Running Through the Grass on a Windy Day

We climbed a hill and found a field of grass to run through while waiting for our car to finish at the mechanic's.

It was a windy and beautiful day.

Love, Us.

Identifying Spring Flowers

The kiddos spent their afternoon collecting spring flowers one day last week.

I broke out the field guides for them to find out what we had around.

Unfortunately, Holy Week then happened, and I never followed up with them about what they identified.

Oh, well! They sure are pretty, even without names.

Love, Us.

Normal Times with Dad

What happens when Joe gets together with a bunch of kiddos raised by him?

This.

Love, Us.

Happy Easter!

We attempted pictures before the Vigil while we were all done up for the celebration. 

Unfortunately, numerous attempts completely failed due to self-timer complications and a running-away toddler.

This was the best result... sad, but true. 

At least Patch looked good in it, because we then gave up and went to the classic selfie shot.

And... Patch didn't quite make it.

Oh, well! We tried!

Happy Easter!

Our Holy Saturday

This is what our Holy Saturday looks like... 

A pizza dough tomb with an amputee soldier (along with an entire zoo) guarding it.

It may not be historically (or geographically) correct, but I think the kiddos' hearts are in the right place.

Love, Us.

Some Old Pics for Good Friday

I'm gathering up our Easter clothes to check for necessary laundering and ironing today. 

Hopefully I'll have a moment to snag a good family pic over the weekend with us in them. 

But... for now I am still finding events that I've failed to document here on the blog from the past month.

Here is a castle that the kiddos made outside one day from our largest moving boxes. 

The pictures aren't that great, but the kids sure had a blast with it!

Hope your are having a blessed Triduum!

Love, Us.

The Story of This Counter Top

This is the kitchen counter top that I grew up with.

It will now be "mom's desk" that my kids will grow up with.

I like that...

Love, Us.

Speaking of Wild Animals...

I know this is a horrible picture, but take that as proof that I took it! 

We got back late one evening after Jiu Jitsu just in time for me to see an animal standing in our front yard.

At first, it looked like a cat... but that didn't quite fit. 

On closer inspection (chasing it across our yard, the street, and our neighbor's yard), it was clearly an armadillo!

How cool is that!?

Love, Us.

Zoo Trips

We've visited the zoo twice in the past week.

It sure is wonderful that the North Carolina Zoo has reciprocal membership with our local zoo!

A free visit to a zoo makes the hour and a half trip an easy decision!

(Especially when there is a great used book store in the same town! Ha!)

Our first trip (last week) was on a very HOT day... it was over 80 degrees, and we came home with tan lines.

FYI: My, hand-down, favorite is Mr. Hippo! 

So far he has always been hanging out in his mud pit. 

We are anxious for the day when we can see him swimming in his pool!

This week's trip was on a much cooler day, so the animals were more active.

Also, we forgot to throw in the wagon, so Romeo got to enjoy the zoo on foot!

It was a quick trip this week. After Mr. Hippo, we focused on our other favorites:

Mr. Reddy Fox

And Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Otter!

 

Love, Us.

Spending Time Snapping Pictures at the Hospital

We found ourselves spending a long length of time at the hospital for numerous routine things last week.

So... we broke out the camera and ended up with pictures of some good-looking people!

Enjoy!

We will forgive T for her less-than-gorgeous pic.

She was waiting for her first ever blood draw, so her smile may not have been super genuine. 

However, despite her concern beforehand, she did AMAZING! 

Love, Us.

Our Sweet T is 8!

Thérèse is 8 today!

We love her so much and couldn't imagine life without her among us. 

She so often is the glue that holds this crazy place together! 

Recently, however, she has also sewn several things together.

She is quite the talented seamstress now!

Point in fact, here is her latest and greatest sewing project.

She got some ideas from projects we saw online, and then she added her own flair!

Here is the first of its kind "Crafting Zip-Up and Lay-Flat Carry-All Purse"!

Didn't she do an amazing job!?

And... after many such wonderful projects (and the help of a generous Christmas gift card from her Godfather), 

she has earned her very own sewing machine!

She is SOOOO excited (and so am I)!

It arrived just in time for her big day.

We love you, T, and are so proud of the little lady you are becoming!

Love, Us.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

Thanks to our wonderful Aunt T, I am listening to the "Irish Rovers" as I type this.

That will get you jigging in the morning!

I hope you have a fun day planned.

We started ours out with the above-mentioned jigging, getting dressed in green, and enjoying green waffles!

We have no choice around here, being that we have one child that sounds like he is Irish...

and another that looks like he is Irish!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Love, Us.

Our Nature Discovery: The Sycamore Tree!

When my dad was visiting, one of the many things he was curious about 

was a tree by our playground that looked as if it was dying.

The bark was all peeled off of the top half to the tree, yet there were buds on all of the branches.

He (and I) thought this was quite mysterious.

Well, a couple weeks later, I had by that time noticed many more such trees around the area. 

Now, in addition to the strange peeling bark, they all had these funny balls hanging from them.

So... while the kids and I were down by the river, I decided to get up close and investigate.

The balls were a big squishy, but if you squished too much, they turned into this!

And where did the rest of the ball go, you may ask?

It went all over us! And I mean all over! 

I had to come home and take a bath... those itchy sticky seeds were everywhere!

So... now that I had done my investigating, I did my research and found out that these were Sycamore trees!

Yay! I love "discovering" the nature around me!

Love, Us.

A Spring Nature Walk By the River

We spent a bit of an afternoon back at the spot where we went fishing years ago.

The kids enjoyed the reminiscing, and it was the perfect day to hang out by the river!

We even made a fun nature discovery... stay tuned until tomorrow!

Love, Us.

The Haircut Results

Don't these guys look sharp!?

Love, Us.

The Time Has Come!

What time, you say?

The time to rid our house of all unnecessary hair!

There is a LOT of it hanging around here currently.

Love, Us.

Spring has Sprung!

We are full into spring here! 

I'm not 100% sure what kind of tree this is in our front yard, but I think it is a type of Magnolia... a Stella Magnolia?

Here are the stages of its spring budding. 

I thought it had the prettiest fuzzy buds to start.

 I can't find that picture right now, but you can see one in the background

Happy Spring!

Love, Us.

A Much-Needed Nerf Battle

We don't see dad very often around here. 

We cherish our breakfast time and about 15 minutes before bed.

Anything more than that, even on weekends, is simply bonus for us right now.

That is what studying for the Bar plus keeping on top of his regular studies will do.

Therefore, we sure enjoy those extra "bonus" times that we are given here and there.

Last weekend, Joe worked extra diligently and got home an hour early. 

The Nerf Battle was on!

The wait had been worth it!

Love, Us.