Gardens and Grandparents

Guess what?  We planted our first ever garden! 

I bought 4 strawberry plants and 2 tomato plants.  I kept the receipt and if they all crap out I'm getting my $16.00 back, darn it. Lowe's has lost a lot of money on my brown thumb.   

  

Awww...look at the little baby strawberry...

I will really, really try not to kill you, little one.  We'll call this the "before" picture. 

Nate helped by taking the line marker flags out of the yard and running around like a maniac.  I'm pretty sure he has a future in air traffic control. 

 Brooke made a beeline to the dirt and collected worms. 

You want to know who is really getting good at gardening? My mother-in-law, "Grandma." You should see her flowers. They're beautiful. And I bet she doesn't even keep her receipts.  I could possibly be extremely jealous.

Last weekend we got to go down to Grandma and Papa's for a visit. 

See?  I told you.

We had a great time. Grandma pumped the kids full of Peeps and we took them to the park to run off the sugar.  

Kids and grown men like throwin' stuff in the water.

I do not know why.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how (and if) my garden grows. 

The Beautiful Days

I am totally aware that my blog posts are stuck on "repeat."  Just so you know.

But.

This weather takes my breath away! The sun is shining.  There's a breeze blowing.  And best of all, (hopefully) no snow or digging out gloves or scraping the ice off the car for a whole 'nother year.   Yipee!!

Brooke got her first pedi of the year.  She opted for a "textured" pedi. 

That's where you get your toes painted, ignore your mama and immediately hop back in the sandbox. 

The flowers are in full bloom around here.  It makes me want to cover every square inch of our little yard with something that blooms.

Love the lilacs.  Really, really love the lilacs.  Like, I want to cut one off and wear it around my neck. 

Would that be weird?  

My parents came for the weekend and we had two more whole days of amazing-ness. 

Grandparents are just fun.  The babies glow when they're around.  The grandparents glow, too.

 

I am so, so thankful for these beautiful days. 

I have it on good authority that spring is here.

Well, not really.  But it's April and if it snows again I will probably cry.  

We've been dying to roll down the windows and feel some warm air. 

It may only be Brooke's fourth summer, but she totally gets it.  She's already talking about swimsuits and swimming pools.  Popsicles and sprinklers.  Barefeet and flowers and shorts. 

I can't wait either.

We picked our first dandilions of the season.  Scot would like me to tell you that they didn't come from our yard. 

Can I just say that I don't think dandilions should be considered weeds?  They're so happy and easy to grow.  Maybe we'll plant us a dandilion garden this year.

Scot would like me to tell you that's not going to happen.

We fed the ducks.  They see us coming from a mile away. 

And little mister almost-two going on almost-five?  He's feeling this whole spring thing. 

Look at this picture.  He runs like a kid.  Sometimes I feel like his babyness is slipping away right before my eyes.

I can't wait for longer days and warm sun and babies excited to play outside all day...

...what about you? 

How to Accessorize

Do you think accessorizing is difficult?  It's not.

Simply find some stuff. Wear the stuff.  And look awesome.

But be aware that accessories can also send a message.  Choose the wrong accessories and, well...

I'm filing this one under "pictures to show the future football team and girlfriend."

Happy accessorizing. 

Spring for a Day

We got a little snap of warm weather last week, so Scot took a day off work and we hit the zoo!  We just love the zoo. Scot and I were working the man-to-man defense, so I didn't get to take a whole lot of pictures. 

The snakes were the favorite of the day, for sure.  Ew.

The popsicles were a colossal mess but totally worth it.

The rest of the week made me really appreciate the beautiful day at the zoo.  Winter is back.  We had temperatures in the 80s for the zoo and woke up a few days later to snow.  Nathan doesn't understand.  He stands at the door and begs to go outside again. 

I'm running out of entertainment.  Nothing quite matches long, warm days at the park and the zoo. 

Nate resorted to exploring the cabinets and making Fancy Feast towers.

And we colored.  A lot.  Sometimes even on the paper.

We even jumped in the bed.

If my pictures make it look like Brooke wears the same princess dress 24/7 and never takes it off it's because Brooke wears the same princess dress 24/7 and never takes it off.  

I love that.  :-) 



And Again with the Pictures

One of these days I want to write more again.  I will dust off that part of my brain that I once used regularly and write.  I like writing. Even if it's just little blurbs on my little blog. 

Until then, here's a little bit of what we've been up to...

Those would be the buds on our LILAC BUSH!!  I'm dying for this thing to bust out with some big, delicious blooms!  I'll keep you posted. 

This is roasted marshmallow aftermath. This child will eat her wedding cake like this.

A few final pics from my photography class...

I loved that class!!!  It was fun to do something totally creative.  I'm loving photography and hoping to take the next class sometime soon.

Happy SPRING!!!

Some Pictures, at Least

Ahhh...my total lack of follow-through has reared its ugly head.

I've all but forgotten you, little blog.  But that's okay because I've got a good reason. 

I've been taking an online photography class!  It's been great...and a little more intense than I thought it would be.  It has taken a lot of time online and a lot of time with the camera.  Obviously.  My poor little children run for the hills every time I pull the camera out now.  But that's okay because I've learned the power of the bribe.

I've learned a ton.  I've learned so much that I now realize I have no idea what I'm doing. It turns out that photography is really complicated.  It's about finding the light, imagining the look you want and making it come to life through the camera settings.  It's about buying lots of lollipops so your 3-year-old will just sit still for one more second! 

So I'm learning.

That's what I've been up to.  That and the whole parenting thing.  

And I'm not done blogging.  Just a little sidetracked right now.  :-)