Days Spent...

 We've had a few VERY gorgeous, summer like, days.

So, we spent some time outside with friends, planting flowers in pots for our front porch, playing silly with daddy, and making cookies. And........ A LOT of time (undocumented by the camera) cleaning up our yard and making more trips to the dump. We think we have successfully made the last load to the dump, and now we can start to focus on actually working with the landscape, instead of destroying it!

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A little splash of color for the front porch.

Laura watching little Paige splash wildly in the water.

 It must be spring...Geese and their goslings.

 Cute Paige.

 Kalia is quit unsure about having her feet in the water.

 There you go (mom), a pregnant pose for you @ 34 weeks!

 The only GOOD picture of the two together. They are 9 months apart... so even though it was a play date, there wasn't much "playing" going on. :)

Shane and Kalia playing Quarto. Somehow, Shane always wins!!

 Kalia's new moves. She loves to peek at you through her legs!

 Helping me make cookies one day.  The counter seemed to provide plenty of entertainment for her.  She sat there through the whole process!!!

Easter hunts

I couldn't let the weekend go by without having Kalia hunt around for Easter eggs and experience a sugar high! The weather was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS on Saturday, so we tossed some eggs out into the grass and had Kalia collect them. Ending with a big egg full of candy. SHE LOVED IT!

"Look at what I found dad!!!"

Giving daddy a pound for her good work!

Then Sunday we had another one. Except this time we filled the eggs with one M&M and one egg with a marshmallow Peep. She caught on to the candy inside and opened all her eggs, eating all the candy, and thoroughly loving it!

Giving Daddy a kiss.

"oooo... look at this one!"

Eating the Peep.

Walking with daddy.
As parents, we learned a lesson. Never let your child eat candy before lunch and before their nap! She was so wound up, that she only had about a 20 minute nap before we had to wake her up to go to Gospel meeting! Oops!

Just some pictures of the Star Magnolia blooming in our yard.

I showed Kalia how the blossoms smelled so good. So, when I set her down, she found one at her level, pulled it over to her with both hands, and smashed it into her nose! She would stand there all day smelling the flowers!

We had a very enjoyable weekend with the beautiful weather, successful attempts at continuing to clean up our yard, and a sweet little being to show us the simple joys of the holidays.

Men & Boys

We've all heard it...
"The difference between men and boys, is the size of their toys."
It's most definitely the case here! We signed up for a mountain moving project when we bought this house. Not only are we working on remodeling the exterior and interior walls of the house, but also cleaning up the previous owners junk pile in the back yard. Last summer Shane cut down and piled blackberries until he was bleeding through his clothes. Later he added to the blackberry piles with fallen limbs and tree trunks that had been collected around the edge of the property. With most of the junk and yard debris collected into piles, it was time to start digging out stumps from cut down trees that the previous owners just left and mowed around. The fun began a few weeks ago when he rented a backhoe to aid in the stump removal process.
HE HAD A BLAST!
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And yes, here he is talking on his phone while running heavy equipment!
**Notice the HUGE piles of branches on either side of the backhoe! Those have now been hauled away and we can see the GROUND!!**

Moving some dirt.

All the while being watched by two very curious eyes!

We have also been storing (in anticipation of using for yard work) a tractor that some family members bought in our garage. Well, we pulled it out the other night, and put it to work.
She's a dandy!
Once again, HE HAD A BLAST!!!!!
Now, to get the stumps out of the craters he dug.
1.

2.

3.
(that stump is almost as big as the tractor!)

Success!
Now, its the little ladies turn to ride around with daddy.
Both hearts melting! (She LOVES her daddy!)

Progress! It feels wonderful! Now, if the weather would just cooperate, it would be so much easier to get things done.
Next up...haul away the construction debris from the siding project, fill in the holes, till ground, PLANT GRASS!! Lets all cross our fingers we get this done before the baby comes!
In the mean time, boys will be boys, and will find any excuse to run machinery!