Adventures with Jim

Yesterday, we had "the best day ever," according to the boys. We went on an adventure with one of their favorite people, Jim. He is the local naturalist and his hobby is to watch over and band birds. He counts them and keeps track of what is going on in the boxes he puts up all over the area. The boys and I joined him yesterday. We went to at least 5 boxes (birdhouses) before we found one with a nest and babies. He said it was pretty strange. One box we looked in had a nest in it for the last 5 years, but not this year. We were just happy to find one.

One of the birdhouses for the American Kestrel...the bird Tyler studied this year.On the ladder getting the birds out of the nest to band them. I was just afraid the mother was going to dive bomb us. She just watched from a distant tree top.
When I say adventures, I mean of all kind. We got stuck out in a weird sandy area. The boys thought his car was the coolest. It had an oven, refrigerator and a pop up in the ceiling. Jim had to call his friend to come tow us out. Meanwhile, we banded the birds, so it wasn't such a long wait. The boys wanted to know if I would ever buy a car like that because it was so cool. What did I say?! Maybe. Jim could hear the whole conversation.
This baby fell out of our grasp and didn't want us near him. Check out that wingspan at 4 weeks old!
Tanner holding one of the babies. The gloves were to protect him from their huge talons (claws). They were scarey looking! Not to mention their sharp little beaks!Tanner gently caught the one that didn't want to be caught.
Tyler with his baby Kestrel
Jim banding the bird.

What you didn't see, is that I did hold tw0 of the loudest babies, all the time looking over my shoulder for the mother and praying they wouldn't poop all over me. It was an adventure!

Another thing I didn't take a picture of was the driving experience. At one point Jim stopped the car and jumped out and ran behind the car. He then noticed we were rolling backwards down the hill. He hurriedly jumped back into the drivers seat and told us that he saw a racer and he wanted to catch it and show us. A racer is a snake. He is more in tune with nature and animals than anyone I have ever known. The boys ate it up!

House Update

So, here is a little update on the house. Nyle has been sheeting the roof and getting some fascia up. These really don't show much fascia, but the roof is mostly sheeted. It has been a full week! The roofer (my brother-in-law) is coming on Wednesday, so we need to be ready for him! They even worked on Saturday. The fun never stops.

This is the Family Room and above is Syd's room.
Office and entry. Nice post isn't it? There will actually be 3 8x8's on each side with rock bases. We are not covering the rafter tails...I wanted that look and we don't have to worry about a lot of rain! Yeah!

Sprinkler Fun

What's better than sprinklers and popsicles?

Summer at Our House

Sleeping Beauty...she slept until 10:10 that day!

Lucky girl! I had already gotten up and worked out, ate breakfast and all that.
This is the boys and some neighbor kids trying to drag the hose to their "cold tub" that they made. Instead of a hot tub, they made a cold tub. It really was COLD and it's in the shade, so there isn't a lot of hope that it will get warm. They had fun though.
They found an extra hose to connect and make the 100' reach...I couldn't believe it!
Fillin' the tub!

Nice work, eh?

Paradise?

Well, I had to change my heading to somewhere that I really want to be right now. This is Cozumel. Anyone up for going there? I took this picture when we went on our cruise and we were touring the Mayan ruins. I just wanted to stay there forever. We even got to go swimming right under the "temple." It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
So, even though I think I live in paradise, this is where I want to be right now...not building or working!

Summer Vacation?

Ok mom, now I know why you never loved summer vacation. Is it really a vacation? Of course not! Not for the mothers anyway. I thought life was hectic before. Now I have to juggle working, building, and keeping kids happy...oh, and working out (yeah right!). My friend Monica just had a baby yesterday and her sister is driving up to get her 3 kids and she is taking them back with her to CA. What!? Is that awesome or what? Do I need to have a baby to get someone to steal my kids away for a week? Yep, probably. But I will not be adding that in the mix right now. YIKES!
Really, my kids have been having a lot of fun. There were about 8 kids over here yesterday afternoon...mostly from the neighborhood. They all stayed for dinner and didn't want to stop playing. No homework, nice weather and no strict bedtimes. They have it pretty good. Can I be a kid again?

The Men in my life...

I have truly been blessed by the men in my life. So, Father's Day is really a great day to recognize them. I only hope that one day my boys can have the same influence on their own families.

It all starts with my Grandpas. Grandpa Harline was the funnest, funniest, most loving man anyone could hope to have for a grandpa. He was an example to me in more than one way and I dearly miss him. I always knew that he would travel to wherever I was to show his love and support on any big event in my life. He never missed one until he got sick. He was there for my H.S. graduation, College graduation, my wedding, when my boys were blessed and many others that I cannot mention. He would have snuck into that girl's weekend we had last week if he had been around. He just wouldn't miss an opportunity to be with his family!

From what I remember of Grandpa Killeen he was a tickler. He always wanted to make us laugh. He was soft spoken and gentle. I do know that he loved his family...and that he was willing to support his daughter in every decision she made, even if he didn't agree with it, and that speaks volumes. I wish I had been able to spend more time with him, but he influence is felt whenever I am with my mom. He was a great father!

Then, there's my dad. He's a peacemaker, loving, kind, supportive, and full of wisdom. If I ever need help with a decision, he can talk me through it with all of his good common sense. Wow! He's a great man and I love him! Thank you for loving my mom and teaching me what I should look for in a husband. Thank you for loving me when I was a brat, and for teaching me that I can do anything. I feel like I can rope the moon in your eyes.

