Momma Duck

This momma duck has decided that the Madsen house in Clinton would be a great place to make her nest for her new little family.  What a surprise it was when we discovered her when we went to pick up Canyon and Evan for their vacation with us on Wednesday.

The day we discovered her she left the nest long enough for us to count 10 eggs. 

On Sunday Derek sent this picture and look there are 12 eggs.  She sure has lined her nest in lots of soft downy feathers.  In just a few more weeks we are hoping for little duckys waddling around the yard. 

We told Evan she needed to get her swimming pool out and fill it with water for the babies to swim in when they hatch.  I guess they are busy taking care of mommy duck and making sure that there is plenty of dog food for her to eat while she is sitting on the nest.  Maybe she will think she is a dog instead of a duck.

This is going to be a great treat for Canyon and Evan when the babies hatch at the end May or first of June.  I am excited to see them.

Bird Fest

We had our first event of the year this past weekend.  We went to the Bird Fest held at the Davis County Fair grounds in Farmington.

 

Home Depot brings in tons of bird houses for the children to build and take home.  They get a certificate for participation and get to keep their nifty Home Depot apron.  Very cool!!!

All kinds of birds are brought…...

….but my favorite was the goose on a leash.

Mrs. Goose Lady said that the goose was hatched in the house and sits on the couch and watches television with them.  She sleeps in their bed with the dog and the humans and Goosy cuddles with the dog.  Goosy does not know that she is a goose and thinks she is a dog.  The goose wears a poop catcher (the red thing on her butt) to catch all of that poop that they are always dropping as they walk about. 

This is one pampered goose and has her own stroller in which there is a white wicker basket lined in pink plaid material for her to sit in when she is tired of walking.  She sits there in the basket and thinks she is a queen while she eats her food and drinks the water that is provided for her comfort.

Planting is so fun…..

Today has been so busy for us.  We started the day finishing cleaning and stocking the concession trailer for our first event on Friday.  We will be at the Bird Fest held at the Davis County Fair grounds. 

I decided that I was tired of doing the hard labor and went to Wal-Mart to get some herbs to put into my Topsy Turvy that I got for Mother’s Day.  While there my mind remembered that I needed some herbs for my herb garden also.  In my Topsy Turvy I planted three tomato plants, a basil, a cucumber and a bell pepper.  This is going to be neat when they start growing.

In the herb garden I planted a bell pepper, some more basil, a parsley (lost mine this winter), a rosemary (lost this one also) and two bush cucumbers.  I already had chives, lavender, oregano, grapes and honeysuckle.

Our soil is so bad that I am not able to have a normal garden, but is was still therapeutic for my soul.  Sometimes you just need to get soil on your hands and smell the fresh turned dirt.  Next year we are planning on doing the raised garden scene and see if I can grow some vegetables.

Vacation at the Grandparents Day 3

Today we left early and went to Ogden to find roses for Grandma’s Mother’s Day gift.  We first went to Lowe’s and that was a bummer.  They did not have any good roses so we went to Home Depot and hit the jackpot. 

We got three fruit trees.  An apricot, a cherry and a prune so that gives us six fruit trees for our yard. When they all start producing,  we will not have to buy fruit for canning and drying again.

We found two rose bushes to replace the ones that Evan and Mallory dug out yesterday.  We looked and looked but could not find the Mr. Lincoln’s that we dearly love.  We were just about ready to check out when we spotted them. 

We came home and planted all the trees and the roses and the kids played hard at the neighbors.  Then Mikey’s parents had a wiener roast for all the neighborhood kids in their back yard.  Canyon said he ate 4 and Evan ate 1.

They had to shower as they were so dirty and sweaty and stinky from all the hard playing today.   Evie fell asleep at 9:00 but Canyon stayed awake until 10:00 in anticipation of his parents arrival. 

We have had a wonderful time and hate to see the time end.  We do enjoy the little ones here.

Vacation at the Grandparents Day 2

Our morning started early as Grandpa had to be in Salt Lake for a doctor’s appointment at 10.  We got up and ate our breakfast, brushed our teeth, combed our hair and then left.

We got to the VA Hospital and waited for Grandpa to be seen by the doctor then we left to go back to Brigham City.  On the way back we stopped at Golden Corral for dinner.  Canyon ate tons, Evan ate ounces, Grandma and Grandpa ate way too much, but we did enjoy the food.

We got home just as the neighbor children were getting home from school.  The kids went to Nathan and Mallory’s to play.

Our rose bushes did not survive the winter and both of them died so they needed to be taken out.  Our two helpers were right there digging them out.  Here are a few pictures of the girls.

     

This is them taking out the big rose bush:

                 

                  

Grandpa finally had to help them dig it up and he broke the shovel handle.  This was one tough bush to get out, but he finally got it out.

After that adventure Canyon and Evan spent the rest of the evening playing with the neighbor kids. Then they ate and got ready for bed.  This is going to be an early night again as they are pretty tired.

               

Yeap!!! 8:30 and they are both zonked.

Vacation at Grandma & Grandpa’s Day 1

Canyon and Evan are spending a few days with us while their parents are off on their own vacation to Vegas.

Today has been full of adventures and we have had lots of fun.  First they played with Justin, Xander, Tymber and Mallory then we took a big load of JUNK to the dump.  Canyon helped Gramps put the old toilet into the dumpster and guess what!!! Gramps got toilet water all down the front of him.  Pretty stinky trick Canyon pulled on him.

Next we went to the museum at the Senior Center.  This was real fun and we learned all about the way the pioneers lived when they first came to Brigham City.

From there we went to Kent’s to shop because they have little baskets for “shoppers in training”.  Look at this cute kid with her basket full of goodies.

Gramps mowed the lawn and turned on the water and lo and behold all the kids in the neighborhood gathered on our lawn to play in the water.

Justin won the water attire award of the day with his pajamas and life jacket.  This kid cracks me up.               

Mallory and Evan were soaking wet and they were trying to water the flowers with their watering cans.

Canyon and Nathan were having races and trying to see if they could out run the sprayers as they rotated across the lawn.

We went through four towels, three fleece blankets, strawberries, chips and a dozen pop cycles today.  The towels and blankets are washed and ready for our play time tomorrow.

To end the day we had a taco pizza in celebration of Cinco De Mayo, Canyon made a cake for strawberry shortcake, they had showers, brushed teeth and before 7:30 Evan was fast asleep.  Canyon was soon to follow.

I do think that we had a fun day.

Bench #2

Today we finished our second bench.  What a treat the finished product turned out to be.

Took the old crappy head and footboards (we had a set of bunk bed frames)…

        

put them together and built the seat….painted it strawflower…

                    

distressed the dickens out of it….used a brown glaze…

added some decorative pillows…..and waa  laa…..

                  

Our new bench.