Neighborhood tomcat

This is the neighborhood tomcat that we often times find in various parts of our back yard stocking these little ladies...

Well, yesterday I looked outside and saw him up on the bird/squirrel feeder stocking another one of our back yard friends.

Or maybe the squirrel was stocking him..

It looked like a stare off!!!

spring time in Oregon



Some times spring time in Oregon isn't very nice or fun.  Lots of rain!!  We had a couple of nice days this week.  We spent one evening playing in the back yard and I decided to take some picture before it started to rain again.

Here is Milo!!   He will be 14 years old in a few months and his age had been showing lately.  He doesn't run as fast or as long as he used to but he sure had fun chancing the ball on this night.  I was surprised he played for as long as he did. 

  And of course, D!!  Jack was too busy talking to the neighbor over the fence for me to get one of him. Maybe next time.

We need a robot

I just have to write this down quick before I forget.

I was getting D tucked into bed tonight when he mentioned that he doesn't have any sweat pants in his drawer.  I explained that there were 4 loads of laundry in the laundry area waiting for someone to fold them.  I always tease that if Jack would just pay the maid more things would get done around here so I said to D, "Maybe the maid will come fold those clothes tomorrow."  His response, "We need a robot!!"  I said "Yeah, we could just punch in 'laundry' or 'dishes' or 'sweep floors'...".  He interrupted with 'clean D's room!!"  That boy makes me laugh!!

Journaling

Today at church, a woman commented on D's hair style. I explained that he does his own hair most mornings and that he has a name for each do. We all had a good chuckle. She asked me if I was writing the funny things that he does and says down. I had to admit that I am not very good about that so I decide that I need to be better. I did tell her that I do take lots of pictures which she gave me high praises for that. So I decided that I REALLY need to better about writing things down and this blog is a perfect place for journaling. So I am going to recommit to keeping things updated on here.

Here's a few things that have happening with us lately...

D's yummy green breakfast for St Patrick's day. I almost couldn't handle eating green eggs. He on the other had thought it was quite fun.

On St. Patrick's day afternoon, D got to stay with a babysitter (that doesn't happen very often) and Jack and I went with friends to see Wicked. It was so awesome!!!! Jack even liked. Can't wait to go again. We might even take D next time. We have been listening to the sound track in the car and he is always asking me what the songs are about and what is happening in the story during that song.

We spent the day before Easter at the beach. It was warm and sunny with a little bit of wind for flying a kite.

D on Easter morning. We...well mostly me...spent hours making paper eggs to decorate our door with. I had fun!!!!

D has been doing American Karate for about 2 years now and recently earned his blue belt.

Jack had some of his work gear at home for few days because he was on training so D had to try it out. The helmet was so heavy he couldn't wear it for very long because it strained his neck muscles just trying to keep his head up.

Scripture Reading

To go along with this years theme in Primary, the Primary Presidency challenged the children to read their scriptures EVERY day. To encourage them, the children get their own chart for each month and get to add stickers to a large board in the Primary room. At the end of the month, if the kids have read everyday they get to pick a prize out of a prize bucket. D has been REALLY motivated to get something out of that prize bucket so we have made a point of trying to reach this goal of reading every day. So the other night we were reading and D all of the sudden pointed to a verse and said "I can read that!". He preceeded to read about 5 verses. I was so proud of him. He knew most of the words and was willing to sound out the ones that he didn't know. It was awesome considering before he started 1st grade, reading was a bit of a struggle. It is so cool to seem him progessing and becoming more independant. Then tonight as we were going about our bedtime routine, he was quick to remind me that I didn't need to do the reading...that he could do.

Dinner Conversation

D: Melanie, how many words do you know in German?
Me: I used to know a lot but not so many any more.
D: What words do you still know?
Me: Fraulein
D: Fraulein, that means lady
Me: How many German words do you know?
D: hotdog Fraulein
Me: Where did you learn that?
D: from Jonathan (boy in his primary class)
Me: How does Jonathan know German?
I get "The Look"
D: He has a German hat.

Well, duh on me!!!

MeRrY ChRiStMaS

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours. May you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Allie

It was a sad night at our house last night. We had to make the decision to put Allie down. She was old and had really slowed down the last few months. She got sick suddenly and we didn't think it was fair to her live out her days uncomfortably. We knew that she wouldn't be with us much longer but it hasn't made it any easier.



We got Allie as a puppy. She was like a child to us. She followed us everywhere we went in the house and even slept in our bed. That was her most favorite place to be...as you can see from the pictures. =0) Look how comfy she is!

She even loved to snuggle with Milo when we brought him home. Milo loved her so much. He would whine and cry when we would have to take her somewhere (usually the vet) and leave him behind. If he only knew she was just getting poked and prodded in place he probably would not appreciate being poked and prodded.

Allie was a good companion, protector, outdoor adventurer, exercise partner, entertainer, and snuggler. We loved her and will miss her terribly!

blogging...

I have decided that I am not very good at this blogging thing. I get really excited about new picture I have taken or things that have happened and am all ready to blog about it and then I just don't take the time. Slacker!!!

I just did a couple of posts about summer. Maybe I will be better now??? Enjoy!!

other stuff we did this summer...

We hiked.

We went fishing,

D lost more teeth.

D played outside as much as possible.

D roller skated.

More hiking.

More fishing.

We went to the beach.

We had a pretty good summer. Too bad it is over.

Lost Lake

This summer we really wanted to do some camping. So we did some research and decided on a place called Lost Lake. We loved it there. We ended up going there twice this summer. We had a great time fishing, swimming, and hiking around the lake.

Great veiw of Mount Hood from the north side of the lake.

D and I hiked around the lake to the view point on our first day there.

D posing with Big Foot in front of the general store at the lake.

D loved swimming and throwing rocks in the lake. I don't think this one went very far.

This is the view of Mount Hood on the way home from the Lost Lake...so beautiful.

D's Birthday

D turned 7 this summer. We had a little party at the house with family and friends.

D opening presents.

The awesome fishing vest was a big hit!!

The birthday cake!!

Kindergarten graduation

D graduated from Harmony Montessori School on June 14th. He had a great year there and we were excited for his graduation day. They had a very non-traditional graduation ceremony. No caps with tassels. The children sat in the "Friendship Circle" and walked the circle to their teacher when it was there turn to get their certificate. The teachers said a few things about each of the children. Teacher Kristin talked about how kind D is and how he was so good with the younger children in his class.



A last picture with teacher Kristen. On to the 1st grade!!!

School Play

Right before the end of the school the aftercare children at D's school put on a play..."Small Cloud". D played the part of "Whistling Wind". Teacher Kristin made this awesome costume for D. We were so excited for the play...we had been hearing about it for weeks! D did a great job!!

Sleeping

Sometimes D asks if he can sleep in the bed with Jack & I. This is why the answer is ALWAYS no...

Chickens

Here is the coop with planting boxes on top for our garden...



Here are the chickens...

And our first egg...the small one.

The first egg was so little..it was odd. We now get normal sized eggs pretty much every day.