Garden Helper

Parker is turning into such a boy's boy. Anything to do with dirt, trucks, tractors, rocks, airplanes, balls, water, or some combination of them adds up to a winner in his book.

He's figured out how to use the garden hose and water the grass. We have a couple of spots in the backyard that haven't greened up yet, so we've been putting a little "sprinkle" on them the last few evenings with the hopes that something will sprout. Of course, Parker doesn't do anything halfway--so he gets as wet as the grass!





Cooper, the innocent bystander...

A little something for her wish list...

Mother's Day is tee-minus 13 days away. Time to start thinking about what the mama in your life might enjoy:

Be sure to check out Poppytalk Handmade: click here. I love the pretty things on this site about as much as Etsy. You'll find beautiful paper goods to write a note about how much your mom means to you, accouterments for the home, and so much cool stuff I can hardly wordsmith it all. Swoon...

A couple of my favorite things from PH:

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jog...

Had a nice weekend away, and nice to be home again. Thanks to our wonderful hosts for their hospitality (and putting up with all our craziness...!) Parker was an awesome traveler and was some good entertainment on our flights.

It's good to come home, but always a little bit overwhelming to try and catch up on what I've missed and what needs to happen in the next few days. But we'll go day by day and keep smiling!

On the road again...

We're traveling the next few days so might not have time to post much. But expect a full report when we get back!

Mountain Weather Report

We've had some of the 300 days of sunshine that we've come to enjoy so much around here. Still lots of snow in the higher elevations, and even a few piles here and there when we were up around Boulder Peak last Saturday.

Tales of a (nearly) Two Year Old

So, when you're nearly two, everything that is small and round and brown looks like a cookie.

Tonight I had the unfortunate experience of burning several silver dollar-sized pancakes (this is why I really shouldn't cook) and had set them aside on a little plate so they wouldn't accidentally get eaten. We happily ate the non-burnt ones, put some blueberries on top and called it good.

We ended up going outside for an evening bike ride after dinner and I missed a couple of things near the stove while I was cleaning up. After bike ride, bath and pj's, we're getting ready to have some milk and bedtime stories, and Parker is standing at the counter—pointing at said burnt pancakes, and repeating, "cookie? please? cookie?". Since there isn't much rationalizing with a nearly two year old child, Parker enjoyed a burnt pancake-slash-cookie before bed. Ew. Just ew. The rest quickly went to burnt food heaven.

p.s. On the "just-in-case-you-care" side of things... the microwave is still out of commission. The replacement part that was supposed to be installed last Friday was broken (ugh!!) and we can't get the service man back in for almost two weeks. An inconvenience...but we'll live.

Moresville Book Club

We read books in the morning, books in the evening, books in the car.

He's getting good at stringing words together, and sometimes the hand signs to go with —"tractor book!" or "momma, more book, please" — and tonight I got a "oh my GOSH" when we got to the end of one of this week's picks. (Hard not to giggle at that one!)

This week's picks:
Ten Little Ladybugs
Good Night Gorilla
Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Wheelin'

It was so nice outside again today...hard to stay inside on days like this. We tuned up my bicycle this evening and got the Burley ready for action, and Parker was super excited to go for a ride.

My bike is great. It's nothing special--especially compared to the bikes many people have out here (which probably cost more than my first vehicle!), but it's perfect for wheeling around the neighborhood and running over to the shopping center across the way.

Pretty much, the best day ever.

We spent most of today in Boulder--had a few business items to take care of, and after that it was all fun. And we had a great time.


We enjoyed the view from Boulder Peak...


Smelled the flowers at Boulder Farmer's Market...


Ate ice cream at Ben and Jerry's on Pearl Street...


Walked around Pearl Street and giggled at the hippies...


And enjoyed the beautiful spring day outside.

Cupcakes make people happy.

I like cupcakes, even though I'm not really fond of cake itself. But I love these super-cute cupcake toppers! They look easy to make and I found some adorable rubber stamps to use for them at Paper Source. Watch out...this just might be Parker's birthday cake this summer!

Hi! Bye!

Tonight we were playing "Hi! Bye!"...Parker runs over to where I am sitting, says "hi!", snags a quick hug, then says "bye!", and runs off between the loveseat and ottoman while trying to ride his fire truck.

Maybe this is all sharing too much, but I'll take the chance...it's been an interesting day here. I had one of those days you just can't win. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and Parker woke up at 5:30 this morning...and going back to bed unfortunately wasn't an option. I woke up to him giggling and jabbering away to blue bear, with an occasional "momma? arrrre youuuu? --as in 'where are you?' " thrown in there. So that was interesting to entertain a very awake 22-month old until I'd had some coffee. (It took a little extra caffeine this morning.)

Plus, we are sans microwave--it decided to take a holiday and blows a fuse every time I press a button. Fix-it-man is coming on Friday, but until then I can't reheat any of the deliciousness I made last Saturday, and am therefore forced to cook more food--which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place.... I know, I deserve quite a pity party, don't you think? Ha!

Fortunately tomorrow is a new day! :)

Telling it like it is

Listen up. Parker's got something to say. And whatever it is....it's very important. :) (Even I couldn't decipher some of it)

Mountain Weather Report

(today's image: Pikes Peak, from our visit to Colorado Springs at the end of February. What a view, huh?)

Like a lot of places in the midwest, it's been gorgeous here--we can't get enough of being outside lately. Tomorrow is forecasted to be cooler with snow, and then back up in the 70's by Friday. Can't argue with that!

Playing with his "Shomel"

If you'll remember our post last summer about our macaroni-and-cheese pool, you'll enjoy our new "sandbox"... ha!

