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Bird Cam

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We installed a camera on our front porch. We have a bird that comes each year and makes a nest on the top of one of the columns of our front porch. We aimed the cam at him and installed some software that captures videos whenever it detects motion. Here is a short clip.

Kitty (aka Tigger) died at the vet’s office around 9PM tonight. For those who didn’t know him, he was a wonderful cat. He was around 20 or 21 years old, so he lived quite a long life. I believe that God will take care of his soul and was with us when he died.

He likely was bitten by a dog or other animal in the neighborhood. We have him on our home movies that we shot around 4 or 5 oclock. He was with us when we were playing soccer with Tru in the front yard. He was fine and happy then. We came inside and I was editing this week’s video (posted below). While I was editing the video, I heard a noise like a cat but thought it was the TV. Also, Tru said “Hi” out the window but I didn’t think anything of it. When Mike and Dana come over for dinner, they pointed out that he was in the side yard and couldn’t walk. He had a big tear in his leg and seemed to have trouble moving his back legs. We took him the emergency clinic. It was a very hard decision, but he was put to sleep, and I got to hold him in my arms as he went to God.

We got Tigger when I was in forth or fith grade. Although we named him Tigger, we pretty much always called him “Kitty”. He was the first pet that I fell in love with, and with him, I got to know how much of a family member a pet could be. Growing up, he always slept in the bed with me. Regardless of what time I came home, he seemed to come running from playing outside all day as soon as I walked in. He would curl up and purr away in his blanket all night. I won my first award in an essay contest called “Why My Pet is Wonderful?” back in those early years. He wasn’t so nice to everyone else in the family, but he was great to me. As he got older, he became really nice to everyone. He loved people and seemed to purr instantly when given attention. He will be very missed.

“All the animals in the forest are Mine and the cattle on thousands of hills. All the wild birds are Mine and all living things in the fields.”

– Psalm 50: 10-11

Here is a quote that Erin found that explicitly mentions animals in Heaven:

“Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats, calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do . . . The land will be as full of knowledge of the Lord as the seas are full of water.”

– Isaiah 11:6-9

September 10, 2006 – Frog, Abby’s 3rd, and Soccer

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This week:

* neat frog on our backdoor

* Abby’s 3rd Birthday (Tru’s Friend)

* Tru playing soccer

Video Blog August 19th – Company (2m 32s)

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* Grammer/Bomma and Jessica visit

* Jessica drew us/me a picture

* Erin finished the tile

* Grammer/Bomma mimic Tru

* Possum vists again

* Ally and Kerri (Erin’s sisters)

* Tru is sick

August 13, 2006

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* kitchen tile (only halfway done)

* dinner with Mike and Dana

* feeding the goats (and ducks) with Tru

* bat flying around our house

* Tru identifying letters (B, T, X and R)

* Tru’s artwork on our walls

* Mike’s pan and tilt camera control (servo project)

* Tru’s bath (“bye”)

We went to Memphis this weekend for Matt’s wedding. While we were there we also went to see the ducks at the park (oh and some grandparents):

Tru Feeding the Ducks

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Also, Tru now has a big girl bed! We converted her crib and now she can get in and out as she pleases. Before nighttime came, Erin and Tru practiced getting in and out:

Tru Getting In and Out of Her Big Girl Bed

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I saw a pack of brown wolves/coyotes on the way to work. I called Erin and she got some pictures of them. Take a look at them. Do you think they are wolves or coyotes? I want to think they are wolves becuase it is more exciting. They are about the size of Seiko.

Here is a google map of the location.

Erin’s parents are visiting. We came home from church to find a critter in our garage!

Here is a picture of an ant that we found in our backyard. Ironically, I saw another one of these yesterday on the montain. I’d never seen one before then. Basically, they look like big fuzzy red ants. They are about the size of a wasp.

They are called “Cow Ants” or “Killer Ants”. According to this article, they used to be called “Cow Killers”. It appears to be a misnomer because they don’t appear to be able to kill something as large as a cow. Also, they aren’t ants at all! They are in the wasp family.

Oh, and Erin says “Ha!” to Matt because she says she told him that they weren’t in the ant family.

Michael

Seiko turns 8 on Wednesday so we took her to the park and fed her some McDonalds! We took a bunch of pictures that you can see here.

Thanks for looking,

Michael