A new daily routine and Colten's birthday!

The kids and Papa are settling into their new routine of no Grandma Val everyday! Some days I come home from work and everyone is happy...other days not so much! Nola and Brenner are very lucky to get this one on one time with their dad at this age - we are very blessed!

 Taking a little pre-dinner break with a book and corn chips!

 Papa tell the best stories (remember I purposefully make mine short and boring!). The kids earned a night on the air mattress one evening this week - it is nice to mix it up a bit! Now, I do feel kind of guilty about being at work all day and then letting Matt do the bedtime routine because the kids are asking for him. I figure I will be doing my fair share come this fall when he has night class four nights a week!

 There has been some mishaps but Brenner is working on saying "I am sorry" even if it ends up on a shoe box!

 On Sunday we headed to the Bynum's to celebrate Colten's 17th birthday! That is one proud mama!

 When did Coco Beandip get taller than his aunt?!

 Love, love, lobe this picture of Krystee and Nola - what gorgeous smiles!!!

 Nola, Brenner, Uncle Chris, PawPaw, and Matt chowing down on the yummy cheesecake!

 Brenner getting his own time with Krystee!

 Grandma, Brenner, and Nola watching Surf's Up.

 This picture is for Matt who just loves cats! Matt told Brenner that he ran over a cat once while driving - not on purpose - and since then Brenner asks many questions. One was "do you feel bad" to which Matt snickered...he is deathly allergic to them. But today he kept saying "Raise you hand if you ran over a cat!". Silly little guy!

This picture of Nola is blurring but sooooo her personality these days!

The garden is growing

We have been spending a lot of time in the garden. Luckily, we have gotten more rain this year than last year. The kids love to check the plants to see what is ready to pick - we have been getting plenty of radishes, spinach, and basil (yes - we have already had pesto), and the peas and cucumbers are starting to come on. We are considering converting to raised beds in the next few years. Nola had a good one today saying "Frankenstein - call my mommy and take her to jail!"....no idea where she got that one but my money would be on Brenner!



 Our blue eyed girl. We were at a church ice cream social tonight (delicious - 11 different kinds of homemade ice cream - Matt and I loved the salted caramel pretzel - yummo) when an older lady of the church was talking with me about Nola. She said "she just exudes confidence" - that is a really nice thing to have someone say!

 Our little garden is growing pretty well - it got in the 90s this past week so a little watering was necessary.

 Brenner standing next to the sunflowers which were planted to draw in birds to also feast on squash bugs. I read about this tactic in my gardening magazine - let's see if it works! Poor guy was not feeling well this night but snapped out of it the following day when he headed to Hermitage with Papa for a boys day.

 Nola on the other hand was a ball of energy running down the rows.

 Brenner made a lion and Nola drew a turtle. Love Brenner's smile!

 While the boys went to Hermitage, Grandma Val, Nola, and I had a girls day which included getting Nola some new church shoes (so she wouldn't be where Keen-type shoes with her dresses). Of course she chose pink sparkling shoes. I found her with them on when I checked on her before I headed to bed. She was cute shopping - toted her little pink purse with a tiny bottle of pink fingernail polish in it around all day long. At one point she even shouted "Come to mudder (mother), Gary Busey!" I have no idea so please don't ask!

 Brenner, Nola, and Papa found an ornate box turtle which has been named "Orny". He/She was placed in one of my flower beds as his outside home. Here Brenner is searching for him and feeding him strawberry tops.

 With the odd weather we have been getting some interesting slime molds growing in various colors. They are pretty cool to watch day to day...guess that is the nerdy scientist in me!

 On Saturday night, we had some friends over to BBQ. Here Nola and Brenner are waiting patiently for them to arrive.

 Once Reagan got here, Brenner and Nola had a ball playing the sprinkler and tormenting Reagan's older brother Corbin. It was a fun evening!

 Nola telling Papa how big her turtle was......that girl can tell some stories!

A beautiful sunset to end the week!

Mommy is home in time to celebrate Father's Day!

We were able to get our critters a few days quicker than we anticipated so I arrived home last Friday - yahoo! I didn't tell Grandma Val or the kids..so I had my colleague drop me off at Grandma's house while they were out to lunch. When they got there, Brenner was eating a CreeMee Freeze ice cream cone and said "What are you doing here?". I asked him to put down the treat and give me a hug. He readily obliged and I got the best hug ever! Nola was also glad to see me by shouting "Momeeee, you are here!" I sure did miss those kiddos! Thanks to everyone who babysat while Matt and I were out of town!

 The last few days in Arizona were spent trapping pocket gophers, something I had not done since undergraduate school when I was helping Itati with her master's project. Itati was nice enough to bring Jerry (her husband) and two students (Emily and Wes) along from Bethel College. The students were very enthusiastic. In this picture they are doing the walk of shame to tell me no gophers that morning. However, we were able to get 6 which I am very pleased about!

 Any guesses on why Jerry calls us "white meat" and "dark meat"? This was out last day - it was packed full with gopher trapping, mine protester encounters, and a chat with the mine managers. Ugh - why can't it just focus on the science :)

 On Father's Day we headed to the Vogan's for a fish fry (complete with shirts for the occasion thanks to Grammy Vo). Nola wouldn't wear hers because it wasn't pink. Go figure! The food was excellent and the company was even better!

