'am". However, Luke learned today that this needs to be said after I have given the reprimand/instruction not before. He isn't really a mind reader.

Our Driveway

Well, I never thought our driveway would be newsworthy enough to get a spot here on our blog, but here it is. Maybe by the time I'm finished, you'll still think it wasn't too newsworthy.

Anyway, our driveway is one thing about our house that I don't really like and basically it's because it has a steep grade of maybe 15 percent. We have to be careful when pulling our vehicles in and out. Plus, it makes me nervous to have the kids have anything with wheels near it (thankfully we live on a cul-de-sac so it's not too busy). That's not to mention the treacherous slope that is created in winter weather. This week has been our first experience with this, but we were wondering this from the beginning. To make matters worse, the front of our home faces north and the driveway essentially gets no sunshine to help melt the snow or ice off of it.

I think my wonderful husband will be spending some time this winter on that patch of cement making it passable for our vehicles. Today, we had a special treat, though, when one of our neighbors came over and plowed the big stuff away. We were thankful for that, but Chris still had to spend some time getting the remains off and the additional snow that fell after it was plowed.

So, our winter adventure begins here on the "Robey slope".

Andrew's Newest Accomplishment

After dinner, Luke sometimes likes turning out all of the other lights except the Christmas tree lights and enjoying the ambiance - at least as much as a three year old can enjoy it. It usually includes running laps around our staircase with Hannah in tow.

Anyway, tonight, I set Andrew in front of their Little People nativity. He was quite entertained and I thought you might enjoy a few seconds of our evening.

Mystery Plane

We now live in the air capitol of the US as there are several large airline companies that have offices or factories here such as Boeing, AirBus, Cessna and Beechcraft just to name a few. That is all in addition to the Air Force base so needless to say we have quite a few winged engines above our heads. Plus being married to a pilot, we are often observant as to what is flying around.

Anyway, several weeks ago, as I left our subdivision, I noticed a huge plane with a unique shape. I had no idea what it was, but thought it had landed at the base. So, when I explained it to Chris, he had no idea what I was talking about because there are no military planes that look like this one. I thought it was going to remain an unknown. So, today, as we were driving, Hannah spotted "a been". When I looked to see what she was referring to, I discovered that it was the mystery plane. So, I took copious mental notes to redescribe it to my dear husband. I didn't really have any new info from the last time except for the first word in the writing on it (the sun was hitting the last part badly). When Chris got home for lunch, I was telling him about it again. Then, he went and looked it up and found what it was. It's a plane that Boeing built to transport parts for airplanes that have yet to be manufactured.

Now, aren't you glad that you learned about the Dream Lifter in case it comes to an airport near you :)

Lots and Lots of Snow Outside

Lots and lots of snow outside was Luke's summary of getting to play outside. He loved it. We let Luke and Hannah go outside today after lunch and right before naps. I didn't think they would want to stay out long. It was COLD and very windy with plummeting temperatures. I had been out running errands as the snow moved in and the road conditions were really deteriorating. However, I thought the kids would be just fine outside. After bundling them up in their very warmest clothing, they headed out. Hannah didn't last long. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I think she took her gloves off and got into the snow. Yes, she came in crying and with very cold hands (she got sick just a few minutes later so I don't think she felt well either). Luke was the trooper, though. He spent nearly a half hour navigating his car around the yard. He did stick pretty close to the house, though, because it was blocking the wind quite well. Chris took him to the store later this afternoon and he said Luke was just staring the whole time. He told me when I said goodnight that he wanted more and more snow. He might be a little disappointed because we will be saying good-bye to our 1-2 inches of snow tomorrow.

Just as a side note, it felt great to be back in the midwest, at least on the weather front. Yesterday, it was in the mid-60s here and the kids went out without their coats. It didn't stay that warm for long, but it was definitely fun to get out and enjoy while it lasted. When we lived in Indiana, people often said that if you don't like the weather, just stick around because it will likely change soon - very soon (it went something like that). That's true here as well!

