So behind...

Man, I am so behind! I don't want to fight with Blogger over uploading pictures - and that's really the main point of why I blog - putting up pics so all of you can see the family! Anyway, Nathan said something so cute, I thought I'd share - and at least put SOMETHING up on the blog. Today when he sneezed I laughed and said, "Nathan! What was that!" He grinned and said, "Ribbit, ribbit." What a cute little froggie!

Timber!

Gone are those nasty cottonwoods. Most of you heard the story - but for those who haven't...

We went to Lowe's to see if they had their plants on sale (I had noticed that Home Depot did, but they didn't have a good selection so I wanted to check out Lowe's). They did, and when we went to ask if the trees were on sale the manager said they were 50% off. But, if we wanted 3 or more, he would give them to us at 75% off. Well, some of you may remember our meeting with a landscape designer just after Nathan was born - he designed a layout for our backyard including the removal of our evil male cottonwoods (brittle, shallow and prolific roots, branches and twigs down with every gust of wind, nasty and messy stuff in the spring) and the planting of 3 Autumn Blaze Maples. So, since we wanted 3 trees, we were super excited about his 75% offer. And when we went back to the tree selection (keep in mind this is the dregs - they've sold almost everything and just want to clearance out the rest) we found 3 Autumn Blaze Maples! So, we bought them, and were cautioned that these had to get in the ground THAT WEEK! Well, it was already Saturday, so that meant that if we wanted to get the trees in ground, that the cottonwoods had to come down - like now! We knew we wouldn't have time that week, and it would be dark by the time Rick would start working so it was a now or never thing. So we bought those trees (for under $20!) and went to work with the chainsaw. Rick did everything himself - my role was pulling a rope tied around various branches that might need some coaxing to fall the right way and not hit things like our house, the fence, etc. and hauling debris into piles. I'm so glad Rick was able to pick up that chainsaw (all it cost us was the cost of the bar) - it sure was helpful!

Here is our bumper crop of potatoes!

Here is an updated shiner pic!

And we took our first trip to the circus!

Header

Now we're a bit more purple, a few more visible abrasions and less red.

Hmmm, anonymous...

So you guys - who's signed up to get FeedBlitz of my blog as anonymous? I'm picturing some weirdo checking out my posts and looking at my beautiful kiddos. It must be all these exposes they've been running on internet child predators. It just makes me uncomfortable. Want to introduce yourself and calm my fears?

Today, part 1

We visited the Wildlife Experience in Parker(ish) for the free Smithsonian museum day. The kids made spider hats.
And enjoyed the bat exhibit (here they're hanging like bats in the bat cave.)
And got to dress up like animals and dance! And ... face painting!