A fun June

For Jo's birthday this year Tracy n Martha gave her a creative pancake making kit.  We finally had a wonderful down time day at home so Jo and I decided to see what we could do with pancake batter.

The goal?  A monkey!

First: Cooking all the parts.

Second: Assembly.

And voilá!  A Monkey!!!

Cole and Oma wanted eggs and bacon for dinner so Jo and I made them all out of pancake batter.

Both were quite surprised at this. (yes, all pancakes)

The book also showed an awesome lion pancake so we made that too.

What a fun evening we had.

We also learned that eating a meal this way does take quite a long time but well worth the fun.

What do you do with waffles that have been left in the oven for, oh...one week?  Ok, maybe it was two weeks? (The oven wasn't on)

Jo maked bird feeders out of them!

And then she was hoping that if she sat very still a bird might come and eat out of her hands.

Well, if we didn't have all the outside activity, and then there is Doug...ok, it's not going to happen.  However, her dreaming is a wonderful thing to watch.

Backyard baseball.

Summer looks bright!

Baseball

Cole's team has done a fair job this season ending the regular season with a loss but it was a very close game against the #1 team.

Oma became the hitting coach and worked with the boys before every game.

Cole became quiet a bit more serious this season wanting his team to be more serious as well.  He is always cheering his team mates at bat and watching the game when others are visiting and catching bugs.  He is much more focused.

I had the pleasure of making the team trading cards again this year.

I sure enjoy doing graphics.

Cole & Piano

He is learning to play the piano this summer as the kids now have back to back lessons.  Cole Strings class this past school year has taught him quite a lot about music so he has been able to jump right into some of the music.

Watching him concentrate on playing is interesting.  His whole body moves about like his brain is having an argument with his body to sit still and play.  I think piano is going to be a great thing for him.  He is having to sit and concentrate, play the pieces over and over and slow down reading each note.  Quite opposite of how he does his school work. Fast, once and moving onto recess/PE or another social activity.  Yes, I think piano may just help him in school.

And Summer Begins

2012 Transit of Venus

We remembered this time to look at the sun and see Venus passing.

Picture of the sun through my welding glass.

Passing clouds made our view a hit and miss but with the help of my old welding helmet we all got to see Venus.

 

It took a moment for our eyes to adjust and find the planet but well worth digging through my welding box for the hood!

Fort

We decided to build forts using the old fence piled in our yard with a few new pieces of wood too.

I'm a good helper (I think/hope) but really I don't know "how" to actually construct a building on my own.

We went for it anyway!

First, had to buy a new saw.  (Jill said I could, see me smiling?)

Laying out the floor.

Cole & Jo did a ton of work and I passed along all the knowledge I knew. (Some one in the future will give them all correct information I hope.)

The chalk line helped both follow the 2x4 when pounding the nails into the floor.

Does the roof come next?

I don't know.

It did for ours,

and yes, it's flat,

and yes, I know it shouldn't be.

But there you have it.

It covers their head and that is what matters.

Attaching the walls to finish it up.

And here we have it!

Our fort in the back yard!

What an awesome experience this was for all of us.

I was able to point out to the kids every thing I did wrong in planning and building and what we will do differently next time.  We will not be making these mistakes again because I learned why not but there are many more mistakes I don't know I'm going to make and those new mistakes will be just as educational and Ah Ha moments too.

The best part? The kids have a fort!

(door and window will come later)

Oma's last day of work!

This is where I found her when I got home.

Feet up, beer and computer in hand on the back porch.

GOOD JOB RELAXING OMA!

Oh, wait...what is this?

A list of to-do's for the summer?

NOOOOooooooo......

 And our BS Summer Begins.

2012 Recital

Wrapping up Jo's second year of piano lessons, she has come a long way BS Groupies!

After going through all her dresses and narrowing it down to four, this was the chosen recital dress.

 

 She didn't seem nervous at all and was actually quite chatty this day.

Waiting for her turn to perform.

Will she play?

Did she play?

