we have a cat...

a new cat showed up on the farm... it's very cute... a little scared but warming up fast. i was planning on getting a kitten next summer but now i don't have to wait... we really needed a mouser! i hate having to use poison, so... more good fortune for us :)

maiko's a kindergartener!!!

maiko is going into kindergarten in the fall! he will go to toledo elementary! i'm excited, he will be so close to home and all the friends he makes will live close by :) we met the kindergarten teachers and they are wonderful! i was really worried about his transition into kindergarten but now i feel completely at ease about it :) the program next year is going to be a half day program... which i am very happy about... i was worried about him going from two and a half hours three days a week to all day everyday... that's a big change... but going from two and a half hours three days a week to three hours five days a week will be perfect!

playground pictures at toledo elementary

maiko and layla playing in the kindergarten playground...

maiko and layla playing in the big kid playground...

i love how the school is surrounded by trees...

excited maiko...

layla's new school!!!

layla is so excited to go to school next year! she gets to go to the nye beach montessori (the preschool i wanted maiko to go to but it was full when i tried to get him in). that's the school behind her in the picture and she's monkeying around in the playground in the picture to the left :) the visual arts center next door is building a huge playground this summer in that open field, so the kids will have even more room to play! the owner, linda yapp, is a musician and she writes and plays childrens music :) just walking in the door of the school you can see how much love and care linda has put into the little school, and i love how much they encourage creativity! here's a link to the schools site: http://www.lindayapp.com/school.html layla will be spending almost as much time in school as maiko! they will both be going three hours a day and layla will go mon-thurs and maiko will go mon-fri! it's gonna be a busy year!

the escape artists

we have three more baby mallards now, and i am very excited about this batch. last time we got ducks we bought four and they were older and not friendly at all. it was very disappointing. they would not let us hold them, they were really stinky and messy, etc... but this time... we got ducks that were a lot younger, and they are still stinky and messy, but they are very friendly. they love it when i hold them, especially when i carry all three around at the same time. when matt first brought them home we had them in a box and they would all jump out of the box and follow me around. i love it!!! even now, they are outside in the little coop and if i let them out while i get them water and they will follow me over to the hose and back, it's the cutest thing ever! i am hooked on ducks now :) i can't wait until we can hatch our own, that will be sooo fun! we are hoping for at least two females... we love the little females. maiko said he wants to name one lulu and layla wants to name one binky :) we already have one male mallard, we had a male and female but the female was murdered by a raccoon. we also have two ruins... we think one is a male and one is a female but we are not sure. the male mallard is getting his green feathers on his head though, he is beautiful! well, i will post some more pictures when they get their feathers.

maiko has a loose tooth!

so... the other night we were eating corn on the cob and maiko was complaining that his tooth was bothering him... matt checked it out and sure enough... maiko has a loose tooth! it's a front tooth on the bottom. i can't believe he is already old enough to start getting adult teeth! they are growing up way too fast!

beautiful art

my sister brittany did this amazing portrait of maiko. i love it sooo much! thank you britty, can't wait to see the next one :)

some cute pictures...

a pretty smile...

climbing in trees...

walked to the beach on maikos last day of school...

maiko holding loraine...

layla holding pepper... i can't believe how great our chickens are...

the beautiful view i can't believe i get to look at EVERYDAY... this picture dosen't even do it justice...

daddy's woodpile

layla next to matt's woodpile, the craziest part is that is he isn't even finished with it yet! yes, we really burn that much wood.

good work daddy!

names

so... we haven't been looking much at names... i like the name eisley (eyes-lee) but matt is not sure. maiko and layla like the name eisley too! it's really cute when you ask them what they want to name the baby they both say eisley, maiko pronounces it eyes-a-lee. i swear i didn't coach them into their decision either :) matt really likes how the kids like it and i think he's warming up to the name. we haven't been able to find a middle name to go with it though, so any suggestions would be wonderful :) i was thinking about how maiko says eyes-a-lee and came up with iza lee as a first and middle name, one where you could say it together or seperate. i like the idea of calling her iza for short. matt thinks that if we name her izalee we have to put it together and still come up with a middle name though, so that puts me back at square one!

34 weeks...

so yes i'm 34 weeks pregnant now, due july 23rd. the first 3-4 months were horrible with morning sickness and fatigue, but the rest of the pregnancy has been nice. i'm very excited to have my abdomen back, have been feeling a little squished :) and very excited to meet the new member of our family!

chores

maiko loves letting the birds out and collecting the chicken eggs each day! he is quite the little helper :) and even though they don't really like it... we have the kids help us feed and water the birds every night. so... by the end of the summer they should be able to tend to the birds all by themselves!

very exciting!

umbilical cord hat

hat i made for baby girl. it's called the umbilical cord hat, here's the pattern:

materials:
-yarn
-us 7 (4.5mm) 16'' circular needle
-us 7 (4.5mm) double-pointed needles (set of 5)
-stitch markers

directions:
using circular needle, CO 64 sts. k 1 row. join ends, being careful not to twist the sts. k until hat meas 5'' from the CO row.

next row: *k8, pm; rep from * to end.

you should have 8 groups of sts between 7 markers.

*with a dpn, k 16 sts off the circular needle and onto the dpn, being careful to slip the st marker between the sts; rep from * 3 times more. when you reach the end of the row, you will have placed 16 sts and 1 marker on each of four dpns.

now, in each successive rnd, you will k tog the last 2 sts before the marker or the end of the needle as foll:

rnd 1: *k6, k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd-56 sts.

rnd 2: *k5, k2otg; rep from * to end of rnd-48 sts.

rnd 3: *k4, k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd-40 sts.

rnd 4: *k3, k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd-32 sts.

rnd 5: *k2, k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd-24 sts.

rnd 6: *k1, k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd-16 sts.

rnd 7: *k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd, remove markers-8 sts.

rnd 8: *k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd-4 sts.

slip rem 4 sts onto one dpn. knit 6'' of I-cord. break yarn, thread it onto a yarn needle, and pull the length through the remains 4 sts, drawing the I-cord to a close, then draw the loose end down inside the I-cord to finish. tie the I-cord into a knot and weave in any loose ends.

thanks to jennifer l. jones and the stitch' n bitch book :)