Progress at last

Finally there is something pretty to see in our yard! With so much yard work to do over here it's sad when you can't really see the results of wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of rocks picked out of the yard or weeds & growth the size of my children being removed (well, I can tell that one but you know what I mean). Yesterday and today Chris took off work and we went to work outside. We finally got one of our outdoor projects done - a flower bed next to our back deck. There is a big mound of dirt around a couple of trees there (the ones the squirrels live in) that can't be flattened so we've always thought we needed to make it into a bed. Miraculously Chris was able to load up huge boulders from the back of our lot (I helped with a few extra big ones) and we used those for the border. Then we had to add a few wheelbarrows full of dirt to fill around the edges, add some weed barrier, plants, and mulch. Ta-da!


We still plan to add something in the middle of the bed like a bird bath or something decorative. There are too many tree roots there to even think about trying to dig a hole to plant anything! I feel so good to have one thing crossed off the list and to have at least one spot that resembles a "real" yard.

Catching up with friends

Yesterday I got the chance to visit with two friends that I grew up with. We went to high school together, went to college together, and were even in each others weddings. We don't get to see each other very often because of busy lives and living far apart but I am so glad when we do. There was a new baby in the bunch this time and she was sweet as pie. Little Jasmine was such a trooper and was happy to let everyone hold her and fuss over her. Mine were the only boys in the bunch but they had fun with all the girls just the same.
Everyone got a chance to hold the baby. Zachary and Alex even took turns.







The group (minus husbands of course). I couldn't get Zachary to sit next to me for anything! I think he has a bit of a crush on Valerie because he wouldn't budge from her side.

The moms - Anna, Jennifer, & Karen (me).

The "big" kids. I like to get some standing up pictures of kids sometimes to see how big everyone is. I think I got that from my mom.

We can't wait to see you all again!

Meet the neighbors

A trio of squirrels has moved into the big tree just outside our dining room window and they are quite entertaining. The boys and I have decided to call them Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm trying lots of new things this week. We'll see how it goes.

Monday - Shake & Bake chicken breasts, butter noodles, and carrots

Tuesday - Lasagna roll ups, garlic biscuits

Wednesday - hubby not home, probably breakfast for dinner for me and the boys

Thursday - Cheesy chicken vermicelli, green beans

Friday - Comfort bbq meatballs, rice, fried squash

That last one came from the Pioneer Woman cookbook and I can't wait to try it!

For tons of great menu ideas go to orgjunkie.com.

Wordless Wednesday

Bluebonnet photo shoot

Spring is here and that means that it's wildflower season. For us down here in Texas that also means taking pictures of your kids in the bluebonnets. (For non-Texans - bluebonnets are our state flower and it grows predominately on the side of the roads. Yup - we trek our families out in the exhaust fumes and bugs to take pictures with these pretty blue flowers. We have too.....it's in our blood.) The flowers haven't been that great in recent years and I just never got around to trying to get pictures with the boys before but this year I just HAD to have some bluebonnet pictures. Needless to say, I still don't have a good one.

There is a great big patch of bluebonnets in an empty lot of our neighborhood so we decided to try there first - less traffic. After the first shot......ants!

Daddy swooped in to check out the situation and didn't find any ants. Thinking Alex was maybe a faker (he is a little bit of a drama queen) and just had weeds and flowers poking him, daddy joined in for a picture.

Then he too started getting chomped on by ants and decided to high-tail it out of there before I could get any good pictures.

At this point we gave up and went to lunch. Once we had full tummy's and were on our way home the boys decided they wanted to give it another shot, as long as there were no ants. We found a good spot off the road close to home. Um, this is what we got.


This may be the best of the bunch.


Maybe I can talk the boys into trying once more......

Seaworld

We made our annual trip to Seaworld a little bit early this year. Some of Chris's family happened to be in Texas for a few days and we met at Seaworld. Since they live in New York and we live in Texas it was a rare treat. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of them so you'll just have to take my word for it that Chris's aunt, cousin, and her husband were here. The boys had a blast seeing all the animals and hanging out with our family. We were very lucky that both of the big guys (daddy and cousin Chris) were able to win the little guys stuffed Shamu's.






The boys got to meet Penny the Penguin and Shamu.


We got to see the dolphins up close. The didn't come quite close enough to touch though.


When our last show was over Zachary didn't want to leave without meeting some of the performers. He and I went down to meet them and take some pictures. I think the cast got a kick out of little Zachary coming to see them. He loved the "bird" people.


Goodbye, Shamu! We'll see you again next summer.

Easter

We headed up to my parents again for Easter this year. We spent the whole weekend there and got to spend time with my parents, my sister Lisa, and her two teenage boys.
I love seeing how excited Alex and Zachary get when the Easter bunny (or Santa) comes. When they saw their baskets they looked like they couldn't believe their eyes.



Despite the somewhat wet weather (not actual rain just wet) my parent's church had their Easter egg hunt outdoors. Good thing the Easter bunny didn't bring the boys much candy because we got more that we can possibly eat at the hunt!




My aunt had the right idea helping her granddaughters out when baskets just weren't big enough!
All the boys, big and little, had fun playing the penguin fishing game while waiting for lunch.

We had way, way, too much to eat. The boys and I finished off the rest of the banana pudding we brought back home just today. I made our family's regular of cut out cookies. I didn't have really Eastery cookie cutters but they turned out cute with my spring selection of cookies!

Hope you had a great Easter!