The Great Sheep Experiment comes to an end

Well, almost end.

We are selling our dear sheepies.

I know. You're all sad and sorrowful over this news. I'm sorry.

I'm sad too. But when it comes down to the sheep or the yard, I choose the yard. Or more specifically, a flower-filled, poop-free yard. Where children can run free between the trampoline and pool and back inside again without being yelled at to check their feet.

(Miley misses the yard too. She would also like to run free without being chased back inside toot sweet by the yard bullies.)

So did the great sheep experiment work?

Not how we wanted it to. Russell will tell you the sheep "thinned" the grass greatly but the truth is we probably needed to double our flock to have enough to keep the lawn short... it still required mowing. It was definitely a fun experiment though and I'm truly glad we've had them for the last couple of months.

I will miss watching them and laughing at their shenanigans. We all will.

(I might not miss this guy, he's kinda ornery.)

We do still plan to get sheep again, we just need to wait until after our Christmas trees are harvested so we can keep them in pastures instead of our yard.

So thus ends another harebrained husband idea Halverson family adventure!

Don't worry, there's sure to be more ;)

An instagrammy Sunday post

Lame title, I know. But as my other option was "an instagram heavy post" I thought I'd just go with it and move on. 

What I have for you today is a whoooole bunch of  cell phone snapshots from the past couple of weeks, because I feel a strange need to document every little thing that goes on in my life and then share it on multiple social media outlets.

So here's what's been going on... but with VERY BRIEF CAPTIONS. (You know, in case that makes it better.)

How to shop for hours at the Goodwill with a small child: stock up the cart with toys and refill every half hour or so as needed.

Kendall begged for a makeover. We're in trouble. 

At the dentist where cool shades make it all the more exciting! We love the dentist!!

A boy after his mother's heart. A blanket and a book is all you really need. 

Cross-dressing cousins. It's hard to explain exactly how this happened. Or why.

Farmer Russ feeding his sheep. Oh how he loves them.

What Miley does 90% of the day, no matter where she is in the house. 

Girls night! At Manzana's in Lake Oswego. Yum.

6th grade field trip to Oaks Park. Total blast and it only rained for half an hour, which as we all know as Oregonians counts as a huge success!

(That boy is Kendall's cousin. Otherwise I'd be all, "step off, sir!")

Finished the 52 miles in May challenge at 42 miles. 

Ate a key lime cheesecake donut from Krispy Kreme to celebrate.

Made yummy stew because it was raining. Again.

Then started the June challenge of 56 miles... So You Think You Can Dance is going to help me get through!

Spent Saturday garage saleing with Kendall, Blake and my mother-in-law and had QUITE the successful  & fun day!

See those men's shirts? Bought them for Russ for .50 cents each in perfect condition, looked them up online when i got home (Helly Hansen and Dakota Grizzly brand) and they retail for $60-$70 bucks each! SCORE. 

Also bought myself a cute new swimsuit (at a store, not a garage sale) on a total whim because each piece was on sale for $10.99 and it felt like the right thing to do.

Received a surprise package in the mail from a blog reader congratulating me on my weight loss! People are just amazing. I was so soooo blessed. Sarah has a little shop called Limemade designs and sent me a handmade coin purse and headband. Sweet, no? 

And believe it or not, I'm done! Phew, getting all those pictures off my chest makes me feel better :)

A weekend full of sawdust

Another weekend has come and gone and all that's left are the fun memories we made and the trail of mud and dust leading through my laundry room and kitchen that are causing me to wail and gnash my teeth in despair. (Read: complain really loudly.)

The highlights:
- Cooper had a friend over Friday afternoon and this happened:

Now to clarify: I'm going to call this a highlight for THEM. After I congratulated the boys and took their picture, I then demanded they get rid of that thing far, FAR from the house and go scrub their hands with soap before touching a single thing in my house.

- Friday night Kendall was at a sleepover so it was just me and the boys. And what did we do? We played Qwirkle (Russ is on a winning streak lately and it's driving me bananas) and watched Mirror, Mirror. I secretly found this hilarious.

- Saturday night we had an impromptu date night to see the new Star Trek movie with my sister and brother-in-law and father, and it was just as awesome as I expected.

- Sunday afternoon Kendall performed at her annual piano recital and not only did she play her two songs she's been working on for months excellently, but she also played and sang a new song she wrote herself. With not an ounce of fear. (Or an ounce of photos taken of her.)

(Never fear though, Grandma... I videoed!)

- Our new siding project is well underway and this includes getting a new back door and kitchen windows, which Russell worked on prepping for and putting in yesterday, besides working for hours repairing a few rotted spots of wall found under our old siding. He's so handy!

He's not half bad to watch either ;)

The lowlights:
- My entire kitchen is covered with a very fine layer of sawdust thanks to that empty window opening.

- My laundry room is also filled with muddy clothes and boots and power cords going out the back door and random tools deposited in the middle of the floor for unknown reasons, and it's all very depressing to look at.

- Oh look, they're in the garden again! Enough said.

