This past weekend, we got together and did some rock throwing into the river while Papa and Daddy flew their helicopters. Both are starting their own businesses in RC aerial photography. I thought I'd put up a couple pics from the park flight and a night flight.

So I got this cute little happy face timer for IJ (it was the one he liked) to encourage him in getting things done. Things such as eating his dinner, making his bed and the like. He was napping when my mom dropped it off (ordered it thru cheesy mail order catalog) so I showed it to him when he got up. "Wow!" He really liked it. I handed it to him so he could see it and went to get HM's ladybug to show to him too. When I turned back to look at him I saw his hands feverishly winding the poor thing beyond what its manufacturers intended and this terrible cracking sound was coming out of if. Not 30 seconds in his hands and it was broken! So, Daddy and I spent some time manhandling the plastic gears with teeth missing back together. The timing is off and, even tho the ringer works, the timer doesn't set it off. So, it's truly broken and his smile.... isn't quite right. Guess IJ can finish his dinner whenever he wants, now.

Happy 5th Anni. J & J

Happy New Year

It's strange, I usually get a sorta sad feeling once Christmas is over and especially when the tree and deco come down like it traditionally did, today being the 1st of January. But I was ready for it this time. I did nothing to celebrate the new year, just hung out with my son while sissy went to bed and daddy was with the youth group at church. Then I was in bed before 11. However, it did hit me today: it's the 1st, the 1st of January, meaning the 1st of a new year.... I didn't make my house payment!

While the kids are away, the grandchildren will play. That's how it was at my parents house yesterday. My brother and his wife are in India right now so my parents are taking care of their 3 young ones. It's a 2 week "slumber party." My mom had some games and projects planned to keep them entertained and out of mischief and included my son, so I headed on over with him and my daughter in tow also. Of course, at this age, the attention span is short; there were many changes of direction. They went from bead creations to snow play outside, lunch, mainly to refuel the adults, magazine picture cutting and goodie making for the jr. high group at church. B & IJ helped me a lot with that while H was still very involved with her cutting. But she soon joined us, seeing that there was lots of tasty goo being licked off of fingers. In the end they each got a haystack of their own. Thanks for the hard work, guys! In the midst of all the action, E & HM napped, ate or traveled the floor in search of attention or things to play with. Sugar and late naps brought everyone to screeching, sleeping halts and IJ, HM & I headed home. At the end of the day, I love seeing my peaceful, sleeping children .

During the winter months here in Idaho, the storks head to Florida and pass on their deliveries to the geese. Here is the arrival of our daughter.

Snow! Even with our "unseasonably" warm weather, Idaho still pulled off her usual first snowfall before Thanksgiving by dumping on us the night before. This Thanksgiving holiday we spent time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and even a new friend. And with the 2 snowfalls in the past five days, some recreation was spent outdoors sledding, building and snowball fighting. Yesterday saw some of that action. We have a miniature snowman and a "train" tunnel in our backyard now.

Wow! Lots of hassle, but thanks to Orangefrog76 my new look is achieved. Nothing super special, but a nice change. And with all that time spent hassling, I must save my thoughts for another day, another entry. I've got laundry wait'n ya know...

Last night we had an awesome, surprise, electrical storm. One of the best in this area for a long time. Jim noticed the flashing and went to the front window to find lightning stricking like crazy. He took over bath duty with the kids so I could tote my camera down to Mrs. See's house and take some pictures. The wind was blustery (thanks Milne) and the thunder almost continuous. And when I looked up into the sky right above me, Mrs. See pointed out, I could see the very edge of the storm. On the north side - the defining line being the storm cloud itself - electrical maddness, and on the south, clear starry night beauty. My pictures show hardly a fraction of what went on last night.

