Maxine's window well...

Maxine was talking about how her window well was ugly and full of weeds and leaves.  So we talked about some ways to spruce it up a little.  She jumped in and cleaned the leaves and garbage out.  Then we bought rocks and fake flowers.  We toyed with the idea of planting some real flowers down there but I thought it would be a challenge to keep it watered and looking nice.  Also, the dirt is terrible down there.  

Maxine did most of the work herself and even thought I'm not a huge fan of fake flowers, I think it improves the look of the window well a lot.

Jamie's birthday weekend...

I love having my birthday fall on President's Day weekend.  It's like a special 3-day weekend just for me.  It doesn't happen all the time but often enough!  I love it!  We started the weekend with the kids doing a fun run.  It was for charity and the kids all received a shirt.  It's a nice shirt, kind of silky and quick drying.  The kids lived in them for the whole weekend, sleeping and wearing them, except for church.  Jack is fast and won 3rd in his division.

On Monday, I went to lunch with my Mom and Dad.  Yummy!  Just as I got home, Merril called to tell me he'd been in another car accident!  He was in a rental car given him from the motorcycle accident he was in a few weeks ago.  Sheesh!  He stopped and a lady behind him didn't and ran into the back of him.  They weren't going that fast so that's good.  It just seems ridiculous that he was in another accident!  On with life!  Then the whole family loaded in the Tahoe for a little hike to the Warner Valley dinosaur tracks.  It was a super teeny hike, the perfect size for Mikayla. There was dirt to play in and rocks to climb.  

See what I mean about the shirts.  They've been in them for 3 days straight.

Mark was the good kid he always is and rode happily in the backpack.  It was his first hike.

Afterwards, we got Chinese take-out.  It doesn't happen very often because it's so greasy and we usually get Japanese or Thai food because it's so much lighter.  But I still love greasy Chinese and I got to pick for my birthday dinner!  Then Mikayla helped me blow out candles on a cheesecake sampler.

I had a great weekend!  Monday night, Mark slept from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. so I also got a full night's rest as a present!  Ahh, that feels so great!  I've already done 2 loads of laundry and the dishes this morning.  Feeling great at 34!

Mikayla's 2nd birthday!

Wow Mikayla!  I can't believe that she's 2.  She was born 2 years ago and somehow it seems longer than that.  Not in a bad way, really.  We've just done a lot during those years, namely making another human and finishing the basement.  Mikayla is such a crazy kid.  As an example, I had to clean pen swirls off the computer monitor to blog today.  She is into my buckets of flour, sugar and oatmeal all the time.  She grabbed my nail polish yesterday and spilled a bunch on my bathroom floor.  But she's also so sweet, often saying please, thank you, and I'm sorry.  It's hard to stay mad at that blonde sweetie pie.

The grandparents came over for pizza and cupcakes.  Juliet was kind of being a stinker and photo bombing constantly.  I think she still misses the attention of being the baby of the family.

Mikayla got some clothes, Color wonder coloring pages, a book, and a tricycle.  She loves to climb on the kids' bikes and pretends to drive everything.  She's going to wear the tires out this summer!