Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday we celebrated a very important day... Joe's birthday! The kids were really excited for Dad to open presents and have the special dessert. The painting below is one of his favorites that I had framed as a present. Who does'nt love Del Parson paintings? I also took a picture of the interesting birthday treat i made. Joe is not a cake person, so I decided to go a different direction. I created a strawberry mousse tart. I think it turned out yummy,they were eaten pretty quick so I think they were a success. Happy Birthday Joe!

Chester and Lucky

Meet Chester and Lucky our new friends. Joe's grandfather passed away and while attending the funeral in northern California, Joe caught two blue belly lizards. The kid were so excited I could'nt tell them no, so now we have some pet lizards. The kids named them Chester and Lucky,(i have no idea why) and though we can't tell which is which, the kids think they are awesome.

SUNDAY

 DINOSAURS!

We had a blast Mother's day weekend!  We decided to take the kids to the Idaho museum. This is a smaller museum that periodically changes themes.  The theme right now is none other then DINOSAURS!  We kept it a surprise until we were all in the car on our way.  The kids were super excited.  Here they are just before going in, giving me there best dinosaur poses.

 Meet Sue. This T-Rex was amazing!  I cannot get over how tiny there arms and two fingers are compared to the rest of the body.  Of course I am sure there victims are not focusing on the tiny arms... more the gigantic gaping mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

 The kids loved the discovery room. 

 Three little indian's...

Bekah whipping up some grub in the cabin. She would make a good little frontier wife.

  Grace enjoyed the sights from the stroller, a little nap, a little dinosaur. 

 This pterodactyl  (did anyone else know that this word had a silent p at the beginning? odd... bless spell check) was freaky looking, with a nasty overbite issue...much like I had before braces... thanks Dad.  Poor buck tooth pterodactyl.

Man's not a man without his horse...

FHE

Jace was in charge of family night activity the other day and we played what we like to call  the cotton ball game.  Pretty much you stick some Vaseline on your nose, and try to get as many cotton balls as you can across the room and into a bowl, using only your nose.  I love games that are fun to play and super entertaining to watch.

 The Girls

With school coming to an end I have been really enjoying some quality time with my girls. Bekah often wishes she could go to school like her brothers.  Then I remind her that there are benefits to staying home with Mom... like polishing off the chocolate cake leftover from family night.  We had our first tea party the other day.  Bekah made sure we were wearing dress-ups, (i will leave my dress-up choice to the imagination:) ) and we used our "super good manners"  We had such a good time.  Bekah was using her good manners until she grabbed one of the tiny sandwiches I had made and said, " hey Mom I can fit this whole sandwich in my mouth, see?" It was actually pretty impressive. 

Of course Grace is growing before my eyes.  Just starting to talk and smile.  All she needs is to hear the sound of the kids voice and she starts to smile.  

A Bird????

   That 's right, this is a bird. Not just any bird...a wild, shifty, filled with all kinds of unknown germs, outside bird.  Now if you know me at all you know I am not a bird person, not really an animal kind of person, so you are probably wondering what my children are doing holding this creature.  Here's the story.
   I was washing dishes after dinner last week when Joe's parents popped over for a visit.  I am sure you can imagine my surprise, ( shock,disgust, horror) at the sight of Papa holding a bird cage with a very live bird inside. The kids were thrilled and for the briefest of seconds I wondered if this animal was being offered as a new addition to our family.  As these thoughts are running through my mind one of my children, ( who shall remain nameless) opens the small cage door and out jumps wild bird.  Now germ infested bird is hopping around my rug.  Joe is sick with a fever on the couch. One look from me has him hopping up to catch our little friend.  Now this bird  is behind my couch.  BEHIND THE COUCH DOING WHO KNOWS WHAT!!!  " Joe get the bird..." is pretty much all i can get out.  Nana is laughing.  I am pretty sure my face is indescribable.  Jace finally catches the little culprit and Papa explains his cat George caught this poor bird and he simply brought him to show the kids and then to set him free. So the kids take turns holding bird and then set him free. What followed is the most intense supervised hand washing and removal of the four feathers left behind.  Thanks Papa for the visitor and thank you, thank you for letting us set him free. :)

SUNDAY

A few pictures of our Sunday's...