Best Friends on the Merry-Go-Round

Ollie's Bargain Yard

I called Lowe's looking for sod and they had half a pallet they needed to get rid of for $15. I threw the kids in the monster truck and we grabbed it. It looks just horrible here. The nice thing was that is was dried up and not heavy so the kids were able to lay out most of it. Anything is better than rocks and sticker burrs. We just need to score about 5 more of those deals and we'll have Ollie's yard complete.

After a month of watering and mild weather it's not looking so bad now.

This is Harvey

Harvey is very old and grouchy unless he's sleeping. If he's sleeping and soaking up the heat of the sun then he's the best cat ever because he's in his little bit of paradise.

Bestest of Friends Forever

People ask us on a regular basis if the kids are twins. They don't really look alike to me but maybe if I didn't know them so well I might suspect they are closer in age than they already are. Today they were having so much fun. Clay let Emmie dress in his clothes so they could match. What you can't see is that they have matching briefs on under their shorts too. They were also in such good moods they gave each other kisses on the cheeks and more than that they even let me try to catch a picture of it. They weren't going to pose but they weren't goingto hide either.

Emmie's Kindergarten Field Trip

Emmie's class went to the zoo today. Clay, Scott and Annie were all able to go with her. The zoo is an animal sanctuary for injured and mistreated animals of all sorts. There are mountain lions, bobcats, tigers, bears, wolves, monkeys and a lot more. Emmie's favorite as well as the favorite of many of the other children was the feral cat enclosure. I couldn't believe Emmie wanted to go back and see the cats of all the animals that were there. I thought for sure when she said kitties she meant the mountain lions! The kids had fun at the park next door also. They were trying to get as dizzy as they could. Mrs. Nicholson won't be returning to the school next year so the kids made her a scrapbook and a quilt and presented it to her at the end of the day. She was so surprised. Somehow the kids, with a couple of parents helping, managed to do it without her knowing a thing even though she was there the whole time!What a great day (despite the looks on their faces)!

Packing for Vacation

Emmie and Clay have been busy this morning packing for vacation to Monterey. It's their favorite place in the world. I'm sure this is only because we haven't yet taken them to Disneyland. This is Emmie's suitcase so far. These are the things she can't bear to part with for 3 days. There are more toys than clothes AND most of the toys are things she hasn't even touched in months. The Whoopee Cushion is priceless! Em said it was to wake up mom and dad in the middle of the night. This is still a work in progress. She is still sorting through her things for more treasures to stuff in the suitcase.Clay has the bare essentials. He has the otter (we are going to Monterey after all), a bell to also wake up mom and dad, and a game. He packed 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of jeans and 1 short sleeve shirt. He wasn't sure if it would be warm for shorts or cold for pants. I had to capture this even though we are running crazy this morning trying to get things squared away before General Conference starts.

Child-Proof Depends on the Child

Em's been a little sick lately so we had the medicine and vitamin box down on the counter. She had taken some Tylenol earlier. She came up to me after we had gotten home from taking the car to the shop and declared she had just taken her vitamins. I was a little shocked. I first asked her exactly what she took. It was just her normal bear vitamins and fluoride tablet. We usually keep the pills way up high and I have never even let the kids watch me open the bottles so they wouldn't figure it out on their own. I asked her how she got them open. She said, "Well, I read on the lid. It says 'To open push down and turn.'" We're so glad she can read, but things have just gotten a little more tricky. They should be called 'Non-Reader Proof caps' not 'Child Proof caps'.

Emmie's Daffodil

Emmie picked one of our few daffodils and brought it inside. On her own she found a vase. Then she climbed up into the craft closet and found some blue glass rocks and filled the vase with water. I was expecting her to put it in a cup of water at best. This was a very nice surprise. I didn't even know we had the blue glass but it made the flower look great alone in the big vase. She even took out the faded flower and replaced it with a new one a few days later.

The Tooth Fairy Will be Busy Tonight!

Emmie lost her 2ND tooth tonight with a little of Scott's help. It was just laying there sideways and Scott sort of bumped into it with his finger. I noticed Ollie's tooth in the same spot was loose and dangling too. So I yanked it. Another day and they both would have been lost like Em's last one. Emmie has 2 teeth to put under her pillow tonight. Since Ollie doesn't have a pillow she is putting his with hers. For a dog with a deadly puppy bite his teeth sure are tiny. I guess piranha have tiny teeth too. The teeth are next to a dime to show just how teensy weensy they really are.

