Spring Break

I didn't take any pictures so far during spring break, but Bee took some pictures of these cute things she and Monkey made out of pattern blocks when they were staying up late one night.

I have been really bad about taking pictures during spring break. Not that we've done anything very fun. Umm, let's see.... I have worked all week. The critters have done chores all week. We cleaned out and organized Bee's bedroom - went through all the boxes, finished the closet and got everything put away. I was so proud of her for getting rid of so much stuff!!! She has a big box for the Lizard girls and 2 boxes to go to the DI. When Penguin gets here, she gets to go through her stuff and throw half of it away too!! I don't know why I buy the critters so much stuff, because I usually can't wait to go through it and throw it away... what's up with that? Let's see, what else did we do? oh, Nothing.

Today Martin, Bee and Monkey got to go to the Ranch with Mama Bear. They'll get to stay there for a few days - probably hang out with Mustang and have fun on both ranches. Maybe Mare will take some pictures for me... So now Lemur and I are hanging out at home. He is making messes while I work, and I clean them up when I'm done working. His latest mess is tearing off a bunch of the wall paper border in his bedroom. I was so bummed. It was really cute and the only bedroom in the house that was done and decorated cute. I need to watch him better. He climbed up on the changing table and just started tearing it off - he was too quiet, I should have known better. :(

Hunter's Family - Saturday night

Some of Hunters family came over for dinner Saturday evening. Tortoise and Hare came down for a quick Saturday/Sunday stay. Hare and a friend were buying Walnut lumber from Hunter. When the lumber is dry Hare is going to make us a HUGE DINING ROOM TABLE!! We are so excited about that! Rainbow Trout and the boys came over too. They hadn't been to our new house yet, so that was fun. To bad our other 6 critters weren't here for the boys to play with! It was fun seeing them, though. Sea Lion brought Tortoise and Hare their Christmas present - isn't it cool?

It was nice sitting down and visiting for a little bit. We finished off the evening with Key Lime Poke Cake... I could have eaten the whole thing by myself. It was SOooo yummy! Thanks for the recipe Mare!

It was fun having Sea Lion for a couple of hours. We don't get to see her very often! Lemur LOVED her. He flirted with her all night!

Of course Lemur had to show off and get lots of attention and be silly for everyone. He's starting to LOVE all the attention and show off.

An Egyptian Mask... Sorta

For Social Studies Martin had to make an Egyptian mask. He was supposed to make it look like a famous Egyptian, and then personalize it so the teacher could tell it had Martin's personality. So we got some plaster stuff that comes in strips (I have no idea what it is called, but it's like cast material. You just get it wet and put it on what ever you want too - you can make fake casts even) and I put several layers all over his face.

Except for my big hiney in the way, this is a good shot of Martin being mummified - well, his face, anyway. He only had 2 little holes by his nose to breath through for 2o minutes. I would have gotten claustrophobic! Martin did good even though Hunter made a fake piranha bite his nose and tickled him.

After 20 minutes he took the impression off of his face (and a deep breath!) and then let it dry for 24 hours. Then he made some additions to the mask to look like a combination of King Tut and Darth Vader.

And here's the finished product. I forgot to take pictures while he was painting it and morphing it into King-Tut-Vader. He did a great job on it, I think. It looks sort of Tut-ish Darth Vader-ish doesn't it?

The Pinewood Derby...at last

Here are all the winners. All of the boys were good sports. We had a really fun evening watching the races. Every car raced every car - 17 cars in all, so that's a lot of racing! It was very organized and we were done in just over an hour - wow. The Bull Elk is the Cub Master and Cow Elk is the Cub Committee Chairman and they are super organized. It was a really fun evening.

Our friend Fox3 beat Monkey pretty good, but Monkey was a good sport about it.

OOoooh, that was close.

Monkey's car is the yellow blur in front.

I like this picture because after the official pinewood derby, anyone could race. This dad standing in line made a car and couldn't WAIT to race his son... who easily beat him. They even raced again, switching tracks and his son still won! Dad was a good sport though.