Why yes she did and just beautifully too!

(If your getting our blog updates through the email please go directly to our actual website to view the video, it's just over 2 min. long.)

She did a wonderful job and seemed to really enjoy this whole experience.

And she even had a small fan base watching this year.

The Jo Fans, grabbing some burgers after the recital.

This year we have noticed that Jo sits down and plays off and on just about every day.  She has grown in leaps and bounds this year and really is enjoying the music.

One of the kids at the recital played Fur Elise by Beethoven and Jo said she would really like to play that song.  We look forward to hearing her play it too!

Field Trip Plus Other Things

Going to just caption some photos this go around.

Gma Marie & I  helped chaperone the 4th grade school field trip to the Hatfield Marine Science Center at the coast.

Gma Marie and Jo sucking up shrimp.

 

Cole and Julian doing the same.

Look, not a fryer but good bait!

We all got to try this and keep count of what we found for research.

Inside to do a "search and find" for some school work.

 

Very good time and educational.

Cole and his iTouch

With the help of some

birthday cash and his

savings Cole was able

to finally join the rest

of the family by purchasing

his own iTouch.

Good Job Cole!

 

A boy and a dog

Early A.M. hanging out before school.

Cole was able to perform again with his Strings group at a retirement home.

It was a short 1/2 concert where each kid got to play a solo as well.
This Strings class sure was a wonderful experience for him and he looks forward to doing it next year though he says he plans on choosing an instrument that is smaller than the bass. (he's doing piano over the summer)

No Sew Blanket from Gma.

It's a family & friend job to get it all done.

Gma & Gpa were here for Jo this day.  Next blog post with share why.

May is over?

EATING...and EATING
Cole has been eating, sleeping and eating!  And if you have never fed a growing child you would be amazed at the amount of food they do eat!

We can finish up dinner, ask Cole; "Are you full?" with a, "Yes" answer.  No sooner do we finish cleaning dinner up he walks back into the kitchen stating he is hungry.  We also find random food in his bed as he apparently gets up off and on needing more food.  As you see this night was gold fish.  We have also found puddings, jerky and fruit cups.

He has also grown two inches in less than five months, so we know where the food is going.

FOR SALE

Looked outside to see Cole had set up some sort of shop?

I found out that he was selling "Folded Paper" so I called our neighbor and asked if she could come by and buy some thing and she was glad too.

Little did I know, but he actually got quite a few customers in two days of work so no phone call was needed.  (about an hour or so each day)

He made about six dollars.

Very proud of the Little Man for being inventive and rewarded for his work.

Baseball

Still going on and enjoying the season.

 

Here Cole is playing shortstop.

Mothers Day

Trip to Oakland, OR for our yearly Mother / Daughter brunch.

Derian, Jo, Corri, Tricia, Tina, Marie and Hanna around the table.

Bottom Fishing

Jo and Oma played hooky to go bottom fishing with Grandpa Dave and family.

Aunt Becky, Jo & Aunt Peanut taking the ride out to the fishing grounds.

Jo fishing.

Catching two fish in between getting sick,
or as she tells it,

"They made me go to
the other side of the
boat to chum"

Oma gave her  an anti-sickness pill and it knocked her out so she spent time below napping on the couch.

Jo's words: I was sleeping below the boat and a big wave came and the next thing I know I was laying on the floor and I thought, "This isn't were I wanted to be". She laughed while telling me this.

We enjoyed fresh fish for dinner!  Great Hooky Day!

Our new fence

Oma and I decided that taking the old fence down as a family would be a good project for us and teach the kids some good skills.

We all worked very hard!  VERY HARD!

Even worked before breakfast one day.

A breakfast break was well deserved and rewarding.

The back had double the concrete as apparently the fence before our fence posts were also still in the ground.

Almost a mote around the back we dug so much!

Good project and we were all happy we didn't have to building the new one.

It's all done and looks good.
I should say, the fence is all done.  We still have much to do but it will be a slower pace now.

Anyone need any concrete?  You haul!