We had loads of wind!

Play, plant, play

well, and storytime where Matthew finally got his prize from last summer's reading program contest, yea!

What we did Wednesday

I did lots of weeding in my Mom's flowers beds. They are my babies considering that I planted 95% of the stuff in them. Some of it I gave a gifts, some I dug out of ditches, some I relocated to a better location and others I just planted for her. I think it's starting to come together. Matthew got in on the action.

Other times he was playing while I worked.

We enjoyed the lush greenness of the woods. All the rain the area has gotten lately has really greened plants up. The birds have enjoyed the weather, judging by all the singing.

Weeded! Now on to planting some edible seeds in among daffodils that will die off and in other vacant areas. It looks much more exciting when you can see all the little blooming plants.

Towards days end, the boy and dog were worn plum out.


Ever since we got here, it's been pretty overcast and cold, but I still love it here. It's home.

13 days down, 352 to go.

There's no place like home...

All the boy wants to spell right now.


Matthew and I drove 12 hours straight on Easter. We drove in heavy rain on the interstate that caused us to go slow (anywhere from 45 to 60 mph) for 60 miles and finally we outran the system at North OKC. Thanks to the weight of our stuff in the back, our tiny car took it like a champ. Thank goodness! Monday we got up and I felt terrible. But we tried to get stuff done anyway. While we were visiting our old house, I was able to enjoy the last of tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths and 3 different irises blooming. Today I feel better and we got more done. Matthew, Hershey, Simba, and I took a lovely walk on the trail today and spotted deer tracks (Matthew identified them himself), looked at turkey vultures, watched Simba chase a rabbit, and looked at clouds and trees. I fear we won't get to go again for awhile due to the large amount of poison ivy right on the edge of a large chuck of the trail. Small boys were in danger of walking into it, as were small dogs. What a bummer!

Matthew is 41 1/2" and 37lbs as of today.

12 days down, 353 to go.

Becoming a real boy

He built his first gun today. I was hoping we'd put off this boy fixation for a few more years!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter! Matthew and I will be spending the day in the car heading north. Miss you already Phil!

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day I've been saving this photo since February. I think it says it all. We need to practice safe ways to dispose of trash so that animals don't get hurt by our trash and work on ways to reduce our waste. I looked over our fence and was horrified to see this poor steer trying to eat this trash. I'm happy to say, he finally spit it out and moved on to actual grass. Have a great Earth Day!

Safari play

So these photos won't be in any particular order. The last few times I've tried to upload pictures in an order, Blogger has very helpfully randomized them for me. Thank you so much Blogger! So Matthew and I went back to the "jungle" park again this morning. Matthew is convinced it is a jungle it's so dense with foliage. I absolutely love it! This is my type of environment. So for about the first 45 minutes, there was a little boy for Matthew to play with. Right after his family left, all these young does starting popping out of the "jungle" 30 ft from us and going down the trail. We followed.



The cactus is blooming, so beautiful.




So I asked the mom today what the balls in the trees were and she said, "You mean the balls of moss? I think it's a type of fungus. It's a Southern thing." I'm still trying to get to the bottom of it.

New Park

Last night we went to a park and it was really just trails and baseball/soccer fields. Tonight we went to another park and found a play area, although it was mostly biking/hiking trails and baseball/soccer fields. I was most interested in the trees. The trees were very full of this balls. I suspect it's mistletoe, but Phil thinks I'm nuts.

* edited to note after 10 minutes of research, it's ball moss. It doesn't take anything from the tree, just coexists with it. It can be grown as a houseplant on cork, oak bark etc. I'm hatching ideas on how to get some down and bring it on home!

Matthew had a great time. He was overjoyed to be at a playground.


It was a beautiful park. If we hadn't had Matthew, I would have loved to go for a long walk. I felt like a was back in Phoenix and if you know me, that's a great feeling!

Matthew on being big

Dad: You are old enough to work, I'm going to drop you off at the workhouse to earn money.
Matthew: No, I'm a little boy.
Dad: You're a big boy.
Matthew: long pause No, I'm not, big people don't sit in car seats.

No comeback from that one.

In the last week, Matthew has come up with some very funny stuff, but with all the hustle and bustle I haven't been able to remember them.

Hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way...

Does anything about tank photo look unusual to you??

Well how about this personal carrier? No you say, well I'd advise you to enlarge them and look again.

Last Saturday was Easter at our house. With the big move looming on Monday, and the Cav Easter egg hunt on Saturday, we decided to just move it up.

Matthew was ready to hunt those eggs.


Not your average hunt.


There was so many eggs that Matthew filled his basket and I had to dump some in a plastic bag so he could continue.

The boys thought about talking to the Easter Bunny and vetoed it.

And here is our storage unit. We packed alot in.

Idol

So I have a dirty little secret. It started during that long January month that Phil was gone. (I started watching Idol for the first time EVER.) In my defense, I had to. I love Steven Tyler! Anyway, Matthew likes to sing with them in his microphone. We may have a future singer on our hands. Enjoy the photos and please excuse our mess.

When Matthew isn't singing, he's reading. He brings big piles out to the living room and reads out loud to himself. Sometimes it is almost word for word what it says on the page. Other times, he makes it up on the fly. I left toys out for him to play with, but normally he's dragging books around. His favorite thing to do is to grab either Phil or I and read out loud to us. It was my turn today and let me tell you, it was stinking cute! I love listening to his version of the stories. He's one amazing child. Totally worth being sick for 5 1/2 months from sunrise to sunset for.

Roughing it

We are roughing it right now the non-camping way. We are eating strange food combos trying to eat up what we have.

Our living room looks like this because...

...our bedroom looks like this.

As well as the 2 spare rooms. For the last week we've kicked rump and got 95% of the house packed into storage. We have the 2 spare rooms completely cleaned and ready for inspection. Our bedroom and bathroom will be by the end of the day. Matthew's room will be completely cleaned out tomorrow and everything in the living room will be too so that the carpets can be cleaned Friday. By Monday morning, we'll be gone. Even though this hasn't been my favorite place to live, I feel a little sad. Monday Phil will start his new job and get to move into his new abode. We'll stay with him for a week or so and then Matthew and I will head back home.


But before you worry that it's been all work and no fun, don't, Matthew has been pushing us to take breaks for fun!

Hello....this thing on...?

Why am I always staring at the business end of this??? It's my 20th move!

Sorry it's been so long, I hope you all are still with me. Hello, hello? Anyway, I've not been posting due to a lack of post-able stuff, but because I have been waiting for several weeks for the final living arrangements to be decided. It's swung wildly from furnished 1 bedroom apartments to hotel rooms, to two bedrooms and back again. I won't even talk about all the time Phil wasted talking to a woman who claimed and everyone else claimed, was the only one to make the decision, only to have her announce she didn't cover our area and to call another lady. What!? Anyway, late this afternoon the decision was finalized. Phil has to live in a furnished 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate. Phil is soooo thrilled. Since that is the ruling, Matthew and I are moving home for the summer. We'll evaluate finances and decide what to do after that. We've decided to be conservative since the government is talking about not paying us for awhile and they still haven't found it necessary to pay us for the last move. Lovely stuff ladies and gentlemen. I'd wear black if I hadn't packed it.