Gingerbread Tree

The other day I picked up a discounted gingerbread tree to do with the kids. I definitely was not up for the challenge of trying to get a house to stand and stay together, but I thought I might be up to the challenge of stacking star gingerbread cookies with icing in between the layers. So, one afternoon when Daddy was gone, we went to work. Both Luke and Hannah got to stir a bit, ice a bit and put the little sugar ornaments on the tree. I'm sure you can guess the best part - licking the utensils. The evidence is all over their faces!

If You Don't Have a Wrench

Luke didn't have a wrench readily available this afternoon so he used the wand that goes into bubbles for his wrench to work on the "bolts" on his Noah's Ark.

Wow, what creativity! I wonder if I was ever that creative at three and if so, what happened to it?!

Just a Little Bit About This Picture

After running around for the past couple of weeks, we're enjoying a rare afternoon of peace and relative quiet at home. That called for a "new toy". This past week we had another one of our home visits from Miss Shelly. She brought this and I thought it was such a great idea that I put one together for Luke and Hannah. It's just simply rice in a reusable container. Hannah can occupy herself for a very, very long time by just using a measuring cup to fill up another measuring cup. Luke, on the other hand, likes to use the funnel and to bury his cars and trucks in the rice. The one down side is that it doesn't always stay in the container - that is the reason for the old tablecloth. Andrew just loves watching. Speaking of Andrew, did you notice he was sitting up in the picture? Honestly, he can't do it for more than 10-20 seconds - just long enough to get a picture of him doing it. He loves to watch them play!

It's Beginning to Feel a Bit More Like Christmas

I am having a horrible time getting myself ready for the Holidays. It just doesn't seem possible that Christmas will be arriving in just a few short weeks. However, a couple of things happened over the weekend that helped.

First (actually last), we woke to a pleasant surprise this morning - a nice dusting of snow. Now, I know some of you have already experienced a few inches and a few other cases, a few feet of snow. This is the first snow, though, that we've had in two years. So, Luke and Hannah were excited this morning - OK, Luke more than Hannah. Since we did live in Georgia for a year, my blood quickly grew thin and so I've probably done a bit of overkill in getting the kids ready to go outside. Hannah could hardly move making her attire look more appropriate for an artic climate rather than the moderate thirties that it actually was (the wind was blowing so it did feel colder than that).

Second, we decorated a small portion of our home for Christmas. Chris went and got the tree out and I just thought he was doing it early. He was actually right on time and we went ahead and decorated it. The kids enjoyed hanging bulbs - mostly in the lower 18 inches of the tree, but it is fine and Chris and I helped to better distribute them as we added more. They also enjoyed playing with the nativity scene that I got for them last year. Luke loved continually pushing the button where the angel sits on the roof because it lights up and plays "Away in the Manger". Hannah carried "Baby Jesus" around just like she did her baby dolls. It's fun to see them grow and learn about what Christmas is really about. However, the world has still reached them. As soon as the tree was up, Luke informed me that I needed to put toys under the tree :)

What I'm Thankful For . . .

Well, there are several things that I'm thankful for, but they are too numerous to list here. However, I did want to take the time to tell you about one of them. I am so thankful that Chris could be home for Thanksgiving this year. This has not been the case for the last two Thanksgivings so it has been quite the treat to have him here. The first one he missed he was at survival training partaking of a wild animal in below zero temperatures on the side of some snow laden mountain somewhere in the western part of the US. Sounds fun?! Then last year he was deployed for Thanksgiving. No snow in the dry, arid dessert he was in, but he did eat quite well. He never complains about the food when he's gone. After his meal, he rested and then completed his annual physical fitness test. Again, not something I would really want to do on Thanksgiving, but he was glad it was done. Yes, his time away was eventful, but we are glad to have him home this time around. We haven't done anything special. We are just enjoying being together!

