Moving Day

 Can you take a picture of me and my dolls?

Oh, all right.

 

 We inspected the coop and everything appeared to be in order. The weather is now warm enough, so the birds should be okay without their heat lamp. We could put an extension cord out...but some animal might chew threw it again so it's a bit risky.

 

 First day in the new coop. The birds find it very very large and kinda scary. But curiosity wins out.

 Watch your step! Make sure you don't step on a bird!

 We think they are happy with their new home. They have way more room to roam now!

And watch you don't step in the poop!

May turned into June

 We had a head wave at the end of May. I heard from locals that this was usual weather for the time of year. But we had that last year too.

 Fortunately our old skating liner keeps everyone happy in the heat.

  Matthew is like "Where did that drip come from? Oh, oops."

 Our "babies" are growing.

 Have you seen Foksey? (pronounced foxy) Daniel the police is on the hunt for him.

 The kids and I popped by Great Oma's for a visit.

 And we spent time with Oma too. She took us for a walk.

 Melanie made sure the trail was saft.

 It was a beautiful day for a walk!

 Our chicks got stinky. So we moved them to the garage. They lost their fluffy cuteness. And they became a nuisance hopping on the waterer and tipping it all the time.

 But still, they're a little cute. ;)

 Evelyn where she shouldn't be...

 Flowers are in....now grow!!

We collected hay from our front field. Melanie wants to use some for strawberry bedding, and I want to save money on chick bedding. Cheaper than pine shavings. :)

Matthew finished a house for purple martins. Now he has to dig a hole for a post so this can get mounted on it. What a job! It's gotta be a sturdy post for this heavy house!

May be we are keeping busy

 Lots of thing are growing and blooming around here!  (children included)

 Philip gave me permission to buy a chainsaw! For real! It's only a tiny little one for clean up...but it is a chainsaw. All the kids came out to see me use it. What fun!!

 And mid May we got our first ever "pets". They were so adorable just a day old and covered in fluff!!

 We moved them into the school room so we could keep an eye on them while they fragile and delicate. Peep peep peep.

 My "new to you" rototiller was misbehaving. So I took many photos and sent many symptom details electronically to the not-so-local head mechanic.

 Evelyn helped me scrape up the last of our mulch to put on some new trees we got.

 Jennifer read aloud to the chicks in the school room. She even did it for a whole hour once!

 Our stick pile for the spruce tree made a temporary trampoline.

 The rototiller has been making progress. When the day got hotter I had to let it cool off between sections as it would overheat. But it slogged through and got the job done!!

 Melanie helped me fill up the pots in the front. The perennial garden under the spruce needed to be relocated. Almost all of those plants needed the shade of the spruce.

Yikes! Time to make a bigger box for the baby chicks!

Thirteen!

 I was totally shocked to hear that E... was turning thirteen last March. Where has time gone? I was reminded, however, that Nathan himself, as always, is only two months behind! Thirteen sounds so scary and I panicked...but so far there have been no dramatic changes and Nathan is still a perfectly normal person. Could teenagers still be real people?

 Nathan isn't so big on getting his photo taken, so this bday I restrained my paparazzi tendencies somewhat.

Nathan winterized our small engines last fall, and this spring he got them going again. He is doing an oil change on my (his now? as he rides it more than me?) ride on mover. He is heavy enough this year that the engine doesn't shut off when he hits small bumps in the lawn. And he hasn't missed an opportunity to keep our lawns neat and tidy. Wonder why. ;)

More repair work!

Nathan keeps busy and has taken on a lot of responsibility around the house. We like hwe his dedication to work. He is also fun to have around and we are very thankful to have him in our family for 13 years already!!

Beginning of May

It was a little windy earlier in May. This spruce looked perfectly healthy 'til the day it fell down and we could see the dry rot. Healthy spring growth and lots of cones but dying from the inside.

 What a shame!

 Our pool fence also took a beating. Not only did the panels blow out, but the whole structure twisted and crashed.

 The eastern bluebird that was getting comfortable in his birdhouse was badly in need of a change of location! I moved it as delicately as possible and they still moved in a laid eggs after all that!

 Walking on paths that no one ever walked before!

 Spring is for sandboxes. Many days is nice and muddy or full of puddles!

 The plants or getting ready for the real world...coming up nicely and will be ready soon.

 Daniel needed some motivation to quit sucking his thumb.

 After many bandaids and a lot of work, he ended up with police themed Lego. Double wow!

 Jennifer likes to read out loud. Evelyn likes to listen. :)