A trip to Papa's house

Thank you everyone for your prayers and good thoughts. My Mother in law seems to be improving, although she now has pneumonia to deal with and we aren't sure exactly what happened. She wasn't stable enough to do an MRI this weekend so it's a bit of a guessing game, slight heart attack, small stroke those are the things it points to. Husband is on his way home tonight, stuck with a delay halfway here.

Saturday Bug and I took a trip to my dad and step-moms house. They live on 170 acres and have sheep, goats, chickens, peacocks, and a very friendly cow. Needless to say Bug loves to go there, it is an absolutely beautiful place with creeks and ponds and so many things for a little boy to get into.

My dad and Bug are two peas in a pod. They get along famously and Bug never wants to come home. Dad, Bug and I took a walk to see the new baby lambs, one pure white and one colored like a Holstein cow. I couldn't get very close to get a good picture as the momma was pretty scared of us.

My parents dog, Hannah, is an Irish terrier.

It's their second Irish terrier since their first one, Riley, had to be put to sleep last year. I did this wordless Wednesday post featuring Hannah trying to kiss Fernando. She is an awesome dog, and she loves Bug. She followed him around and tried to kiss him too. She also tried to catch the frogs in the pond, with no luck.

Bug had fun fishing out the Lemna minor (the green stuff on the top of the pond).

I know the name of these plants only because my parents owned a native plant nursery for many years. They now sell organic produce on their small farm.

Here's a picture of Hannah playing with their cat, Macho.

I love going there and seeing them. I wish I lived closer so that I could see them more than once every other month.

The older I get the more I want my family close to me. Hannah must feel the same way, I got almost all the way down their mile long driveway only to see Hannah running as fast as she could to catch up to us. I got out of the car and sternly told her "Go HOME!" She just stood there, wagging her tail at me. As I jumped in the car and started backing up the driveway she happily trotted in front of my car. Finally my dad came around the corner on a four wheeler and she decided it was in her best interest to go home.
Bug brought home many treasures. Here is his favorite find from Papa's house.

Know what it is?

Frog eggs. We have them in a bowl and are watching their growth every day.

He also found this baby peacock feather...

It looked better before the dog malled it. And he plucked this fungi (Turkey tail) off of a dead stump.

We never leave empty handed!

Bad things come in three???

Great that means I'm due for one more before this wave of bad news ends.
I asked for prayers and good thoughts for a family member a few weeks ago.
Now I need to ask for more. Yet another person, my mother in law, is in the hospital.
They think she had a stroke, but aren't positive at this point. Normally my in-laws live down the road from us, but every winter for the past three years they have gone south in their motor home. Spending six or more months in a drier, warmer climate.
This morning we got news that the night before they were set to come home, she couldn't be woken up and an ambulance had to be called.
Catching the first flight they could, my husband and his brother have rushed down to see her.
So, if you can spare some more good thoughts and prayers, send them our way.

This Boy of mine

This very sensitive boy of mine.

Bug is and always has been very sensitive and I am at a loss at how to help him.

Yesterday when I picked him up from daycare we were walking to the car and had this conversation.

Bug: D and J were making fun of our car.

Me: Oh? What were they saying?

Bug: Well we were looking out the window and they said "There's your moms car" and I said " That isn't my mom's car" and they just kept saying that it was but it wasn't.

Me: Well that really isn't making fun honey, they were just mistaking someone elses car for our car.

Bug: I just went and hid from them.

Me: Why did you do that honey?

Bug: I didn't want them to see me cry.

Me: AT A LOSS FOR WORDS

I really wasn't sure how to proceed. I tried to explain that I'm sorry he felt frustrated by what they were saying, and tried to encourage him to just change the subject and not worry about that they were wrong.

This is just one of many instances when he has gotten easily upset over something another kid has said to him. It isn't just children either, it happens with me and his dad too.

I want him to feel confident and be able to stand up for himself. I want him to be able to brush things off.