The Cub Master, Bull Elk carefully setting the cars on the track. Monkey's is the yellow one. I was real proud of Monkey for his good sportsmanship. He won some and lost some, but always had a smile on his face and congratulated the winner if he lost. Good job Monkey! Martin took his best pinewood derby car from years gone by and raced the champion - it was neck and neck the whole way, but this year's champ won by a hair. Martin had fun racing his car again. Apparently a few years of dust didn't slow it down very much.

Toilet Paper Anyone?

After a trip to Costco, it's time to put the TP away. Lemur was excited to help. All it took was me showing him how and he was off and stacking.

Out of the bag, and onto the shelf.

He would push and shove and stack the rolls. It actually turned out very organized!

The bag is empty. Lemur was mad when he was done. In fact, he started taking all the rolls out of the closet and putting them back in the bag. Maria Montessori says it's the process that matters to children, not the product. They will do the same thing over and over and over just for the fun of doing it. (I need to train him to do dishes!) I probably should have let him do it again and again and again, except I KNOW that when I wasn't looking, he would take the wrapping off the roll and string TP from one end of the house to the other.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

We really didn't do much for St. Patrick's Day except have green eggs for breakfast. The kids wore green. I worked all day - and actually had a good day. I was so nervous about my job and it has turned out better than I ever dreamed it could be!!! I am so blessed. (no pictures of me sitting at the computer - that's boring anyway) I did go to the Relief Society Birthday dinner at church last night and had a great time - other than having to sing a duet for part of the program - it was a nice evening and good to get away from the computer.
Leprechaun's colored our eggs green on Tuesday morning. The only color in the house was neon green - they hurt our eyes, but not our tummies!

Sheesh, the eggs are the color of Bee's shirt!

I don't think Lemur cared one bit about the green eggs. Aren't they supposed to be this color? Yum! Martin got some too - just didn't get a picture of him.

Derby Up-date

Monkey and Hunter finished up Monkey's car on Monday night. Hunter used his smelter to melt some lead and he poured it into holes he drilled in the car. It weighed exactly 5.0 oz. Good Luck Monkey! ! Thursday night is the Pine Wood Derby - can't wait!!!

Spring Fever

Lemur and I got home around 3:00 Saturday. We were so glad to be home! It was almost 60 degrees outside. We unloaded the van and spent the rest of the afternoon outside working and playing. Lemur was very happy to be out of his car seat! He was a great traveler though. It's fun to go visiting, but it's always so good to be home!

Here are some of the critters playing a game - they dug holes on the hill and tried to push each other in the holes. If you get in a hole you are out for that round. Yes they were filthy dirty, but they sure had a good time playing in the dirt. You should have seen the bath tubs when they were done showering!

We tried to burn some branches, but they were too green. We did have a good hot dog roasting fire though, and the critters had fun roasting hot dogs and s'mores. (we didn't have graham crackers, so they used oreo-type cookies and said they were yummy!)

Penguin and Lemur watching the fire.

Gotta love those hot dogs!

Martin was hanging out with a friend at his house. Hunter and Steelhead were doing all kinds of projects and I didn't get their picture taken. They worked on Steelhead and Monkey's bedroom windows. I think they are doing trimming. Hunter also fixed a sunken in plug outlet and got the stuff to fix the plumbing - the main waterline to the house comes into the house in the boys bedroom closet. Anyway - another project. They dug a big hole outside the bedroom trying to find where the water line went into the house and Hunter is going to put a valve out there instead of in the closet. They did lots of tree trimming and piled up all the branches to burn when they get dry.

Zookeeper and Lemur - Road Trip

Lemur and I took a road trip so I could do some training for me new Transcription job. We got to stop and see the Fox Family - didn't get a picture of Mr. Fox or Todd - oops. But here is Mrs. Fox and Vixen. They just got a new puppy who is so cute, and sorta nameless right now until they find just the right one. Lemur loved the puppy.

We stayed with Tortoise and Hare for a few days. Tortoise watched Lemur while I went and did training at the Hospital and hour or so away. They got along just fine and had lots of fun together. The sun was out when I got back Thursday, and it was nice and warm (?) 40 degrees anyway, so we went for a nice walk and got some fresh air. Lemur loves the snow and ate a bunch.

Lemur loves his Grandma, and Friday night he helped her cook dinner. He must have stood up here for 30 minutes stirring the meat. He is such a big helper!