Building Oliver's Dog Run

This little dog will gain 120 pounds and grow a couple of feet taller in the coming months. He cannot live inside forever.
Time to build the dog run. Everyone is getting involved with this big job.
Clay's handling the jackhammer like a pro. It's a bit loud!
Emmie loves the bounciness.
Emmie's on the tractor making sure the auger is lined up to dig the holes.
Scott is letting Clay use the jackhammer all by himself. "Look Clay, no hands!"
Clay is adding water to help Scott mix the cement.

The kids and Oliver take their maiden voyage in the back of the pickup. The kids liked the ride a whole lot more than the dog did. They took the tools down to the shed to put them away. After the ride Emmie helped Oliver out of the truck.
Time to call it a day. The posts were in just before the rain started

Bath Time with Oliver

Oliver loves the water but mostly he wants to be where the kids are. He was begging to get in the tub with them. He was so jealous. It won't be long before he can just hop in with them if he wants.

The Tooth Fairy Visited

Em put her letter under her pillow and this is what she found in the morning. This is about the best smile she will give us with all the interest in her teeth lately.

Emmie Lost Her First Tooth - Literally!

Emmie's front bottom 2 teeth came in before her baby teeth had a chance to fall out. They were not even loose enough for us to sneak in and pull them out while she was asleep. It's been about 2 months since the first tooth started to poke through. Today Scott noticed her tooth looked a little dark. Actually it was gone. Emmie literally lost her first tooth. She had no idea where it was or that it had even fallen out. Emmie was worried about the Tooth Fairy not knowing she lost a tooth so she decided to write a note. She wanted to write. "Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost a tooth, but I lost it." That didn't quite sound right to her so she came up with another way to write it.

The Super Wedgies

I really debated about posting this one. It's too funny and embarrassing not to. Last summer the kids pulled out some underwear and stretched the waistbands as far as they could to get them to be shoulder straps. They ran around in them pretending they were swim suits. They did it off and on for a few weeks. No, they never actually swam in them or even went outside. Even with our general seclusion here I wouldn't dare let them out. That would be the same moment the PG&E guy would pull up to check the meter or we'd get an unexpected package from UPS!

Slumber Party

Here's a not-so-good photo I just have to post from a few months back. The kids love to have slumber parties on their floors. Whoever has the cleanest room gets to host the party. We haven't had one in a few weeks because you can't even walk through their rooms without risking a twisted ankle much less having enough room to even lay down. The picture explains the rest itself.

Snow Cat

We went to visit Scott at his job at Marshall one day just after it snowed. He was called away to actually do some work. Dang-it! I took the kids up to Apple Hill. We stopped at High Hill Ranch and the place was nearly deserted. We had the place to ourselves with a nice blanket of untouched snow. I don't keep a sled in my car on a regular basis but I sure wish I had that day. I managed to scrounge up 5 individual gloves in varying sizes. We had a great time making this snow cat. Emmie was extremely particular about the whisker accuracy.

Hug Bugs

Clay spent the night with Scott at the work house for his Marshall job. Then he went to an in service training with him early the next morning. He sat in the meeting and kept saying, "This is so stupid!" The other people Scott works with just looked at him and nodded in agreement. This arrangement was made so I could volunteer at Emmie's school. Emmie and Clay were so excited to get separate mom and dad time they gave each other a dozen sincere goodbye hugs. This was also the very first time they had ever slept in different houses since Clay was born. Unfortunately, Emmie started throwing up as soon as we got home. I had to call and cancel school the next day. Maybe having a sickness come on put Emmie off her game and that's why she was being so sweet. I'm sure glad I was able to capture the moment.

Last Year's Snowy Day

I found some older pictures on my phone and finally figured out how to put them in our picture files. I liked them well enough I wanted to post them. We only had enough snow this time to make everything really pretty and knock out the power for awhile. I had to pull the kids in the sled all over the lawn. Surprisingly, going down hill was not any easier than going up hill. I took them around the lawn twice and pooped out. I think I remember they went and jumped on the snowy trampoline afterwards. They thought it was fun to listen to the noise as the snow jumped with them. It's not looking like we will get any snowy play days this winter, not at home anyway.

Sister vs Brother

Here are the best pictures I could imagine to depict the differences between our 2 children. We went to the fish hatchery at the Nimbus Dam. The kids each had a cup of food to feed the rainbow trout. Emmie delicately sprinkled a few pellets of her food at a time with grace and flair. Clay chucked his food all at once with extreme gusto and a grunt. Having a boy and a girl so close in age helps me appreciate the differences between them. I could never choose one over the other and I'm sure glad we get to experience both.