Forecast: more rain

We have had more rain for an October than I've ever seen before. All this rain is holding up our fencing project. It rained Monday and it's supposed to rain more on Thursday, so we have two days to fit in as much fence building as possible.

The fencing crew showed up at 7 am sharp and started the fence today. The ground was muddy and the pond was overflowing, but they still managed to moving at a pretty good rate.

a long Fence. a big Barn. and a bit of Tomfoolery.

The cedar fencing we ordered from Michigan finally arrived. They said it would only take two weeks to mill and one week to ship. A month and a half later....but hey, what can you expect?

(I feel a "polack"or Michigan joke might be appropriate here, but out of respect for my in-laws and Michigan readers, I won't.)


We have also decided that we are building a barn. I found out about this more than made a decision about it. My brother is moving out here sometime in the near future and a suggestion was made that it might be nice to have a shared barn. And not just a backyard shed, more of a 40x60 kind of affair, a rather large barn, or at least larger than what I originally had in mind for my back yard.

We are still in the preliminary stages of deciding where it will go and exactly how big it will be, what it will be made of (metal, wood), etc.

So more on that later. Before I start on the barn, I have to get the 1,000 feet or so of fencing put up first. Anybody have a posthole digger?

--------Now for something completely different ---------------


The other night, my brother was visiting. We talked until about 8:30. Throughout the conversation I was surprised just how quiet the boys were being in the back room. We had left them to play together in Benjamin's room. And it was quiet. Too quiet.

Amanda and I went in to check on them.

I could have either cursed a lot or taken pictures. So I grabbed the camera...

The room was DESTROYED.

They had found the stash of powders, creams, ointments, and gels. There was lotion smeared into the carpet. Powder was sprinkled on countertops, in drawers, and in Eli's hair. Their toybox was completely covered in baby powder. Not just sprinkled, but drenched in it. Every toy was covered. Every book soaked in cream and powder. Doors. Walls. Beds. Sinks. Chairs. EVERYTHING had been systematically "hit."

I really wanted to yell. I just took pictures.

And later, after a fresh bath, Eli told Amanda that it was Benjamin who had masterminded the entire thing. I later asked Benjamin and he agreed.

-----------------------------

The boys have fallen in love with Meerkats lately. They watched a national geographic type of movie about the animal and now love them.

They have chosen Meerkat as their halloween, or "Holy-ween" costume this year.

And Beyla is cute as ever.

And not old enough to join in her brother's tomfoolery. Thank goodness.

more from Amanda's party.

We had about 20 people show up to celebrate Amanda's birthday. We had tons of food and a lot to drink, so everyone had a great time. Surprisingly my entire bottle of Patron Tequila disappeared throughout the night. My friend from New York mixed up a Patron shot with oranges and cinnamon that everyone seemed to like, so goodbye bottle of Patron.

It was a rainy night, but the cool weather made it perfect for a back porch fire, which ended up being a favorite spot for everyone to hang out. Our last guests left at about 12:30, so I guess it was a pretty successful party. Happy Birthday Amanda! You'll have to wait for your 40th to do it again.

Birthday Girl.

We celebrated Amanda's birthday this past week. We first had a little family party on her actual birthday, and then we threw her a party with all her friends. For now, here are pictures from the family party. We used Polaroid for the other party, so I'll have to scan those in before I can add them...

our Ponderhome pets

Since living at our home in Ponder, we've met many new interesting creatures. Amanda doesn't like some of them, remarking that they don't have these kind of things in Michigan.

From the left: banana spider (harmless), cottonmouth (harmful), turkey (yummy), armadillo (harmless and yummy to some people), black widow (harmful)

We have also seen many deer and one hog, but those have been too elusive to capture on camera.


Just tonight I heard Amanda calling me from outside the front door. She said, "there's something scary out here you have to see."

I was trying to decide if I should run outside immediately or get my shotgun first. I was thinking there would be a bobcat dragging one of the boys off into the woods. I ran outside and she pointed to the brick wall directly in front of our front door.

And there it was, a Texas Brown Tarantula.

He was about as big as a drink coaster, or a bagel maybe, and very hairy. We caught it and let the boys look at it a bit. After a quick search on the internet, we found out that they are very harmless and actually eat lots of bugs. Amanda asked me to go drive it down the road and let it out. I let in out in the back woods.

I'm not going to let a good bug catcher go to waste.

Grandma & Grandpa Visit

We had a very good visit with grandma and grandpa Michigan, as the boys call them. Grandma spent much of her time holding the new baby, and grandpa spent most of his time doing projects around the house.

You can see one of this projects in the background of this picture. As you know, Benjamin has always liked telephone poles and light poles and all those kinds of things. Well, about three weeks before grandpa came to visit, Benjamin began asking for bases to be made for his hangers. He found that if you turn them upside down they kind of look like those street light poles. So in addition to all the doors grandpa was fixing for me around the house, he also spent alot of time making "hanger bases" for Ben.

Look closely and you can also see the red bridge grandpa made for the boy's train track. They each got one made from the bathroom wall siding from grandpa's house in Michigan. Now there is recycling in action!

Happy Beyla

She is growing and she is happy.

Barney & Friends

We headed out Friday morning to drive into Dallas for The Great American Trucking Show, an industry trade show I usually go to every year. We were bringing the boys for the first time so they could collect all those free pens and koozies they give out at such events.

