A Visitor to Our Garden

Look who visited our garden this afternoon to snack on the yummy seeds...


I think it's a woodpecker---maybe a Northern Flicker to be more exact. I'm definately not a bird aficionado, so if you think it's something else let me know.
After taking it's picture and watching it for a bit, we went outside to shoo it out of our garden. It really wasn't afraid of us, it just glared at us like we were interrupting his lunch,(How dare we!) but finally it flew away. Anneli summed it up nicely, "We'd love to see it again, but we don't really want it back to eat our beans again!!!!"

Wordless Wednesday

Art Shows and Concerts! Oh, My!!

As the school year winds down it is the time for all the end of the year events, like Art Shows and concerts. This year was no different. Anneli had her Preschool art show at the local community college.

Anneli standing with her artwork.

(Her masterpiece is the pink watercolor at the top of the photo.)

A close up...

A sculpture of a city by Anneli.

Christopher was chosen to have a piece put in the town wide art show at the town library.

Christohper pointing to his texture masterpiece entitled "Sea Otter".

We also had the opportunity to attend a choral concert at Christopher's school where Christopher and his fellow second graders performed some tunes from around the world! They were awesome! He has to learn to smile as he sings though...

It has been a busy, busy month....and it's not over yet...

April / May Birthday Celebration in New Hampshire!

Saturday, May 1st was, as usual, a busy Saturday. It started out with Swimming Lessons at 9am, Anneli's soccer pictures at 10:30am, Anneli's soccer game at 11am, Christopher's soccer pictures at 11:15am and his soccer game across town at 1pm. THEN we piled in the van and headed off to Aunt Amanda & Uncle Mile's home in New Hampshire for a party!! We were celebrating a bunch of April/May Birthdays! My neice Elizabeth and nephew Bryce were turning '3' (they aren't twins, just cousins with birthdays 2 days apart!!) and Anneli was turning '5'! My brother-in-law Jeff and I were also celebrating our 30-something Birthdays on Monday too! What a bunch of birthdays!! It was a fun, but long day!

We ended up spending the night--thanks Aunt Amanda & Uncle Miles!!--and spending Sunday with the cousins! There was a Kids Festival in Portsmouth so we checked out the booths and enjoyed the city. The kids enjoyed the 'touch tanks', where they could check out some sea creatures. Always a fun thing to do while visiting the seacoast area! :)

Do ya know what this is?

It's a whale ear bone!

How about this?

It's baleen!

We took a little boat tour of Portsmouth, NH & Kittery, ME---always a fun time, but this was super fun with Shaun's two sisters, their husbands, and their kids! It's amazing how everyone is growing up SOOOOOOOOOO FAST!! :) It was a bit chilly---but a great time was had by all the kids and parents too!

These characters were waiting on the dock when we were getting off the boat. They are a little freaky, don't ya think?? They made the kids a little nervous!

We finished up our trip by Geocaching at a cool place called Fort Foster. We were looking for two caches there, but only had time for one. We'll definately be back to find that other cache--it's bugging Christopher that he couldn't find it! :)

What a weekend...

Feliz Cumpleaños, Anneli!!!!

We celebrated Anneli's 5th Birthday a little early on Saturday night at Puerto Vallarta- A Mexican Restaurant. She thought it was great to wear the Sombrero while they sang to her in spanish! Fun, fun, fun! It's hard to believe my baby is 5!! How quickly they grow...

Happy 32nd Birthday to ME!

The next picture was supposed to be silly...

Good one guys!

I think we should practice our silly shots...

The OTHER Way!!

Anneli started playing soccer this season. I love K-1 Soccer! The kids are super cute! You have some kids just meandering around the field, skipping, picking flowers, watching airplanes, waving to the spectators, and kicking the ball the wrong way! I love it!

Anneli is doing very well! She doesn't usually have her head in the clouds! Sometimes we do have to wake her up a bit, but her coach says she's a go getter. She definately gives it her all when she's in! It's fun to watch her with her cute little pink shin pads and girly cleats--they have pink butterflies on them!!! Got to be fashionable, right?