Birds

So today after we dropped Caden off at school, Ethan and I decided to go walking rather then going to the rec center.  Out here they have walking and bike trails everywhere and the majority of them are shaded.  Ethan and I strolled some of the local parks and both really enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  After our walk I decided to let Ethan play at one of the playgrounds.  He's normally one that likes the big boy slides so I figured this particular park would be good, since it had easy access to the bigger slides.  Once I let Ethan out of the stroller he took off running and I figured he was headed towards the slide, wrong, he found a group of pigeons.  He kept hollering 'bird, bird" and he just watched the birds walk around the play area.  He would even get down low like he was going to creep up on them.  I think Ethan has a fascination with birds! 

Oh and by the way pigeons are all over the place out here.  The insect companies advertise about pigeon removal.  I guess I'm just use to grackles!

Hanes House: Desert Oasis

Ok, so I'm going to start a series of blogs that will give you a tour or our Vegas home.  This way all of our Texas friends can see what Nevada living is all about.  Also, so that those of you who doubted whether I really did come out here for 3 days to paint, I finally have some proof to show it! 

I'm going to start with one of my favorite spots, the backyard!  Our backyard is actually fairly large for most houses out here.  One of the unique things I've noticed living out here is the backyards wrap around the sides of the house.  We also have a beautiful pool and spa which we spend a lot of time in.  The pool has a spill over from the spa and a waterfall too.  One of the first things we did was put up a safety fence around the pool so there is more ease with letting the boys play in the backyard.  There is also a huge sandbox in the corner of the yard.  It's shaded all day long so the boys are able to dig and get dirty pretty much any time of the day.  Ethan is really good at pouring sand on his head and we are always finding it in his diaper. 

Our backyard is also known as the baseball and soccer field.  Caden loves to go out and play baseball, he even has spots that he calls bases so he can run when he hits a home run.  We've just recently pulled out a baseball tee, and if you not paying attention you are going to get nailed by a line drive.  I guess we have a baseball player on our hands!

Well, that's the layout of the backyard.  We are still missing patio furniture but we haven't had much luck finding anything we liked yet.  If we had a garden ridge out this way that's where I would be shopping but the closest one is in Oklahoma City.  Just one of the things I miss about Texas. 

Stickers

Caden is a huge fan of stickers.  I'm always finding stickers on clothes, windows, toys, etc.  A few weeks ago my mother sent us a box full of goodies, one in which included stickers.  After Caden got over the excitement of his new crocs and towel he immediately took the stickers.  Perry and I weren't exactly paying attention to what Caden was doing, because we were enjoying the Julio's chips mom had sent.  Which by the way is one of the things we miss out here in the desert, along with Chick-fil-A, but that's another blog for another time.  About 30 minutes later I was headed upstairs to change Ethan's diaper and I found the entire bottom of the staircase covered in stickers.  Between the two posts there were probably 18 to 20 stickers.  Caden called it his art!  I couldn't help but laugh, at least it wasn't crayons! 

Now two weeks later those stickers are still there, at least some of the them.  Ethan has decided he doesn't like the stickers on the stairs so he is slowly removing and putting them on the toys.  Luckily, the sticky is no longer sticky so I normally find them on the floor and then throw them away when the kids aren't looking.  Just one of the small things I love about my children!

FIrst Blog

Ok, so I've been inspired by several of our close friends to start our own blog.  I'm not that good at facebook so I'm hoping this will be away for our friends and family to see what's happening at the Hanes' House!  So, welcome to "The HANESome Crew"!  By the way Perry came up with the title, which sounds just like something he would come up with!