Brayden's on the move!!

This past week I have spent quite a bit of time with Brayden, He is adorable! He is also on the go. He is crawling and pulling up. It won't be long before he will be walking. Our biggest obsticle has been trying to get him to go to sleep on his own. He will get it soon I'm sure, but in the mean time it has been a little heartbreaking. I miss my tiny baby boy who let me rock him to sleep. I had the chance Wednesday to get a few quick pictures of him crawling and standing at his favorite toy (this table is a lifesaver). It has only been one day since I've seen him and I miss his already.

Good snake

This is a Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi) that I found while planting daffodil bulbs yesterday. These snakes are called fossorial reptiles because they spend their time underground. They eat, among other things, slugs which we seem to have an abundance of around our place. This little guy was only around 10"-12" long and was very photogenic.

Fuzzy Caterpillar

Here is a neat caterpillar I found crawling accross our back wall yesterday. As you can see the colors are so bright, it was hard to miss him. This is a Isabella Tiger Moth caterpillar (Pyrrharchia isabella); see the picture below for the adult. Not much of a resemblance.

Dog Days

Candy is enjoying the last (I hope) of the really hot days of summer. I am ready for things to cool down and stay cool. I love the fall weather and I wish we could just go from fall weather to spring weather and eliminate both winter and summer.

Isn't she adorable?!

I just received some pictures of my nephew's daughter, Kaydee. Kaydee will be 3 in December. These pictures were taken at dress up day at her preschool. They were sent to me in an e-mail so they are kinda small, but still adorable

Visiting Professor Program

One of the highlights of my job is the time I spend working in a volunteer program called the Educational Reclamation Zone (ERZ). The program partners professors with either high school or middle school teachers and their classes. I am starting my second year in the program and was one of the very first professors to become involved. I work with middle school students who are really great. They are curious, funny, and excited every time I visit. Debbie and I overheard a little girl last night in Sams telling her mom about me and how I visited their school. These are pictures from my first visit this year. I brought two of my students (Ken and Hannah) to help me with a DNA fingerprinting lab that the kids really liked doing. I am looking forward to going back this month to do some bloodtyping and later to hibernate some frogs. I think they will like both exercises.

Congratulations Troy!

Troy strives for excellence in everything he does from preaching to teaching. He puts a lot of effort into all that he does. I have attached two emails below that can better describe the two awards he was presented yesterday at Henderson State University. It is nice for him to be recognized for all the hard work he does in his field. I know he is the best and it is good to find they see it too.

From: Miles, Vernon
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 3:12 PM
To: Faculty (For official University use ); Staff (For official University use only)
Subject: Faculty Awards

Friends and Colleagues,

Please join me in congratulating the recipients of the Faculty Excellence Awards listed below. Our faculty make HSU what it is, and we cannot be reminded of this quite often enough. Let’s all let this serve as one of many reminders of the wonderful things we do for our students day after day, semester after semester.

2008-2009 FACULTY EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Excellence in Scholarly or Creative Activity

Teachers College, Henderson Dr. Lonnie McDonald

School of Business Dr. Frank Smith

Ellis College of Arts and Sciences

Liberal Arts Dr. Angela Boswell
Fine Arts Dr. Randy Duncan
Science and Mathematics Dr. Troy Bray

Outstanding New Faculty Member Dr. Troy Bray

These individuals will be recognized at our Founder’s Day celebration on October 1st, so if you have not had an opportunity to congratulate each before then, you certainly will on that auspicious day.

Regards,

Vernon

Dr. Engman is the chair of the biology department

From: ENGMAN, JAMES
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 3:42 PM
To: Biology
Subject: FW: Faculty Awards

Please also join me in congratulating Troy on receiving the TWO awards listed above. Personally, I could not be any happier. He is incredibly deserving, as he has worked so hard since the day he crossed our doorstep. Actually, I guess he has crossed our doorstep more than once, but both times – as a student and then as a faculty member – he has impressed us. He has put a great deal of time, and effort (and money L) into giving our cell and genetics courses the benefit of his training. He is continuing to make improvements on the lab work in those classes, introducing our students to a wider variety of modern tools. He has published regularly in his time here. He has also served the university very well, both on and off campus. I especially appreciate his work in the ERZ program. He is exactly what Henderson had in mind when these awards were established. We all know that those first few years as a new faculty member can be stressful and tiring; just surviving is an accomplishment. Flourishing like this is truly a laudable achievement. We, and our students, are very lucky to have him.

