Donut Store, Here We Come!

As a treat, I decided to walk the Boys to the nearby donut store the other day. It is about a two mile walk there, four mile round trip, so I figure I burn the calories I am about to ingest. It all evens out, right? It was a gorgeous, crisp morning for a long walk.

As an even huger treat, Daddy agreed to come along!

O is all business when it comes to donut consumption.

Nosy loves sprinkles!

My three most favorite guys in the world.

I am so very blessed.

Bring On the Pigs!

I am always on the lookout for fun, inexpensive, unique family activities. When we drove by an enormous bull poster advertising the Garland Livestock Show, the Boys went wild. I knew it was a must-see. And admission was free! So on this frigid March evening, we bundled up to see the best livestock that Garland has to offer.

We had so much fun! Even Jeremy (who was a bit skeptical at first) enjoyed himself. We saw pigs and goats and lambs shown by their owners and judged on form and showabilty. Jeremy and I kept it exciting by trying to guess the winners ahead of time. There were even a few pig fights that had to be split up! So thrilling! Seriously, O and Noah were captivated. We plan to go back next year!

A Rainy Day at the Arbo

Do you wonder if we ever tire of the Arboretum?

The answer is, "Never." We love it there and could visit every day. Each time there is something new and different to do and explore and discover.

For example, never before have we been rained on at the Arbo.

Feeding super huge fish with Gramps

Running and running and running some more. We love to RUN!


We played with quite a few creatures. Ladybugs...

...and then a garden snake. One of the Boys donated a bunny cracker to feed the snake.

You should have heard the squeals when Gramps picked the snake up with his stick!

We headed to the water walls. Since I had the umbrellas along to ward off sprinkles, we brought them out for a little play time.

We visited the resident deer. Always before, there has been a warning sign, "Do not climb." The sign was gone today. Maybe they realized the futility of it? We climbed to our hearts' content!

Right after I took these pics, the skies opened and the rain poured down on us. We hustled back to the car and cranked the heater up for the ride home.

Apple Stamping Gone Bad

Apple stamping. What a darling idea with readily available supplies. We decided to give it a go.

Here O is describing in great detail exactly how the innards of an apple resemble both a star and a flower. Intriguing!

I sad to report that apple stamping did not work out for us. I am not sure what we did wrong, but the only stamps we made were brightly colored squares, not the star/flower we were so hoping for.

Apples are, however, great for spreading pretty paint around on your paper.

Nosy finally resorted to just painting apple slices, with the wrong end of the paint brush no less.

It's hard to get this kiddo down!

Our New Addition

We have been so richly blessed! We had been casually searching for a new car, something a bit bigger with a third row of seats. We test drove a few cross-overs, but once we laid eyes on this baby, we were smitten! There seems to be endless space and storage inside. We test drove it on Saturday and prayed about it over the weekend before heading back to the dealership on Monday to seal the deal. And guess what?! We walked away paying even less than our lowest offer!! Thank you, Lord!! I love bopping around town in my new minivan. And please, call me a soccer mom! I wear the title proudly!

These horrible pics that I took at the dealership are for you, DeAnn!

Daddy's Helpers

The Boys and I spent Saturday morning helping Daddy Spring-ify the yard. (I think our flower planting motivated Jeremy to spruce up the rest of the yard a bit!)

We make sure O pulls his weight around here!

Noah spent the morning putting tiny pieces of mulch down this hole. Job well done, No-nos!

What a fun, hard-working, togetherness morning!

Transportation Day

What started out as a day with not much planned besides a promised train ride, turned in to a most fun day of transportation.

First we caught the Dart rail, with no particular destination in mind. As we rode, I devised a plan. We hopped off at Cityplace and caught the free trolley, which toured us around Uptown. Mom had never ridden the trolley before, so it was extra fun to show her the ropes.

Yaya love for Nosy-Posy

Owie got to try out the motorman's special hat.

As a special treat, we stopped for Paccuigo in West Village. Delish!

And to top off transportation day, we gave my car a good scrub down.

Peek?!

We Just Can't Get Enough!

We went back to the Arbo for more, this time in the lazy warmth of the afternoon. We met up with some of my most favorite peeps: Chrys, Oliver and Truett. It was a gorgeous day and we had a wonderful, laid back time.

Owie got quite the work out!

Me doing my thing: obsessing over getting the perfect (unattainable!) brother picture.

We were doing fairly well...

...until the ear tugging began.

Chrys snapped all these great pics of me and the guys while I ran some energy off of them. Thanks, Friend!

Poor, clumsy Noah. He wipes out quite a bit. Nothing a little Mommy love can't heal.

Riding high.

Love these Boys so much!

This one too!

After Chrys left, we stuck around for a splashy good time. The Arbo had cleared out by then and we were nice and hot. A little dip felt just right.