Boat-load of Sunday pictures...

Spring always seems to bring out the need for substitutes at school, so I've been really busy lately.  That's why my posts seem to be just weekly updates.  Today I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures this week, so I grabbed my camera and went for a picture run.  I hope you enjoy the results...

This is the flower bed Tom and I built last weekend.  That big rock in the middle was no small feat to move.  About a third of it is buried in the flower bed.  We had to strap it to the bucket on Tom's tractor to move it from the barn to the house.  I don't think it's going anywhere after this.

My newly-decorated laundry room.  I gave it a new paint job.  We moved the dogs out and built storage shelves in there.  It's a little bit more homey, and a lot cleaner than it was before.

Here's Sally with that crazy look in her eyes.

She's been a real wild-cat lately.  She likes to pounce on us by surprise and bite.  Most of the time it's just play bites and doesn't hurt.  Once in a while it feels like she's trying to rip my arm off.  We've been introducing her to the outdoors and the other animals.  She and Jelly-Bean get along great.  They romp and play on the front deck.  She isn't too fond of the dogs, though.  When she gets near Daisy, she hunches up and all her hair stands on end.  Then she hisses in this little tiny hiss and bounces back and forth, pouncing with all feet off the ground.  It's kind of funny to watch.  Daisy is actually intimidated by this show of resistance, even though she's five times bigger than Sally.

There's Mr. Good-Lookin'.  He's been checking things out in  the great outdoors.  His yard is his kingdom.

Winston, riding his bike without training wheels!  He just decided one day to not ride with training wheels anymore and hopped on his bike and took off.  We didn't have to help him or anything.  He's growing up!

Our two 'Old' hens, Lily and Rooster.  I don't know why she's named Rooster.  You'll have to ask Winston about that one.

Our little Daisy.  She looks kind of mad in this picture, but she isn't.  She's really been a good pup, except for the chewing.  We have to be careful to not leave our shoes outside, or else they become chew toys.  She even chewed up her doggie bed.

Here she is getting some lovin' from Daddy.

The new garden spot.  We moved it to the hillside next to the new doggie condo.  Our main objective was to keep the deer away from our garden at night.   So far it's working.  The dogs seem to be comfortable there, too, although it's taken Koko some time to get used to it.

Here's the baby chickens, almost all grown up.  We've started letting them out of their pen during the day.  Those black and white Barred Rock breed can really run!  It's hard to catch them.  They are also very very soft.  I really like the looks of them.  Tom's partial to the Rhode Island Reds.

I wanted to take some pictures of our new little pond and the goldfish we planted in it this week, but my camera's batteries ran out.  Tom brought home the goldfish on Thursday and set the bag in the pond so the water temperature could acclimate.  Then we let them loose - about 15 of them.  They went directly for the long grass growing next to the banks.  We catch glimpses of them every so often.  They're pretty small right now, but hopefully will get big enough to really see.  As long as they keep away from the raccoons, I think they'll be alright.

Preston seems to be doing well on his Utah trip.  We look forward to seeing him again Thursday night.  Keaton has been spending the weekend paint-balling and computer-gaming with friends.  It's his last weekend as a High Schooler and he's living it up.   For Memorial Day Tom, Winston and I are planning on going on a 14-mile bike ride.  Winston is very excited, he's been talking about it all week.  We are also looking forward to Graduation and Family Reunion next weekend.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, EVERYONE!

Weeks-worth...

Looking out at the view during the annular eclipse (we think).

What a busy week.  This week will be even busier.  We sat out and waited to watch the eclipse yesterday, but it was so cloudy we really didn't notice anything.  We did watch some footage from down in New Mexico on the computer, though.  That was kind of interesting, but also kind of like watching laundry dry on the line.

Last Monday was Keaton's last Jazz Band concert.  It was so good!  I tried to video it, but my video camera kept quitting on me, so I just got bits and parts.  Their band is terrific!  They placed 1st at the Mt. Hood Jazz competition this year.  What a great way for Keaton to end his trombone career.  He said he thinks it's time to pack it up.  Although he really enjoyed band, he's ready to be done with it.

They played some really great, complicated songs from their competition.  Their teacher, Mr. Morgan, has them playing college level jazz compositions.  He does a great job with the band program.  They ended the evening with a mix of their favorite pep-band hits.  They just had fun with it.  During a break Mr. Morgan had all the seniors come up and he gave them candy bars with balloons attached.  He then handed the microphone down the line so they could each say what they liked/disliked about jazz band.  Keaton said it taught him to wake up early in the mornings, but now he's looking forward to sleeping in again.

Their last song was a 'Carn-i-vale' hit.

Very hoppin' song! 

They all stood up and belted it out.

We will miss getting to watch Keaton play.

In other news:

The Titanic sank again for about the billionth time.

Here she is sinking the the icy depths of the living room couch.

I don't know why, but for Winston this never gets old.

I've had to erase many, many pictures he's taken documenting it on my camera.

On Tuesday we went to Winston's annual spring concert.  They sang "The Cat Came Back" and a couple of other songs I can't remember.

 Instead of the old stand-by of singing "Watermelon, watermelon" for the words that he couldn't remember to sing, he just plain old DIDN'T sing.  The whole concert, he didn't sing!  He just stood there and looked around, making faces.  (sigh). 

That's okay, he was cute standing up there anyway.

And we've got two or more years of this to go.