Congratulations, Troy!

Jamie

This first picture is the recieving of the Excellence in Scholarly or Creativity Activity Award. One award is given in each school within the college.


These two pictures are the receiving of the Oustanding New Faculty Member Award. One award is given over the entire college.

We love you and could not be more proud of you. Congratulations!

A Weekend with Brayden

Thursday night I spent with Tabitha. Brayden is just beginning to eat finger foods. He hasn't quite got the hang of it. Sometimes he misses his mouth, but he has a lot of fun with it. I took this picture after dinner Thursday night.

Friday night he spent with Nanna and Pawpaw. He decided to show me his trick of waiting until he had a mouthful and then putting his hand in his mouth and blowing. Before dinner was over he had peas and carrots from head to toe and some on me, but we had a good time.

Saturday Brayden spent some time helping Pawpaw with his studies. Here he shows us how he can use the calculator.

Before time to go home Brayden had one last chance to sit with Pawpaw and help him with his Intro to Biology lesson. We sure did enjoy his stay and are looking forward to him coming back to see us real soon.

What an adorable face!

Thanks to Tabitha we have a picture of Brody. Sean and Tabitha were in New Hampshire over Labor Day for a wedding and spent an afternoon with Adam, Justine, and Brody. We sure miss them. Cute little guy isn't he?

Everyday with Brayden

I created a Smilebox of Brayden this morning. He is growing up so fast. He has been visiting his grandma and pop pops this week and I hope they had a wonderful time. I will be looking forward to hearing all about it soon. We love you Brayden!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TABITHA!!!

It has been a joy to watch you grow into the wonderful young woman you are. We love you, Sis, Happy Birthday!

Brayden and Candy

Brayden is a real dog person and Candy is a real people person. This is a good thing because all cats would have been killed by their combined curiosities of one another (that is, if it is true that curiosity really does kill cats).

Brayden Cheers us up

After what has been a very stressful and depressing week with my father, Brayden and his many faces have brought some long absent smiles to our faces. Thanks Brayden.

Your Prayers Needed

My father is in the hospital and we cherish your prayers during this difficult time.

"Just another butterfly in the Wall"

Anything with wings is entertaining. With most birds spending their summer up north, I have to turn to other winged creatures for my fun. This guy kept clinging to our wall, so I took a few pics. In the last pic this butterfly reminds me of Robin Williams, can you guess why? (hint: you might have to blow up the pic to see the resemblance).

Hot Days of Summer

You know it's a typical hot August day when you look out over your yard at noon and see swarms of dragonflies. I don't know what they find appealing about the near 100 degree temperature and near 100% humidity. They are masters of the noon day lawn and I say they are welcome to it; I will come out later with the fireflies when the temperature is much cooler. These guys must know what they are doing because they have been around a lot longer than man; in fact, this Order of insect (Odonata) with its nearly 5000 species are some of the most ancient insects on earth.

Notice the shadow cast upon the stick from the opaque cells in the lower wing.

Swimming lessons for Brayden

I had the opportunity to go with Tabitha and Brayden to Brayden's swim lessons yesterday. I am so glad they are starting with him young. He doesn't really seem to know what is going on, but he is not afraid of the water and it is suprising how well he will instinctively do things like kick his feet or hold on to the board. Here are a few pictures at the pool.

Brayden with the instructor

Brayden seemed to like the board the best.

Brayden's swim buddy Owen seemed happy just to lay back and relax. It was so cute to see him just chillin' out!

Brayden and mom with "the noodle".

Happy Anniversary to my one and only Love!

29 years today!. I can not imagine my world without Troy in it. I hope to spend many more years together. I created this show a few years back and thought I would share it to remind him of our journey. Some of the pictures are old and hopefully they will show up okay. I love you Troy, you are my world!