The first thing my son said to me this morning was "Mom, we need more croutons."
Also, the other day he was saying part of the alphabet backwards, and subtracting(ish).

So we've been really busy lately. Last weekend, we went up to Fayetteville for a Get-To-Gather with our car friends. It was a fun weekend. Xander ran around with his friends, I talked with my friends and RJ looked at cars and went on a drive. Also, we raised money for a baby with tumors in her eyes, and I won one of the door prizes. And, on Sunday we went to brunch and sat outside and the weather was beautiful.

RJ is officially done with classes and just has to get through finals next week. Graduation is on Saturday!

And also, it's Spring in my backyard...

Self-Portrait

He was outlining himself in chalk to make a self-portrait. He ended up with pink chalk all over- on his clothes, his face, his hair, his legs.

How I Spent My Spring Break

The Monkey and I got bikes!

This is my bike. Her name is Bonnie.
(the mens bike that matches it is called Clyde)

We're still trying to figure out how to get it to stay securely on the bike rack.


In all his padded glory.
He did a really good job his first day. He's got the hang of pedaling, but he doesn't quite understand stopping yet. He did a good job stopping on flat ground, but not so good on a slope. It was a little traumatic.

And also, Callie came to stay with us a couple of nights. The Monkey loved it, and cried when she left.


Watching a movie.

Deflating the air mattress.

It's beginning to look a lot like Springtime

This is how you know it's spring! I love it when this tree blooms!


And also, the summer tires go on! He put on the new front struts, too, so it lowers all the way again. He's very excited.

And also, has anyone else noticed a faint dusting of pollen? I noticed it when I was cleaning windows at work yesterday. Time to break out the allergy meds!


Easter Eggs:

classic

actually, before this, he was holding the spaghetti in a long strand over his mouth and gobbling it down.

Snow Days

Making snow trails and a snow flower


Perfect Camouflage


When I was little, my mom would put sandwich baggies over our gloves with rubber bands so our hands wouldn't get wet. I only had ziplock bags and electrical tape. It worked, though!


Making a tiny snowman

Something's been lost in translation

Yesterday, the Monkey said to me:
Mom, do you want to hear a scary story? Moses was scared by a big shark, and the shark ate him, and there were worms in the sharks belly.

Then I said: Do you mean Jonah?

Monkey: Yeah, Jonah! Then Joshua was in the shark, and the shark scared him.

Making Snow Angels

Oh! No! Oh No!

Busy Weekend

RJ's siblings came over for the day. We went to the zoo...


Looking at the monkeys with the Monkeys.



At the beginning, before all the whining began.








Then, we went to cheer on my mom and aunt as they did the LR Marathon. They walked the half marathon.

Almost done! We cheered them and held signs for them.


With their medals!

Socks!! With Sandals!!!

Amy and I made mugs at the paint-your-own-pottery place. Guess which one belongs to me and which one belongs to Amy!

My child. Wearing socks. With sandals. I almost fell over dead.

His angry face. But he's trying not to smile.

Valentines Flowers


Pocket full o' markers.

Our Friday Night Adventure

So Friday we left the boy with Dave and Amy, and went to Fayetteville.

We went to see Mix Master Mike. I was more excited to get out of town and to see friends and stuff, but the show was really great! Really loud, really crowded, but really great
(fyi: there's a little bit of Offensive Language further into the clip)


So it was fun. I wasn't into going at first, but then reasoned that it's pretty rare that we're able to go do something like that- just the two of us. So that made it totally worthwhile.

And the kid had so much fun at Dave and Amy's. They totally wore him out. I was really excited that he got to stay with them- I feel like we need to squeeze in all the Dave and Amy time that we can!

Fun Pictures from Wanda

She was carving up the pumpkins to cook, but the Monkey got to draw on them first.

And, then of course, he ran away as soon as he saw the camera.

I was driving behind RJ this weekend, and I was all, "what on earth is written on your car?" Aparently, at drill this weekend, he appropriated the biggest flashlight I've ever seen. And Norton wanted it? For real, it's huge. It's as big as a baby. Maybe even bigger.
Also, I just really love the effort that was put into this.

This just makes my day. I love it when he's in the kitchen with me, coloring or painting. Also, we listen to NPR. It's a great way to start the day.

I guess it was just an upside down day.

I remember doing this when I was little. I think I did it because of Mork & Mindy, though.

Monkey theme

The Monkey and his friend during bedtime stories. We had friends down this weekend- he and RJ went to a show Friday night, and she and I kept the boys and hung out. Then we foisted the boys off on the men and went out on our own on Saturday. It was a great weekend!

The Monkey with Elmo and Cookie Monster. He's wearing only a shirt and underwear, and sitting in his new chair. And I'm taking the picture from the kitchen, zooming in on him and trying, unsuccessfully, to not shake the camera. Because I knew that if he noticed me, he'd get up and run away. Which he did right after I took this picture.

Fire

The in-laws got us a firepit for our aniversiary. We used it for the first time a couple of weeks ago with some friends. It was freezing, but the fire was hot, and the s'mores were yummy. And the Monkey loved it! (even though he wouldn't eat a s'more)

How did this become about clothes?

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
-William Morris

This is one of my favorite quotes, and I go through spurts of doing this in our house. I think I'm going through another phase with this, which involves much throwing/giving out of things. For example: sometime this week, I want to go through all of our clothes and give away the ones we never wear anymore.

And I want to go through the Monkey's clothes to give away the ones that I really don't want to keep, or that he never really wore. (again. It's not like I've never done this. :) ) Oh, also, he's growing big, so I need to go through his drawers to take out the stuff he's outgrown, which means finding a place for it in his clothes storage. There's a lot of guilt/attachment for me with his clothes. I don't want to get rid of them, because what if we have another baby boy. Then I do want to get rid of them because we might not have another baby boy, and besides, we'd probably enjoy shopping for a new baby, too. Then, I don't want to get rid of them, because they're his sweet baby clothes, and he looked so cute, and we had such good times with those clothes. Or they were given to us by someone we love very much, so I don't want to get rid of them because of that attachment.

And then there's the issues with RJ's clothes! haha! just kidding. Sort of. mostly.

Best Thing Ever. (It's actually a planter.)

Finally... Normal Life

I am so excited about this week- life is almost back to normal!

We've got a normal work-week. Nothing canceled or the office closed. No more loooong days doing the entire building in one go.

There are no more out-of-the-ordinary, special occasion things to do.

And, Best Of All, I've got my car back!!!!! My husband and his very generous friend finished the clutch replacement on Saturday night. I'm so excited that it is done, and so proud of my husband for doing it himself!