Also this week:  Tom was able to get his tractor fixed and we got another flower bed put in.  Got our monthly shopping done.  Garden's planted.  Been working with the pup, trying to teach her not to jump up on people.  Then the pup ripped up the fabric cover on our new lawn swing.  Bad Daisy! 

Kitty for dinner?

  Anyone?

Have a great week!

Kit-Kat-Kabootle

Winston was taking pictures of Sally again.

 He has easily taken about 50 photos of her.

Pictures of mostly parts of her.

 This one's a keeper.

What's cuter than a Kitten in a basket?

You're probably getting sick of reading all about Sally.  We can't help it, she's a big part of our family now.  She's basically the baby, and she's so-darn-cute!  She's wormed her way into even Tom's heart.  He's even started letting her sleep at the foot of our bed at night.  That's a big step for him.  She's a pretty special cat.

 Sally likes to admire the other cats out the window.  She even tries to engage Jelly-Bean in play through the glass.  It's pretty funny to watch.  We've taken her outside and introduced her to the other cats.  She and Jelly-Bean get along really well.  The other two cats just run away from her.  She hasn't come to appreciate the dogs yet.

Keaton enjoys torturing...

...er, I mean, playing with her.

One night, after Tom and I had been very busy working on the house, we realized it was like midnight and we hadn't put Winston to bed.  So we set out to do that, but we couldn't find him.  Eventually I located him in the kitchen, behind the table.  He had pushed the office chair and the wingback chair together and made a bed for Sally and him.  He was sound asleep.

Both boy and cat were sleeping sweetly.

What could be cuter than a sleeping child?

Perhaps a kitten?

The red wingback chair is Sally's favorite,

besides the recliner in our bedroom.

 I'm not exactly sure what's going on here.

I'm not sure I want to know.

Happy Mother's Day!

The flowers Preston picked and put in a vase for me

before I even woke this morning.

He always remembers.

I got lots of well wishes from my other boys, too.  And Winston gave me a picture he made in school.  The sky is blue, it's already 60 degrees, it's going to be a lovely day!

All you Moms have a great Mother's Day too!

Craziness

I had great plans for this next installment on my blog.  I had some really cute pictures of Sally that I was going to post.  Then Tom decided to do a touch-up on the living room and den floors.  Thus, all of my furniture and my main computer are sitting out on the front porch.  And my camera is sitting on a shelf across an expanse of wet and tacky polyurethaned floor.  The real kicker is that Tom got impatient and put a second coat on before the first coat was completely set, so it cracked and mottled the shiney surface coat.  Let me just say my husband is not a happy camper today, and I'm just trying to stay out of his way.  He'll have to sand the floor down before re-coating it.

As for our 'silly' Sally kitty, she's been so much fun.  She hates it when I sit down to read a book.  She doesn't mind me sitting down if I'm going to hold her and give her attention.  She just doesn't like me to read books.  She will come running up and attack the book with a frenzy.  Unfortunately, her sharp little teeth make connection with my fingers and I have to take action.  She also likes to attack the broom when we sweep the floor.  Other than that, she has been a really great kitten.  We've enjoyed being entertained by her.  She even got to take a nap next to Tom on the recliner today.  I think he likes her too, even if he doesn't admit it.

Preston is getting ready to go on his field camp in Utah.  He will leave on Monday.  He had to buy new hiking shoes and camping gear for it.  He'll have a great time!  Keaton is finishing up his last weeks of school.  He passed his Senior presentation, which was a very comical  power point that showed what he has learned about computer graphics.  Winston is in the midst of the state standardized tests.  So far things seem to be going okay for him there.  We did get notified that he was in a group of boys that is in trouble for bullying another student.  We've been having some very serious talks about that with him.  I think he's learning that he doesn't have to follow the crowd, especially when it comes to bullying.

Daisy dawg is doing well, too.  She and Koko get along great.  We're hoping she'll help keep the deer out of the garden.  I haven't bonded so much with her, I think it's because she just isn't Rosie.  I really bonded with Rosie, and it's hard to feel like that with another dog even if she looks alot alike.  Tom is bonding with her though, so she's kind of become more his dog than mine.  Winston likes her, but he seems more interested in Sally kitty.  Daisy seems to be very teachable, though, so I think she'll be a good dog for us.

Well, that about covers it.  I thought we were done with home improvements and I'd have my house back in order - but as you've read, it just keeps on going and going.  In the meantime, I'm just going a little crazy.

Have a great day!

Daisy Dawg

It's just been baby animal time at the Moore farm.

We came across this little gal on Friday and decided to adopt her.

We named her Daisy Dawg (Tom calls her Dirty Socks).

She's supposed to be a border collie/lab mix, but who knows.

She's pretty sweet, although quite hyper. Her last family decided she was too hyper for them. We've already taught her not to chase the chickens. Now we're working on not jumping on or licking people. She just needs to be reminded a few times, just like any little kid.  She has great potential - and hopefully between her and Koko, we can keep the deer out of the garden.

Our Sunday Pic.

Family togetherness - on the trampoline.

Hope your Sunday was great!

Family Room Pics!

Just a few minor things to add to the Family Room before it's totally completed.  Things like the pellet stove, outlet covers, a door for the boys stairway (which will take a little engineering to complete), and some ceiling molding (because we ran out).  Otherwise, it's finally a livable room!  Yippee!

And a gratuitous 'Cute-kitty-being-tormented-by-Keaton' picture.

Have a Great Day!