Allergies

Jeremy took the boys horseback riding today.  It was discovered during this outing that Jack is severely allergic to horses.  Poor kid, takes after his mama. 

Here are a couple of pictures taken after a shower, a dose of allergy medication and a couple of hours.

He was a trooper and never complained.

Spring is Here

Spring has officially begun.  I am not sure I am excited about that.  The wind is so terrible here in the spring, that I actually hate spring more than winter.  It stinks!!!!!  However, one little spring tidbit did bring a smile to my face yesterday.  I had been over to the elementary school to see Thomas be given the citizenship award, and when I was walking up to my door after coming home, I saw this . . .

One little brave flower had come out in my flower bed, like a little reminder that there are a few nice things about spring, even in Taylor.  I can't wait for the Forsythia to start blooming.

Now, wish me luck that those little flowers will get me through the next 3-4 months.

Dutch Oven Dinner, S'mores, and Glow Sticks = Good Times

Yesterday, the weather was really nice and Jeremy got off work early, so we decided to get out of town for a spur of the moment cookout before the bad weather returns next week. We had a good time and enjoyed being outdoors again.

Sorry, there are a lot of pictures on this post, but I will keep the words to a minimum.

We decided to try this simple version of a s'more, with fudge stripe cookies.  Definitely easier.  Jeremy liked them better than the real deal, I didn't like them as much, but regardless, they were enjoyed by all.

We got out the glow sticks at dusk.

Don't worry, we are not awful parents.  Jack asked for handcuffs, and he thought this picture was pretty cool.

Summer cannot come soon enough!!

Easter Grass Time

Hey all!  My boys and I will be planting our Easter Grass on Monday. If you want to join us you will need the following:

1. Planting Containers
2. Potting Soil
3. Grass Seed

Put a good amount of potting soil in your containers, sprinkle the grass seed on top and rake it in lightly, then moisten the soil and seed and keep it moist (not wet) until it starts to sprout, this should take about one week.  After that, just give the grass some water every other day, and in another week, your Easter Grass should look about like the picture above.

My boys and I look forward to doing this every year.  If you plant in the next few days, you should have a perfect, bright green centerpiece for your easter table.

Getaway

Jeremy had a conference in Phoenix, so the three little boys and I tagged along.  This is the perfect time of year to visit Phoenix.  It was nice to escape the dreariness of an old winter for a few days. Dallin and Thomas had school, so they couldn't come, but they had a good time staying with GG and Grandad.

We visited my good friend, Sandy, and we ate at some of our favorite restaurants, we did some shopping, and played and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  The hotel we stayed in had a really nice pool.  The boys loved it!  Unfortunately, the only pictures I got of our fun little getaway, were at the pool.

See the pretty little fountains?  You can also see Jeremy and the boys in the hot tub back there.

Jack, literally kicking back and relaxing in the water.

Drake hanging out in the hot tub.  He was making friends with the bikini clad girl in the hot tub too.  Hmmmmmmm.

Tad, just being his normal cute self.

Jeremy and the boys hanging out by the fireplace at night.

And I had to throw in this picture of the pool at night, just because I thought it was pretty.

We had a good time and it was hard to come back to real life, but we were really happy to see Dallin and Thomas again, so that made it bearable.

A Slice of Life

Here are my cute little guys having some fun with play dough this morning.

For a glimpse of the situation that is a little more real.

Jack couldn't wait to finish getting dressed before he started in on the play dough, and check out the mess in that hall.  I'm keepin' it real here folks. 

Rocking Chair Re-do

When I was a little girl, I had a little white rocking chair. I have a lot of fond memories of rocking in it with my dolls. Shortly after I got married, Jeremy and I found the little white rocker in my mom's basement in pieces. We picked all of the pieces up and took them back to our house, with plans to fix it up for our little girl someday. Five boys later, we have given up on any little girls coming to live at our house, but I couldn't bear to let the little rocker sit in pieces in the garage any longer, so we fixed it up for Tad for Christmas.

Now, some purists may be apalled that I painted over this rocker, but let me tell you, the chair was in really sorry shape. In fact, Jeremy told me many times that if it hadn't been sentimental to me, he would have thrown it in the trash. He had to manufacture some new spindles, dowels, and supports for it and put it all back together, then it took a lot of cleaning and sanding, but we ended up with a cute little rocking chair that my little boys are really enjoying.

Here are a couple of pictures of the chair after Jeremy got it back into working order, but before the paint job.

A final look at how I remember this rocking chair.

And a final look at the manufacturers sticker.

A couple coats of aqua paint and this rocker is clean, cute, and boy (or girl) appropriate.

Thanks Jeremy! I love it!!