The Grand Entrance, i.e. Our New Front Porch

We swear, we're almost finished with our house remodeling projects. The latest one has been high on my wish list for a couple of years. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as high on the priority list. It was a new front porch.

We've always had a pretty lackluster entrance to the house, as far as a front path and threshold went. When we installed sod a couple years ago we haphazardly placed a few concrete pavers with the intent of putting in a "real" path shortly. There's also been an unnaturally high step from the concrete porch up to the front door, making visitors feel rather short upon arrival. We wanted to remedy that with a new porch, but a back patio, siding, etc, etc, etc, kept jumping to the top of the to-do list.

We have made many improvements to the exterior and entrance with new siding and a new front door, but the actual porch and walkway to the door weren't much to brag about. Recall the exterior of the house as of last summer (including the sad lawn, now revived):

Finally, this spring the porch became top priority. Here's the beginning of excavation on May 1, 2010:

Digging post holes for concrete footings and clearing some sod for paver path:

Gunnar grinning as he "helps" with his prized shovel (he sleeps with it, no kidding):

Here is the beginning of the paver path. A layer of gravel is beneath the special weed-blocking cloth. The whole path had to be planned around the cover for our water meter. Bummer. Adah is screeding (leveling) some sand with a 2x4 in preparation for the pavers to be laid:

Gunnar strolling on the finished path and Damon installing joists for the porch; (ooh, and notice the "manly" new solid wood beam and posts to replace the spindly, wobbly, ugly brown ones behind):

After a week walking in the front door over a piece of plywood placed across the joists and the children balancing (and frequently falling and scraping knees) on the joists, Damon spent a whole Saturday laying the decking. Then we spent a few obsessive days keeping all traffic off the porch as we took Sunday off and then there was dew and then dirt to be hosed off and we had to wait for the wood to dry so it could be finished. Whew!

Finally, on Tuesday, June 22, Maggie and Adah helped Damon finish the porch (Isn't the wood gorgeous?):

et Voila!

Final Note: Ironically there is now an unnaturally high step up to the deck from the paver path since Damon made the pavers level with that darn water meter cover and the deck level was determined by the existing concrete pad. So...we will probably be adding an additional wooden step on the path up to the porch.

Creature Feature at the Library

Our local library has the best storytime ever (hooray for Heidi!) and every summer invites Steve the "Reptile Guy" to come do his Creature Feature presentation. Most of the exotic reptiles are repeats every year, but we are always amazed and intrigued.

Here, Steve points to the brightly-colored mouth of the barking gecko. It opens its mouth wide and makes a barking sound to warn off predators. It can also cling to just about any vertical surface with positively-charged pads on its feet, a technology that NASA is apparently researching.

I can't remember the name of this snake. It's some kind of South American viper and has the fastest strike speed of any snake in the world. I'm not sure how you clock that sort of thing, but Steve said it strikes at 95 mph. It has beautiful markings and a little upturned horn on its nose. You'd think I'd remember the name since this one is my favorite. It's so interesting to look at.

At the end of the show, after bringing out a rattlesnake and a king cobra, Steve allows for some hands-on experience. Here a bunch of children, including Maggie (far right) and Adah (in the middle, head down, in a gray shirt) sniff this python that actually smells like buttered popcorn!

Adah tried on this snake, necklace style. I don't know its name either. I do know that its markings are similar to a more well-known venomous snake, but this one is not venomous. It's just a copycat, trying to bluff everyone. At this point of the show I was pretty busy wrangling Gunnar who had long since lost interest and was more intent on playing with blocks in the children's book section than touching snakes.

Maggie just went for a light petting, rather than neckwear.

We think libraries are the best and provide such wonderful resources for communities. The community across the river from us just failed to pass a levy to keep their library open as the county pulled funding. I think it's a shame that people didn't vote for it and hope that if any of you are facing similar elections will consider the value of the library in your community. Even if you can afford to buy all of your own books, there are so many people who can't, and libraries have so many programs and features beyond the books. Keep them open!!

