[Mommy's Thoughts]Received 04/12/2005 02:58

Ready, Aim, BITE!

Last Friday, April 8, Ricky came home from work ready to go out in search of
BLUEBONNETS! He wanted to find the "perfect" spot to take Hannah's pictures
in. We jumped in the car and headed out toward the Benbrook lake area where
every year the bluebonnets fill the fields for miles.

Since I have always laughed at those people that park along the roadway and
pose for pictures, I wasn't that pumped to go. After all I would have to
admit that I was from "Texas" to participate in such an activity. UGH! But
Hannah is a "native" (even though we call her a "transplanted Okie"!) so I
guess we can't deprive her of her native rituals. So I reluctantly got in
the car and set off for our adventure.

We drove along for a while until Ricky said, "This is it!" We got Hannah all
dressed up in her little denim dress and set off for the field of blue. The
smell of sweet bluebonnets filled the air as we tried hard not to trample
the pretty little things.

I set Hannah down on the ground and held my hand on her back. She is almost
ready to sit up on her own, but she is not quite there so I had to give her
a little "helping hand" with my right hand. I put my left hand on the ground
on the other side of me.

All of a sudden I felt something on my hand...I looked down and my hand was
covered in "fire ants"! And all at once as if they looked up at me and said,
"Ready, Aim, BITE!!!" That is what they did! I couldn't get them off and I
was afraid to pick up Hannah for fear of her getting bit! Daddy rushed to
Hannah's aid and swooped her up before she got attacked. Daddy to the
rescue.

As you can see my hand received about 12 bites and begin to swell right
away. But we still hadn't gotten that "perfect" shot. So I took one for the
team and got up and moved to another spot. This time we looked to make sure
that it was safe!

PS I think that someone "upstairs" was punishing me for all the times that I
laughed at everyone for taking the famous bluebonnet pictures. Trust me: I
will never forget my 1st bluebonnet outing!

Hannah must have been tired from all the excitement because on the way home
she nodded off to sleep in her blue denim dress.