Feathered friends

For the last week we have had a pair of Mallards hanging out by our barn. Weston is always telling me he is going outside to see the ducks. The cats are pretty interested in them too. It's fairly entertaining to watch the kitties hide behind a tuft of grass, ready to pounce on them. Weston will be really disappointed when the weather turns nice and all of the puddles disappear. I would love to do a relocation project, and have them make a home out by our pond for the summer. Anyone know how to catch and contain ducks???

Five months old and trying new things

So he looks somewhat happy here, but he really isn't. So far Tyge wants nothing to do with solid (if you can really call it that) food. Rice cereal and oatmeal were the worst offenders when it came to him throwing a fit and spitting things out. So far sweet potatoes has been his #1 choice.

Stickers anyone?

This is what happens when you put Daddy in charge while you are in the shower. Guess I should be happy that they all ended up on the piece of paper or on Tyge.

Easter Sunday

Easter came way too fast this year....maybe since the weather doesn't feel like Spring time yet? Maybe also because Danny was gone all week (and weekend too) working in Umatilla. But we made the most of it and we had Weston's first annual egg dying extravaganza. First of all, I purchased a dye kit that said "5 colors included". Once we got it home and started the process we discovered that we had an extra color tab...how exciting. The excitement faded after Weston put each tab in their respective glasses. We had one blue, two oranges and three greens. I did try to manipulate one into red and another into a purple using some food coloring, but it wasn't so successful.

Weston still enjoyed tossing the eggs from glass to glass, and we only ended up with one that was too cracked up after all of his hard work.

On Sunday we were lucky enough to share the day with our niece Alexx, who made the two hour trek from school. We are also grateful for our good friends and neighbors who invited us over for lunch.

Madison and Waylon hid the eggs and Weston had a great time finding them.

However, his attention span for hunting eggs was fairly short lived. Didn't take long before he was on to the next adventure....looking for things to dig up in Steve's garden!

After we got home and Alexx headed back up north, the boys took great naps and I got the best news of the day....Danny was headed home and would be here in time for dinner!

Through all the ups and downs, in and outs, it's days like today that I realize that I am so blessed to have such a wonderful life!

Take picture please!

The other day we were playing on the floor and I needed to get up and go to the kitchen for something, I don't recall exactly what, but that part doesn't matter. I sat Tyge up in the chair and as I started to walk away Weston decided he needed up there too. This isn't too unusual, what is kinda strange is that Weston starts yelling "mom! camera!" "picture, take picture!". So I did as instructed and got a few shots of Weston's goofy "cheeeeeeseeee" grin, and also got this picture, that I just love.Here's another great one, mostly because I have a similar picture of Weston from two years ago. I have a hard time believing the Bumbo seat is that comfy, but babies can sleep just about anywhere.Why am I smiling? Because I just messed my pants of course!

Jennifer & Chad, 4-16-11

Wedding time!!! Tyge was all ready to go in his yellow and blue shirt.Getting dressed up is hard work, so there was some pre-ceremony naps!

Mom & Dad with their baby girl....all grown up now.

Reese and Jen taking a break from pictures...

One mad little boy. Danny's response to his bad attitude; "I don't like wearing those monkey suits, so why would he?"

He finally started smiling when he got to ride in the limo bus. If I would have known all it took to make him happy was telling him he could ride the bus, I would have done it a lot sooner.

Mr. and Mrs. De Jong

Visiting with Janie...no kids distracting us this time!

Sisters.

"Helping" Jennifer and Chad open gifts on Sunday morning.

Kash and Tyge...completely uninterested in one another.

Weston "helping" yet again. Lucky for me, Grandma got to clean up this mess.

And you may have noticed there isn't a single Meneses family photo in the whole bunch. That would be due to my complete lack of focus....a picture of the four of us, all dressed up, was on my checklist. At least I know Angela (the same photographer who shot our wedding seven years ago) has one of our family. If I remember correctly, Weston may be crying in that shot, but I'm still looking forward to seeing it!

Spoiled boys

Spending time in California means getting lots of extra attention. Weston usually makes sure everyone is paying attention to him, but Tyge was trying to steal the show with his pelvic thrusts. Weston made his usual rounds, climbing on every piece of equipment, tractor, truck, etc.

He checked the calves.

And followed Uncle Jan around the freestall barn.

But then it was Tyge's turn to once again take over, on this night he and his Avo' were having a very interesting conversation.

At the Aquarium

On Wednesday we headed over to Monterey to check out the fish. The whole family was there, with the exception of Chad and Danny. Weston ran around all day saying "Nemo, where are you...can't find you Nemo".

"Well hello ladies....", or at least that's what he will be saying in sixteen years or so.

Everyone enjoying some snack time.

Love our cousins!

Our best effort to get a picture of Grandma and Papa with all the grand kids. Maybe in ten years we'll actually get one where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling.

Back to Cali!

Seems as though we were just there, but we made a trip to California and stayed for a whole week. The point of the trip was to see Jennifer and Chad tie the knot, but there was no shortage of things to do while we were there.

But first we have some pre-trip shots. Danny kept the boys entertained while I packed suitcases.

And Tyge got to try out his jumper for the first time. Weston didn't try to get in this one himself, but he did think it was great to push Ty around.

At the beginning of the week we got to visit some of our greatest friends....the Phippen women. We had a nice lunch with Janie, Mindy, our moms, and ALL of our kids. Funny how just three and a half years ago there were none, and now we have six between us....my have things changed since our college days together. It was a gorgeous day out, so Mindy took the older ones for a ride...Claire, Weston, Allison and Sam.

Tyge and Justin got to stay behind with Janie and I.

The beauty of spring.

I see a lot of properties when I'm out and about for work, and often find myself saying "wow, I wish I lived here", or "this place is gorgeous". In full disclosure I'm sure I see just as many places I wouldn't want to live as places I do like.

For a few weeks now I've been driving by the neighbor's place and haven't thought twice about what was growing out in their field. But this afternoon I saw the beauty of what was actually there. Funny how sometimes we don't see what is right in front of our faces.

So I rounded up Flo and the boys and we headed over to ask Mr. Sayer if he minded if we took some pictures out in the middle of his Chinese cabbage crop. He probably thought I was a little nuts, but I'm sure he will be happy to see the end results.

Has spring sprung?

Everyone in our household is getting a bit restless.... ....seems we are all ready for the weather to change so we can spend some time outside. Luckily this week we had a few, what I'll call "spring preview" days. The weather wasn't exactly warm, but it was nice enough to spend some time outdoors. The good news is that Tyge seems to be just as happy outside as his brother was (and still is).

He tried out the swing for the first time....

...while Weston played drums on two old milk cans.

I think Flo is happy too, since the more we are outside, the more she gets to play fetch. In this case with a sorry looking chicken Weston picked out on a recent trip to Petco.

The lawn also got mowed for the first time in months...this picture is what I came home to on Thursday afternoon.

And when the day wears you out, it's time for a nap....today Weston demanded that Tyge sleep with the blue cow right next to him.