Goodbye, First Grade(r)

Adah is no longer a first grader! It was a great school year for her. She benefited from a very committed and creative teacher who taught Adah that "smart kids are never bored." Mrs. Hope was always finding new ways to challenge Adah and also reported that Adah was constantly discovering new ways to extend what she was being taught into additional activities. We saw this when she wanted to check out birdwatching books from the library or during the social studies map unit when Adah came home and created a map of our house. Adah has always been curious and inquisitive, but I think Mrs. Hope has really helped to nurture a love of learning in our soon-to-be second grader.

Here is Adah's class on the last day of school, wearing the shirts they decorated with permanent markers and rubbing alcohol (a simple alternative to tie-dye). Adah is in the center of the group, 2 to the right of Mrs. Hope (the only adult).

Adah's school has a great music program, in my opinion. Each class attends music twice a week where they learn more than just singing. Over the course of their time at the school, Mrs. Branson teaches the children to really read music, in addition to all of the fun of rhythm, movement, and singing.

On June 3 the kindergarten and first & second grades presented their spring music program. Adah and all the first graders sang four songs. Lucky for me, one of my friends had a front-row seat and got some good photographs. Our seats on the bleachers weren't bad, but it just so happened that the ONLY child to be blocked from my view by the microphone stand was my own! That, combined with bad lighting and distance, made for really lousy pictures on our camera.

"Uno, Dos y Tres," a Traditional Mexican Counting Song:

And, one of my favorites, "The Raindrop Song:"

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops,

Oh what a rain it would be.

I would stand outside with my mouth open wide,

Singing "Aw, aw, aw, aw, aw, aw, aw, aw, aw, aw!"

Maggie's Super Friends

Maggie spent a fantastic year at preschool, attending 3 mornings a week. Each week they focused on a different letter of the alphabet and all of their activities creatively used each letter in counting, drawing, and all kinds of hands-on cooking, crafts, and other play. She and her classmates named themselves the "Super Friends Class." They practiced being "polite pandas," rather than "rude rabbits," during sharing time, and loved field trips to the fire station, library, and pumpkin patch. The year ended with a visit to the kindergarten where all the Super Friends are just jumping to go come September.

On June 2nd there was an end-of-the-year celebration presented by Maggie and her classmates. As the children were presented with their diplomas, each of them told the audience what they want to be when they grow up. One of the best: "I want to be a princess." This was followed a few students later by a little boy saying, "I want to be a prince." The teacher commented that perhaps that went with the princess, causing the young "prince" to blush.

Maggie: I want to be an artist.

Maggie, ever the performer, posed in front of the world that her class painted. As they entered to the song "Love Lights the World" each child placed their photo on the globe.

As part of the program the students sang several songs. Here they point to each other as they sang their trademark farewell song (they sang it at the end of each class), "Friends, Friends, 1, 2, 3."

I'm very glad you came today. . . . You're my friend. You're my friend.

Below is Maggie grinning with her phenomenal teacher, Kathy, who is retiring from teaching this year. She was also Adah's teacher and we're sad she won't be around for Gunnar and Holly in a few more years.

We're so proud of Maggie and all that she did in preschool this year. We were told that she is, indeed, the best artist in her class. She's reading a bit more each day and is brilliant at sounding out words to write down, requesting spelling tests at the dinner table or driving along in the car.

We love our Maggie!!

What a decade brings...

June 9, 2000:

Damon McMillan & Jillaire Wangsgard

were married in the Oakland, California Temple

of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ten years later:

Adah, Holly, Damon, Maggie, Jillaire, and Gunnar McMillan

sit on the couch reading stories in White Salmon, Washington.

Happy Anniversary, Damon!

I love you, and I love what this decade has brought us.

Look-Alike Babies

Can you correctly identify the McMillan newborns in the following photos?

Baby A:

Baby B:

Baby C:

Baby D:

Answers
Baby A: Maggie
Baby B: Gunnar
Baby C: Adah
Baby D: Holly

How did you do?

Holly's First Bath

Holly handled her first at-home bath rather well. Here she is just before the first water hit:

Maggie was a fine assistant and photographer, capturing Holly's over-the-shoulder glance and me in the mirror!

Holly didn't even start yowling until just after the following picture was taken and I really began to dry her off and get her dressed. I think that's when she really began to feel chilly and a bit dubious about the whole experience.