The big koi fish you see right above the oak leaf is Brutus. The other koi you cannot see is Portia.
We found this Mary on the side of the road for $40. I decided I had to have her. Now we have my very own Marian Grotto! (Well, maybe it isn't technically a grotto, but close enough.) She overlooks the waterfall and pond and keeps an eye on the chickens.
The chickens do not like the rain. It has been raining steadily for the last 3 days, and the girls huddle uncomfortably by the dining room patio doors hoping that someone will take pity on their little chicken souls and let them in already. A couple times I have left the kitchen door ajar just long enough for Daisy and Tallulah to waltz in out of the rain and make themselves at home. Sorry girls, not until you are potty trained...
Elena and Jesse, on the other hand, have enjoyed the rainy weather. Here they are decked out in rain pants and rain boots, ready to go puddle jumping.
This weekend, Elena proclaimed, "My body is telling me that I need to go poop and pee in the potty!" She ran to her little potty, did her business, poured the offensive liquid into the big potty, wiped her bum, and then helped herself to two gummy bears as a reward. We are not yet ready for full time big girl panties, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! We have been sitting on and off the potty now for about a year, and finally I see it all starting to click. Oh potty, how I love thee.
Kevin is making amazing, back-breaking, progress on the tiling job downstairs. He is almost done with this horrible job. Each tile must be placed by hand in exactly the right place, with not too much or too little gunk to glue it down. He picked the largest tiles and the smallest margins between them, which makes for a very difficult job, especially for someone who has never done this before. He started out doing about 3 tiles an hour, and since then has sped up quite a bit. The next job is the painting and trim, then we will clean and the place will be ready for renters!
Elena does not enjoy my over-dry cake. Perhaps you remember the disaster that was Elena's birthday cake last year? Well, this time around, I was sure I would overcome the bad birthday cake curse (afterall, I have a convection oven now!), but it was not to be. I ended up finishing off the entire cake myself over the course of a week because nobody else in my family could choke it down.
Looks good, doesn't it? It isn't.
Mother and son.
The birthday boy!
Jesse is an amazing baby. He is so full of raw emotion, unadulterated joy and an unquenched curiosity! He says "Mama" and "Dada" with great enthusiasm, and is close to saying shoe, sock, all-done, bye-bye, fish, toes and others! He babbles on like he is saying complete sentences, something like "vshishifishishi!" Sometimes he sounds like he is saying "what's that?" or "this this this" or "Jesus Jesus fish fish this this." He loves shoes and toothbrushes and brooms and utensils. His favorite thing is getting thrown on the bed by Kevin. He is a wonderfully cuddly boy and gives everyone big sweet loving hugs and the classic one-year-old open mouth kisses all the time. He also is a climber (see previous post) and very clever and brave about going down stairs. He chases the chickens and tries to pick them up, though I found him in a tearful rage this morning on the patio after Scarlett came and lucked his toast right out of his hand. He is our super duper amazing little man and I feel so incredibly thankful that he is in my life.
My daughter seems to have a strange affliction. She seems to prefer all things PINK. I was warned about this sickness from others, but I guess I didn't believe that it would happen to our family. You can send flowers or balloons (pink ones) directly to the house. 
We also have a new member of the family: Meet CareBear. Yes, as in THE CareBear of our childhood. I found her in a consignment shop, Value Village, and thought it would be funny to get her in a "I'll get my kid a really campy totally pink stuffed bear-- the kind my mom would never in a million years would have let me have" kind of way. And just like that, CareBear replaced poor Missy Mouse as the fave animal friend. Ellie's love for this totally obnoxious pink bear is truly deep. This is the kind of love that leads to tantrums when I leave CareBear on the kitchen table when we leave the house to go on errands. Even Jesse knows how important CareBear is-- he obediently will take her to Elena if found and never, ever try and take her away. Elena also calls her "Sweetie" and "Honeybunch." Her full name is "Sweetie Honeybunch CareBear Krentz."
Elena, Olivia Pig, and CareBear snuggle up in a fort talking about pink things.
