After Kai went to his dentist visit, he dressed up and played                dentist.  The dentist gave him the lovely purple latex gloves
he is wearing.

 Mayfaire Celebration at the Waldorf School.

                                                Our 5 new baby chicks.  Born on Cinco de Mayo.

 Unfortunately the weather anomalies we have been having are not healthy for the honey bees.  Our beloved bees made it through the winter.  In March we had temps in the 90's and the bees all came out before there was anything to forage on, overheated, and brought in lots of water to the hive to cool it down.  Our temps then dropped below freezing and because the bees were all spread out and had so much water in the hive to cool it, they froze. So, I had two honey bears helping me clean the hive to get it ready for a new swarm.  I had to hide the honey comb. These boys would be found breaking pieces off eating it. 

 This is called a top bar hive and Kai is rubbing beeswax on the bars so the bees have something to attach the comb to. Isaac is looking into the hive box.


What big brother does, little brother wants to do.  "Poopoo"                     "Tee" for teeth.  He loves                                                                                                                 to brush his little pearly whites.

 So, when my hive died.  I sent word out to all the fellow bee keepers in the valley to let them know that I needed a swarm.  The bees usually begin to swarm here mid May.  I had been looking weekly out on our property for a wild swarm.  One day I saw 5-10 bees flying outside our kitchen window.  I went out and watched them to see if I could see if there was a swarm nearby.  I had a feeling there was one because this is the most bee action I had seen.  We had this wonderful hole in the wall of our house left over from when we had insulation blown into the walls.  This was the one and only hole left unfilled by the insulators.  Those bees decided it was the perfect place for a home.  10 min. after I saw the 5-10 bees, I heard a BUZZZZZ and saw a cloud of  20,000 plus bees over the deck.  When I saw they were all moving toward the wall, I thought, "OH SHIT! I'm doomed."  There was nothing I could do to stop them pouring into the hole.  I placed our hive box next to the hole in hopes of them seeing that it was a much better choice for a home.  After several hours of freaking out, I made some calls to local bee extractors, did some research online and decided to try this funnel method.  See below.

 This method is known to take up to 12 weeks and you never get the queen.  The hope is to get the majority of the swarm, integrate them into another established hive (which only sometimes works),  and then let the queen and others in the wall die off and hopefully nature will clean it out.  Not an appealing idea. I, however, tried it.
The funnel works in allowing bees to come out, but the entrance is so small that they cannot find their way back in. After the 2nd and 3rd days, I had equal amounts of bees collected on the outside of the wall. Each night, I gently scraped them off the wall into the hive and prayed they would stay in there.  The 4th day, I noticed the batches I placed in the hive, stayed.  I also noticed there were very few bees coming out now.  I then had the choice to move the hive 3 inches a day to the place I wanted it in our backyard, (it could have taken months), or to move it 3 miles away for 2 weeks and then relocate the hive to the place I wanted it.  So, my hive is still at a friends house awaiting its new place in our yard.  In the meantime, I have been praying I have the queen.  If not, the hive will collapse in 30 days.  I have been looking online for reliable places to purchase a queen to save these guys.  Yesterday I went to my friend's to check on the bees.  I opened the hive and looked at the newly built comb those industrious bees have been making over the past week.  To my great surprise, I found eggs in several of the comb cells - A SURE sign of a queen.  YEAH.  So, the funnel method worked and we did not have to pay hundreds of dollars to cut out our wall or to purchase a pricey mail order queen.  Since I got them within 3 days, I know there is no comb or honey in the wall waiting to reek havoc on our house.  Oh, bless my lucky stars!  I am glad to have that part of my life settled.  It was taking up all my time in the evenings for a full week.

 The boys helping mama water all the new baby veggies we have growing. 

 Papa took Kai on a very special 5 year old climb for his birthday week.  Kai had so much fun.

Mama took Kai on a hike up to Mushroom Rock on his actual birthday.  It sure is special being 5. You get to do so many special things.

This cutie patootie is doing great.  He started walking on Cinco de Mayo.  5/5.  He likes numbers divisible by 5's.  Born on 10/10/10, walking on 5/5...hmmm..

He is a talker.  His favorite words are "foo" for food and "baboo" for river or creek.  He loves repeating the names of everyone in his life.  He is very independent.  He loves spending time roaming around the backyard, going into the garden, saying hello to the chickens, feeding them from his "han" and checking in on the "bee" (bees).  He knows not to go close and never pushes the limits, unlike his older brother did at this age.  Isaac is happy to take our word for things we tell him could possibly give him an owie.  Kai always had to test it out to know. 

Isaac also loves to eat, throw rocks into the river and go on bike rides.  Mama pulls him in the chariot. 

Isaac sporting Papa's hat.  He is so proud.

 The theme of this year's birthday?  SUPERHEROS!!!  After I finished my week with the bees, I became a busy bee and made capes, masks, napkins and superhero power rocks for Kai's party.  Whew!!! 

 Super power masks and super power rocks that give the beholder the power inscribed on the shiny star that each super child had to go on a hunt for.  The powers: flying, mind reading, super speed, super strength, laser vision, invisibility, shape shifting, magic powers. 

 This boy is like his mama.  He loves olives, especially on his fingers!

 Decorating the emblem to glue onto their capes.

 Nothing quite like superheros on a seesaw.  It makes the capes catch the wind.

 Superkids searching for their super power rockstar to know which superpower they have.

 Superman and batman napkins I made for the kiddos to take home. And...a batman cape I made for the birthday boy! 

Isaac among machines.  Definitely a favorite of his right now.  When driving past any machine, I will hear from the back seat, "Oh boy, sheen, sheen" (for machine).  

My favorite quotes from Kai this month. 

 Kai was trying to think of the song his teacher sings before each child's birthday celebration.  He told me, "Shhh, let me just think a minute so the song can come into my head and then drop down into my mouth."

"I wish I had 61 hands so I could do everything I wanted all at the same time- play with my legos, dress up, sweep, mop, put my toys away, play ball...everything!"

Parting shots of my dear grandmother Gloria.  She passed away at the age of 87 on April 28th. And...

My grandfather Edmond, her ex-husband, passed away yesterday, June 1st at the age of 95.  I feel forever blessed that I had the chance to meet them both and have them in my life for as long as I did.