Dad spent two weekends building this fire pit for us and we love it. We started off our Summer vacation with a fire, smores, and great family time. Can't get much better than this. Thanks Daddy! **If you click on this picture it will enlarge, and you will see that Tucker's marshmallow is on fire. Look at his expression. He thought it was very cool, and from this point on, it is all about catching them on fire and watching them burn. Probably not a good thing for him to be excited about, but if you could hear his shrieks of excitement and his Oooooooo's you can't help but let him burn them.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Hunter is off to 4th Grade
Hunter's last day of school was May 23rd. It is officially summer vacation - and it is also so hard to believe that he is going into the 4th Grade. He ended the year with Straight A's again, and his SAT scores were all in the Advanced Level for his grade level. Great Job Hunter - We are so proud of you! So now it is time to have fun, relax, and enjoy summer vacation. Now if only someone would tell the weather man that we are on SUMMER vacation, and not LATE WINTER vacation. :o)
Last day of Preschool. 5/15/08
Tucker loves to push "big Sister".
We start Kindergarten in the Fall and Mom can hardly believe we are old enough already to go to kindergarten. Below are a couple of pictures of our End of year Preschool Party. We got to go to a local city park and play all morning. Then we went on a wagon ride around downtown Jerome, ate lunch, and then send Goodbye to our teachers for the Summer.
Tucker and Samantha both received Excellent Progress Reports. And the greatest news ever is that a week prior I had to take Tucker to the Public School Kindergarten Program for an evaluation of where he is right now, and guess what - My awesome, great, wonderful little boy tested out right a grade level. Yes - that is right! He is "Normal". Wow - we are so proud of him. We are spending a lot of time working on his fine motor skills this summer - as writing is a difficult task for him - but he tries and tries. He likes to write is name, which is hardly legible to those who haven't seen him write it before, but you can make out the T - U - C, so we are on our way.
The unfortunate side of this great success for Tucker is that his "Within Normal Limits" rating makes it very difficult to qualify for services (i.e. Physical Therapy, OT, and Speech). So now I am working on a Packet (and yes I mean a Packet) of paperwork to try to get him qualified for services. I have been told to make him look way worse than he is developmentally, thinking about his worst day ever. Hard to do, because all I want to do is brag about how wonderful he is doing. Crazy system we have - We are told to do all possible to help our kids become independent and to help them excel, however, when they do, then we are told we don't need any other help. Why do they think they are doing so well....because of all the therapies. Hmm....!
Samantha has started reading and she is so proud. I am amazed how quickly she picks things up. She is going to be very quick and smart like her older brother. We are reading a series of books for the summer that are for preschool/beginner readers, there are 9 books to tackle, and in the 1st hour of reading them to Sam and Tucker, she read 2 of the books to me all by herself. She has learned her phone number, birthdate, and how to tie her shoes! I love her little mind and her imagination is amazing.
The bird eggs have hatched. 5/20/08
Wind/Sand Storm May 20, 2008
Here are some pictures of the Wind/Sand storm we had last week. Pretty amazing to watch - scary too! In the pictures you see the brown haze all around - this is not haze, clouds, etc., but actually dust and sand flying around. I had gone to get my hair done this night (about 1/2 before this came about). It was 83 degrees out, so I left my car windows cracked to help keep the car cool while I was inside. Bad idea and mistake. The inside of my car was covered with Sand and dirt. Never seen anything like this. And I am just getting the car cleaned out. Still dirt in all the little tiny places, but for the most part, it's cleaned. Now the kids remind me whenever it is windy to roll up my windows. If only I could be as smart as 5 year olds and a 9 year old. :0)
Monday, May 12, 2008
Mother's Day Pictures
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Kill Deer Birds
We have found a nest with eggs and a Kill Deer Bird sitting on it. I had never seen or heard of this type of bird, let alone a bird that makes a nest in rocks on the ground and not in the trees. Very cool. Thought we'd share it with you. We will update when they hatch if we can get pictures.
What is really cool is watching this Momma bird protect her nest. If you get to close, she will run off and make a high pitch chirping noise acting as if she is wounded. She tilts to one side and flaps her wing, almost like limping so that you will help her and leave her nest alone. And then out of nowhere, other kill deer birds arrive to help defend the nest. Very cool to watch.Don't worry friends.
Can you believe this is me? After seeing my neighbor (a woman and a doctor) mowing her lawn, I decided it was time to try this out. I guess this Idaho Country life is changing me. I actually had fun - of course I did not mow as straight as I probably should have according to hubby's standards, but he let me do it anyway. Don't worry Girlfriends, I'm still a city girl at heart!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Happy 9th Birthday Hunter! April 15th.
Hunter, on his 9th Birthday, in Maui. We are at the Luau. He was the only one there that night that had a birthday. The Emcee had everyone sing Happy Birthday to him. How special was that. I can't believe my "little" boy is 9. He is up to my chin in height, and weighs a rock solid 80 lbs.

The best present - a Nintendo DS.
The best present - a Nintendo DS.
Family Pictures from Hawaii
More Favorite Hawaii Pictures
More Hawaii Pictures.
Playing on the Beaches!
We visited and played on Big Beach, Kihei Beach and Fleming Beach. The kids loved the Sand and the Water and Waves. I actually Boogie Boarded with Hunter and all the other family. It was a lot of fun. Had some great wipeouts from the waves, lots of laughter, and little sunburns. The kids made great sand castles and had so much fun playing with their cousins and grandpa and grandma. What a great vacation we had!
Hunter and I jumping waves.

Tucker and Sam building in the Sand.
Hunter (Right) and cousin G on Left.

Cousin M, Cousin B, Tucker and Sam and Brad. I loved this picture of Tucker Jumping the waves. Look at the air he got! :-)
Hunter and I jumping waves.
Tucker and Sam building in the Sand.
Cousin M, Cousin B, Tucker and Sam and Brad. I loved this picture of Tucker Jumping the waves. Look at the air he got! :-)
Hawaii is/was Awesome!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Guess where we are going tomorrow!
April 9 and still more snow!
Look what we woke up to yesterday. I think Spring is never going to come around here. We had 5 inches by 9:00 am in some areas of town. Fortunately, around 2 pm it warmed up to 42 degrees and it all melted. Oh, and these cows are now in the field behind our house. We love them. They are so fun to watch and there are a lot of baby cows too! 
Check this boy out!
I was so shocked that Tucker caught on to this rock climbing wall so quickly. Only 3 tries and he mastered it, and prefers it over the ladder. I am so excited for him to play and to watch him learn to do these everyday kid things. His muscle tone is so low, and his strength is weak - so I am sure that with lots of playtime, he will be one strong man by the end of summer!
Best Friends!
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