Thanksgiving Project

Before

Worker Bees

Finished Project

We are blessed this Thanksgiving in a variety of ways, but we are excited to have guests this year. Chris's parents are here for a week and we've put them to work. Today and part of yesterday afternoon, Chris & Al fixed part of our fence. For some reason, one side of our fenced yard was very poorly done. It obviously wasn't straight and it even waved in the ever present Kansas wind. So, Chris & his Dad took it out, repositioned the posts and put it back up. They even had an extra set of hands to help. Luke was very into the project. He loved "measuring". He even dropped the measuring tape into the hole, but refused to stick his hand down the hole to get it. However, the next day, he climbed into one of the holes with only his head sticking out. I think that would have made a great photo, but no pictures were taken of that. I think he also loved the screws they used and whatever other tools were present. He was rather disappointed when he got up from his nap to find out that the fence project was done. I'm sure he will put himself to good use when the next project arises.

Economic Stimulus

Chris and I have been trying to do our part to stimulate the economy. I guess a new home might do that. Anyway, Chris was busy yesterday installing our new dishwasher. I can't tell you how excited I am about it. I guess I didn't know what I was missing until I had something a bit better. It is definitely better than what we grew up with - Mom always doing the dishes by hand. (Thanks, Mom, for always doing them and not making us do them :) It is also worlds better than the dishwasher that we previously had. All of that to say, my dishes are definitely getting clean and I can put so many more in there.

We also got ourselves new mattresses. For some reason, Luke kept saying they were for Hannah, but that is not the case. I'm excited that we can now offer our guests a bed to sleep on. We slept on the mattresses for the first time last night. They will take some getting used to, but I think we're going to like them.

By the way, I'm not sure the economy recognized all the money we spent, but Sears should at least be glad about our purchases.

Finally, the dishwasher box makes a great toy. Who would figure that it could hold one adult and two toddlers. Drew would have also probably even fit!

Our Challenge

We have now been in our new state, new town and new home for about four months now. We enjoy being back in the midwest, but miss so many of you that we've met across the US. For the most part, our transition has been quite smooth. However, we are still struggling to feel settled. Our biggest challenge and the biggest piece in making us feel settled is finding a church. This has been a much bigger struggle than I ever imagined or anticipated it would be. I'm not sure why this has been the case. We have been to eight churches (a few more than once). All of them we have deemed "OK", but nothing has really said this is the right church for the Robey family. I take that back. There is one church that I really liked, but it is a good half hour drive from our home. Anyway, as the weeks pass by, my heart struggles more and more with this and a few tears have been shed over the issue. Sometimes I wonder if our expectations are too high, but I don't think so because we have attended a church that has all that we're looking for: spiritually impacting children's ministry, genuine worship and God's Word spoken directly to our hearts hosted by a welcoming congregation.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and we continue our search!

What We've Been Up To

Well, I'm actually not too sure what we've been up to, but the days seem to fill up and pass by quite quickly. In the last week, we attended Chris's squadron Thanksgiving potluck. It was really nice and very well attended. The kids did great. However, I always find it a bit challenging to get them fed and myself in addition to talking with others and in this case, many that I had not met yet. Anyway, it went fine and we will have to look to the Christmas party to have better opportunities of interacting with others.

When we got home from that, my parents had arrived to visit for a few days. Chris and I actually got to go on a date. We ate some lunch and then headed to the theater to see Fireproof. Some observations were first, when did matinees get so expensive?! Second, I loved the storyline of the movie and there were some good topics that came through loud and clear. However, I thought the acting was a bit borderline. I generally go to the movie for the story anyway so I really liked it. After that, we did a little shopping. We had a great time. The only down side to the afternoon was that I had come down with a cold and by the time we went home, I was feeling rather lousy. Mom and Dad also watched the kids a couple of other times while Chris and I ran a few other errands.