I was lucky enough to find a great man to marry too. Not only is he a great husband, but he's an even better dad. His kids think he is larger than life and more fun than anyone else in the world. He is. I'm just lucky enough to live with him.

Last, but not least, there's Curt (He's the smiley guy). My father-in-law is a great grandpa to my kids. He was a great step-dad to Nyle and I'm thankful to have him in my life. He's loving and supportive in all that we do.

Happy Father's Day!!

I love you guys!

Final game of the season for the Dodgers

Last night was the final game of the season for the Dodgers. YEAH! It was getting hard to get them to the games. I don't know how much baseball they will play in their lives. Although, Tanner told me last night that he is playing next year because it is kid pitch. We'll see. Next year is also the first year of football for them. Scarey!

Tyler at bat
Tanner at bat
Tanner got a little confident and stole a base! They ended up both getting out by a girl! She caught Tyler's hit and tagged Tanner. We did have a crummy pitcher! Oh well, we're done!

Last day of Dance

So today was Sydney's last day of dance. She normally doesn't wear a dress to dance, but she had to have something yellow...that was all I could find. McKenna is her buddy in the pictures.

Nice moves Girls!

They were shakin' it!

For Dad...

I know there have been a lot of house pictures, but dad requested this one.

Almost all the trusses are in place now

Summer Begins!

It was the last day of school today! I showed up to pick Tyler & Tanner up and they were soaked to the bone. They had a field day today and played with water balloons and did relay races. Tanner said it was the best day of school ever! Of course!

Tanner and Mrs. Stengel
Tyler and Ms. Sweeton
The water fight after school...everyone was still trying to get all the teachers wet!
Sydney laying in the hammock. She's ready for the lazy days of summer!
Tanner was published today too. The Naturalist wrote an article about the 2nd grade bird projects and included a picture of Tanner & his report. Pretty Cool!

Sydney Graduates!

Sydney graduated from Kindergarten yesterday! It was so exciting. I walked into the room and they had a video playing with pictures of all the kids and really cute music and I almost started to cry! What a ninny I am! I remember that happening at the boy's graduation too. I felt like it would just be really cute and fun, and then I cried. What's up with me? These are not sad times! Oh well, here are some pictures...

Singing songs
Getting her "diploma"
Sydney with her teacher & student teacher (Mylee Hylton) & some friends
Syd & McKenna
Syd & her friend Kendra

Buried in work...will post when I can breathe!

Trusses!

The truck heading up our driveway! Exciting (for me)!

Craning some of the trusses up


We now have a bonus room!

It's starting to look like a real house!!

Crazy Events Yesterday

Okay, so yesterday was crazy! I don't have pictures to go with it, but I can tell you all about it.

1. I went to the job site to check out the granite that was being installed and the kids came in too, but then left and went outside to play on the trailor that was holding another slab. Well, that slab somehow got broken on the corner. I really don't think the kids did it, but it didn't look good. Our granite guy fabricates the stone in Washington, so he has to go all the way back unless he can put it back together and have it look good??!!!

2. Nyle witnessed a drunk driver slam into another car and then just get out and start running away through the golf course! Nyle couldn't just drive by, so he jumped out and chased the drunk down and held him until the police came. His adrenaline was still pumping when he got home! The victims in the other car were taken away in an ambulance. I don't know how bad they were hurt.

3. We went to Bend to do a Costco run last night and it had been raining...hard. We don't get a whole lot of rain here, so it was really flooding in some parts. We saw a whole family playing in a puddle the size of a pond and they were drinched and laughing. Under the overpass there was a large lake and a car even stalled out and was being pushed by a truck. It was CRAZY. The kids loved driving through those huge bodies of water!

Anyway, not much going on here. The trusses are coming up the driveway now so I better go get some pictures!

Awkward Moment

So, today we took a tour of our hardwood guy's house. It was beautiful! It was a true craftsman with lots of neat details! They made their own leaded glass transoms and furniture. It was too cool. Anyway, they are Jehovah's Witnesses and they have tried to share their religion with us. We totally respect them because they are such great, honest people and they have been really great examples of their faith (great missionaries). So, their daughter walked downstairs and introduced herself and I immediately recognized her. She was the one that had come to my house to share magazines with me 3 times and the fourth time I told her that I totally respected what she did sharing her faith and the story of Jesus Christ, but that I was really happy in my own faith. I told her that she probably shouldn't waste her time on me. So now here I was taking a tour of her house, talking with her parents, and checking out her room. I was a little embarassed, but realized that her parents probably sent her to our house. Oh well. I guess in every missionary endeavor you can't win them all. It was just a little awkward.

More Hotel Pics...

The second story is up! Now we are waiting for trusses and they will be here Monday! Yeehaw!

Looking from the family room into kitchen/dining. There will be a barrel arch right where the ladder is.
Sydney's room...lucky girl!
Tanner's room. When the trusses are in place, there will be a little sloped ceiling in the corner. Tyler's room is the same and they have an opening between the rooms so that they can still see each other from their beds. This is their first time not sharing a room?!! It should be interesting. Tyler wants a car room (he wants to design cars when he grows up) and Tanner wants an airplane room. He wants to be a pilot and a dentist.?