Day 7

I zoomed in on this picture (I was driving so sorry for the crookedness)...of the boulder wall! You can really see it now!

Meet and Greet

The boys and I braved some shotty weather yesterday (wInDy and CoLd!) to attend the weekly "Meet and Greet" for horses nearby. W has been grumble grump this past weekend. We said "let's go ice skating" and he said "I don't like ice skating" (he doesn't even know what it is)....and J said "I like to ice skate...I want to ice skate."

When I told them about the horses W said "I don't want to go see the horses" followed by J's "I like horses. I want to see the horses."

The arrival of the Belgian (King) and Percheron (Rex) horses:

The horses were GORGEOUS and GIGANTIC. King weighs 2400 lbs and is 6 feet tall!

So needless to say, the boys kept their distance.

Here is J keeping his distance...as close as he was willing to get...

I definitely want to go back on another day that isn't quite as cold!

The Chicks are Here!!!

We are now the proud owners of baby chicks!

Chicks!

Chicks!

Chicks!

Chicks!

Only kidding. No chicks at our house. Except for me, Katy and Bear that is.

But we can see why so many people here decide to have their own chickens! They claim it is for the fresh eggs but I think it is because the chicks are SO cute! A local store has on their marquee: Chicks are here! So the boys and I went in last week to see all the different breeds of hen chicks, turkey chicks, and rooster chicks they had. They are so cute, fluffy, and sweet under their heat lamps just peeping away.

We got to visit some of our friends yesterday and they have their own chicks. Three.fluffy.adorable.chicks. Two yellow ones and one dark one. It was so fun to watch them bounce around. The boys even got to hold them.

Oh, I wish I had a video of J's face when one of the chicks pooped on the ground. He looked completely revolted. And then he didn't want to hold THAT chick for the rest of the evening.

Thanks for the fun evening K and J!

Ice Skating 5 dollars

Photo from klamathicesports.org

We saw that the local rink was closing for the season this weekend so we decided to go ice skating yesterday. The rink is about 20 minutes from our house and it is beautiful. The photo above is from the ice sports website. (not my picture)...and it did not look like that yesterday. No snow here...in fact it was in the 60s yesterday and beautiful.

Geoff and I realized that the last time we went ice skating was in Sun Valley, Idaho - six years ago!! So we were rusty anyway, and completely rusty with skating with toddlers! We tried their "Family Skate" deal. $5 each for Geoff and I to skate (including skates!) and $3 each for the boys. I must say, as soon as we were fitting the boys' skates on I was doubting our decision to take them skating.

J was excited to try...W for some reason decided earlier in the day that he didn't want to ice skate. But they both put their skates on and surprised us by how bold they were just jogging across the ground quickly on the single blade.

J ready to skate! He sure looks ready doesn't he?

Luckily for me, an instructor came over to me and offered a "beginning" technique of getting them to just march in place. So J held onto the wall and my hand and "marched" all around the rink. Not so bad.

W enjoyed the ice initially, and Geoff did the hold-him-between-the-legs-and-push-around technique which made Geoff ask for Motrin as soon as we left the rink.

Off the ice:

I am already excited about next winter and trying to skate again. The rink offers lessons, hockey leagues for 5 and up, broomball, and soon to be curling. I believe they also bring professional skating shows here to watch.

Ernest Avery

My grandpa passed away in January...he was 89 years old. He died in his sleep without suffering from any major health problems - such a blessing.

I can't taste or smell honey without thinking about my grandpa. My grandparents always had it at their house. And I can't eat peanut butter without thinking of him either. He didn't like it at all and we would joke about rubbing peanut butter on his head...he said that maybe it would make him grow some hair.

My grandparents lived on a farm most of their life. He farmed his family farm for 50 years. I will always remember getting in his big old blue truck (without a seatbelt) and he would floor it and drive like crazy around his farm. And he always liked to go to the creek bed to fish...and I always remember my heart racing when it seemed he would wait until the last minute to stop the truck before the creek. I always thought we were going to go in!

My grandpa was my last grandparent left and the boys last great grandparent. He had a big heart and a passion for books, flowers, and telling stories. Until his last day he was known for cutting flowers for the residents of the Manor and showing the new residents around. And he was a very proud Marine. He was so full of life that it was easy to become naive that he would always be around. Here are some of my favorite pictures with him...