 The day was a full one. Brenner couldn't wait to go fishing - his first cast brought in a nice sized bass.

 Nola decided to teach Aunt Vivian how to cast.....

 Every fish Brenner caught had to be brought up to everyone how big it was. Love his face in this one!

 All that running around called for a break in the hammock!

 Nola is a bit more laid back. She preferred to cast while swinging with Aunt Vivian and Uncle Gene.

 No rest for Brenner, swimming was next on his agenda. He did really well putting his face under water without much prompting! He did decide to strip down outside...Nola did too (along with some moves which made the guest question her upbringing - sigh).

 Once swimming was done, we had to pick cherries from Grammy's tree. After a while, Brenner came and got me and said Papa "was cherry pickin' out" so Grammy and I helped finish up. Brenner was determined to get enough to make a pie.

No pie crusts at our house - but Brenner settled for cherry cobbler. So here is our little cobbler gobbler. He ate two bowls the little stinker! Oh - that does remind me of a Brennerism from today. He told me "Guess what? I found hairs on my lip. Soon I will have a scratchy face like Papa. Do you think I will have a Santa beard?" Too funny!

Working hard in Arizona

It has been a busy week in Arizona! We left off at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, NM. I continued onto our site in Arizona trapping small mammals. The weather has been pleasant - 43 degrees when we arrive at the site at 4:45 am and 85 degrees in the afternoon when we are leaving. Elevation is 7000 feet which means plenty of protective clothing and sunblock for this pale Missouri gal! I did make it to see the Grand Canyon but most days are spent at the site then entering data at our luxurious Chateau de Double-wide. I am missing the kids but they can't even stop to talk with me on the phone - so I know they are not stressing too much that I am not there. Instead, I am staying with three men so.....some things are like at home (toilet seats, washing hands after the bathroom, no fart jokes, etc).

 Just outside of Grants, NM are lava fields along HWY 40. Very cool so we stopped to take a picture.

 The USGS mammal crew - Greg, Jo, and Keith. Greg is a pro at trapping mammals, I am coordinating everything to make sure nothing is forgotten, and Keith is a GPS whiz and the trap master. We have been a very successful team so far! We were also joined by the soil team, herp team, and bat guy this week at the site.

 We are using different live trap types - two sizes of shermans, havaharts, and pitfalls. In this picture, Greg and Keith are getting a deer mouse out of a sherman trap. We bait the traps with oats, bird seed mix, etc. The Tyvek and respirators are for protection against hanta virus.

 Greg dissecting a deer mouse while I record the data. We are collecting different bits and pieces of each individual to learn as much as we can about the animal. Lots of research to be done!

 An eastern cottontail found one of our havaharts. Does she look impressed.

 A rock squirrel also found a havahart. These are real pests in Grand Canyon National Park. He was lured in by some baby carrots we had left.

 An example of the terrestrial invertebrate pitfall traps we set around red harvester ant hills. 5-8 red solo cups in the ground...I dug all the holes.....about 80 of them in hard pack soil.

 Oh - so many pictures and collection of fecal pellets to learn about incidental soil ingestion and metal mineralization.

 One of the bats that was caught in a mist net over the site's pond. The webbing between the bat's legs (called a patagium) is used to trap aerial insects while the bat is flying. It will actually bend over to eat the insects while in flight!

 The Chateau de Double-wide provided to us free of charge by the Forest Service. The price is right for my limited project budget but it has blue shag carpeting and lots of mouse trap. Talk about our greatest risk of hanta virus!

 The kids went fishing at Grammy's house this week. Brenner was a fishing machine according to Papa. Nola also got in on the action!

And so it begins.....

I left on Saturday for fieldwork in Arizona (trapping small mammals and terrestrial inverts). This will be the longest I have every been away from the kids - sad and excited at the same time. Thank goodness for cell phones and the internet! The kids were super this past week. Brenner continue to hunt for caterpillars and Nola is obsessed with earthworms. Brenner looks for snakes and turtles on our walk but with so much rain he hasn't had much luck - yet. He is a determined little boy!

 Oh look, they are sad to see me leave. Ha - really they were annoyed that I interrupted the leapster game for a picture!

 Strawberries (from out own plants) on Saturday morning right before I left. Brenner told me "When your ride gets here mommy, you can leave." I am actually relieved to get that sort of comment rather than tears - made it easier to get in the vehicle! Brenner also treated us to a superhero story that morning complete with toys and actions. I suggested using his pumpkin halloween pail as a cauldron and witch because Merida was also in the story. Nola said "No, mommy, the witch was just in the movie on tv." Matt and I busted up laughing!

 I drove with my colleague to Tucumcari, NM. We stayed at the Blue Swallow motel, one of the few lodging establishments under our per diem. It is a 1950s vintage motor inn (decor is vintage too). Nice and clean, super friendly staff and the golden retriever Boomer was nice too!

Ironically, vehicles in 2013 are a bit taller and wider than those in the 1950s so the garages weren't used!