Party Like a Flat Rock Star!

Flat balloons...

Flat presents...

Cupcakes with sprinkles and a candle...
What is going on around here?

It's Flat Bre's 7th birthday!!
Technically, her birthday is tomorrow the 21st but we knew she'd be busy so we celebrated today. We had a blast!

Flat Brandon, Flat Bre, Flat Oliver and Flat Noah all partied like the Flat Rock Stars that they are!

Turn out the lights, ready? 1, 2, 3...Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Flat Bre, happy birthday to you!!

Hope all of your birthday wishes come true!

We love you Bre!!
Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Soccer Ends...For Now

Oliver first try at soccer was a success, after a bit of a rough start he really got into it and enjoyed playing the game. We've signed him up again for the fall session and we can't wait. His last game was last Saturday. It was a beautiful day and a fun game followed by a quick get together and trophy ceremony.

Getting the game started.

GOAL!!!

This kid is not proud at all (wink wink).

Brother paying attention to him and a trophy???
I'm not sure that life could life get any better for this 4 year old.

Gardening

I've been keeping up on the garden blog so to see more of what's been happening over at the Vantucky Victory Garden be sure to check there. I thought I would post a couple here though to give you an idea of what we've been up to.

This is the cute little greenhouse that we've been using to start our plants.

All full of our tomatoes, basil, peppers, melons, etc.

We planted 150+ tomato plants last Friday this is half of them.

Took this shot from the barn looking back towards the garden.

Mish Mash

I can't seem to focus this blog post at all so hodgepodge it is, ready, set, go!!

Can anyone guess what this means? Yep, it's my new camera and I'm loving it so far. I've been working with it a little bit each day trying to figure out all of it's little nuances. I've always had a Canon point and shoot camera so transition into the SLR Canon has been fairly simple. Now it's just a matter of getting out there and practicing! I've already got my eye on a new lens or two okay three tops and a really cool cloak bag.

That's one way to have dad read you a story.

Look, it's Conversation Pox!

Little Man learning how to put on polyurethane and just so you know, Oliver can say polyurethane better than most adults. He can't say O.K. but he can rock the poly!

Another shot of all of my shelves!

Oliver practicing his kicking. LUCKILY, the boy that lives on the other side of the fence also loves to play soccer so the two of them kick the ball back and forth.

Grandma's cat, Jackson, sunnin' his belly!

Future so bright he's got to wear shadesss.

My Lego creator built a claw for Lambey. You see, Lambey doesn't really have any fingers or an opposable thumb so picking things up was a bit difficult for him. Noah came to the rescue!

Close up of the claw.

The boy's shelving units with all of the shelves in place!

Mother's Day Tea

Friday was Mother's Day Tea at the preschool that Oliver attends. The mom's were all waiting in the hallway, each child was called to come out, hand us our corsage (that they made) then take us by the hand and lead us back to our seat. So stinkin' cute! They presented us with our gifts...a self portrait, a pen wrapped in floral tape with a flower on the end and our adorable cards. Cookies, brownies, punch and water were on the menu which we devoured at our decorated tables. The kids sang us a few songs then the teacher read all of us a very touching story. It was a fantastic day with my boy.

It's looks like this that get him out of trouble.

Singing, "Mom's Special Day," to us.

Flowers on the front, poem and hand prints inside and a hand written, "I love you Mom," on the back.

How Oliver sees me.

Didn't get any pictures of us together at class so Grandma Ricki took a quick picture for me when we got home.

More from Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

On Sunday, we decided to take a quick drive back up to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. The last time we were there it was well into the fall season and since it's now spring we wanted to see the difference. We got to see some pretty fantastic stuff this time around and can't wait to go back late spring/early summer to see even more changes!

5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves, eh, oh wait, those are 2 turtles on a rusty pipe, my bad.

Seriously cute fluff balls!

These orange winged birds were out in full force. I love this picture because it shows how they would hold onto the sides of the reeds (click on picture to see it better). They chattered quite a bit too.

These two were arguing about something.

Oh my, aren't you handsome! This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.

A lot wetter this time of year and starting to green up quite nicely.

So we were driving along the S-unit loop, minding our own business and we come across a traffic jam of sorts. At first we were stumped why the cars were all stopped but then we saw them, two baby owls and right across the way, their mama keeping a close eye on them. Because of where the tree was and all the back light coming from the sun it was very difficult to get a good picture. I managed to get this one of one of the owlets though. They were big enough to be out of the nest and climbing on the limbs but still too young and fluffy to be flying. Their gorgeous mom was in a nearby tree. It was an amazing sight to see so close up.

As crazy as it sounds, this picture reminds me of my boys. Me trying to do something like take a picture and my boys peaking their heads in, "hey mom, whatcha doing?" Just add some googly eyes and I bet you'd have a hard time telling them apart from the kids!

I tortured my boys and made them stand by a tree so I could get a picture or two.
My handsome Noah.

My silly fuzzy haired Oliver.

One of many pictures I took to try and get one of them together.
No, that is not a hug.

Queen Midas

Noah is in the EXCEL program that the Evergreen school district offers. This year, the 3rd grade students studied Greek Gods and Mythology. Lots of science, math, social studies, history, etc. all centered around this subject. It's an incredible class and the kids have so much fun they hardly notice that they are learning. For their Spring Culmination project, the students put on a play called, "Queen Midas and the Golden Touch." An adaptation of the King Midas tale that the kids took and made their own. They did it all, set, directing, tech crew, actors, actresses, sound effects, lighting, etc. They even made a power point presentation for us to watch before the play started.

Here is the set, later in the play the columns and brick walls were spun around during a set change...they were gold on the other side.

A couple of Noah's projects from their studies.

Waiting for the play to start, I told Oliver to hold still, Joel did the holding part of that request.

Noah tried out for and got the part of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. He made the trident that he is holding (with a little help from dad).

The entire cast and crew!
Bravo!

Happy Brain

My brain likes organization, it soothes the savage beast so to speak. Joel has been working on a shelving unit for the boys' room and it got installed yesterday! The boys share a room so keeping their beds, clothes, toys, books, etc. all organized in that tiny space can be challenging. These will help out so much. The big units are out of the way (freed up space in the garage) so now he's whipping out a few adjustable shelves to complete the units. The white baskets will hold most of the toys.