4 months and the stairs

 New stairs we're building to the attic.

Anne...4 months.

Road Oddities

It's that time of year again. The time when we start seeing travelers on the road, and all the fun that comes with them. In the past two days I have seen a couple of vehicles that just have to be mentioned. One was what I think was a VW bug once---at least that's what it sounded like. It looked like the owners had welded sheets of metal together to look like an open top jeep frame. It was... creative.

The best vehicle I've seen this weekend was an RV. Coming from behind, we could see that it used to be a bus, and as we got closer, we could see that there was something painted on the back. There was a mountain, with the words 'Dragon Slayer' over it. As we passed it, there was a fantasy scene painted on the side that looked like the owner had painted it himself. The best part was the painting right behind the drver's window. It was of an elderly viking that looked like he was supposed to be driving. I think it was suppposed to be of the owner. I wish I'd had my camera!

Lighthouse painting

I took the basic layout from a study, but I didn't like the sky, (it was a dark sky) and thought the cliffs should be higher. I also added another little island. I love the ocean, but after looking at some photos, I'm pretty sure that's not how the ocean looks. I'm going to have to work on painting water.

Shoshone Falls

We had our first nice day of spring, so we took advantage of it and went to see the Shoshone Falls. They've been letting more water over because of all the rain, and they aren't charging any fees until April (tomorrow), so we went to see it. It's about time, seeing how we've been in the area for 5 years now. We packed a picnic lunch and brought some balls for the kids to kick around. It was so nice to get outside together after such a long winter. Hooray for warmer weather!

 The Falls

 We stopped to see the overlook at the Perrine bridge. We've never done that either.

Some really happy kids.

Around here

Nothing better than a box

3 months old now

The latest study

I don't know why the yellow and yellow-green paint shows up so brilliantly on the photos, but I promise it doesn't look that gaudy in reality. Also, I don't really like the way this artist that I am studying paints deciduous trees up close. I'm going to have to try some different things I think.

Border Skirmishes

I love to garden. Unfortunately my efforts have been hampered each year by an increasing amount of shade from our trees. So I've tried to be creative and grow my garden on the outer edges of our property, where there is a small section of sunshine. This usually works well until about June, when my neighbors decide that the grass is too long on the fence line, and they bring out the Roundup. I have decided that old men LOVE Roundup, because both of our neighbors on either side of us use it faithfully and plentifully every year. They are even kind enough to spray our sidewalks and back fence, and I suffer casualties every year. Last year I planted 33 tomato plants, thinking that I could beat the odds with sheer numbers. I got a total of 6 tomatoes.

This year I surrendered. Then on one of our walks I noticed a flyer for a community garden. There hasn't been one since we've lived here, but someone decided to start one that was a 1-acre lot full of weeds. So this morning I put the kids in the stroller and found the guy who started it. He said I was the first person to ask for a space, and said I could have as much space as I wanted. We're going to start out with a 25x25 plot, and if all the space isn't taken, I may do more.

We're so excited to finally have some space to grow something, that it's in town and walkable, and that we can have the chance to get our children involved...because we're not just cultivating crops, we're cultivating kids too. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to run and dig through my tomato seeds. I want to make sure I'm growing every color this year.

Side by side

I couldn't help myself, and just had to put up pictures of the kids at the same ages for comparison. So here they are....

Jacob

 Bridget

 Anne