Pictures in the Bluebonnets (March 2014)

We finally took pictures in our seventh year of seeing the bluebonnets here in Texas. It is a common tradition here and you will see people stopped along the road to snap pictures in fields during the two weeks they are in blossom. They are beautiful to see and I have meant to arrange for pictures during them for several years. However it is usually a busy period in the spring when they happen as well and they are usually gone before I realize it. This year I did arrange for a friend of mine to take some photos of us in the bluebonnets and they turned out so well!

Thanksgiving and Grandma visit (November 2013)

A little over a week after our new baby joined our family, Thanksgiving occurred. This is my favorite holiday and usually I am planning, shopping and cooking for several days. This year I knew I would just be enjoying the food and company of friends. One of my dear friends here invited us to join them at their home.

Okay I did make my favorite Fudge Pecan Pie. And it took all of my energy.

Car ride!

Let's go eat!

Sweet kids table. Trainboy was ticked to have to sit there while Dinoguy was at the "big" table.

Some of the food.

Fixitman did brine and roast a turkey, while my friends' husband smoked a cajun turkey. The cajun turkey was spicy but delicious! They also made a new version of green bean casserole that was actually delicious (it involved making the fried onions and cream sauce from scratch.) We also introduced them to Fixitman's famous macaroni salad. There was plenty of food and lots of good conversation.

My mom came to help me after baby's birth and while she was here we took some pictures, my goal being to have a decent family photo for Christmas cards. Mom had a new camera she was playing with so it was fun for her too I think.

My mom & I. People tell me now that we look alike.

My 5 boys

Family Photo, pretty good!

Silly family photo

Another fun one

Mom also had fun playing grandma and doing fun things with the kids. One of the things my mom loves is nature. She has become a master naturalist in South Carolina and loves to photograph wildlife. While she was here she took the kids on a couple of nature walks and installed a bird feeder for the kids to be able to watch birds and taught them the names of several kinds of birds.

She also let Princess paint her nails and surprised Grandpa when she got home. This is a picture of Princess peeking through s door knob hole at her.

It was wonderful how much support I had from friends and family after baby's birth. I was able to rest and recover for weeks without having to go anywhere, it was fabulous.

Balanced Rock

Back in Idaho, we visited Balanced Rock and Nat-soo-pah hot springs. It was a short hike and we had fun running around exploring. Then we enjoyed swimming and playing in the hot springs with cousins. It was a lot of fun.

Timpanogos Cave

While in Utah I wanted to hike to Timpanogos cave with the kids. Two of my sisters and my brother in law were happy enough to join in. Which was good since without them I don't think we would have made it. The boys loved the caves, and had lots of interesting questions to our guide. Princess hated it. She whimpered the whole time. The boys earned their junior ranger badges as well.

Audubon center

We checked out the local Audubon center this month and had a good time. Princess was very interested in doing the crafts, she is just so big now. I can't believe how grown up and independent she has become recently.

Dinoguy spent a while making an owl puppet, he usually isn't very interested in the crafts. Trainboy taught the lady at the origami table how to make paper cranes - she hadn't been able to figure it out. Then we visited some of their exhibits and learned about river formation and the flooding plains in the local area.

Finally we checked out a bit of their trails and looked for birds. But it was a Saturday and the center was packed with people and I wasn't really prepared for a ton of hiking so we didn't stay very long. I think the kids would have stayed all day, they really liked it.

Tree study

We have officially identified ALL of the trees in the yard, though I have forgotten the names already of one that was really cool. But the big news is that the suspected elm in the back yard is definitely an elm. See the winged seeds (called samaras?) I was leaning toward winged elm but I am questioning that again. It may just be an American Elm. It's an interesting question because of Dutch Elm disease.

Dinoguy and Trainboy started a nature journal, making drawings of the tree, its seeds and such. They got pretty into it. Of course when we went to the zoo they were only too happy to exchange their nature journal entries for points at the nature exchange. Oh well.

This page from Texas Forest Service has been very useful, but we had a few books about trees last fall that helped more overall. It was easier to see the differences and learn about trees from a book than a web page.

Other trees we have: We have a crape myrtle and Live Oak in our front yard. There is one small silver maple in the back yard as well as a sugarberry (or hackberry). Then there is the one I can't remember that was cool. Oh well, guess we need to check that tree book out again!

Ice Play

Dinoguy has been coming up with some interesting experiments he wants to try, based on things he sees on PEEP and the Big Wide world. (Which is such a cool nature show. :D ) He built a beaver dam in the wheelbarrow this past weekend (because I wouldn't let him build a pond in the yard first, poor guy) and earlier in the week they did this ice play.

We froze some dinosaurs covered in water in the freezer and then unmolded them for them to kick and push and roll around the driveway. Throwing ensued. Then some were still not free and took a hot bath in the tub to finish escaping their icy tomb. The boys had a good time with it.

By the way, I would love to help him put a pond in the yard. But its not our yard. We're renters. Poor boy. :D

The Stinky Cheese Man play + a nature walk with friends

The set of the show before it began (no photos during allowed!)

Waiting for the show

What a pose!

We checked out a children's theatre program last week with friends, going to see "The Stinky Cheese Man". What boy wouldn't be enthralled with that title? Great book, but would it be a fun play? We got there early not realizing that it didn't start right at 10, but seating began at 10. So my mama calm was wearing thin by the time the show started, but we were rewarded with a fast paced, high energy version of the book and its other stories all woven together.While Trainboy kept telling me it wasn't actually the stinky cheese man but a guy in a suit, Dinoguy was laughing hysterically and when it was over proclaimed "That was totally awesome!" I think it was a successful venture into the world of theatre, seeing how the squirminess of my kids wasn't the end of the world since it was a theatre full of children.

That is Trainboy's head popping out of the log

Afterward we had a picnic at a nearby botanical gardens and then went on the nature walk trail. It was an awesome walk, but the combo of the theatre plus walk was too much for me and again I got to learn that when you are halfway thru the third trimester, it's time to start taking it easier. Even after the drive home, I spent the rest of the day parked on the couch, sleeping or resting.Fun times with the hollow log
Looking at the baby animals hidden in the holes

It was a grand time though and I am glad we went.