Finally, we celebrated Mom's birthday yesterday. Luke is so funny about birthdays. Here are a couple of his thoughts about Grandma's special day.

Me: What did we get Grandma for her birthday? (he had no idea because he wasn't with me when I got it for her)
Luke: Toys!

Me: Do you think it's time for Grandma's birthday cake?
Luke: Yes, put fire on it - fire! - FIRE! (ok, that one was probably funnier if you could have heard him emphasize the word fire).

I think the kids enjoyed it just about as much as my Mom. Hope you had a special day, Mom! Thanks for all your help!

Luke's New Accomplishment

Luke is loving to say his ABCs these days. In this video, he wanted to be accompanied by his Leap Frog alphabet song, but he usually just sings it all by himself. I tried to get a video of that, but now he gets going so quickly that he is beginning to slur his letters together and not all of them can even be heard. All of that to say, this is just about the best video I have of him saying his alphabet.

Isn't It Lovely

Thankfully, we have not had too many traumatic incidents in our home. However, we had a near miss Sunday evening. Neither Chris or I saw it happen, but Chris thinks this is what happened. I had given Hannah some extra receiving blankets I had to use with her "baby". She was a bit more creative, though, and also used them to drape over her head while she danced around. Needless to say, she didn't see the accident either as she fell and met with the coffee table. The point of impact was actually closer to the outside of her eye - almost right on top of the bone surrounding the eye, but the bruise has definitely spread to her eyelid, but you can only really see it when her eye is closed. No, it was not fun, but she was a good little trooper. However, it could have easily split the skin there and then we would have likely been on our way to get her stitched up Sunday evening. So, that's why I'm thankful for her little shiner.

If you ever wondered . . .

how long a wolf spider can be held captive in an enclosed glass container with no food and no air. Our unscientific experiment last 2 1/2 weeks. Yes, that's how long the one Chris caught lived for us. Now you know in case you would ever need to know.

"Cheese"

Luke pretending to get that Kodak Moment

Chris & I posing for those first pictures

Luke and Hannah have recently been fascinated with taking pictures - Luke especially. Luke loves to get Chris's tripod set up and pretend to take pictures of Hannah. So, a few days ago Chris helped Luke and Hannah take their first pictures. Here are some of the results. Not too bad, but the camera was on a tripod and Chris was assisting.

Family Pics 2008

Yesterday morning we headed out for a trip to the photographer for our annual family pictures. It was a bit rainy and rather drizzly, but we made it there in one piece. Then came the part that I was the most concerned about - getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time with smiles on their faces. However, I shouldn't have spent so much time worrying. God answers prayers and we ended up with a great photographer that got the kids' attention and gave them smiles. Hope you enjoy these.

Don't forget about your cameras

Don't forget to update all your cameras with the new time. I may be the only one who cares, so do it for me.

My Husband, The Shopper

Chris has turned into quite the shopper over the last few months. His first purchase made mostly without me was our house. Now, I know that may sound a bit strange so let me back up a bit. We knew we were moving to Kansas this summer, but we didn't have a place to live. Chris was also gone a lot so the only time we really had to look for a house was about three weeks before Andrew was born. Despite asking my doctor three times, she emphatically said "absolutely not" on traveling to Kansas to look for houses with Chris (I'm sure you can imagine my disappointment). So, that left him to house hunt on his own. He took a lot of pictures and our realtor took a lot more pictures, so I had somewhat of an idea of what was going on and I did have input. I didn't get to see the house until just a few days before we closed on it. Chris did a an absolutely wonderful job in choosing this place. It's perfect for our family and just what we need.

Since he picked out our house, I guess he thought that he would do just fine in picking out a new dining room table and chairs for us as well. We were quickly moving from "wanting" a new table to "needing" one. Four chairs and a table were just not enough for a family of five and that doesn't include any guests in our home. Chris found one and again he showed me pictures. He emptied out our van and was off to decide if we would get it. Once again, he didn't let us down and did a wonderful job of finding a good deal and it will serve us well for several years. So, if you're ever in the area, you can be assured that you would have a place at our table.

