A project for da boy

Dear Daughter got a fairy, Dear Son got a DSi Cozy.

These are the perks of having a knitty momma.

momma’s new stuff

Peonies. Peonies. How I love the Peonies.

Thrifty find of the week:

(Not the kid, of course, but the iron bench and outdoor ottoman.)

and I think my woes have been settled in the dining area (notice how I didn’t say dining room? well, it’s really just a walk through to the kitchen).  It’s been a never ending drama filled area, with me never satisfied with the new arrangements.  Well, darlings, I think that’s all done now (the drama), because this area is now PERFECTO!!!!

Here’s the before:

and now….drumroll…..tadahhhhh, the after:

p.s. as I was writing this, my dd asked me if she could go back in my belly.  She’s 4, wears a size 6, and weighs 35lbs.  I said sure.  She then tried to put her head in my belly button.  Kids are so funny!

A little concert and a little dirt

DS sang in a concert the other night.  See that look he’s giving me?  You’d think he was having a bad time, but he said he was just nervous.  Sometimes, he’s such a sour puss, I don’t know what to do.  Yesterday, when I made dinner, he cried.  I made a perfectly good pasta salad with artichoke hearts and olives.  I’m so worried when this kid is a teen.

And my other kid?  Well, she’s happy even when she’s playing with dirt.

Not that I am comparing them, because we’re all different.

As for comparing, I’m finding I took the same exact pictures of my garden last year as I have been this year.  How do I spice things up?Hrm.  Well, at least last year didn’t have an ant on the peony. Check it out:

And really, you can never have too many pictures of your garden, right?

I love my garden so much, I put a lil dirty Buddha there to protect it.

Gardening, how I missed thee.

Finally, I got to dig my hands in the dirt.

You know what feels like an accomplishment?  When I can name all of the plants in my yard.  And all of the trees in my neighborhood.  Without the little tags to remind me.  The first year we were in this house, I brought my Complete Garden Flower book with me everywhere (a gift from my DH, awww), until I finally had it figured out what was out there and what I wanted add.

So,,,here goes:

spinach; cinnamon basil; carrots; rhododendron; hydrangea; mum; hosta; my veggie garden: tomato, beans, peppers, lettuce; tomato; pepper; a dying tulip; petunias with a wind charm; a garden angel; lily of the valley.

Playground fun

On Mother’s day, we went for a walk and then we took a really long nap.  It was the perfect day, because before that we went to brunch at French Meadow, which is my favorite place to eat.  Anyway, I finally brought my camera along.

1. The kids always eat 1/2 fruit & nut pancake and 1/2 cinnamon bagel each

2. I love the breakfast quesadilla

3. on the trail

4. -7. playground fun

8. self timer.

9. my apple tree in the spring.

I love you, Spring

While we wait for some sort of answer as to whether this weather is going to last or not, I’m going batty not gardening in the sunshine.  So, I asked dh if he’d put up the gazebo.  Last year we tore down the porch and the slab of cement has been so lonely.  I thought the gazebo would give us a sense of privacy again.  It hasn’t, but it still looks nice.  (and is a good place to get shade for the hot summer months)

And the peonies are coming up. They’re my all time favorite!

I caught dh practicing his golf swing.  He played for the first time of the season just the other day.  Here we go with the golf swing practice while waiting for dinner to cook, while waiting in lines at the store, while out having a drink, you name the place he’ll stop to check his golf swing (minus the club, of course).

(in fact, he’ll be checking the blog to see how his swing looks. )

Anyway, here’s to hoping you’re having a fantabulous spring.

xxoo, G

Easter egg huntin.

And I made ham and homemade rolls.  Granted, the ham was fully cooked anyway, but I added some pineapple, cloves, and brown sugar for some extra flavor. Yum.

Dinner Linner Brunch was scrumptious. (what do you call it when you eat at 2?)

And my sweet, sweet main squeeze got me some flowers. awww.

Spring has officially sprung.

The tulips are sprouting!!!

Nature is amazing, isn’t it?

aint nothin but a number.

When I was going through my weight watchers stage (and I call it a stage, because it only lasted a couple of months), I bought a weight watchers scale.  Don’t you think the marketing for weight watchers is funny?  I mean, they seriously have a monopoly on the points idea, don’t they?  Anyway, the scale tells you your weight not only by pounds, but it throws in the ounces, too.  And you know how I’ve been working out – well, I should be losing weight, shouldn’t I be?  The scale wasn’t saying so.  How cruel.  So, I thought, “hmm, maybe I need to move it.”  And so I moved it over a tile.  Well, guess what?!  I lost a pound and an ounce doing that!  So, I decided to move it again.  This time, I moved it to the carpet.  Aha!  I knew that thing was wrong – on carpet, I weighed 65 pounds less than on the tiles.  I know, I know, I didn’t believe it either.  So, I decided to bring it to a different area of the house all together.  And guess what?!  I was two pounds and three ounces less than when I weighed myself on the first tile.  So, what does this mean?  It means I have no friggin clue how much I weigh.  And I guess if I were to take a moral from the story, it would be that weight aint nothin but a number.  So, hmm.

weekend part duex

So, my dh keeps calling me from work, asking “where’s part 2? where’s part 2?”

Well, here it is…

Saturday, we were so early to the movie that they were closed.  I’ve never been that early in my life!   So, we went to Target and Byerlys and got movie treats galore.  We all put them in our pockets and our purses and told the kids to shhh about our hidden goodies.  What was I teaching my children?  It wasn’t like we were stealing!  Then, when my mom said, “don’t say anything or we’ll go to jail,” I had to intervene and say, “well, worst case scenario, we’ll be kicked out.”  Oh what a great mom I am.

When we were getting our tickets, they guy said, “under 3 are free.”  I said, ‘perfect,” even though I knew perfectly well that my four year old was NOT three!!  Again, what am I teaching my kids?

But we got in with my free ticket for the four three year old.  And then when she didn’t blow our cover, I rewarded her with m&ms and cookies and chips and twizzlers.

To offset my karma, I bought one lousy FOUR DOLLAR soda.

My ds, niece, and mom saw Alice in Wonderland.  With my dd, I watched The Chipmunks The Squeakual; OMG, kill me, please.

That night, my older brother came over for dinner.  He told us about his new phone that has INTERNET!!!  I already have internet on my phone and I have all of the cool apps, so just to oblige him I ooohed and awed.  But then he told us about how he thought he was downloading an app for something or other and it turned out to be an app for his PMS calendar, and I just about peed my pants.  Of course, it turned into inappropriate humor and since my mom and I had had one too many pours from the wine box, we laughed and laughed.

On Sunday, my mom went to dog obedience training with me and she actually said Charlie is a good dog.  woop woop woop woop.  So, maybe that 100.00 is paying off.  also, guess what!  I scheduled a ONE ON ONE with the dog trainer for last week that I missed.  umm, what I want to know is why would anyone NOT miss class if you are gonna get a one on one in return?  I think there are more absences in the future…

I think this has been the best visit from my mom so far.  I was so sad to see her leave.  Could she really be my best friend?  possibly, just possibly.  Wow, what a long way we’ve come from my teenage years.

And what’s great about having two extra girls (my mom and niece) in the house?  Models!!!  Check it out:

And let me just say….yes, as you can tell, I am not the perfect mother, but what can I do?  This is 2010.  this is what I have to deal with:

Oh Lordy, I thought my mom had it bad when I was a teenager.  I wonder what I am in store for….