Evan and the rain

It rained!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, we need rain! Evan got a super cute pair of rubber boots and umbrella from his Nana and they finally came in handy!

Beautiful Morning

I woke up to a beautiful moon this morning. I believe it's jupiter that is sitting just below it. The pictures don't do it justice. It was lovely.

Easter Egg Hunt at Home

This year Evan really "got" the Easter Egg Hunt, as I told in my previous post. At home, we did another hunt for him on Easter Sunday. It's so funny, though, b/c he lives in the moment, so each egg had to be opened as soon as he picked it up. As you can imagine, it was a slow process...

And Scott, bless his heart, tried to get a few cool things for the eggs besides candy. He got some cute little stretchy bunnies, little stretchy animals, little spongy animals that come in capsules that enlarge in water, AND...fireworks! I say FIREWORKS b/c they were little flammable bottles where you pull a string and that triggers a "pop" and flings streamers. They're more like caps for cap guns, in that they have a tiny little gun powder charge that goes off and shoots whatever is in the bottle. It smells awful, just like fireworks, and scared the crap out of Evan.

I didn't want to spoil the day, so I tried to act cool, but inside I was going, "what the hell?!" You gave my child fireworks? The label said in all caps "FLAMMABLE" and "NOT FOR YOUNG CHILDREN". Fortunately, Scott circled back around and said he didn't realize what they were and was surprised b/c he bought them at WalMart in the "holiday" section. He thought the bottles were like the eggs you can buy where you crack them open and there's confetti inside--no explosives, very low-tech. No, Scott, next time bring your reading glasses and read the label.

It was funny b/c Scott pulled the string on the first one to show Evan how it works. It went "POP" and Evan looked and then said say in his little-bitty voice, "That's scary, daddy!". The intonation was so cute and yet, so matter of fact.

Evan's Easter Egg Hunt at School

This year was Evan's 2nd year taking part in the MDO Easter Egg Hunt. Last year he didn't fully understand the hunt but he had fun. This year he realized that the eggs had goodies in them and, thus, were very valuable.

Last year, Scott and I both attended with Evan but this year I couldn't make it since I'm working full-time. But Scott did a great job of taking pictures to commemorate the event. Unfortunately, he forgot to send Evan's Easter Basket along, so Evan had to use a paper bag, but that's OK.

Visit from Bryan

Bryan is an old friend of Scott's. They met back in college and Bryan is Scott's BFF (besides me, of course). Isn't BFF weird to say in relation to a 40-something? It sounds so wrong, it makes me LOL. Obviously, I am a relic trying to exist in these tech-savvy times. Pat me on the head and send me on my way.

ANYWAY, it's always nice to see him. Evan thoroughly enjoyed his "Uncle" Bryan, too.

We took the daily walk down to check on the cattle.

Peafowl now at Chez Monica

I LOVE BIRDS! Have I mentioned that? Well, if not, here ya go. I love 'em. As of yesterday, I am now the proud owner of an adult peacock and peahen. I'm so excited!

I'm keeping them in the chicken coop for a while until they get acclimated to their new home.

A friend of a friend needed to re-home them and my friend knew of my predisposition to animal husbandry so she put her friend in touch with me. She said that the peahen has been laying as of late;-)

I am so glad. I've wanted peafowl for a while now but I never did anything about it.

Not to get too weird about it but I kinda think the universe is trying to help me out. Here's why:

1) Completely not an avian topic--I needed to get a job. I did not want to go out into the "job market". I loved my old boss and always loved the thought of getting back in touch with her. What happens? My old job opens back up, a friend recommends me and I'm back with my beloved old boss as of the beginning of April!

2) I always wanted peacocks. Never did anything about it. A friend of a friend comes along and viola, I have peacocks (peafowl; sorry).

I know it may sound flimsy to some, but I do kind of feel like things are going my way. Knock on wood, I hope I'm right:-)

I AM a Knitter! Sort of….

My most wonderful friend, Jeni, sent me a beautiful knitting set to get me started knitting a couple of months ago.  I was feeling pretty low and she really went out of her way for me.  There was some super soft chenille yarn that was begging to be made into something really pretty.  I tried to learn via the instructions but I wasn’t catching on very quickly so I went down to my local Alpaca Ranch and spoke to a lady there to learn a bit more.  She got me started on a very small project with very thin yarn, better for a complete novice, like myself.

So, I set out to make a hat for Evan, and I just finished!  I’m very excited.  I feel more and more confident and I can’t wait to use the super cool yarn Jeni gave me!

I’m also getting some very helpful advice from Cristin, who is a fabulous knitter.  She is the one who inspired me to take the leap into the world of knitting.

                         Please don’t look to close to the hat, so as not to see ALL the dropped stitches and such.  Just remember, this is my very first knitting project.  Pretty cool, huh?!