Now, I wonder what will be his next purchase . . .

Family Mobility Line

A


We headed to the base this absolutely beautiful morning to take part in a simulated deployment. The purpose was to show the kids some of the things Daddy has to do before, during and after a deployment. Luke probably got the most out of it. Hannah enjoyed it, but did it just because Luke liked it. We started the morning by getting our "orders" and "shots". Then, we headed out to the plane where Chris was one of the tour guides for the plane. We didn't go anywhere - just looked around the plane. It was the first time that Luke had had a real good chance to see where Chris spends so much of his time. He loved pushing all of the buttons in the cockpit (like Father, like son) In fact, he did come up missing for a few minutes. He was in the back of the plane with the boom operator. He liked the plane, but he may have been a bit more impressed with the bus ride out to the plane. We had now "arrived" in the desert. They then took them through the medic tent, and took them to a simulated firing range. It was pretty neat with laser guided nerf guns and balloons as targets. Of course, that was a hard station to pull him away from. They then had to be briefed on the area spiders (tarantulas) and scorpions. Hannah was even intrigued here. She was even brave enough to touch the giant models they had of the various spiders. The canine unit gave a demonstration. They could have also tried on the chemical protection gear, but Luke & Hannah aren't real big on trying those type of the things yet. They look a little scary when they're on. Probably the best part for Luke was the base fire department. He actually got to ride on the truck. He told me later that that was his favorite. Even though, the rest of the group had a few more things to do, we headed home with very tired kids right after lunch. We'll definitely have to do it again in a few years when they may understand even more.

What a Deal!

Can you guess what I paid $1.99/gallon for? Yes, it was gasoline and I was so excited. I paid less than $35 to fill up the van. That is quite an improvement over the $60 per fill-up we were paying earlier this year. I do have to confess that I had a couple of things going for me. First, we do live where they continually say we have some of the cheapest gas in the nation. Second, I did use a grocery promotion for 10 cents off per gallon for one fill-up. Hopefully, the actual price will be below $2 the next time I have to fill it up.

A Week of Firsts

I guess that Andrew is now 4 months old, we're promoting him to new things and last week held a lot of those. He first got to experience his exersaucer. The first time he didn't like it, but it was time for him to eat. We kept telling Luke and Hannah that it was for Andrew so Hannah was just dying for him to go in it so we appeased her for just a minute or so. Over the last few days, he's really warmed up to it and spent quite bit of time in it this morning. I think he really enjoys being "up" so he can see what's going on. He can't really hold himself in the upright position, but does a pretty good job of leaning against the sides and holding his head and upper body stable. Then, a couple of evenings ago, Chris put him in his highchair. He'd been getting quite fussy during dinner times. He now loves being in on the action at the dinner table & the fussiness is gone. The final new thing was his first bowl of rice cereal last night. He cried at least half of that feeding, but he ate it and was probably the neatest of all the kids. Maybe he was crying because I didn't feed it to him fast enough - who knows! Anyway, my baby is growing up already!

Redistribution of Wealth

I'm sure that I'm preaching to the choir here, but I thought this was an appropriate view of what our future president (yes, according to the cover of the New York magazine he's won and the election's not even been held!) has in store for us.

Redistribution of Wealth

In a local restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference-just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need-the homeless guy outside.

