Who needs RMNP when you have wildlife in your front yard?

A doe and THREE fawns?  We think some sort of adoption happened, here.  Is it possible for deer to have triplets?  At any rate, this was a nice transition from the wildlife at RMNP!

The Ants Came Marching...in March.

March was filled with disgusting ants visiting our nice warm home.  This picture is to remind me to spray for ants this summer.  (I can still hear the vacuum slurping them up every day...)

Life after vacation...

 

Lazy summer mornings with my slow wakers (don't let Micah fool you...he wakes up with lots of energy!!!)

 Julie and Cali came to visit, which was a good thing, because we were going through Auntie Julie withdrawals the week after vacationing with her!

You thought this was Jeff, right?  Yeah, I am the creepy lady who discreetly takes a picture of my husband's doppleganger at the local bakery.  (I was supposed to be professionally developing...)

 The littlest has to fend for himself around here...

...and Pappy is fighting the good fight these days.  It's no fun to see him struggle through his days.  We love this guy!

THE BOYS' ROOM

So as soon as we got back from dropping off Grace, we set to work switching the kids' rooms around.  Josh got to move up to the top bunk, and Micah got to abandon his crib and move in to the big boy room.

 Night #1 in the twin bed.  He didn't miss his crib at all!

 I found places for all the boys' combined things...

 ...and Gracie's were piled into our room for a few days.

I had to take one last picture of the crib before I took it down.  This crib held all three of our babies in our little house...  Good thing Mom and Dad asked to use it at the farm for grandkids--it soothed the heartburn that I was experiencing.

At home in June

 

I'm officially old.  I watch birds in my (rare) spare moments.  (And I confess that I downloaded the Audubon Society app for my phone, shhhh, don't tell.)  These cute little warbley birds had babies in our church birdhouse and I loved watching them zip in and out of that house all spring, feeding their littles. I couldn't find them in our bird book, so I texted these pics to our favorite veterinarian, cousin-in-law, Carmen, and she told me we are home to a family of Pygmy Nutbrown Hatches!

 Putting spring decor away...

 ...and bringing out the summer stuff!

 Something bit Micah...and G'ma Joan THOUGHT she was retiring!  Phone calls and texted pictures from sick family members happen on a regular basis.  Benadryl did the trick.

 Subliminal reminder that Drew and Annie's anniversary was coming...

 And Scrooge counting his money in his money house...

And we love to watch things grow.  June is my favorite time for flowers and gardening...

The Big Kid Room

We are starting to get ready for "Baby Peanut."  All of Josh's things have been moved into Grace's, making it The Big Kid Room!  We moved the kids' mirrors and made Gracie letters to match Joshy's...

And we had to fill the wall, so we thought there was nothing better than to cover it with pictures of treasured friends and family!

Now on to The Baby Room!

Home is Where Mom Hangs Your Pictures

I'm just loving my mantle lately...the mirror has inspired me to decorate...and the birthday supplied a few more treasures!  Thanks, KT and Mom and Jeff!

The Mirror

This post is for G'ma Joan--we love the mirror!

How did we live 3 years without it?

A fabulous Christmas gift--thank you!!!

Project Living Room

I've been wanting to paint our fireplace wall since we moved in three years ago...but somehow after painting our bedroom, Gracie's room, the basement, the laundry room, and the bathroom, I lost steam.  One Friday this month, my friend Patricia helped move the wall to the top of the priority list.

I could not have done this without this lady's energy!  She had the wall taped up before I could clean out the van from errand-running!  (and notice the icky gold fireplace...watch what happens...)

 The kids were amazing while we painted.  Movies and playing in the basement for a couple of hours...

 ...and a few reward tattoos!

Wha-la!  Doesn't it look great?  Jeff was AMAZING and took apart the brass on the fireplace and painted it black for me at the farm over Veteran's Day weekend.

Now I'm looking for a big mirror to go over the mantle...  LOVE IT!!!

Homeless Shenanigans

We are finally in our new home! We are very excited to post pictures of our house and the moving in process, but first I thought we'd reflect on our two weeks of homelessness...

...It was FABULOUS! We were a little apprehensive about living without a home base, but it turns out that living as vagabonds suits us well! Our time without a house allowed us to have some great quality time with friends and family. Special memories seem to be made when you just say "goodnight" instead of "goodbye" at the end of an evening... We stayed with G'ma Dorothy and G'pa Harvey, my parents at the farm, and Matt and Heidi offered their mother-in-law apartment to us for a few nights... We made such great memories mooching off our friends and family!!! :)

Top Ten Memories of Staying with G'ma and G'pa...(in no particular order)
10. Two words: Beef Stroganoff...no one does it like G'ma D!
9. A whole air-conditioned basement to ourselves--and a new bathroom
8. Reading portions of Harvey's memoirs in the evenings
7. Bonding with G'ma Dorothy by napping together (Grace's vote)

6. Dessert after every meal
5. Borrowing painting materials for painting our house on day one
4. Rootbeer for the taking in the fridge
3. Great views of Mt. Spokane off the back deck and a family of 15 "pet" quail to observe
2. Her very own chocolate-lined ice cream cones for dessert (Grace's other vote)

1. Big screen coverage of the Tour de France...Jeff was in bicycle HEAVEN.
Thank you for being so gracious toward us, G'ma and G'pa!!!

Top Ten Memories of Staying with the VanSickles...
10. A great backyard with a zipline, trampoline, and tire swing
9. SECONDS away from great playmates, Alea and Kalei
8. A little cottage just for us...
7. ...and a furnished toyroom that Mimi has set up for little girls
6. Baths with K & A

5. Not having to drive home after playing games with Matt and Heidi
4. The bakery at the bottom of the driveway
3. A free parking spot for our other car during our homeless duration
2. Apple juice at our disposal
1. The best memory that we'll never forget...two girls in their pajamas camping out with books on our front door at 7 AM..."Next time can you not lock the door? We don't know how to get in when you lock it."
We had a great time with you, VanSickles! Thank you for letting us live next door! We wish our new house was located across your back fence... :)

Top Ten Memories of Staying with G'ma Joan and Papa Greg at the farm...
10. G'ma Caroline's 80th Birthday party was a huge success!!! Here's a pic of G'ma's kids and grandkids and great-grandkids...

9. Delicious food every night
8. June is the best time in the Palouse--there are probably 500 different shades of green

7. Lots of play time with cousins for Grace

6. G'ma Joan's KIDDIE POOL

5. Jeff got to fish with Brady (brother-in-law) and we had a fish fry featuring their caught bass
4. Jeff and I (mostly Jeff) raked pine needles in Mom and Dad's windbreak to work off the delicious food eaten during the week
3. 4th of July Parade in Johnson and Jeff's parents came down to celebrate with the Mosers. The fireworks on the 4th didn't phase Grace at all--she was more interested in Papa Greg's popcorn than the fantastic colors and loud booms in the sky
2. "Auntie" Julie and Kalei and Alea came to spend the night at the farm when their parents were in Hawaii--they had a great time checking out the creek, the fort, the playroom...

1. The Webers (my mom's family) had a huge family reunion at Klemgard Park that we got to be part of...mom and I made family tree posters with pictures that helped me sort out all of the 200+ relatives

Thanks for a great week, G'ma Joan and Papa Greg! We always love our time with you.

Lazy Monday

Another Monday holiday--we love being teachers in the winter! I had to take this pic of Jeff and Grace--he let me sleep in and this is what I saw when I finally got out of bed. They were sleeping too!

Then Grace and I were being silly with her onesie.