To play jello...

This week Aidan went in for his "instrument interview" to find the right fit.

It's pretty obvious what instrument he chose.  Frankly, he's been dreaming about getting his hands on one of these since he watched The Piano Guys  and other cellist.  

Robyn was with us during this interview and kept saying, "Aidan play jello?  What kind of jello?" The orchestra director got a kick out of her confusion.   How does one play jello?  Too funny :-)

He has to wait all Summer before orchestra starts up for him in the Fall as a 6th grader in Middle School.  And for him, it's almost unbearable.

  

A Long and Slow Process....

I think I started this project back in September 2011.  Really started on a whim actually.  One day I felt like ripping wallpaper so that's just what I did.  We've been in the home 5+ years and I've always hated the kitchen walls.  So, I just started ripping.  But, it was brought to a halt only  a few minutes later when I realized that I was damaging the drywall underneath it.    Seriously thought, "I'm doomed."  For a while I was convinced that only a pro could fix the damage that I was causing as I continued to peel away the wallpaper.  Note to anyone out there who chooses to put wallpaper on their walls:  PRIME first!  Heaven forbid someone might want to come behind you and strip the wall of this awful stuff.  The lack of primer was why this happened.  Anyway....I finally got all the wallpaper off a few weeks ago.  Yes, possibly the longest, slowest and most tedious step of this entire process. 

This was just step 1.  

Step 2:  Sand down the damaged walls.  

Step 3:  Seal the damaged drywall with a drywall sealer specifically made for this purpose (FYI:  Zinsser Gardz will do the trick). 

Onto Step 4: skim coat.

We just finished this task earlier today.  I'm all excited again because these walls finally look like "walls" again!  Thanks to my sister and her husband (who knew a thing or two about drywall) for lending us a hand today.  

Still have 4 more steps to go: sand again, texture, prime and then FINALLY paint.  Possibly the biggest project I have ever undertaken.  But, I am learning an awful lot about walls.  Probably more than I ever wanted to know.   Now my kitchen is a complete mess.  Actually, it isn't as it's been cleared out of everything.  I really wish I could do every step back to back and then put my kitchen back together.  Crazy schedules haven't allowed that to happen.  But, we're getting there... and it will look sooo much better when we're finally done!

More Caterflies & Butterpillars

Yes, sometimes we get tongue tied around here and forget when we're talking about caterpillars or butterflies. Just easier to put the two together I guess (hey, it works for my 3-yr. old). It comes from an old story from when I was little--okay, younger. I was caught switching my syllables around one time when talking about them...through the entire story. And, it just kind of stuck. So, in our home caterflies and butterpillars are appropriate terms to use. (It's the same reason why we refer to "hiccups" as "hick 'em ups").

Onto the rest of my post...

Since getting home from camping we've been watching a particular caterpillar. At least we think it's the same one...we've watched several Swallowtails eat and grow on the parsley. Which in itself is exciting since it's the first time we've had Swallowtails!!

This was him on Saturday....your typical caterpillar chomping away on the leaves.

Then, this morning...I noticed our mature caterpillar in the first stages of forming the crysalis. A single thread is holding the upper body while the tail is already affixed to the supporting parsley stem.

Tried to get a good enough picture to see the string but to no avail....just imagine it, okay?!

Of course, we had errands to run so we MISSED the actual crysalis forming. But, when we got back..voila!

Robyn was absolutely excited to see this...our first time to watch a complete cycle for one caterpillar (instead of just finding one by luck).

On a side note we've got LOTS of Monarch caterpillars around too! I love Spring!

Just had to throw in a picture of my garden complete with my heavy duty trellis that I constructed myself (thanks to my sister). Pretty sure it was quite comical for onlookers watching me walk through Lowe's with 2 pieces of 10ft. conduit and a wandering 3 yr. old...

I'm quite proud of my construction job. Hoping that this trellis will withstand the weight of fruit this year.

Spring Camping

It's a priority for us to venture into the wilderness here in Texas and get some camping in during Spring Break. We would love to be able to go twice a year--but until that happens we get all we can out of the one trip.

This year we headed northwest up to Huntsville State Park with other family. We had some fantastically, big campgrounds to run and roam in.

Aidan has comondeered our old tent and can almost set it up on his own now. He prefers not to sleep in our "family" tent anymore (mmm, Boy Scouts must be growing on him).

We took a 2-mile hike that impressed me enough even with the Poison Ivy growing all around...just stick to the trails and boardwalks.

Not quite the jungle-like ecosystem of Oregon but it certainly has it's own kind of "beautiful".

Due to some underbrush fires we did come across some rather interesting tree trunks like this one:

Did some swimming in Lake Raven. Still a bit chilly for that but that didn't seem to slow them down.

Though the fire proved to be a challenge (we blame it on the wood) we did get it going thanks to the help of our air pump. Had some good coals/charcoal to make our dutch oven meals.

Gotta love it down here when Spring has sprung and the wildflowers are in FULL bloom!

Goodbye until next Spring!!