Catch Up

Well May was an exciting month.

Here are a couple of pictures of the bird that gave me a jump start for the month by flying into the kitchen window as I stood at the sink.



Erik graduated from Kindergarten. It was a fun concert. The children had several fun songs and a couple of poems they performed and then they received a "diploma" from the Principal.


Then there was the Emergency Services Fair in town. Spencer had to "work." We got to see AirMed ("life flight") land and take off. We also got to look inside it & Erik even got to sit inside the helicopter. He also got to sit in the fire departments water truck & their big fire engine (front seat & back seat). We had a good time look everything over and going inside the station for different "booths." Erik even had a helicopter painted on his face.



And Cameron spent a lot of time walking around, making messes & perfecting his climbing.


June was filled with Birthday celebration for Cameron. First we celebrated at Grammy & Sir's since we were in Oregon up until just a couple of days before Cameron's Birthday. He wasn't so excited about the cake and candles.
However on his birthday for family dinner he enjoyed the cake and presents.
I guess it was practice makes it all make sense. So it was enjoyable the 2nd time around. :)

Now Cameron's next adventure is learning to ride a bicycle.

April

While I'm on a roll I'll post a couple of April pictures. Well I take that back, why procrastinate. Here's our month, since tomorrow is the last day of April.


April was a big month for Erik. He has decided that now he is 6 and can do a lot more than when he was 5, since he's a big boy now. He has started getting himself ready in the mornings, even most Sunday's, without being asked to.

The biggest achievement though is last Saturday he told his Dad at breakfast that he was trying a new flavor of yogurt, since he is 6 and trying new things. That's a big deal for the boy who up to a couple months ago would only eat 5 things; yeah 5 things to choose from for meals! Anyways, he followed his declaration of trying new things with "I have an idea! I will ride my bike without training wheels!" So that afternoon they took the training wheels off at the church parking lot (the closest large flat area to our house, as we live in the foothills).

It did not take him long to go "straight". He's been riding a bike since he was 2 (just with training wheels) so I think it's more a matter of confidence & mind. He has ridden since several times and is enjoying it. He has worked on corners & u-turns now. If only he would stop using the brakes when he's doing well and using his feet when he gets worried about slowing or stopping. I know it will come with time and before the summer is over he'll be a pro.

Cameron wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing and sitting on grass. But even he got in on the action.

Later Spencer discovered the reason Erik didn't sit on his bike "properly" was not because of anything Erik was really doing, but because the seat was crooked. The poor boy! It would be hard to learn how to ride with a crooked seat. LOL :)

Cameron has been mastering the art of standing. He is good enough at it, even without something to hold on to, that he is beginning to try walking. He also loves to play with doors, open/close etc.

And Mom print this out -- you were right! I found one of the walking toys at Walmart on discount/clearance for $10. So I figured at that price I would get it. Cameron loved it right away! It is the favorite toy in the house, even for Erik. That seems to be the only problem with it. :)


As for Spencer & I, besides keeping up with the boys & our individual hobbies, we have been planning and getting ready for our first garden. In March we rented a chipper to take care of ALL the plant/limb debris Spencer had been making/accumulating. This was the chipper:

We have used the mulch in the flower beds that go most of the way around the house, and in other various spots throughout the landscape. We're still not sure if we came out even $ wise, but it was an experience for all, including the neighbors who were so curious. :)

Then this month we bought straw for the garden. It was nice and clean, but forgot that what is on a hog farm smells like hogs. At least it wasn't too strong of an odor and I believe it's all aired out now.

Erik had fun jumping in and sliding on the straw while Spencer worked at getting it spread over the cardboard walkways.

Cameron enjoyed watching. Oh how he wants to be running with big brother. But he did get to handle the tools.

He now has 7 teeth in, with the 8th one trying to break through. Usually they can't be seen as he's teething because that tongue is always going over the teeth. Kinda cute :)

Several couple's in our church decided to have a get together. Thanks to the white elephant portion of the party we now have a new water nozzle for the hose.

One of the ladies at the party wanted it to leave hanging from her gas tank as she drove around town. Spencer almost lost his white elephant prize. Oh well, since it drills holes in the mulch, dirt, and plants he brought home a nice watering wand the other night. I'm thrilled with it.


Here's a couple of cute pics of the growing baby. His favorite packable toy has been one of the kitchen spoons.



Cameron got into a box that I was trying to unpack but couldn't figure out where to put things. He found this Flag and became satisfied with his search through the box. He loved waving it around. Within seconds I had to find a place for it because it was a hot commodity between the boys. :)


Life is good. We are staying busy and yet there's such a calmness here. I love where we live! The other day I looked out my kitchen window to realize the scrub jay was napping in our tree and got this picture.
Then before the storm came I got to see the most beautiful colored clouds coming over the snow covered mountain behind us. Breathtaking! We are happy to be living here and grateful the boys get to be close to the things we love about nature even though it's not the home state or neighborhoods/cities we grew up in. They still have pine trees, wild & farm animals, fields, flowers and a down home/small town experience around them. I'm very grateful to the Lord for it all.

The March Pictures

So here are the pictures that were taken in March.

Now that Cameron can crawl everywhere and stand-up to anything, Erik is having to learn to share and play with a little brother. Of course, what big brother does little brother wants to be in to as well.

Erik wants to do like Dad does for him (shoulder rides). So every now and then (with help) Erik gets to give Cameron a shoulder ride. I would think after getting his hair pulled, face kicked etc Erik would decide not to try this anymore, but nope.

I don't understand this, but Erik thinks it is fun to put on as many clothes at one time as he can. One Saturday we woke up to this. We knew Erik was up and about, but he was VERY quiet. He had been waiting for us to find him. We laughed so hard. He looked like the Michelin Tire Man with all those clothes stuffed in his pj's and then the shirt pulled over his legs (keeping them really skinny. I still don't know where he comes up with things like this, but we had a good laugh.

Cameron is changing so much. Here's a close up at 9 months old.

The 2 boys love to play together. It's great. I'm so happy that they love each other so much and can play together even though their is 5 years between them. Being 9 months old and 6 years old is a big difference in age at this point in their lives.

Mommy caved after dinner and let Cameron have pieces of Oreo. He absolutely loved it!

Cameron waiting to go to Church.

This is a favorite past time, playing the brick game (or whatever else Daddy has on the Blackberry), for Erik when Daddy is getting Cameron to take a nap.

The zarape was a Christmas present from Aunt Sydney and Cousin Sinead. Here is one of Erik's "outfits" when he wears it.

Erik's 6th Birthday

I wanted to share pictures of Erik celebrating his 6th Birthday!!! I know I'm a procrastinator, but even though it was February 27th I thought some of you might still like to see the pictures.

He LOVED getting mail! Whether it was money or presents he said, "That was just what I wanted!" He loved it all.

Cameron enjoyed that big brother was getting mail too.

Erik had hoped for a friend's birthday party. Unfortunately, Erik was sick that week and so we just had a family only dinner. So to make it a little more fun we wore the Spiderman masks. Erik was very surprised when he came to the table to find Mom & Dad in Spiderman masks. After dinner Erik showed us how to swing through the air like Spiderman.

Then he blew out his candles.

The next week at school they celebrated Erik's birthday & he came home with another "Kindergarten hat". So much fun!


Mom, this is for you specifically. This is Erik opening his Birthday package from you that arrived in January.

Here is Erik's first time out on the snowshoes. He went around the house to the backyard to find a tree to hang his pinecone birdfeeder (it's in the little white sack).

Thank you to everyone. Erik had a wonderful 6th Birthday!