Our tree is bleeding…

Warning: Graphic Images ahead!

Kevin and I tackled some major yard work to increase the quality and curb appeal of our house.  Actually, I did it all by myself (and I’m very proud of it)!  I trimmed the bushes, trees, cleaned out the gutters and roof, weed whacked, mowed, raked, etc.  It was a ton of work and took most of the day!

When I got to our pine tree out front and took a really good look at it, I realized it was oozing sap out of nearly every area of it’s trunk and branches (I usually don’t spend my time looking at trees, so I never noticed the damage)!  In fact, sap was oozing out from underneath the bark, making the bark bulge outward.   For some reason it completely fascinated me, so I got out the camera.  As I was snapping some pictures Kevin walked up to take a look and said, “Man, this tree is dying!  Sap is like the tree’s blood trying to clog up the arteries.”  (Any tree experts out there to confirm this theory)???  Anyway, after he said that I realized that this tree looked like it really DID have some gaping wounds the sap was filling in.  I peeled some away – somewhat like peeling peanut butter off a tree, if you can imagine – and got some gruesome images!  I’m sorry if these images are traumatizing to some, we are mourning the limited life span of our tree, but I had to try my hand at macro-photography.  Aren’t these both delightful and disgusting at the same time?!

So.  Gross.  I just can’t stop looking at them.  After a while the tree pictures look like raw meat to me!

Anyway, here’s a much more tasteful photo to end this weird blog post.  I did some cool editing!

That is not a raindrop, it’s sap (of course)!

Riding a school bus is SO MUCH FUN!

Last weekend was Boise’s annual Art in the Park fair, which I just love being a part of.  It’s right downtown in a great shady park, with tons of great vendors from around the northwest.  I went down with just the kids on Friday morning, Rylan and I split a vanilla ice cream cone (and he was actually very concerned I wasn’t getting my fair portion!), walked around the booths, etc.  It was fun time!  I almost bought a Quinn and Rylan several things but decided against most of them.

On Saturday we went to Art in the Park again – but this time Kevin came along and we rode the Art in the Park shuttle in, aka, a school bus!!!  I cannot tell you how much Rylan has longed to ride in a school bus, but he has been talking about it for several years.  Basically ever since he learned how to talk.  So this was a real treat for him – you can see how excited he was!

Quinn also thought it was pretty great NOT to sit in her car seat:

I did buy Quinn a cute flower headband, which of course she looks adorable in.

Then on Sunday Kevin took the kids to church and I jogged three miles on the greenbelt to go to Art in the Park again, but this time alone!  I got several Christmas presents (which I obviously won’t talk about here!), I got Quinn a personalized penguin ornament for her first Christmas and bought a fabric nativity – more kid friendly than our pretty glass set!  I wanted to personalize a fire truck ornament for Rylan, but the fire truck ornaments were about 10 inches long!  Who even wants an ornament that big?  So I’m going to get him a smaller one off Amazon or something – in case you were wondering, fire is totally a thing right now.

Rylan says: Mama, you’re on fire! Quick, I’ll spray you with water! (mimes spraying a hose)

Rylan says: Mama, you’re in water! Quick, I’ll spray you with FIRE!!!

One other thing we did on Saturday was Touch a Truck, which is a really cool opportunity for kids of all ages (or heck, adults too!) to climb in and around all sorts of emergency vehicles, work equipment trucks, etc.  TONS of vehicles were there.  In fact, Rylan took one good spill out of the cab of a dump truck, whoops!   Of course his favorite were the two fire trucks parked there.

And interestingly enough, as he was climbing inside the back of the ambulance, I commented, “Rylan, this is just like what Mama rode to the hospital after having baby sister!”  And of course the EMT team was right there, and could see Quinn in the stroller and said, “Wait…when was this?”  And I said, “March 2, about 6 months ago, I had her *pointed to Quinn* in the car and then we were driven to the hospital in the ambulance.”  And the EMT team said, “Oh hey! It’s you guys!  We were all listening to that call! The guys who got to take you to the hospital were so excited they were the first to get there!”  Ha!  So of course the conversation that followed included more of the details and admiring of Quinn, the car baby.  SO FUNNY!  So they said it was nice to see us and how glad they were everything turned out so well!

He’s going to be a fireman when he grows up!

Hot Air Balloons! Letters! Math!

