June

The best word to describe June is HOT!  It was really really hot through much of June and our 45 year old air conditioning unit could not keep up and killed out during the hottest week of the month.  Luckily we were able to cool off outside the house a bit.  The boys had swimming lessons in June and are getting to be great little swimmers.

We went to the park to fly kites at the beginning of the month.

Mark worked really hard and made lots of improvements on the barn.  He rewired the whole thing, fixed the roof, and we cleaned it all up!

One day Mark came home with these kayaks he bought from a co-worker.

We took them up to Little Dell one Saturday and loved it!  We can't wait to take them out again.  We took all three kayaks and Mark pulled the boys on their own.  Next time I think we'll just put one kid on each of ours.

We celebrated Father's Day with some of Mark's family over for dinner. These boys love their dad more than anything!  Every Sunday they hope that he'll wear a tie that matches theirs.

I got to see my dad the day before Father's Day at my nephew Matthew's baptism.  While at their house we got to hold the baby dwarf rabbits they have.

We did lots of playing with the goats.

 I did a massive reorganization of bedrooms and the basement in June.  Brian and Timmy have been sharing a room for over a year now.  They did really well together and when we moved it was during the school year and I didn't want to change up their sleeping arrangement more than I had to, so I kept them together.  However, the last few months they have been keeping each other up and not getting enough sleep and Brian has been wishing for some private space of his own.  You can see in the picture below how he has pinned a blanket to the ceiling in an attempt to privatize his bed area.  When our awesome old neighbors gave us two very nice twin beds we decided to separate the boys into their own rooms.

Before I did that I needed to paint the wood paneling in the current toy/reading room to make it nicer for Brian.

Timmy stayed in the room they were sleeping in before and can make all the noise he wants before he falls asleep now.  His method of calming down before he goes to sleep has always been to play with his stuffed animals and he has a hard time doing that silently.  It always bothered Brian.

Brian moved to what used to be the toy and reading room.  The reading couch and many of the toys went downstairs, which I also organized into a play room.  We all love the new arrangement. Brian has a nice table in his room where he sits for hours playing with his Legos.

Mark went on a business trip for almost a week in June.  While he was gone I took the boys up to the Ranch for a day. Even though my mom was so busy getting everything ready for my sister Emily to come, she took time to show the kids the baby birds and give them horse riding lessons.  We had so much fun.

In the evenings after I get the boys in bed, I usually like to head out to the backyard and enjoy the beautiful moments before the sun goes down.  Our backyard is such a lovely slice of the country right smack in the middle of the city.  I could not ask for more.

We Have Goats!

Meet Eddie and Teddy!

The last day of school, June 6th to be exact, was not only significant because it was the last day of school, but it was the day we picked up our baby goats!  We have a field and a barn and we aren't quiet ready to plunge into the horse world yet, so we thought why not get some goats?  And then I thought well if I'm going to have goats they may as well be of some use besides being pets, so I got goats I can train to be pack goats.

I picked Brian up from the last day of school and we went straight to get some hay and a few other items for the goats.  Then after dropping the bales of hay off at home we went to the goat breeder's house to get two goat brothers.  They are wethers (fixed boy goats) and they are a Saanen and Alpine breed mix.  Both breeds are great for packing.  They look like they are Saanen, but their mom is Alpine.  They were two months old when we got them.  And yes the hay and the goats rode in the minivan.  I tell you sometimes the minivan is better than a truck.

After a long evening at the goat farm and a crazy goat-crying-traffic-jammed-accident-watching ride home, I got all four kids here safely.

The goats tentatively explored and met the cat.

They felt most comfortable on the wood pile.

That night they were loud, and I mean loud!  They cried and cried and cried for their mama. It was pretty sad.  The next day Timmy spent the whole day in the barn sitting with the goats.  They were very calm when he was around. They were also super tired from crying all night long.  Timmy reminded me so much of Fern in the book Charlotte's Web.  In fact, I had just finished reading that book to Timmy a few days before.  He loved loved loved reading that book.  He would beg every afternoon while Brian was at school to read and keep reading.  We finished it in a few days.

The first week with these guys was really hard.  They found numerous ways to escape and I couldn't go anywhere because I needed to watch them to find where they were getting out.  One day I found the goats way back in another neighborhood following the mailman.  I was so tired of the goat chase and very ready to send them back to their mom when we finally plugged up all the tiny holes they were squeezing through and Mark heightened the fence in a few places. The first day they stayed in all day was the day I jumped for joy.  They haven't escaped since.

We take them for walks and I've been trying to teach them manners.  They love to climb as all goats do!

I have a hard time getting good pictures of them, because they now look to me as their mom and want to be right in my face, literally, nose touching nose or worse.  They certainly don't stand there and pose for pictures.  Eddie is bigger and more outgoing and he likes to nibble on everything.  Teddy is small and shy and is very picky about what he eats.

They have grown so fast and seem comfortable and content.

End of School

The end of the school year was busy and full of parties and activities.  Timmy finished preschool at the end of May and Brian finished First Grade the first week in June.

In May I walked with Timmy's preschool class to the fire station.  He loved getting a tour.

Then the next week those same firemen we saw were down our street fighting a real fire.  They gave both boys a badge to wear.

Timmy's last day ended with a cute little program of singing and dancing.  Timmy did great.

His teacher said her favorite thing about Timmy is his smile that he always had on his face.  He did love school and was always happy to be there.

Here's a few samples of Timmy's art from this year.  This first one is Timmy and Brian playing basketball.  Timmy is the big one dribbling two balls at once.  I think he looks more like Michael Jordan than Timmy, but maybe that was by design.

This is a Timmy self portrait done during the time of the stitches in his eyebrow.  The dark eyebrow is the wound.  He was really proud of this painting.

This is Brian and Timmy in the hot tub at the ranch.  I love his unique style of art.

This picture came home from church in February.  This is the future Timmy getting baptized.  I might need to let him know that he will be wearing white when that time comes.

Brian had a great year in First Grade.  He was actually really sad to say goodbye to his teachers and friends for the summer, but super excited for all the free time.  School was a lot of hard work for him this year with going all day.  He was exhausted every day I picked him up, but I know he was exhausted from working his little heart out trying his very best.  He wants to be smart and do well and he has a bit of competitive spirit in him when it comes to achieving, which is a nice motivation for now I guess.

Brian was Student of the Month for April.  This is what his teacher had to say about him.

Timmy and I went a few times to eat lunch with Brian this year.  I love watching him with his buddies.  

For some reason all the boys in Brian's class love Timmy.  They always want Timmy to come and they all try to sit by him.  It makes Timmy super excited to be in Kindergarten here next year!

We went to the school carnival this year.  There were bounce houses and games and fun!  Timmy was really close to dunking the kid at the dunk tank.

The PTA needed literally last minute help for field day, so Timmy and I stayed to help all morning.  Timmy was a trooper.

First Grade is such a cool year!  I have loved loved loved watching Brian learn to write and read!  I had to include some of his school journal pages.  Definitely something to keep forever!.

And here's a few from Brian's Chinese journal.

This is a report about bald eagles that Brian was assigned.  He was super excited to write about and draw a bald eagle.  This report got him very interested in birds for a while.  He (and I) was really proud of that picture he drew.

 This school year seemed to fly by.  I am so grateful for Timmy's and Brian's teachers.  We could not have asked for better this year!