Spring Break!

Spring Break came at the perfect time this year - Tyler and I were both about at the end of our ropes managing the building of the new house, still fighting the city about the old house, and handling life in general! If the only thing we did was NOT have to get the kids up for school that would have been enough to get through. We decided we really wanted to get AWAY for a few days though so we spent the second half of the week in St. George. It was just far enough away to relax a little bit (alas, the cell phones still worked. . .). The weather was perfect, we visited our good friends the Kinyons there, and had good friends from home down as well. The boys played in the pool for two days straight.





On the third day we went to our favorite place for breakfast (& lunch): Bear Paw Cafe. The decor is awful but the food is SO good the cheesy southwestern indian art prints are forgivable! While we waited to get in we played in the park across the street. The boys thought this bench with the statue of Brigham Young was even better than the scary Ronald McDonald on the bench in our local McDonalds. (Grey thought it was supposed to be Santa in the 'off-season', but Max quickly corrected him with 'It's Abraham Lincoln, Grey!')I love the look on Nick's face.



Later we went to the park that has the little water play area in 'downtown' St. George. We were totally unprepared - no swimsuits, no towels . . . no swim diapers. Max was completely dismayed by this. Nick, on the other hand, ran right past the "no running - swim diapers required" sign with his regular diaper peeking conspiculously out of his shorts and onto the slippery surface where little bursts of water shoot up. His face was complete glee until he slipped (right in back of the "slippery surface - water shoes recommended" sign) flat on his back. He cried until he saw the manmade sandstone waterfall and river area. Back to bliss. The two older boys were super whiny about wanting to be in the pool instead until they saw how much fun Nick was having. Check out the evil eye Max is giving me in this first photo!




It was hard to come back, but we were glad to see the house still standing when we did.

Sweet Bug

My sweet Grey Bug came running up to me saying he had something for me. Then he dug his little hand deep down in his pocket, past many other treasures no doubt, and pulled out a handful of dandelion heads. "Flowers, for you," he said. I'm never quite sure what to do with decapitated dandelions. Usually I put them in a little glass bowl of water - a lovely centerpiece! :) The gesture, however, totally melts me.

Progress

It's been awhile since I did a construction update - it is moving so fast! This week they finished up the exterior (except for one little repair in progress), installed the wood floors, continued with the finish trim, and installed the deck. Next week: Tile, Cabinets, more finish trim work, and Interior Paint begins!

A shot of the wood floor and the unfinished front door:


The floor going into the kitchen / great room.

The floor is quite dark, although you can hardly tell with all the construction dust covering it. Swiffer anyone?

Spring at the Ranch. . . Yummy.

The sun is finally out today, hooray! Holly and I went to work at the ranch and decided the horses were in need of a good grooming. (As good as you can do without washing them - it wasn't THAT warm) Nothing says spring like horse hair in your lip gloss and a good sneezing fit.
The Results



The Culprits




I'll save the REALLY yummy spring clean-up (think muck rakes instead of curry combs. . .) for later!

Little Nicky in "Attack of the CaDooDoo"

So, from the time I was first asked if I wanted a rooster to hang out with my hens, I've had an onslaught of rooster-related warnings: "They attack you when you're not looking", "They crow ALL day, you know?", "They're mean!", "Never turn your back on 'em!". I heard, "Blah, blah, rooster, blah, mean, blah". Come on, they're supposed to protect their hens. This little fact is also on the "pro" list when considering a rooster. Besides, like the rest of the animal world, the male of the species is WAY more decked out (and downright cute) than the female. And it came to pass, in his first year of life, that Foghorn Leghorn came to dwell in the land of milk and honey.
In defense of Foghorn's defensiveness, we DO have a fair amount of real predators close, and we're not just talking dogs. While he's never done anything more than stalk me, he has taken a run at Max a time or two. (Max now carries a bat when the chickens are out. . . but I think it's really more of a comic prop than anything.)
Nick, however, has been really cautious around him. Maybe it's their similiar heights or just the fact that he is the smallest HUMAN, but Foghorn does seem to seek him out to chase. Nicky decided to stand up for himself a little bit ago. We had just let the chickens out to cruise around and had come back to the house. As I closed the door I heard Nick shriek. I got back outside to where he and Grey were playing just in time to see Foghorn puffed up as big as he could get, flapping his wings, and 'flying' at Nick. Nick was standing his ground and yelling "My pew! My pew!". I shooed the irrate rooster away and received the full account of the minute-long battle from Grey. Apparently, Nick saw Foghorn leading his brood of cacklers into the yard and had started 'shooting' his "pew" (Think Nick-speak here - a toy gun says "pew, pew!".) at them. Foghorn took this as a threat and charged him. Realizing he needed more than sound effects to ward off the evil chicken, Nick chucked the toy gun at him. Foghorn, indeed acting a bit vicious, picked the gun up with his beak and tossed it behind him. Take that, man child! He then ruffled his feathers to make himself look bigger and hopped at Nick. This is where I came in, and although Nick sounded like he had been spurred by the feathery beast, he really just wanted his "pew" back.

Maa

Nick's vocabulary is increasingly hillarious as he finds new things he needs to say each day. One thing that has stayed the same for awhile, that I love, is that to him everything is the sound that it makes. So Bunny the goat is "Maa",("I go see Maa?") and Foghorn the Rooster (yes, Foghorn Leghorn. What else would you name a big white Leghorn Rooster?) is "CaDooDoo". His logic is astounding, truly.
This is actually Easter (the late goat). Bunny is laying down behind her. . .




'CaDooDoo' in all his glory.