This weekend OCC was in town! We weren't planning on going, but 'a friend of a friend' won tickets and they were passed to us. It was fun to see the Teutul's as goofie on stage, in person as they are in the shop. The best parts consisted of their theme choppers that we've seen them build on Discovery being on display (they were awesome!!!), T-shirt cannons and frisbee toss, building a chopper on stage and the hopes of winning said bike. Needless to say, we are not new members of the Teutul bike family. It was fun and our children were amazingly patient. J. caught a shirt for me and I. came off with a frisbee, however, no hand shakes or 'John Hancocks". Still, it makes watching the show that much more personal and fun. And what does J. want for his 30th b-day?! Not much... just a chopper!

The babies have left the nest. Last weekend we just caught the first jr. robin hopin' outside his twiggie confines. When I went out to take some pictures, he watched me curiously for a bit while his siblings kept low, letting me get close until he took off as best he could; a little flapping, but mostly hopping. A couple days later we saw that the nest was empty and as I came back inside from taking a closer look, I noticed the last little guy perched upon a pot just outside the front door. I thought I was the spy, however, he was doing a much better job. 13 days from hatching, after much nuturing from their parents, they are gone, with occasional appearances for a few more days, leaving their marks upon our porch and furniture. It's a little lonely now. Out of habit we still look out the playroom window to see our feathered friends only to be reminded that they are gone. We still even take care in entering the house on a dark evening, remembering that a squatting parent, trying to go unnoticed, may become spooked and fly around the porch, trapped by the ceiling. I've let the nest remain in my planter, the empty state that it is, looking forward to another occupying family next spring.

So that's what they looked like yesterday. Here's what they look like today.

WE HAVE BABIES! Four to be exact. As my husband was leaving for work yesterday, he took his usual peek into the nest and instead of the four eggs, he saw a mass of soft pink flesh with a few little down feathers here and there. The mama and daddy robins have been busy feeding and keeping them warm. However, with our weather we've been having lately, the daddy has been standing on the side the of nest, panting, keeping watch, rather than sitting in it. By late afternoon our porch is in full sun and the birds are completely exposed to it. I placed a short cake pan of water on the porch to hopefully give them a little relief, but I haven't seen them use it yet. May just be a naive attempt to help on my part. Well, I hope to hear some baby robin chirping soon.

Up to four eggs and the daddy has been hanging around sitting on 'em all the time. It's exciting to watch our new friend hang out right in front of our house... on our house. IJ drums right in the front bedroom, and he isn't gentle, and still Robin hangs around. But as soon as we touch the door knob to step outside, he's gone. If we stay in the front yard too long he starts flyin' overhead, screeching at us. Sometimes I feel like we're prisoners in our own house with a pint sized ward telling us when we can come and go. I actually told my mom to come around to the back door when she came over the other day. I just don't want those little baby birds to die. As soon as they hatch I'll put some pictures up.

As if ducks in our backyard weren't enough, now we've got a robin building a nest for his love-to-be in our planter near our front room window. Although we've seen no lady friend as of yet, we're really rootin' for him. It's quite a grand nest. My son and I watch him come and go throughout the day adding more muddy twigs and easter basket grass, keeping an eye out for us and taking off if we get too close or make too much noise. I guess I won't be planting anything there this spring. But I think watching what grows in it will be more exciting than last year.

Ah, to be a child again. Last weekend it was a beautiful day to celebrate my Mom's, Oma's and Sister-in-law's birthdays. March and April are busy months for our family. Food always makes a great gathering, so we had dinner here. It was a beautiful day and, lucky for the kids, we have a 'wonderful' pond in the backyard of the house behind us. My brother and I took snaps (as the Indians say) as the cousins frolicked. It's amazing what you see and don't see behind the lens of a camera. Childhood bliss one moment, then..., "Hey! Get out of the water!"


HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIN

So my brother was over today (yeah, that's him on the right) and showed me a little bit about this blogging stuff... still don't get it that much, but at least I know how to post my ignorance about it.
My parents took us camping when we were 2 years old. The story goes that we jumped out of the truck and were covered in dirt in no time at all. We should take our little guys this summer. Maybe with my brother's kids too...

I'm just here to see what's so great about all this blogging stuff. This site will get more exciting as I figure out what I'm doing and find the time between children and housecleaning. Yeah, I'm a stay-at-home mom!