- I almost lost poor Leroy (the betta fish) down the drain while transferring him to a clean canning jar in my kitchen sink. He went straight into the drain cover and darned if he wasn't a slippery dude to get back out - I thought for sure I'd killed him by the time I finally got a hold of him and put him back in his water. Thankfully I didn't end up having to make that announcement to Cooper and Leroy lives to see another day. It was a very stressful few moments there though!

- I had a massive bout of menstrual-induced grumpiness late Saturday afternoon that could only be termed  "aggressive" and possibly even "volatile". By golly, you didn't want to be in my war path... especially if you just jumped in the swimming pool fully clothed while it was raining outside (boots included) and then were overheard saying "you don't need to tell Mom, it's okay with her." (Ahem, COOPER).

Let's just say I owed everybody an apology the next morning.

But hey, nobody's perfect, right? It was still a good weekend :)

The sheep are still here

I've had a couple of questions about our sheep and how they are doing so I'm here with your update.

They are alive and well.

They have eaten every last flower in every single one of my flower gardens.

Including my lilies, peonies, iris bulbs, old garden roses, lambs ear, rose campion, and anything else that manages to bloom for half a second. Except the bleeding hearts, they don't seem to care for those.

OR MINE.

Yes, I'm incredibly bitter.

They have also developed a strong hatred towards our dog Miley and enjoy nothing more than chasing her around and around the house until she crawls under our front porch and hides.

Last week when this was happening Miley made the mistake of jumping up on the front porch and whining outside the front door to be let in. Before we could do that though Rusty jumped up on the porch right behind her and gave her a mighty ramming into the door.

Miley is now afraid to go outside.

So you see, we've raised a herd of flower-eating dog bullies that literally run the yard.

And we love them. Well, 4/5 of our family loves them. I have more of a love/hate relationship thing going on.

It's just that they're so darned cute to watch! The babies especially, are hilarious. And they all come running each time Russ calls them like he's the pied piper or something and then he sits with them and I have to yell out the kitchen window and remind him that he has a real family inside too. ;)

Raising sheep is addicting.

InstaFriday. On Friday!

Look at me doing my instafriday post on an actual friday... and in the morning no less! It's going to be a good weekend, I can tell :)

Heres's what's been going on this week!

Cooper's cast came off not a moment too soon. Baseball started this week! 

(He had to sit out the first game but was rooting for his team from the bench!)

I posted this picture at 5:30 pm Wednesday evening in an attempt to get myself on the treadmill. You know... if I let everyone know I got dressed in the morning to workout but procrastinated all day long maybe I'd get a little nudge to actually GET ON the machine?

And it worked! I started the May challenge on instagram of 52 miles in May. 

I also restarted the Couch to 5K program, which, I'll be honest, I've started three times now and have never moved past week two. Even I'm not holding my breath on this one. But hey, making it to week three will be an accomplishment!

Pretty curls on a pretty girl. Kendall is almost done with grade school, moving on to the 7th grade this fall. Waaahhh!

The maxi dresses, they call to me. (Especially that middle one.) I was good and resisted. Take that, Target. 

Russ scored though! He needed a little summer wardrobe help. New running shoes, three new pairs of shorts, and five new tees/work polos. He was a happy boy!

(20% because of the new duds and 80% because he didn't have to go shopping himself.)

I'm the kind of person who gets all excited about the new pineapple and bacon chicken sausages at Costco and then texts this picture to two people to spread the good news. These are going on the grill this weekend!

ALSO IN COSTCO RELATED NEWS: while shopping there yesterday, two different female workers who know me asked if I'd lost weight and told me I was looking amazing. My love for Costco just doubled. (Kidding. My love for Costco was already at it's max.) 

Still, it was a couple of splendid moments there, combined with the confirmation that sheesh, I must be there an awful lot.

Can I just say what a stud shopper Blake is? After a long day of five stops over the course of six hours, he is still in happy spirits and nothing but a ton of fun. LOVE that kid!

Watching baseball on a beautiful warm evening. It was Cooper's first game getting to play and on his second time up to bat he got a great hit, and then made it home off his buddy Gavin's home run.  Boy was the kid stoked! He managed to talk us into joining half the team at All Mine frozen yogurt afterwards to celebrate. (I wasn't hard to convince.)

3 miles in at 10:30 pm last night because I WILL complete the 52 miles challenge, doggone it! I also ran for 4 minutes straight and didn't die. Impressive, yes? 

The view out my window this morning. Grazing sheep are so peaceful to watch. 

Off to parties and BBQ's and who knows what else this weekend. Enjoy yours!

Insta-weekend-confessional

It's basically a mish-mash today. A little InstaFriday, a little weekend recap, and a little Monday confessional, because why not?

(Or maybe because I got a wee bit lazy about blogging by the end of last week and feel like I should make up for it now?)

First up, Instafriday: recapping last week as captured by the cell phone cam. 

A new book from the "science fair!" (aka school book fair) from Daddy - #1 sucker to smiling little boys requests :)

Miley says good morning!

Russ came home from work early for a dentist appointment and brought me Starbucks. Possibly because he's the best husband ever, possibly because he knows I'm about at breaking point over the sheep in my flower beds!

But still, Oreo is just the cutest! 

The surprise I found in my fridge one afternoon. Blake's explanation? It needed to "get cold".

(I don't get it either.)

And now for the weekend recap: 

Friday night was date night to see Oblivion with some of our best friends: Tim and Cara, and Erik & Tricia, aka Russ's brother and sister and their spouses. Between us three couples we have 12 kids, reason enough to ditch them all for a night out!

First we went to The Ram for dessert and I'd like to introduce you to something you need to try: colossal sizzling bread pudding. FANTASTIC.

Saturday morning my most amazing and wonderful mother-in-law came over to help me move a bunch of plants out of flower beds we are getting rid of for the new porch and deck, and into different spots in my yard. Yay for an accomplished morning of yard work and gabbing!  

Saturday night was date night #2, celebrating our friend Janin's 40th at a catered outdoor dinner and bonfire. (Holding sweet baby Reagan!)

Me & Reagan, Cara, Kelly, Nicole (Reagan's mama), and the birthday girl.

Sunday afternoon was a BBQ at my Dad's for my brother's birthday (look, the mountain man beard is gone!)

Jay and Christine

The Wilson kids. LOVE THESE TWO!

Oh man was it a good weekend of friends, family, and FOOD.

Friday's date night is what leads to my Monday confessional:

After the movie finished we all followed Russ out into the parking lot because we'd driven up together and he had dropped us off at the door to the theater when we arrived. It took us a while to realize we were wandering a bit (lots to discuss after seeing that film!) and Russ admitted he couldn't quite remember where he'd parked. This led to quite a bit of teasing from all of us, myself included. In fact, I was still laughing when I said "I STILL can't see your car, babe!" after he'd announced he'd finally spotted it and we'd changed course, and it was then that everyone pointed out I had just walked straight past it while they'd all stopped to get in. 

At least Russ knew what he was looking for, I'd forgotten which car we'd come in and wasn't even looking for the right one! 

Quite the team we are, Russ and I.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:
- spotting a friend load her groceries into her car as you pull into the store parking lot and slowing down as you drive by to give her a friendly honk-honk and a wave, except your honk gives your friend a near heart-attack and makes her almost drop her groceries and then hold her chest as she takes deep breaths. So sorry, friend!
- making the HUGE mistake of mentioning the very routine "sac check" that will be happening at your 10-year-old son's upcoming well-child doctor visit and sending him into a full blown panic attack including tears, an upset stomach, and trouble sleeping at night. Rookie mom move, sigh.
- Our penchant for starting major house projects on a whim. Yesterday morning the outside of our house was intact. Today we have no siding or walls on our front porch.

Awesome:
- our plans for a new front porch and wrap-around deck! Please Jesus, help us finish this one quickly!
- finding white chocolate Lindor truffles in the bulk candy bins at Winco. Because they should definitely be bought in bulk ;)
- Blake's brand new baby lamb, born this morning. How cool is this coloring?!

Blake has very appropriately named her Oreo :)
- this guy getting his cast off!

 It called for a celebratory 7-layer-bar treat from a nearby cafe. For me :) Cooper picked peanut butter cookies.
- beautiful, sunny, mid-seventies weather all week long. Helloooo picnic in the park with friends!
- TWO date nights planned for the weekend: a movie date to see Oblivion Friday night and then a no-kids birthday party for our friend's 40th on Saturday. C'mon, weekend!!

A few things about this picture

1. That's one cute husband.
2. And one adorable lamb.
3. The grass is mowed in the background. Hallelujah. Four sheep and two lambs are just not cutting it, folks. (And I guess I mean literally!)
4. The grass is mowed because husband taught daughter how to use the riding mower. Hallelujah and amen.
5. There's a step ladder in the background because daughter sprayed grass ALL OVER our huge living room bay window and I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon washing it off.
6. All our fruit trees are in blossom right now and I love them. And thankfully I can see them again now that I have a sparkling living room window!
7. This picture was taken approximately half an hour after we were supposed to be at a couple's game night on Saturday.
8. Yet here we were in the driveway, because our sheep wouldn't go in their pen where they must be shut in each night to keep them safe, because husband cleaned it out and put new straw down and one step in was all it took for the sheep to collectively decide, "Something is different here! ABORT PEN ENTRY. REPEAT, ABORT PEN ENTRY!!!"
9. After 20 minutes of completely ineffective herding, I decided to wait it out in the car and Russ decided to catch the lambs so their mamas would follow them (and him) into the pen. Thus, the dirt on husband's elbow. The lambs are getting darned fast and it took a few failed grabs and a couple of falls before catching this little guy. I'll tell you what, it's a miracle I didn't pee my pants from laughing so hard because it was hilarious.
10. What you will not see in this picture: tulips. The sheep ate them all. Which is why having sheep in my yard is NOT hilarious. Not at ALL. (But I still love the lambs ;)