life keeps moving

Hi,

Remember me.  For those of you still checking in...I apologize for the extended absence.

I left you with my last post on Mothers day.  And this is what my treat was later that day.

An afternoon at the spa with my oldest friend.  Girl time, alone time, and pampering time.  

Just what I needed.

Life has been moving at a break neck pace for me around here.

But today, today is the first day in as long as I can remember that I don't have anything planned

and no obligations.

So I've taken the time to try to upload the ginormous amount of pictures to tell the stories of the reasons for my absence.  

Spring ball ended..and we hosted the party for the boys.  I can't take credit for this adorable idea, another mom did it.  But had to share it with you.

Tournament baseball season started.  Kicking off Memorial Day weekend with a slew of games against other area teams.

We celebrated Daddy's birthday.  (Yes, he likes making crazy faces for pictures, as does his mom, as does our youngest daughter.  I think it must be genetic)

That night he and I got to go to the Dodger game for a date night celebration.

The fourth grade moms put on and set up the decorations for the 5th grade graduation.

I forgot to photograph the inside, but this was the outside desert table, with a 'smart cookie' theme.

The idea came courtesy of pinterest of course.

And I've been doing lots of research into these...

and raising these....

You see I jokingly told my husband all I wanted for Mothers day was chickens.

And my husband said ok.

And that started the building of this.

That is now coming together to look like this...

I'm loving the gray yellow combo and knew I had to use it for this!

These pictures reflect more hours than I even know

in research and decision making and planning

and running to the store to buy paint etc.

We have a builder helping us because my husband

has been traveling with work.

But I have been very much like a job foreman

answering questions, overseeing and picking things up.

That flap that is down is showing

how we'll access the eggs without disturbing the chickens.

Beneath it will be drawers to keep food and supplies.

And we're taking extra precautions to make everything

completely secure from other animals.

There will be an enclosed run soon, so that they can happily play around.

It's one sweet chicken pad don't you think?

They say happy chickens produce more eggs.

Hoping they'll be very happy.

And just in case it doesn't work out, 

our back up plan is it'll be a great playhouse for the girls.

Soon I'll be painting the shutters black and we'll add a window box for flowers.  

I did a mock trial on photoshop.  And I really like what it adds.  

Truly, I know, it's just a chicken coop.

But it has been a really fun project. 

And the girls already have them named.

Charlotte, Lily, and Hannah. 

Can't wait to meet them!

Life has this funny way of twisting and turning 

and suddenly you're traveling down a path you never imagined.

But it's fun enjoying the ride.

The coop came as an addition to this that has been in the making for far too long.

It's for our very own vegetable garden.  We're trying to really 

maximize the land we have and become more self sustaining.

I love this youtube video from the urban homestead by the way.

We're waiting to completely enclose it with a metal mesh

to keep all the animals out.  Even though we live in the city,

we live in the hills where we have raccoons, opossums, deer,

coyotes and of course rats and squirrels.  I don't want to go through all that work

just to have the critters eat everything.  But the mesh was on backorder.

So I'm afraid our garden will be getting a rather late start.

At least we'll have pumpkins and squash for the fall.

And on to our other adventures.

Ava is still in her Lindamood Bell program.

It will last through July most likely.  We're going at her pace.

Jackson's school finished on May 31st.

Audrey graduated from preschool this past Thursday.

(and she wouldn't smile normally for a single picture)

Sigh.

Seriously.

My baby, my last preschooler, done.

This season ending really hit me hard.

My husband was out of town.

I was pms'ing.

And I was just plain feeling sad.

Sad that this part of our lives of having a preschooler is over.

I really love this age.

My husband's answer was,

"You could just have another baby."

Oy vey.

My plate is so insanely full.  

And that is my husband being a very practical guy.

Simple problem, simple solution.  

OH and I almost forgot...do you see my boy's hair???

He decided he wanted to try it short.  The only other time

it has been this short he was 2 years old and it was his very first haircut.

He already says he wants to grow it out.

It's cute, but surprisingly more work because it likes to stick straight up. :)

Here's the before & after...

The last day of school for the preschool is always a beach day.

This is our eighth and final year.

Jackson's first, Ava was a teeny baby not even crawling.

Some years I would hire a babysitter to have one on one time with just that child.

But this year having all the kids off was really nice.

The girls played.

And Jackson, well Jackson did what boys do.

Crazy flips in the sand.

And discovering strange living things washed up on shore.

I'm still trying to figure out what this thing is.  It gave off a magenta red ink,

it looked like a big heart moving as though it was breathing, but

it had little tentacles that would pop out.

Anyone know?

He put it back in the ocean after observing it for awhile.

(*update - found it.  It's the Californian black sea hare, Aplysia californica.  A typical sea hare that

releases a purple ink when disturbed.)

And here Miss Audrey is with one of her favorite friends this year.

I love the tradition of kicking off summer with a beach day.

And we've resurrected an old tradition that had fallen away a bit.

Family hike day.

With time for nature study and story time.

He preferred to carve a spear.

And then she, to fly with the butterflies.

Love this freedom.

And they've been counting down to our next hike day.

Which will be tomorrow.

Whew...that was a lot to catch up on.

Hope I didn't bore you to death.