Bath Time For Tilly

"I hate this," Tilly says.

Logan helped me give Tilly a bath today. Tilly is our retired grayhound; I got her from a rescue organization when we lived in Virginia. She's the best-behaved dog I've ever been around except when it comes to food.

She'll take anything from anyone and is really quick about it. She once jerked a whole roast off the counter at my dad's house and was making a dash with it in her mouth when we caught her.

We ate it anyway.

Countdown to Disney World

Logan insisted this temporary tatoo should go on his belly.

Guess he wants to be able to cover it up if he goes on a

job interview.

We're going to Disney World in a few days - 11 to be exact. I have to give Logan a countdown every day because he wants to leave so bad each morning when he wakes up.

"Mickey's waiting," he says.

A couple of nights ago, he brought a suitcase up from the basement and packed it full of his monster trucks, some books and a little bit of loose change.

"I'm taking some money for Mickey," he said.

Mickey's already gotten enough of our money, I replied.

He then insisted that Todd needed to haul the suitcase out to the van. It's been out there ever since.

Bud's sick of being called a "he"

"Man, not this stupid pet taxi again."

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the vet said Bud looked more like a girl than a boy. The only way to tell for sure was through an expensive blood test. I declined it...I'm a Donaghue, after all.

Anyway, Bud's obviously sick of us being so insensitive. On Sunday, the 18-year-old cronie layed an egg for the first time in her life.

Unfortunately, the vet tells me that conures don't just lay one and to expect the second one within about 48 hours. We've exceeded that time limit and Bud obviously has another one on deck (the advantage of having a bald bird is that the protruding belly is pretty obvious). So we're off to another expensive vet appointment for an egg induction.

Poor old gal...she's had to resort to this to get her point across.

A new driver on the streets

Logan got his car yesterday that Granma ordered him. It was a big hit. He drove it until well past bedtime last night and was ready to roll again at 6:30 a.m. today. His car goes pretty fast; I tried to jog along with it (what a joke) last night and had trouble keeping up. Of course, that probably has just as much to do with my limited amount of athletic ability as it does the speed of the vehicle.

Bird news of the day

So I took the Bud Bird to the vet yesterday for a checkup. After he tried to bite the vet a few times, she finally got him restrained and looked him over. "What makes you certain he's a boy?" she asked. I replied it was just what I had always been told.

Although it's impossible to be sure without a blood test, she said she's convinced Bud is a girl. He's 18 years old and we've always called him a "he." Sheesh...no wonder he plucks out his feathers.

Big day for Logan

Today's a big day for Logan. After school, we're going to the Chesterfield Walmart to pick up his red power wheels car that is his reward for potty training. He's lucky to have a granma who loves him very much and ordered it for him.

Here's a picture of him in his "sneaker car." Sneaker car stays in the house so it doesn't track in dirt. Yes, that's his driver's license taped to the front. He has several things taped to this car; I think he inherits that gene from his Papa Baker who had a knack for personalizing his vehicles.

I have a feeling that after he gets the new one, sneaker car will be taking a trip to the basement.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope you had a great day. We went to church this morning, then took our family friend Dolores out to lunch. The rest of the afternoon has been spent hanging out with my kids...the two-legged one and four-legged ones.

Logan said he'd take a nap if I'd lay on the couch with him.

These two clowns never need convincing that it's naptime.

Finally!

Making progress

I'm obsessed with rehabilitating this bird, and I think he's making progress. If you look at the photo, you can see some new down feathers on his wing along the line where his regular green feathers meet his pink, bald skin.

So far, I've switched his diet, added supplements to his food and water, and gotten him to eat several different types of fruit. We play with him so much that sometimes he snores at night when I cover his cage. I've even ordered him a CD of bird noises set to music (please don't tell my husband) that is supposed to keep him from getting lonely when he's home alone. And last night, he sat on my shoulder while I baked him some parrot bread.

We're home

My cousin, Robert, Logan and I got home yesterday from Michigan at about 6 p.m. We were worn out after our quick trip, but Robert and I agreed that it was well worth it. We had a wonderful visit with family there.

Logan was incredibly good the entire time. He loved staying in a hotel, dubbing it the "little house." Francis, our 9o-year-old aunt, said he was the best-behaved kid she'd ever been around.

We took a lot of pictures. The ones below are some of my favorites.

Here's a race car at our cousin Barb's house. Barb and her husband, Vic, have several race cars along with a huge truck that can haul six of them at one time.

This is the truck and trailer. It's massive, as you can see.

(Clockwise from left) Bob, Francis and Robert play a card game while Logan watches. Bob is Francis' son.

After a long afternoon, Logan takes a nap on Barb's couch.

Barb (Francis' daughter) and Francis

Bob and Francis

Logan and me in the "little house"

And just in case you didn't get enough of this guy last time, here he is again. Doesn't it look like he's smiling? No, he didn't go on the trip with us.

Greetings from Michigan!

It's so nice to have a man handy to tackle all the complicated technical aspects of a hotel stay.

After a long drive, Logan was concerned that our cell phone

didn't have enough juice so he searched for a plug in the hotel room.

We're in Lapeer, Michigan this weekend with Cousin Robert. We drove up to visit our great aunt, Frances, and cousins Barb and Bob. We left early this morning and got here around dinner time. Tomorrow, we have a big day planned at Barb's house where Logan will get to see some race cars and go fishing.

New family member

This is Buddy, also known as The Bud Bird. As you can probably tell from the photo, we don't have any immediate plans to enroll him in a beauty contest. For the past several years, he's been a hard-core feather plucker and we're going to try and rehabilitate him with lots of attention. He also likes to deliver an occasional bite, so we hope to fix that little inconvenience, too.

Picture of my dogs eating

It's raining here, so I had to feed the dogs inside. When he saw me coming with their bowl, Logan requested that he, too, be given a serving of dry food. I told him goldfish crackers would have to suffice. Hopefully, he won't take a liking to Ol' Roy anytime soon. Then again, it might cut down on our grocery bill.