HOT AIR BALLOONS

Here in Boise, there is an annual event that you don’t want to miss: the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic!  Granted, you have to wake up early but it is well worth it on the last day to see about 50 hot air balloons lift off from the park.  Rylan, especially, was pretty impressed, but didn’t want to get too close because the fire was too loud (go figure)!  Too bad for him, we DID get pretty close – I mean, look at all those balloons!

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR MORE PICTURES!

And of course that’s not forgetting the night glow (which turned out pretty disappointing, actually) either!  It was a fun weekend spent mostly downtown!

LETTERS

Rylan and I have undertaken pre-preschool on our own, as time allows (or as I feel so inclined, which a lot of times, I don’t)!  Rylan knows all his letters already, but doesn’t know how to identify their sounds in words, or how to write them.  I am attempting to teach him these two things by the end of …. whenever.

So far, over the past two weeks, we have officially gotten through only A, B, and C, but doing “school” with him has completely opened up his mind!  It’s amazing to watch him, and hear him put words and ideas together all on his own!  Several times each day (sometimes endlessly) he’ll randomly come and say, “Mama, what does *helicopter start with?” (Insert whatever random word he wants to talk about).  I try to never just give him the answer, but have him think about it and sound it out.  He always picks up the correct answer really quick!  So if that also counts as school, he can correctly identify letters AND corresponding sounds AND corresponding words for all 26 letters of the alphabet.

Yesterday, after quietly playing with his toys:

Rylan: Mama…does beer start with B?

Me: What do you think? What sound does B make?

Rylan: B-B-B….Beer.  Yep!

This type of conversation is now the norm with any letter!  It’s great!

NUMBERS

Rylan also knows his numbers up to 20-teen, but now is learning how to write them, identify them, count items, and add them together on his fingers.  So far, we’ve only covered 0-2 (and zero was a tough concept to get, let me tell you)!  But again, his mind seems very fertile for learning.

Here’s our conversation while putting him down for a nap.

Rylan: Mama, I need cars to sleep with.  Two cars.  (holds up two fingers).

Me: How about just one car in bed with you? (holds up the one car I managed to scrounge from under his bed).

Rylan: No.  I need two cars.  Because we learned about the number two today.  Two cars. One, Two. (holds up two fingers very emphatically, and looks at me with raised eyebrows)

*sigh* already using his education against me.  Since he was asking so logically you know – he got his two cars!

QUINN

Also, now that Quinn is 6 months old, it was time for her doctor visit and more shots!  She didn’t like those very much, but Rylan thought it was great he didn’t have to get any.  I actually had to tell him to STOP GLOATING!  We also found out that Quinn has more or less stopped growing.  Nothing to be concerned about right now because there was some growth…just not very much.  In fact in height, she WAS in the 84% and bumped right down to the 39% or so (less than a half inch in 3 months).  Same situation with weight, she weighs 14 pounds, which is in the 18%, compared to the 50% where she was before.  It is less than a pound of growth there, but there is still growth, so nothing to worry about.  We also got some steroid cream for her body-covering eczema, because it tends to get even worse in the colder weather apparently.   Fortunately for her appearance, her eczema doesn’t flare up a ton, but there’s a fair amount on her face, arms, and tummy, and basically covering the entire back of her legs – so I am ready to get that cleared up!

6 Months Ago

First there was this:

Now there is THIS:

She is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen (cuter than even Rylan, perhaps?), extremely talkative and fun.  No teeth yet, but you see there she’s sitting up by herself most of the time.  She did NOT fall face first into the grass during this photo shoot.  Nope.  Didn’t happen.  We are trying to start her on solid foods but now are thinking that something is going on with her tummy, since she doesn’t tolerate baby food OR regular food very well.  At least, that’s what Acid Reflux and Vomiting have told us – ask them what’s up with that!

Unlike her big brother, she has shown particular attachment to that teddy bear there, which is actually Rylan’s.  But he only cares about it when she has it and says, “Yeah, but actually it’s mine!”  (It’s kind of funny to hear a 3 year old say “actually”).  But he’s really good about sharing with her all the time, especially when we explain that she’s just a baby and she needs his help with a lot of things.  He loves “helping” her.

Say, another thing Rylan loves is the TV Show American Ninja Warrior.  We watch it together every Monday night and he always says, “I’m gonna be on that show someday!” or, “I’m going to be the next American Ninja Warrior!”  In fact, he made his own obstacle course and ran circles around our house over and over again for about an hour last week.  He was cheering for himself and chanting his own name over and over.  Here’s just a little taste – we have since added more obstacles in the living room.

Thanks for tuning in!