Wildlife

Sometimes I feel sorry for any wildlife that dare venture close to our house. My two older boys love to catch any animal they can and keep it for a pet. In the past they have adopted lizards, frogs, tadpoles, chipmunk, stray dogs, and snakes. Today they caught a turtle they have named Snappy. One good thing about these encounters is we use them to study the animals, food, habitat, etc. One bad thing is they generally do not want to release the animals. Brandon usually does not handle this well but we try to let him know the best place for these animals is in the wild. Here is a photo of Snappy.

Spring growth

Several weeks ago there were a lot of posts showing spring blossoms. Being busy with painting I have not had the time to post these pictures. Here are some flowers, trees, and shrubs from around our house.

Nesting

We have three boys and are expecting our first girl. We have also been in our house for over 8 years and have painted only one room. Apparently the nesting instinct is much stronger with female babies. In the prior two months we have painted 3 rooms in our house. Daniel's (2) room was like this




was transformed to this


The colors for this room and the new babies were choosen with the assistance of my wife's sister. The colors should last a long time. We have just added "Cars" decals that Daniel recieved for his second birthday. The new babies room (name a secret at this time) went from


to this

I wasn't sure how this would turn out but the two shades of pink work well togeter. While I was painting I kept saying to myself that if the doctor determined the gender incorrectly, she would have to help repaint the room blue. I don't think the doctor will agree to this!

I have also painted the children's bathroom. I am replacing the towel rod with a set of pegs that will allow all the children to hang their towels.

The Creek

The two older boys enjoy exploring the creek behind our house. No matter what the weather they are always eager to explore. The boys in the neighborhood have explored the entire length of the creek and given names to the various features.

Brandon and James on a fallen tree.

James prepares to wade through a deep section

Brandon by "Mini Diagon Falls"

They occasionally see wildlife or signs of wildlife.

small fish in the creek

Paw print of animal

Distance apart

It seems I am never able to sit as close to my wife as I would like during mass. As I look at the distance between us, I see symbols of our love in our three little boys. I guess the distance isn't so bad after all.

Family Traditions

My wife and I both have very fond memories of family traditions, places the family always went or things we always did as a family. We have attempted to institute similar traditions with our family.
Friday night Pizza! - This is often done with extended family also, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all make appearances.

Sunday morning bagels and muffins - After Mass, we go to a bagel shop for breakfast.


Christmas Eve traditions are many. One we have added for our children is s'mores with marshmallows toasted in the fire place.

Quite the critic

Daniel is 22 months old and one of his favorite words is "Again". When we finish a book he will call out "Again" time after time. He particularly loves when Cathy sings to him. He will call "Again", "Again", "Again" after each song. Tonight after dinner, Cathy had finished singing a song and he called "Again". I sang the song the next time. Rather than calling "Again", he just looked at me, climbed down from Cathy's lap and walked away! I guess we can't all have beautiful voices.