We love you.
1920-2010

Flashback Video

I was just organizing some of my files online and came across this little video. An oldie but a goodie....I just discovered it because it was buried in a folder with other pictures instead of videos. Sorry about the quality...it is a little dark.

But you can hear J giggling (oh, those baby giggles) at Geoff pushing marbles across a shuffleboard.

Landscaping Six Days In.....

Cleaning up the front and adding lots of dirt! Very expensive dirt =)

W watching from a front window:

More boulder wall and dirt...

Looking toward the boulder wall in the back from the top of the stairs...

Looking up the stairs toward the front...they secured that wall to the left with dirt and boulders and added the boulders to the outside of the stairs...

BEFORE:

And right now:


Zoomed in picture from the street down below...busy busy...lots of big trucks!

The weather was crazy for them this week. On Wed it was high 60s and just amazing. And then we woke up to snow on Thursday and temperatures in the 20s. And wind...we get lots of wind at our house...so they were enduring lots of extremes. A little hail, a little rain, a little snow, and lots and lots of cold wind. Our plan has trees specifically for wind protection. We will need it!

To the Dentist!

Another six months...another dental cleaning for the boys. We are very happy about our new dental practice here...the hygienist was super patient and explained each step of the process to the boys before she performed it.

Here is J listening (he was really listening...and then feeling the brush on his finger)

W was a little hesitant for a moment...then did fine. J didn't make a peep the whole time except to look at Geoff and say "I'm not crying daddy...I am being brave." =)

The dental practice just completed renovations on their building-that very day. It was really nice...complete with a keurig maker, lots of coffee choices, and fun magazines in the waiting room. I asked the receptionist if I could hang out there in my free time!

I didn't get any pics of W getting his cleaning (that happened last time too) but here is one of him in his post-cleaning excitement! (I wish I could get that excited about a new toothbrush and some dental floss--and that is without even getting a toy folks-the toys in his hand were from home) Ok, just kidding. He is really not that excited. This is just his go-to expression when I ask him "to smile!"

See, here is W eating a yogurt sundae earlier that day...same expression.

Two Days In....

Thursday morning we broke ground on our landscaping project. I love anything to do with homes (especially before and afters) I am pretty excited about this project!

We signed all the papers on St. Patty's Day...and the little Caterpillar and the large Caterpillar arrived Thursday and started moving the earth around in order to "shape" the back yard.

Stage 1

Our yard in its "natural" state:

With a little bit of this...

and that....

Caterpillar smoothed it out:

Rocky, Claudia, and Don discussing big plans:

On Friday came the arrival of half of our boulders in a dump truck. The boys and I had fun watching Don arrive....lift the flaps...raise the bed...and BOOM! Then he would leave to go to the mountains for more...the biggest boulder that landed shook our whole house! They projected 14 loads of boulders.

Arrival of the first load:

Arrival of the fifth or so load:

Boys on the boulders:

The Tent...and the Crayon

We drove to Costco-town last week. And we bought two twin mattresses (for the twin beds we haven't yet found for the boys)...but we didn't think too much about fitting both mattresses in the van. Geoff could easily fit one in between the seats...the second one was not so easy. It had to fit above the boys' heads so they were pretty much in a "tent". Good thing Geoff called it that and got the boys excited about the "tent" idea because it could have been really bad...and have made for a looonng drive home. We normally let them watch a DVD on the way home but it blocked the screen...we couldn't even see them unless we peeked between the seats!

On the way there...Geoff sat between them and helped them trace letters with crayons. During W's turn...J just couldn't help himself with the blue crayon. And when Geoff looked over at him, he saw this:

It doesn't even look too bad in this pic...but his whole face was blue. It stayed blue for our whole time in Costco.

And for the grandparents....these guys are getting bigger and funnier...here is a picture of J...with his "mama, and daddy, and baby Ramones."
here is W getting his own water:

Here is J - very serious about his train line:

And the boys after the first time they had been in the Bob in three months. Unfortunately for me they fell asleep on my way back up a very steep hill! If they hadn't I would have had them get out and walk. Notice W's hand is still in his cup--they were eating grapes when they fell asleep!

I won't forget about Bear and Katy: