The Dugas Family Adoption

Check out this link and listen to the beautiful sound of a Northern Mockingbird.  We have one that loves our yard.  We sure do love him all day long.  But, at 3am...not so much.  We were able to see him today for the first time.  I don't think I will be able to get close enough for a picture though.   Today we are researching the species and writing essays about them.  Next rattle snakes.  We saw one yesterday on our trail ride. 

 

 

Enjoy!

HI Friends,

 

Today we were in OC for piano and what has turned into park day. We usually go to three or four different parks during the day.  We drop off Andy at 9am and head off to do a few errands.  Today the boys got haircuts and we bought more piano music.  With four kids playing piano, we sure buy a lot of music.  After haircuts we went to our first park which is around the corner from our piano teacher’s house.  The kids enjoy running around, digging in the sand, climbing the trees, and screaming.  This first park is my favorite because nobody is ever there.  This is ALWAYS easier for Hailey.  I often bring sand toys for her because she can not handle the running around with the boys.  If it’s not a good day for sand toys, she swings or sits with me and I rub her back or tell her stories.  If she is having a bad day…that’s another story.  On a bad day she usually sits in the car or sits on my lap as I hold her very tightly.  When she is disregulated she can not play.  She will just spin out of control.  Today was the first day EVER that she sat and played with the sand toys for an extended period of time.  Tanner even joined her for a bit – and she continued to stay focused and be nice.  Praise God.

 

After piano we headed to park number two.  We had a yummy lunch that Chase and I made in the morning.  There was a little boy at the park that Chase ended up playing with.  The little boy was only 5 years old.  Chase does not usually choose to play with the 5 year olds.  I was watching closely because he seamed really drawn to the boy.  After we left the park he said to me “Mom, did you see that little boy that I was playing with?  Were you wondering why I played with him so much?”  I told him that actually I was wondering.  “Mom, I prayed for a sibling that acted like that when I played with them.  I wish that Hailey was like that.  I want to play with her but she is always so mean.” L I half expected that was the reason.

 

Next we picked up a friend for Chase, Payton, and Tanner to hang with at park number 3.  After playing for a while, the boys came over to where Hailey and I were sitting to have a snack.  A little baby girl – probably 14 – 16 months came over to see what was going on.  She was the cutest little thing.  She sat in Chase’s lap and started playing with his shoes.  He basically fell in love with her on the spot.  After the baby spent about 20 minutes playing with us and our sand toys the mom said (not knowing our history) “She likes you so much maybe you should just adopt her.”  Hailey’s head practically spun off in response.  And the boys begged altogether “Oh mom, can we??””  OY!

 

I posted pictures of the dog treats we made.  They had a blast making the treats and the dogs loved ‘em!

 

Hugs!

Hi Friends,

 

We had one fun, crazy, busy, geocaching, horse riding weekend.  But, first things first…let me tell you about the tree house.

 

Since time began, well really since the boys could speak, they have been asking for a tree house.  There was discussion about it several times possibly happening at Nana’s house.  But, Nana has serious Black Widow issues at her house.  Not sure why she has so many at her house, but she does.  I know they are every where, but we don’t have as many here.  Anyway, the boys have been beggin’ and pleadin’ for a tree house for years.  So obviously, when we discussed moving out to the country, finding a “tree house tree” was at the top of their list – Andy’s too.  We looked at many nice properties.  But, if we could not find a tree that would house a tree house…it was off the list, and I am not joking.  Andy takes these kinds of things very seriously!

 

This house shot to the top of the list for many reasons…but most importantly, it had THE PERFECT tree house tree.  I am sure that you saw the pictures.  If not take a peek.  The tree house is 17 feet off the ground.  I was pleading for a house 5 feet off the ground, but no body liked that idea.  L  I had to leave the house when they were doing the initial building.  They were hanging off limbs, dangling from the air, and working from very precarious spots.  I could not stop nagging poor Andy because I was suffering from sheer terror.  “What if they fall?  That’s too high!  I can’t let any of their friends climb into that thing!  We will get sued!”  You name it and I thought it.  Andy came down from the tree and said “it’s a nice day for a pedicure, don’t you think?”  He was right!  Why torture myself?  I left.

 

Fast forward…The structure has a solid floor, a trap door, and a railing all the way around.  They are not finished with the project.  In the end, it will have 5 foot walls, windows and a roof.  However, it was complete enough to have the first sleep over.  Chase, Payton, and Tanner hauled up (with a brilliant pulley system that they created) a tent, sleeping bags, lanterns, toys, food, and games.  They finished just in time for Chase’s friend T to sleep over. 

 

The tree house tree is 500 feet from our house.  We have coyotes that come on our property at night.  I was worried that T might not be able to stay in the tree all night.  I knew Chase was fine.  He is a certifiable nut like his dad.  He is not afraid of anything; never worries about anything.  Would we have to help them out of the tree at 3am?  No way!  I was totally off base.  T was fine.  They absolutely loved sleeping up there.

 

In the morning I took T, our neighbor Z, and Chase horse riding.  We had so much fun.  It was a lovely day and we had peace on the trail because Andy was at home with Hailey.  After the ride we cleaned up after the horses and had a wonderful lunch with Nana.  Spaghetti with Nana.  For some reason the kids just love having spaghetti at Nana’s.  We bring friends through Nana’s house like it is a group home.  Everyone has been there and enjoyed her spaghetti.  When they greet her at the door they always ask “Can you make spaghetti Nana?”

 

Next, we drove to the half way point between SD county and OC to pick up three more kids.   Then we headed back to town to geocache.  Check out geocaching.com if you are interested in a fun hiking experience.  The kids just go bonkers for geocaching.  Caching at our house is like spaghetti at Nana’s.  “Mrs. Dugas can we please go geocaching today?”  “How many caches can we find today?”  Well, we did three on Saturday and three on Sunday.  Our total hiking distance between the two days was 6 miles.   The kids get so focused on the GPS and finding the prize that there are no complaints.  It is amazing. 

 

We had a fun dinner on Saturday night after all the activities.  We were so very silly.  We spoke in different accents and told funny stories.  We played a history trivia game that I made up.  The kids loved it.  I have not laughed that much in a long time.

 

The next day we showed up at church with the whole gang.   As we rolled out of two cars, all eyes were on us.   Countless people asked “are those ALL of your kids???”   We were all laughing about it.  This is the fourth church that we are looking at.  We really like the last one we have been attending.  But, we wanted to visit all four that were originally on our list before making a decision. 

 

Church was followed by a hot lunch on the deck and 3 more caches.  We brought the kids back at 5pm and I was asleep by 7:30pm  Hahaha!

 

I added photos of the upstairs loft that Andy and the boys built.  They actually did about 50% of the work.  They had a blast with Daddy and did a mighty fine job.  The First picture is a before shot.

Hi Friends,

 

I know it has been a while….I only have 10 more boxes to unpack.  Andy built the home school supply loft.  I will post pictures.  The boys helped him build the entire thing.  The total cost $829.00.  I am sure if we hired a contractor they would have charged us about eight to ten thousand.  California is a rip off when it comes to remodeling, pool building, and landscape work.

 

I took my time unpacking because I wanted to sort through things to make sure that I REALLY needed them.  When we moved the first time, I spent 3 weeks getting rid of things we didn’t need.  I also sold quite a bit of furniture.  Second move, I had two garage sales and got rid of more stuff.  I can’t believe that there is still stuff we don’t need.  The stuff is mostly house decorations that I have had for too long and just don’t want any more.  I am trying to simplify even more.  I am a chucker….if we don’t need it…we don’t keep it.  I am so surprised how things just accumulate.

 

We have planted 10 fruit trees so far.  We hope to have an orchard one day.  But right now…we have no irrigation.  So we have to water the trees by hand.  It’s a great time consumer for Hailey.  Andy put 4 swings in the big oak tree we have.  The kids helped him cut the wood and rout the edges.  They also built two picnic tables, one for the deck and one for the house.  My mom thinks having a picnic table in the house is silly.  But, we think it’s fun. 

 

The Red Wigglers are doing their thing in the Worm Factory compost bin.  I thought that I had killed them all because I set the kit up wrong.  After Chase informed me that it was upside down we saved the worms.  We should be placing compost on our new trees shortly.  Go little worms go!

 

We are pretty sure that we have found a new home church.  We have attended 3 times so far.  The Easter service was lovely.  The people are kind, Christ centered, and very supportive of each other.  We have one more church to check out.  But, my guess is we will stay at this one.  The kids are adjusting to a new place.  They were with the same church body and friends their whole lives.  Chase and Payton were at our church in the SF Bay Area.  We moved when they were 2 and 1.

 

Now I am working on our home school group.  I will attend a meeting tonight with a community home school support group.  I hope to get a few good ideas about a PSP – private study program  (formerly ISP- independent study program in California) in our community.

 

Last week we were in OC for State Testing.  Our ISP requires it.  The kids love the testing.  They love being with all of their friends on the play ground.  We brought our Mt. Bikes for our favorite ride.  I think I told you that Andy pulls Hailey on an Alley Cat.  It is a hook on bike attachment.  It attaches to the back of Andy’s bike.  She has handlebars, a seat, pedals, and a back tire.  As we were riding last week, the bolt that attaches the Ally Cat to Andy’s bike snapped in two hurling Hailey onto the ground face first.  I was behind her and saw as the Ally Cat and her body flipped over her head.  I was sure that her neck was broken.  As I a was screaming for Andy to come back (he know what happened), I anxiously waited hoping Hailey would move before I picked her up.  Praise God she brought her hands to her face and started to cry.  She then brought her knees to her chest.  I knew at this point that her neck did not snap so I carried her off the trail because other riders were coming fast and furious.  At this point I think I resumed breathing…I think I was holding my breath after screaming hysterically.  We had about 3 miles of the trail left before we were on a main road.  If we called 911 we would have to wait for either a Ranger to be sent out, Paramedics to hike in or life flight to show.  I knew her neck was not broken, but at this point I was worried about a brain injury.  She had a helmet on….but the fall was bad.  Our friend that was with us rode out with the boys.  Andy rode out with the Ally Cat and some unknown rider carried my bike out on his back (bless you dear man), as I hiked Hailey out.  What scared me the most was that she kept asking “What are we doing?  Why are you carrying me?  Did I fall?  How did I fall?”  Our dear angel neighbor who always helps us was their waiting at the trail head to take us to the hospital.  Fast forward…CT Scan, MRI, X-rays….all negative!  Praise God.  She had a severe concussion for several days and can not do any activity for two weeks, but will be just fine.  We are all praying that she will ride again as Mt. Biking is a huge Dugas hobby.  Andy has double bolted the Ally Cat for safety.  But, we might have to use the tandem for a while.

I gotta run….but at least you have an update.

 

Jen