- a pair of wrens decided that a flower pot sitting in the middle of our disaster of a garage was the perfect place to hatch five babies. We did our best not to disturb them, watched them grow, and then helped them find their way out of the garage when they fledged. I marveled at the speed with which they grew and were off on their own and the tender, intense care the parent birds imparted. One chick was stuck under our refrigerator on the day they fledged and we were able to catch it and help it join its siblings. This was of course a wonderful springboard for some interesting science lessons for the kids. Nate was very excited that we were "animal rescuers like Diego".
-both Nate and Evelyn currently love the children's show "Diego". Brett hung a knotted rope out of a tree for them to swing like Diego. They spend hours on the rope and their swing which is in the same tree. Emma would "'wing" all day if I could spend all day pushing her.
-Nate's newest obsession is with money, especially credit cards, and wallets. He has a gigantically fat trifold wallet(which he convinced Papa B to give him after seeing that it could hold more cards than the bifold he already possessed), which he carries everywhere and loses about 6 times a day. The wallet is stuffed with "cards", mostly of the expired gift card variety, that have been given to him by family, friends, and neighbors. He rarely misses an opportunity to ask anyone willing to listen if they have any "old cards". He's has been given a couple that still have a few dollars on them, which has been extra fun. :) We have talked a lot about work, earning money, banks, how bank cards work, etc.
This actually all began several months ago when Nate went on an side job with Papa to fix someone's air conditioning. The customer loved Nate and paid him a dollar. As Nate and Papa drove home, Nate held his dollar carefully and said, "Papa, what do you do with a dollar, when you get one?" Papa replied, "You can take it to a store and buy something that you like. You could buy a truck, or candy, or your own chewing gum..." "My own chewing gum?!?" Nate said excitedly.
And life has never been the same again. Nate now believes that anytime he works with Papa he should be paid a dollar.
A few weeks ago Brett was working under the kitchen sink and Nate was handing him tools. Nate asked to be paid a dollar. Brett told him that most work didn't receive special payment, but only "very hard work". A couple minutes later, Brett asked Nate to bring him the hammer from across the room. Nate picked it up very dramatically, and brought it over, huffing and puffing. "Whew!! That was hard work dad!" he said!
- we are continuing working on remodeling the kitchen. It has come a long way and we have both rediscovered how much we enjoy working with our hands. The cabinets are almost entirely remodeled and painted and our new sink is installed! We have the bamboo floor that will be in the kitchen and front living/dining room. Brett plans to lay it when I am in Maryland for my sister's wedding in two weeks. Also left to do is installing the white tile backsplash, finishing drywall where we took out the wall, reprinting the entire front room (walls and trim), replacing all the trim in the kitchen and painting it, putting in cabinets on another wall and an island. So lots of work done and lots more to do! It goes slowly when remodeling with children but I do enjoy the process and the end result!! 
-Emma loves helping work with tools. She will sit next to Brett for long stretches of time, much longer than Nate or Evelyn will stay interested, and jabber to him and try to help. Her enthusiasm is absolutely adorable!!
- Nate and Evelyn finished preschool and are on summer break. They really enjoyed this past year! We haven't completely decided on our plan for the fall yet.
-We have a sandbox!!
-Evelyn and Nate love to pick flowers and bring them to me as a "special surprise". I always have to close my eyes and hold out my hands to receive them. The day we put sand in the sandbox Evelyn planted these flowers for me.
-My dad, Papa B, flew down from Maryland to visit with us for a weekend. We really enjoyed spending time with him. Sadly I didn't get any pictures with him. We spent time over at Brett's parents, relaxed around the house together, and went to Scoops one evening.
-Two weeks after he was here my mom stopped by for a couple days. She and my younger siblings were on their annual "celebrate school being done" trip down south. This time only Jacob and Michael came with her. Nate calls them his brothers and had great fun with them, as always. She helped me paint cabinet doors and prime trim in the kitchen. We talked, played, and drank coffee together.
-We have been using our zoo membership this spring!! Here are a couple pictures from different trips we have made with friends.
-Rose has been lame all month:( After multiple vet visits we are still unsure exactly what is wrong. I guess I should just be thankful that this is the first serious problem we have encountered in 12 years.
She's still beautiful though!
And a few other cute pictures:-)
