T minus 78 minutes and counting...

Yep.  It's the last day of school!  Ty made the comment this morning that he can't believe it's over- that it somehow went too fast.  If my 10 year old says this... what the heck is going on??  I thought it flew by too- but I've been known to be crazy- so I usually keep my thoughts to myself.  

Here's Ry on the first day of school... 

And the last...

He seems WAY older to me.  He's bigger yes- but he seems older.  I don't know about wiser- yesterday I caught him wearing 3 t-shirts and his underwear was on inside out.  But I'll give him older.  He's had a GREAT year this year.  I worried about him starting a new school year at a new school- but I apparently worried for nothing.  I swear this kid knows everybody- which I'm just not sure how that works- he gets out less than I do!  

And then there's Ty...

He's gotten massive.  In retrospect I should have put both boys in front of the front door again so I could see how much they've grown this year- but Ty especially.  I had to take 3 steps back just to get him in the camera lens!  He's had an amazing year too.  We have STRUGGLED the last couple of years with behavior in school- and this year... was just so different!  Not one call from the principal.  No notes from the teacher.  No angry parents.  Seriously people- it was an awesome year.  I'll give it to Ty- he has changed a lot this year.  Not just in height, or straighter teeth... he's grown emotionally too.  He is so kind to his sister and his brother.  He helps me whenever he can.  I just... I can't quite put my finger on it... but he's changing.  

Ty was pretty excited this week- he met his class AR goal so he got to go to lunch at the Little Classroom (the only cafe in Declo).  And today he's going home with some friends for a "School's Out" party.  My little boy is definitely growing up.  

 And lastly... all my babies.  They have all grown so much this year- I'm so proud of each and every one!

The grounds

So... I thought I'd show you around some more...

The wildlife around here is pretty incredible too.  We see all kinds of birds, skunks, raccoons, foxes, mice (yeah... mice are totally my favorite), porcupines, snakes and deer.  

We even have a an eagle's nest in one of our trees.  It's a couple of bald eagles- last summer they had two babies- it was pretty wild to watch them.

Here's that baby bald eagle I was telling you about.  Most mornings last summer we would find him just chillin' here on the deck.  Mama was way more vocal about us being near than he was.

Here's one view of the river- consequentially it's also one of my favorites.  Sunsets here are absolutely gorgeous.

Out east of us is a HUGE field that the boys have dubbed "the pasture".  I always thought you had to have an animal in it to be a pasture... but apparently I have been misinformed.  The boys LOVE it out there.  During the summer they build a baseball field and a driving range.  And during the fall it became a football field.  Just out of sight of this picture is a large gray shop (4 bays wide and two stories)- we put up a basketball hoop for the boys inside it for the winter so they could play out of the snow.  Kate would more often than not- sit and ride circles around them on her bike.

As you can tell- we like to keep busy and this seems like just the place to do it!

You know it's gonnna be a long long time....

Good gravy it's been a while.  I've decided to pick back up though- and maybe not keep trying to go back and update.  Let's just start fresh.  

As a quick back up... we have moved yet again.  But this time we are back in Idaho.  In another small town.  I kinda like it.  

We are renting a little old farm house sandwiched between the highway (ugh- I know I swore I'd never live on the highway) and the Snake River.  We have the most gorgeous views of the river and valley off of our deck- I'm sure there will be pictures to come.  Seriously.  So gorgeous.  Our yard is massive- more than we will ever know what to do with and the kids couldn't be happier with it.  They have several "secret hideouts" and tons of room to play ball.  

Shaun is working across the highway for Sinclair Oil- kind of a turn around in careers right?  He's been a cabinet maker, a teacher, a bike technician, a tractor salesman and now he's the manager at a gas terminal.  He's a man of many talents- what more can I say?

My kids are loving the schools here...  Both boys are here at the local elementary school- 1st and 4th grades... unbelievable right??  I can vividly remember things about my 4th grade year- I'm not entirely sure how I have a son old enough to be there too.  But Ty has loved it.  We were having a lot of problems at our old school with Ty and other boys and behavior... but it has all gone away here.  It's like he turned over a new leaf and I kind of like "new Ty".  He has some great buddies and his grades are amazing.  He's currently playing baseball (right like that was going to go away) and is super excited for the season to really get going.  

Ry is coming right out of his little shell here.  He's been called a leader in his classroom and we have only heard the very best about him from his teachers.  Everywhere we go- Ryan knows someone or some little kid is pulling on his shirt telling him hello.  On the baseball field they call him "Big Ryan" and he just nods his head with a little grin- taking it all in stride.  

Poor Kate ended up in preschool again.  Shaun and I had a LOT of conversations about this- and decided that we couldn't in good conscience send Kate to Kindergarten this year- knowing that she would then only be 17 when she graduated from high school.  I know that there are others out there that were in this same situation and ended up sending them anyway- it probably worked out fine.  But we are not those people.  We enrolled Kate into a preschool/gymnastics class three times a week and she is also thriving.  She is so excited that she has figured out a front roll and has almost figured out a cartwheel- since Kate has the balance and coordination of a stick- this is HUGE!  I wish I had videoed her when she first tried the summer-salt... I thought I was going to die laughing.  She ended up with both her legs wrapped around her teacher's head... and she wouldn't let go.  

As for me... I'm settling in to life as a country girl.  It's definitely different than what I'm used to... but at the same time- I love the room to breathe and the room to create who it is that I want to be.  I'm taking more pictures these days and in my spare time (I'm sorry- what's that?) I'm substituting in our local schools.  I just finished an 8 week stint in the kindergarten- it was SO much fun.   

Anyway- I'm hoping to be better at putting up pictures of our ever growing kiddos and share some of our stories and thoughts as we embark on this new adventure.