Hare has a gift for making things with wood. These are some stools that he made. Three of them are out of black Walnut that Hunter milled and gave him. We got to bring the short one home - it has a checker board on top. If you want one - let me know. Maybe he'll sell you one. They are truly beautiful - a work of art!

Lemur was a bit crabby when I took this picture, I think it was nap time. He was so much fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house though and loved being there and hanging out with them. Thank you for having us Tortoise and Hare!

I got all trained on my new job. They sent me home with a new computer to work on and Tons and TONS of information that overloaded my brain. I have to get to work now!!!

Derby time of year

It's that time of year again, the time of year that all Cub Scouts everywhere, dream about, wait for, plan on, and think it will never come! Now it is here and every day Monkey has asked, "can we work on my pinewood derby car today?" Finally today the answer was yes. We got on line, googled Pinewood Derby Cars and got some good ideas... then he and Martin came up with an original - a bullet. So Martin drew the bullet on the block of wood and when Hunter got home he cut it out for Monkey.

Here's the diamond in the rough. I'm not sure it's really going to turn out to be a bullet because Monkey said that brass and silver were kind of boring colors to paint it, and could he use blue and red and stuff like that too? So, we'll keep you posted to see if he ends up making a bullet or something else equally original and fast.

A Scrapin' Fun Weekend

So Friday morning Mama Fox drove up around 8:15. At about 9:00 she and I took off for the ranch. We got there around 12:00 and did some setting up and cleaning, then went to the Ranch where Mustang works. Mare and Colt were there and we had a good time seeing their cool old ranch house and chatting for a bit. Mustang came if from running ranch errands and we got to see him for a little bit. Then we all went to Mama and Papa Bears ranch. We worked on preparing a bunch of food when some of our scrapbooking friends showed up for a weekend get away to scrapbook. We had such a nice weekend.

I asked Mare to be in charge of the food. She made the menue and did most of the cookin'. She has a knack for making yummy food and she didn't let us down. I think we all gained about 10 pounds this weekend. We ate so good and spent the rest of the time scrapbooking. I think my friend Cow Elk got the most pages done, but the rest of us weren't far behind. We left Sunday morning and were all tired, but it was so refreshing to get away for a couple of days and do something for US!
Colt waves bye-bye so dang cute. He has the bluest eyes and the dang cutest smile! It was so fun seeing him for a couple of days. He has this thing about hair and he sucked on my hair for a while - funny, Lemur likes my hair too, it must be that candy flavored shampoo I use.

Colt doesn't care to crawl yet, but he likes to walk with his Daddy. I bet he walks before he crawls.

Workin' away!

Mama Bear "journaling." I think she had as much fun watching the rest of us and listening to us talk as she did working on Cheetah's album. She was a great host - thanks for letting us crash your barn!

Mare and Colt - he was there with us the whole time and was such a good little boy! I don't know about the rest of the ladies, but I came home to a fairly clean house and happy family. It's so nice to be able to leave for a few days and know my hubby has everything under control. He and the kids got quite a few projects done while I was gone too. Maybe I should leave more often! Lemur would hardly look at me when I got home. But later that evening he was all cuddles and had a hard time letting go of me. I think he was punishing me at first for leaving, but he must have forgiven me and decided he needed to be held by mama.

While You were Blogging...

So while I was posting the last blog spot, Lemur was busy helping me some more. He sprayed down the counter, the floor and the sliding glass door with Windex. I handed him a couple of paper towels and he went to work shining the glass. What a good kid.

Oh, did I mention that he did some art on the kitchen counter too. I handed him the Windex and he sprayed that and wiped it off - all of it. Sooooo smart! ( I also didn't know Windex takes off pencil... now I do.)

A snack and a job

Just a cute picture of Lemur having a snack before naptime today. He's such a cheezer! This morning I found him up on this stool, spraying windex on the counter and wiping it with a rag. What a good helper! You can't really see his fat lip, but it's there. Yesterday we were outside and he turfed it on the cement. He caught himself with his hands, but kept going over and smooshed his lips against the cement. Of course there was blood everywhere, but I really think he was more upset about his candy falling out of his mouth and not being able to eat it, than he was crying because he was hurt. Once he got a new piece of candy, he was fine.

