Armadillo Attack

This morning Autumn & I slept in until 8:30 and then got up and started the day.  She went into her room to play and I started cleaning.  I scrubbed my shower, organized the piles of earrings that I would take off at the end of the day and leave in a pile, put away clothes that had been sitting in a chair in my room for a week, etc.  Dad came over unexpectedly and said he wanted to get some yard work done in our yard.  So, Nick & I got dressed in our grubbies and went out to help him.  We pruned trees, trimmed hedges, and pulled weeds.  Autumn would randomly come out of the house from time to time wearing different clothes (she’s wearing some doctor scrubs from Halloween that are way too small and told Papa she’s a a doctor just like him), jackets (b/c she said it was cold), and once she came out w/ some Oreo pudding cookies and was feeding one to Papa.  The yard looks so much better and it was such a good feeling to do some manual labor.  I’m really thankful we had nice weather today b/c it was cool and breezy.

I had told Dad we were going to come over and help him prune some trees at his house, but then I went in to get Autumn ready and ended up cleaning out her closet and putting clothes away that were too small.  After I was done w/ that, I felt so disgusting (especially since I didn’t shower yesterday).  So, I got in the shower and got all cleaned up for the day. 

We went over to Mom & Dad’s and had sandwiches and chips and drinks out on the patio for lunch.  Then Mom got cleaned up and her & Autumn & I went to Fashion Bug b/c they were having a 40% off sale and we had a $10 off coupon.  Mom wasn’t able to find anything, but I got an adorable swimsuit and some shoes.

After that, we went to the grocery store to get some things.  We came home and were tired and hungry (why is it that shopping just saps all your energy) so we made pigs in a blanket for a little treat.  We also got some chicken breasts marinating for Ollie North chicken tomorrow.  While we were doing that, the doorbell rang and it was a 5 year old kid from church that had gotten a little Lego stuck up his nose.  His Dad brought him over for Dad to try and get it out.  Dad tried squirting water up the kid’s nose to flush the Lego out (like he had to do to Autumn that time she put a bean up her nose).  Dad tried it twice and that didn’t work, so he had to make a little hook out of some wire and was able to get it out!  The little kid was so stinkin’ brave and didn’t even cry or scream.  I went and got him a popsicle after it was all over.  I got to be Dad’s assistant and hold the towels for him b/c Mom was gagging at the thought of it.  After they left, we were laughing about how many medical procedures we have performed at the kitchen table.

While we were just relaxing and watching TV, Curt came over and said he had something he wanted to show Autumn.  We went out on the patio and inside this tall laundry basket were 2 baby armadillos!  They were clawing on the sides of the basket like crazy, just trying to get out of there.

Curt picked one up and I was surprised that it’s shell bent.  I thought their shells were hard, so I read up about it online after we released them and it said the shells harden as they get older.  But, when they are little the shells are as soft as a human’s fingernail.

Dad went and got some gloves (in case they tried to bite him) and he and Curt both held one.  The one that Dad was holding squirmed around and flipped out of his hands.  So, Dad had to hold it tight so it didn’t do that again, and that poor armadillo did NOT like it and started popping and peeing all over.  Curt ran away and was screaming like a girl.  It was SO FUNNY!  It stunk really bad, so Dad had to spray off the patio.

We went and took them over to the creek to release them.  I also learned in my readings that armadillos can swim and hold their breath for 4 – 6 minutes!  Who knew?  Curt said they had 2 more baby armadillos at their house, but they weren’t able to catch them yet.  What a fun and unexpected Saturday afternoon event!

The rest of the evening was pretty quiet w/ us just hanging out and watching TV.  Autumn fell asleep around 7:00 and I let her sleep.  She woke up at 10:30 and was hungry, so I made her a sandwich and then took her and went and slept in Nate’s room so she would go back to sleep.  Before going to Nate’s room she told Dad, “Papa, we can have waffles in the morning, OK?”  She cracks me up!