The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application. -Author Unknown

Pumpkin #2

After trick-or-treating last night, Chris loaded up Luke and they headed to the grocery store to get us another pumpkin. Our first one wasn't looking so well anymore and it didn't help that Luke fell on it earlier this week. Chris called on his way there to tell me that Luke was telling him that they would get to ride the tractor to go get the pumpkin. Once they got there, I don't think it bothered him too much that they didn't. Anyway, they came home with a huge one weighing in at around 31 pounds - heavier than Hannah. Chris came up with another happy face and got out the power tools to help him do his job. He loves doing that, but didn't on the first pumpkin. Plus, I think he needed it on this pumpkin since the rhine was at least two inches thick. It would have taken him forever if he'd used just a knife. You know when kids are involved, the fastest method was probably the best. So, we have a new "mouth face" on our porch and I think he'll be called "Maynard" after the tow truck in the movie Cars (Luke's new favorite movie). I'm also going to try to roast the seeds for the first time today - thanks Amy V. for the recipe!

Trick or Treat

Last night, we took the kids to trick-or-treat at the squadron. Now, I don't really get into Halloween and have to admit that it my least favorite holiday. However, I do want my kids to have fun so I try not to be too much of a grinch when it comes to this time of year. So, with little creativity, I got the kids ready to go to the squadron for a little party and some trick or treating. It was perfect for them and I think all trick or treating should be done this way. They had put together a little party complete with juice boxes, some healthy snacks and a few cookies. Then, we paraded around to several of the offices for treats - good treats I might add. Some of the offices were quite decorated and quite dark, but Luke and Hannah did quite well. The one that made me laugh the most was the commander's office. He had a small strobe light and then a large spider web with a huge spider in it. Underneath, he had a basket of glow sticks, spider rings and some sort of necklace. When the kids came in, he told them to be quiet because the spider was sleeping and his name was "Hairy". This made me laugh especially with our history of spiders this week. I didn't go all the way in because I had Drew and there wasn't tons of room. So, Chris went in with them. He said they did well, but weren't too sure about the spider. They had a good time and even got a couple of pieces of candy when we got home. I think Luke may have snuck a couple of extra cookies because he was quite the hyper kid last night. I do have to say that the plastic spider rings that they got were the biggest hit, though!

The Many Styles of Hannah

We had another relaxing morning at home so Hannah was able to experiment with some fashion. She loves to wear accessories especially hats. She also loves putting shoes on and off, but it is often minus the socks. Maybe that is why she is particularly partial to her flip flops that are by now at least a size too small.

The Ongoing Spider Saga

I'm sure you wanted to see all of those pictures of our visitors (yes, I hope they are only visiting!) After I wrote yesterday's blog, Chris informed me that he wasn't sure that they were brown recluse and that we needed to capture one. So, last night I spotted one and Chris did the capturing. I was going to kill the thing. Of course, Luke and Hannah wanted front row seats to the event. Anyway, Chris got it alive and after doing some research, we agreed that it was not a brown recluse. However, it is still big, ugly and possibly a relative (no violin on the back and it doesn't have 3 sets of eyes) I'm feeling just a bit better about these spiders, but still don't really want them roaming our basement. The count is now 0 trapped, 2 killed and 1 captured since yesterday afternoon. That doesn't include at least a half dozen that I've killed in the last month.

If anyone has insight into what kind these actually are, I am a bit curious.

On the Hunt!

In case you were wondering what the spiders looked like that have been spotted in our basement and I wrote about in a previous blog, here it is. Now, there is no way that I got close enough to take this picture so thanks to someone else on the internet - here it is. Any guesses as to what kind it is? Yes, it's a brown recluse.

Sunday, I was watching the news and they had pictures of this spider and I thought it looked an awful lot like the ones we have here. When I asked Chris about it, he confirmed that they were indeed brown recluse spiders. UGH!!! I have to admit that I have really freaked out about it since I found out. Chris assures me that they are "recluse" so they won't bother us. However, that doesn't change the fact that I've actually seen them and killed my fair share. We bought traps for them yesterday. As of this moment, none have been trapped, but one has been killed. I guess that leaves us with one less, but I would rather trap them and never see another one in my life.

Maybe I should be thankful that it is just a spider and not a snake. I have a friend that just moved to a Pacific island where there is a chance of snakes in their homes. Now, that would probably be the end of me!