Parker has been wanting to dig everywhere with his "shomel" – in the freshly-laid rock, on the pathway alongside the house – pretty much anywhere that the 8" of red plastic fun will let him explore. We have a half-used bag of play sand sitting in the garage, so I figured it might as well get put to use with one of my old flowerpots. So, filled the flowerpot, and woo-hoo...somewhere new to dig. Of course the newness lasted five seconds, until he didn't have anything to shovel the sand into. So, out came another flowerpot...and the fun continued.

Sunday Outings

We ventured out after naptime to an interactive children's museum not far from our corner of the world. (I think the term children's museum is totally an oxymoron, but that's not the point.) Parker thought it was great--he especially loved the music-themed areas.

Had a great art room to make tons of cool projects, with some of the most recent artwork up on the walls. What a fun way to display your child's art!

Parker liked dancing in the mirror.


This was super cool--it had sensors that played a note when your hand waved over it. Each colored light was a different note of the scale...

Saturday

As you can tell by the previous post, we had a rather low-key day today. Kind of nice, but I'm glad to see that tomorrow's forecast is for a much warmer and sunnier day--so I'm looking forward to getting outside. Too windy, cold and overcast today...boo.

Parker did lots of coloring in his favorite Wiggles book; we played blocks, puzzles, and trucks; and made a yummy pizza to share for dinner. All in all, a fun day together.

Look What's Cookin'

I feel like I need to visually prove that the stove does get used now and again. However, I don't pretend to be a good cook, or even like it a whole lot. But things around here have been busy lately, and I'm trying to accomplish several things by making a few meals ahead of time--in the line of eating better and saving time, mostly. So this afternoon during naptime, I thumped down the recipe book and surprised even myself. (Although I'm making no promises...we'll see how Parker likes all of it--he's the real judge!)

Moresville Book Club

Oprah has one...why can't we? :)

We love to read books. Books about trucks, animals, the farm, touch and feel books, you name it. Parker tends to get hooked on anywhere from two to four of 'em at a time....and begs you to read them over and over and o-v-e-r again.

It's funny to try and mix them in with the other books, because it totally becomes a game of judging books by their covers. He'll toss the other ones aside until he finds one of the three weekly favorites. Ha!

This week's selections:
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Corduroy (the original)
I Love You Through and Through

Baby S

I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph the beautiful Baby S...she is such a sweet baby, and it was an honor to capture such a brief moment in time.

Retraction: Mountain Weather Report

So, I might have allured to the thought that spring is almost upon us. That is, until I flipped on the news this evening to discover we're on the edge of a good-sized spring snowstorm. Brace yourselves--tomorrow night we might see anywhere from 3 to 12" of snow depending on how it tracks. I thought we were past this...but from the looks of things, we'll keep the snow "shomels" (as Parker calls them) on standby.

Mountain Weather Report

We have been seeing lots of peek-a-boo's of spring--and still a little sprinkle of snow here and there in the mornings when we wake up. Most of the ski resorts are closing up shop for the season in the next week or two, so everyone is scrambling for the high country to get in one last "hurrah" until the fall.

So, Ya Wanna Be a Rock Star?

Every summer when we'd go up north to see my grandparents, my grandfather would ask us this question: "Do you want to be a rock star?" And of course, being young and gullible, we'd nod our heads in affirmation. We later learned that his term of "rock star" meant going out to the fields and picking rocks...every good Midwestern kid knows what it means to go out and pick rock!

So we were "rock stars" yesterday afternoon. We combined our landscaping rock order with the neighbors next door, to finish off a couple of bare areas in the backyard. It didn't look like a lot of rock at the time, but by the 8th or 9th wheelbarrow load, seemed like a million tons (and I don't feel like I did as much as Mike or Ames-friend-who-lives-here-too who came to help--p.s...a very public "thank you" again!!)

Parker liked helping pick one rock up at a time with his "shomel" from G&G for Easter. And now, it's done, which is the best part!

Hello?

We'd love to hear from you....drop us a comment, two, or ten. We're lonely, desperate, and need some validation that you really do read this.

The mostest deliciousest

It's been a super busy week, and Parker and I are both jonesing for some time together and a little fun. So we did an unexpected activity this evening and made cookies. This, after he ate a ton of dinner and then asked for a snack an hour later, which isn't like him. I was happy to do something out of the ordinary, so we made a bunch of simple sugar cookies, froze some for later, and frosted some to enjoy now. We shared an unfrosted one before bedtime...definitely a guilty indulgence.

I'm not much of a cookie decorator. That would fall under cooking, and I'm rather awkward in the kitchen. So, while I promise not to quit my day job, it was fun to do something different this evening. Parker thought it was fun too, especially when we sprinkled flour on the countertop. See how much is all over him?!

More bathtime fun

We are pumping the little man full of ABC's and 123's lately. He does great until you get to the letter I, and then he finds himself distracted...anyway, we're working on it. He's also obsessed with anything that resembles a guitar, á la Guitar Hero, I'm embarassed to say... Tonight's object of resemblance was a pancake flipper (is that what they're called?)-thinger that didn't make it back from the clean dishwasher to the utensil drawer.

Anyway, more bathtime antics....

Going Green

So I'm kind of signing my "Yup, I'm from Colorado" card. In pencil, anyway (not in pen like our Ames-friends-who-live-out-here-too with their purchase of all new ski gear--although I'm slightly jealous and living vicariously through their trips to the mountains, but that's another topic for another day). I am trying really hard to reuse or recycle plastic bags, since they just seem to multiply exponentially with every trip to the supermarket, Target, etc. So I found these super-sweet Envirosax and love how they look--not to mention, durable, washable, and reusable. That's good design put to good use.