Yesterday I got a call from the Hospital asking me to come in and take a drug and alcohol test and fill out my new employee paperwork. I was crossing my fingers that this was a good sign... and that I had gotten the job with HCA/MountainStar Transcription, but didn't want to be too confident. About an hour later, the lady from MountainStar Transcription called and offered me the job and wanted to know if I could go into the hospital and take a drug and alcohol test. I asked if 2:00 was okay... it was already set up. She said great! I am so thankful to have been offered the job! I am actually an employee of MountainStar Transcription/HCA instead of being an independent contractor like I was the last year that I worked. This job has benefits too, I am so blessed!!! I will be working about 20 hours a week. I just pray the hours are fairly flexible so I can accommodate Lemur and the new baby (when it comes in + or - 10 weeks - wow, that's going by fast!). I have to do one day of HCA training here in town at the hospital and two days of training in Utah which will be cool because I can stay with Mama Fox and her family!! I have been so stressed out about finding a new job and only having one year of experience. I had that Florida job in my back pocket but really, really hated doing it. It was SOoooo stressful. I'm glad I can call them and say, Thanks, but no thanks.

So now, I'm able to finish up some projects around the new house: Decorating, building shelves in the game closet in the family room, and hopefully, shampooing the carpets. I can do all of that without feeling guilty that I'm not working! Lemur and I have really enjoyed not driving in the mornings! Sometimes I don't get him dressed until 10:00. How nice! It's also nice not having to fill up the van with gas two or three times a week! The critters seem to be adjusting well to their new schools. They like getting on the bus right in front of the house and coming home and not having to wait for me to get to the bus stop. They also love having hot lunch at school and not making their lunch every morning.

Okay, enough rambling. :)

A Working Weekend (mostly)

Saturday we had SO MUCH to do, and the critters were great helpers. Of course I didn't take pictures of them working because I was working too. We got up early and had breakfast on Saturday morning. We left the critters cleaning the house and Hunter and I ran to D&B to get Hunter some new White's (Work Boots) because D&B was having a 20% off sale on all clothing and footwear. Of course I had to browse their clothes and get a new sweater. I also found winter coats for Monkey and Bee for next year for $8 and $12.00!! Yeah! Then we went into the City and got some tools we needed at Harbor Freight. (Papa Bears favorite store). We stopped at some Pawn Shops looking for a saw on the way home. Got home just in time for lunch... Costco 100% beef franks... yum. Then Hunter, Steelhead, Martin, Porcupine and Lemur went to the old place and got about 2 cords of fire wood that we had left there. Zookeeper, Bee, Penguin, and Monkey took a load of junk to the dump, then went to the old place and the guys loaded the pickup with firewood. We all went home and unloaded and stacked the firewood. Nice to have that job done!

Then Hunter got out the chainsaw and started trimming some trees along the back fence. They are all volunteer, I think. He cut and the critters and I hauled branches over to a pile where we will have a bon fire when it's not too windy. We also put away a bunch of boards, wire, tools and other things that we had just thrown out of the trucks over the last couple of weeks. I love cleaning up and making things look better. (There is a TON of that to do around here - the former owners left a ton of stuff and clean up projects for us). I finally went in to make home made pizza while they finished up outside.

Hunter, Bee and I went back to the old place to return the moving van we had borrowed from a friend. We dropped Bee off to go see Seussical the Musical with a friend, and stopped at the store for ice cream and root beer. We came home to critters who had taken baths and were tired from working so hard. We have such great critters, they are turning into really good workers. They don't even complain about it most of the time!
Monkey and Porcupine had been outside giving Lemur rides in the stroller. I just happened to catch this...

Oops, hit a rock and over we went! Lemur didn't get hurt, it just scared him.

Back up right. Whoa...that was scary!

Porcupine and Monkey love giving Lemur rides in the little umbrella stroller, and riding the bikes around. Lemur is trying to put his boot back on in this picture.

Saturday night, after working hard most of the day, we enjoyed refreshing root beer floats... ahh, that hits the spot! Bee went to Seussical the Musical on Saturday night with a friend. She said it was very entertaining!