He had a ten minute melt down at daycare the other day because he forgot to go to the window and wave to me. I waited for as long as I could for him to get there, but I had to get to work so I left without him waving. I thought he was distracted with playing and would be fine.

He was so upset that the teacher couldn't console him.

Breaks in routine, being caught off guard and getting frustrated seems to send him crying.

Please tell me it is a stage and he will grow out of this. My heart hurts for him and I want to make it better.

The invasion has begun.

The normal spring time invasion of mice is here.

This weekend I was getting ready to mow the lawn when I noticed my dachshund running around the grass catcher on the lawn mower. He was barking and biting at the bag.

I called for hubby because I knew what was in there and I don't deal well with small rodents.

He unhooked the bag and dumped it by a brush pile.

Sure enough two very drowsy mouse fell out on the ground, along with their nest.

Hubby exterminated them, I didn't watch.

I hate mice, but I can't see them killed either.

Then yesterday I heard my great mouse hunting dog yapping very excitedly outside.

I went out to see what he was doing and found both dogs, under our truck, their heads crammed up into the engine compartment, tails wagging excitedly.

More mice in the truck, lovely.

A couple years ago my husband found the air cleaner compartment on my car crammed to the brim with dog food. Inside old planters stored in my garage I found more dog food, it filled an eight inch pot full.

One year we caught five mice in my husbands show car, where they crammed yet more dog food up inside the drivers seat. You should have heard my husband as he removed the seat and shook out the dog food. I've never heard so many four letter words.

It's all part of living in the country. For now we have kept them out of the house, but now the dachshund is barking at the RV......

Can you overdose on Jelly beans?

I wish there was a limit on Jelly beans.... I wish they came with a warning. Something like "If you eat over ten you will explode in ten seconds" This might keep me from eating the whole bag.

We had the usual Pacific Northwest Easter. It rained and it drizzled and rained a little more. But we are used to this and have accepted Easter as a soggy holiday.

Bug got a cool basket full of an assortment of car and dinosaur toys.

He wanted to go hunt eggs right away but the Easter bunny wasn't up to hiding eggs while it was pouring rain.... so we had to wait until it was only drizzling.

We learned a couple years ago not to hide the real eggs on the ground.

Angel says... "I promise I won't eat any more eggs... I swear they will be safe on the ground"

Now we only put the plastic eggs on the ground.

All real eggs get a nice high spot to sit.

Bug has to use his monkey skills to get them all.

Yes, I know the fence needs painted.


Please ignore all of the moss ..... and black streaks. I think it gives it character. At least that's what I tell myself.

He found all the eggs just before it started to pour again.

Then we went to town and watched "Horton hears a Who"

Hubby took us out to eat so I wouldn't have to cook. I love it when I don't have to cook.

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday.

Adventures in Gardening

This past Fall my dad and step-mom gave me a small greenhouse that they no longer needed. The only problem was that it wasn't assembled, it was in many small pieces and there were no directions on how to put it together.

A few weeks ago Bug and I set out to put it together. We did a really good job, we only have a few "left over" pieces. Bug was a huge help, as I was steadying the frame he would go grab the pieces I asked for and bring them to me. We staked it down and patted ourselves on the back.



Then last week we had a bit of a storm and this happened........

Poor Bug, he was really disappointed. Luckily we didn't have any plants in it yet!

With a little more work we got it back into position.

We added some of these jugs filled with water to hold it down.

Bug was ready to plant some seeds but we had to wait until the next day. The next morning he ran into my room and the first thing out of his mouth was.. "I'm sooooo excited to plant some seeds today!"

So we planted a variety of veggies and flowers. It's amazing how warm it stays in there, let's just hope the plants survive the rabbits and deer this summer. Who said gardening wasn't exciting? Yes, I'm a complete dork.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Kiss me you Cow!

For more Wordless Wednesday posts click HERE.