Only about an hour into the show, I got a call from my friend who happens to be one of the many directors for the kids show Barney & Friends. He invited us out to the Barney studio to see the set, so we quickly packed up and headed towards Addison, Texas - where the show is taped.

And when we mentioned that we were going to visit Barney, the kids nearly exploded...

Eli finds Texas Barney in the hall

First stop - the play house & classroom set

Benjamin checking out the hopscotch numbers
as Eli explored the Barney caboose

And here is a still shot from the Barney episode "All Aboard"

where the children use the "idea bench" to come

up with creative ideas to help others

And here is Eli testing out the idea bench for himself

Eli loved the ice cream prop, which actually weighed

about 8 lbs and was made of something

that felt like cement

As we left we saw this huge elephant costume in the lobby.

Not sure if this was a Barney prop or not, but the

boys liked in none-the-less

Beyla's Firsts...

First time being held by brother

First gift

First day at church

First time brothers took something that was yours

First brunch after church

First bath at home,

in a sink,

that you didn't like

First nap on daddy

First walk

Your brother, but not your first

First brother,

playing with you for first time,

in a toy cradle made by your great grandpa Maurer

And the first time (but not last)

one of your brothers

will try to steal the show

by being ultra cute.

Beyla and the Boys

The boys have really taken to Beyla, which is great because we have heard so many stories of the youngest child not liking the changes that come with a new baby arrival. Eli did show some reservations at first. We wasn't crazy about this new little creature taking his spot, but he's really starting to do better now.

Benjamin has been excited about the baby for at least the last three or four months. We started reading the book Angel in the Waters to him during the pregnancy. The book goes through the entire growth process of the baby with conversations between the baby and its angel. Benjamin loved the book and it really got him excited about the arrival of the baby.

As you can see in the picture on the right (taken today), Eli is really starting to like his new little sister. The boys still have to work on her name, as most of time they call her "boylee."

A Few More...

At the request of Grandma Michigan (as the boys call her), a few more pictures of Beyla and mama...

FYI - a few people have been asking about the name Beyla and where it comes from. We first chose Isabella or simply Bella for a girls name back when Amanda was first pregnant with Benjamin. We never find out what we're having, so we always choose a boy and girl name.

Well we quickly found out that Isabella was a very popular name and everywhere we turned there was another baby named Isabella. It is a beautiful name, so we wanted to stay with that name. We found the Slavic version of Isabella is Beyla. It also seems to have Irish or Celtic roots. It is the same name as Baila in Spanish or Bella in Italian and means "by God."

So there it is. Beyla Marie.

Introducing...

Beyla Marie.

...7...8...9...

07/08/09

A baby is born.

Our first little girl. Beyla Marie.

6 lbs 13 ounces. 18 1/4 inches.

Born 1:22 AM



Pictures and more info to come. Check again later this morning after I get some sleep.

Pond Scum.

The # 1 reason we built a pond was because we needed fill dirt for the house pad. The land naturally slopes downward on our lot, so on the east side of our house we needed quite a bit of dirt. It was much cheaper to take it out the ground than to haul it in.

And an added benefit was that we got this beautiful pond out in front of the house, a pond with a nice little steel bridge crossing over it...how wonderful.

Well...wonderful and beautiful if you have a crew of landscapers taking care of it at all times. If you don't have a landscaping staff, then it all falls on you to take care of it.

Who knew a pond could have so much maintenance. The pond was perfect for about the first year, then the pond scum started. Algae! It grows fast and it nearly covers the entire pond surface. So on go the waders and into the water I go...digging spinach-like algae out by hand.

And if digging algae out of the pond wasn't dirty and smelly enough, guess what else gets in there?

Oh yes, look at the picture to the left. Skunks! Yes, skunks. This one must of have come on down for a drink and got stuck in the mud, so when Amanda found him there in the morning he was completely tired out and unable to climb out on his own.

So I stagged a rescue operation. Notice I had to tape a long stick to an already long pole to ensure I didn't get to close to the skunk...the skunk who kept building his little remaining strength up to lift his tail at me. I eventually got him out and saved his stinky little life, only to find him head first in the water, drowned, later that day.

So yes, the pond has been wonderful, but it might be time to start taking applications for that landscaping crew.

Telephone Poles.

Most of you know that Benjamin loves telephone poles.

It is a fascination that began with grandpa and grandma's clothes lines in Michigan. Their clothes lines kind of resemble telephone poles. Benjamin loves to just walk around those clothes lines and examine them. Since his last visit to Michigan he points out every telephone pole he sees and he even knows where the really good locations are in Dallas that have numerous poles (like the flyover bridge at 635 and 35).

So while in Michigan, we had bought a bunch of plastic train gage telephone poles that he absolutely loved. Being plastic though they only lasted a few months. He has been asking for new ones for a long time now...

We went as a family to Home Depot and let the boys pick out the wood dowel sizes they wanted. On our way out of the store I noticed a large pile of scrap wood, so I grabbed a few pieces to use for the pole bases.

Drilled a few holes, hammered the pieces in place. Done.

Simple enough.

Benjamin also insisted that I make a wood base for his "light pole" which is just an old hair brush. Yes, he is just about as crazy about light poles as telephone poles. And yes, he really does play with it as a part of his train set.

So far these poles are holding up much better than the previous plastic ones. I'm sure Benjamin will put an "order" in for more soon.