Nature in Our Backyard

So, at any given moment you can find lots of nature in our yard. Obviously, because we live in the woods across the street from a mountain! But this morning we found 2 very different, very amazing examples of the ecosystem we live in.
This butterfly landed briefly on the rocks by the playset. The moment I snapped the photo, it flew away. But how pretty it is!

The most surprising one was the spider. Not just any little spider, either... a HUGE one! Like Camden said, "that's a BIG spider!"
Here it is from the back. Isn't the design in its web different? I had never seen one like that before.

In case you couldn't see the size of this creature from the last picture, here is Ben looking at it from behind.
Soon after we found it, Eddie the exterminator was here doing his monthly spraying of our house to keep critters like this from coming in. I showed him the picture of the spider and he said oh yeah, that's a yellow writing spider. They're supposed to be harmless. You could just put your hand out and it will just sit there. (I said I probably wouldn't be testing that one out.) Then he said they say that if you tell the spider your name 3 times, it will write your name in the web by the 3rd day. So, I shared this with Katie and the next thing you know, she is right next to the spider whispering "Katie, Katie, Katie. Camden, Camden, Camden. Pellie, Pellie, Pellie."
Later we ran errands and when we came home, the spider had changed its web. Now the lightning looking part has disappeared and he's started working on something else. I know at least one of us is hoping the new web says Katie. or Camden. or Pellie....

The Girls

These pictures are classic. The Nelson girls are quite.... what's the right word? Oh yes, that's it... sparkly. There is an even better word, and that is one of Katie's creation.... SISSYTASTIC! That's everything sistery, and everything fantastic. Put it together and what do you have? Yep, you guessed it.
Here are this week's sissytastic pictures:

Katie and Pellie dressing up:


Camden can't be left out of the fun!


Does it get any better than this? You all wish you were sissytastic, don't you? :)

The newest Nelson

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Here she is! Meet Pellie the Basset Hound. She became part of our family on Tuesday of this week when Ben and Katie traveled to Alabama to get her. We got her from the Basset rescue of Alabama. She had been in the Pell City shelter for a while, and then fostered by the rescue people who called her Pellie. We had planned on naming our Basset "Dixie" to show off her Southern heritage but they thought she was pretty used to this name. Plus, I'm not sure how easy it would be to get Camden and Katie to call her something else by now, so it looks like this is going to be Pellie.
She is GREAT with the girls. She's about 3 or 3 1/2 years old, housetrained, and sleeps in Katie's room on Katie's bed with her, all night! Camden has played in her food while she eats and she doesn't do anything! She seems like a perfect fit so far! Here are some shots from this week...




This is the area on the side of our house, looking toward the mountain. It's fenced in along the property line in the woods to the back of the playset for now.
Helping Katie type her Summer Reading Project...
Poor Pellie, the girls took over her bed!
Katie, Camden, and Katie's friend Abbie made a "beach bed" for her yesterday. She's not spoiled, is she?

July (Part 2)

So, the next week in July we had a visit from Uncle George! The girls were SO excited to see him, they couldn't do anything else. I finally let them have a popsicle while they waited on the deck for him to get here. Yum!This time, Camden was pretty good about being snuggly with George. She talks about him ALL the time. Where's my George? over and over. Here they are making googly eyes at each other...
We did get a day out on the boat. Katie's in her floatie ring, and ready to snorkel!
This was right before George threw Katie off the top of the boat. I didn't get a mid-air shot of her on this one, but it was the highest she'd "jumped" from. She loved it!
We visited Point Park on Lookout Mountain, where the Battle of Chattanooga took place. Here they are before we went in:
Here's George, Camden, and Ben at the gate to the park
George, me, and Katie on Lookout Mtn overlooking the TN river and the "Scenic City".
And finally, the girls needed a break from walking up and down all those steps! Sheesh! Who knew walking around hills and mountains are that tiring! Just imagine what it was like for those soldiers who climbed straight up the side of the mountain in the Civil War!
Thanks for visiting, George! We had a great time with you here! Can't wait to see you next time. Sorry it took me so long to get this up here. Love you!

July (Part 1)

Here it is the last day in July and I realize I haven't gotten anything up here from this month! We've had a fun and friendly month, with lots of visits from our Illini friends and family. So, lots more pics to come, but we'll go back to the beginning of the month and pick some favorites...

Matt and Melanie came down to visit us for the 4th of July (and what good hosts we were... sorry guys!) Camden LOVED having both of them here, as you can see here:

Camden eating dinner with Mel: (Camden has decided she loves corn so much that she eats it raw, before it is cooked! She'll just grab an ear and start chomping!)
This is us (Ben & Katie, Camden & Matt) trying to decide what to do after we found out the Lookouts game was sold out for July 3. Normally any other time in the season you can just walk up and sit anywhere... now we now - July 3 & 4th is a VERY popular game to go to! Next year we'll get tickets early...
That didn't stop Katie from being excited about the 4th!

And Camden's so excited because she's started to use the big girl potty! Her first time was on July 4th. We make a big deal out of it for her and she's excited to "be like Katie".


This is downtown Chattanooga on July 3. The girls ran around on the riverfront while we chased Camden and made sure she didn't run into the river or the traffic. Because that's something she might do!
Camden and Katie hanging out together, dressed patriotically!
And there's lots more to come from this month... hopefully I'll get it up before August is over! Happy rest of summer to you all...

Shake Your Booty!