It snowed yesterday in East Carolina! We had about 1/2 an inch, but heard that Kinston had 2 inches. I needed to go to a store in Kinston, so I loaded the kids in the van and we took off. We played in the snow at the Nature Center, and had a great snowball fight. The rain started around 10:00, so it was short lived, but I was reminded of how beautiful the snow is. The most wonderful thing was seeing a flock of robins land in our yard and field when the snow started. I didn't know robins travel in flocks, but we counted 16 and there were many more. _________ Right now Christa is making a nest, so we should have baby rabbits today! At least it isn't freezing, raining still though. _________ I have had a week of friends this week. I watched the children of a friend on Weds. while she went to a job interview, and then we got to visit when she returned. I went to a friend's house on Tuesday evening to help her with something. A friend invited me to dinner on Weds. to celebrate my birthday, and on Thursday evening I went to a movie pre-screening with another friend. It is good to be surrounded by friends. _________ The boys finished their sewing projects yesterday, knapsacks. They did a good job for a first project. It is for a celebration of cotton. The National Wildlife Federation has an interesting cotton article. Did you know that only 35% of cotton is used for cloth? Nearly 60% is used for oil and meal. Cottonseed oil shows up in cookies, potato chips, marinades, salad dressings, and many other processed foods. Cotton meal is given to dairy and beef cattle as a high-protein feed supplement. Seven of the fifteen pesiticides commonly used on cotton in the USA are listed as "possible", "likely", "probable", or "known" human carcinogens by the EPA. Who would have thought organic cotton was important?