Spring Breaking

March 15, 20131 Comment

This past week was spring break for Bay (why preschoolers need a break, I’ll never know) and it happen to coincide with one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had with the water company. To say that I am exhausted is an understatment. The good news is that with a little sleep training, the big guy has been sleeping amazingly. So while mentally falling apart, at least I’m getting more consecutive hours of sleep than I’ve seen in almost six months.

I recap our week in pictures:

Train Park fun – could someone tell me where those legs came from??!

Not totally sure about the sand

90 degree heat never looked so cute

Perfection.

Fun with the sprinklers in the backyard. Please disregard the dead plants – I’ve decided if it’s going to be 94 degrees today, it’s probably not going to freeze again – so I’m trimming this weekend. Fingers crossed. Focus on how lovely the grass looks! Oh and the cute kids!

This is what happens when you’re too small to fight off your sister…

It’s really too bad that we don’t have enough Little People to make AN ENTIRE CITY WITH TWO SCHOOL BUSES AND SAFARI CARS

Auggie patiently listening to his singer songwriter sister

The Happiest of Hours

February 22, 20131 Comment

We live in a one of those weird neighborhoods where we know (and like) almost everyone on our street. Not only that, but there are a ton of kids and they have a blast playing together. Another benefit is when you get a text from a neighbor at 8am that says “Does 345 work for wine/bikes?”. The answer is yes. Yes it does.

And this is what 4 moms and 9 kids having happy hour looks like:

Riding down the street

Controlled chaos

Bay giving J a ride

The girls and the babies

Happy mommas

Berkley keeping watch

Auggie and H baby wrestling

We stayed out until Peter pulled up – it was like your mom calling you home for dinner since he arrived with Julio G’s Mexican food!

(Almost) ManCave

January 17, 20124 Comments

PW dreams of the day when we will own a home that has enough space for him to have his own office where he can hang whatever dead animal on the wall that he wants, watch ESPN all the time and smoke cigars. Until then, he’ll have to make due with his newest creation; the outdoor TV:

I bought this armoire at a neighbor’s yard sale like 3 years ago. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew I had to have it. I envisioned it on the patio full of pots of succulents – the pots never materialized, but three years in the elements gave it an awesome finish.

The finished product looks a little rough, but it wasn’t quite finished when I snapped this pic. I’m planning to put some pots around it to add a little greenery – right now you stare at the gas main and the grill (which PW thinks is AWESOME, because what man doesn’t like staring at his grill?). But unlike the succulents, a pot with a vine trailing over the side of the armoire is GOING TO HAPPEN.

I have to say, it is pretty cool. Peter also got to show off his manly man skills by removing the two shelves from the cabinet, sanding the inside to make the paint a little more even and then reusing the shelves to make a box to set the TV on. To say he is thrilled with his creation is an understatement. If it hadn’t started raining Sunday afternoon, he would probably still be out there. I think it’s greatness has yet to be realized but it’s coming during March Maddness. A little sun tan, a little beer and no waiting for a table at a sports bar? Priceless.

Fall Has…

October 6, 2011Leave a comment

Fallen? I guess if Spring has Sprung, that makes sense.

Anyway, it’s finally cooled down a little and we’ve been so happy to have all the doors and windows open all the time. This also means we’ve been playing outside as much as possible. We broke out the water table and toys, the sidewalk chalk and the paint brushes. Yes, I said paint brushes.

We discovered at the Children’s Museum one of the simplest and most fun activities – painting with water. Yes, you read that right. We get out the paint brushes, rolers and sponges, get a bucket of water and head out to the patio to get our paint on:

No clean up. No mess.

Also another all time favorite, the sidewalk chalk. And PW showed Bay how to make a hop scotch pattern and jump around:

I love this…

So if you’re looking for us, we’ve gone chalkin’. Be back soon.

Bird Watching

July 27, 20112 Comments

Technically, I think these two are fish watching. They are sitting on my mom and step dad’s porch in Montana, staring out at the lake. Sometimes they would shout “bird!!” and sometimes “fish!!”. I’m not sure if Baylor was confused as to what she was supposed to be looking at or if she really did see fish jumping. Either way, it’s adorable.

Looking back to get instructions from Noni

Fish? Birds? Or just fun to hold the binoculars?

Weekend Work

May 25, 20113 Comments

Baylor and I did a lot of yard work this weekend. Her contributions are along the lines of:

1. Don’t pull the plants out that have just been planted

2. Play in a big bucket of water

3. Water the plants. The house. The patio. And herself.

But we did get a lot new color in that will hopefully last at least until it’s 110!

Beautiful Salvia and Portulaca – a favorite!

I love that you never know what color the flowers will be

Finally getting bigger berries – these are aaalllmoosst ready!

Reduce, Recycle and Reuse

March 21, 20111 Comment

A few years ago, Peter’s mom and dad gave us two beautiful chimineas straight from Mexico. And literally with in a week, we had broken one of them.

For those not in the know – a chiminea is a little ceramic fireplace for the outdoors.

Well, WE didn’t break it, the umbrella did. If I hadn’t seen what happened with my own eyes, we probably would have never been able to piece the crime scene together. I was on a conference call for work and pacing the house. It was one of those extremely boring calls but one that required me to actually pay attention so pacing kept me from the temptation of Facebook and People.com. As I passed through the living room, I stopped to admire how nice our backyard looked. The plants were green, we had new patio furniture and of course, the chimineas. As I was watching, a small breeze kicked up – and suddenly the umbrella in the new patio table was lifted from its resting place, flipped end over end into the chiminea and landing in the small tree in the corner of the yard. Bam! Just like that, my beautiful utopia was smashed. literally. The chiminea was broken and spilling sand all over the patio, the umbrella broke and arm and more than one delicate branch on the tree was snapped.

Stunned, sad and a little too emotional to trash the broken chiminea, I convinced Peter to help me move it to a spot in the yard where I could turn it into a planter. PW was skeptical and not very supportive, but he can’t say no to my sad face/ nagging so the chiminea found a new home and became a new home for plants.

It dawned on me when I was watering it this week just how pretty the Petunias looked spilling out the front opening and the broken back – and then a little breeze kicked up….Bay and I made sure the umbrellas were all down and then took cover, just in case.

Take A Hike

March 1, 20111 Comment

Last Sunday afternoon, we decided to venture out to one of the great hiking trails near our home and enjoy some nature. It had rained the night before so we knew the desert would be particularly beautiful. The clouds were big and puffy, the air clear, it couldn’t have been nicer. Peter carried Ms.B in the backpack and we enjoyed some great family time.

The Iphone camera doesn’t do the view justice. There is snow on the Four Peaks in the distance. Cotton candy clouds and blue blue skies.

Happy hikers

Resolution Work

January 25, 20113 Comments

We had a big gardening day this past weekend (last last weekend). Peter completed the amazing lettuce table and while slightly bigger than we both thought it would be, it. is. awesome:

Stay tuned for more pictures of it filled with beautiful heads of lettuce and strawberries. Note the super cool pot shelf underneath. We were at the nursery and saw a similar table with a shelf – so he came home and just added it. I love having a handy hubby.

I worked on planting my two new rose bushes, a ton of bulbs and some seeds for veggies. I prepped beds for planting tomatoes next month and did a lot of fertilizing and cleaning up. I love getting my hands in the dirt. The smell is so earthy, it just feels good to get your hands dirty and stand back and see your accomplishments. Here are some of the highlights:

Roses on either side, Freesia bulbs in the middle and carrot seeds in a row along the front. Not sure if the carrots are going to grow, stay tuned.

Pots and pots of bulbs, seeds and herbs:

More to come as all my pretties start to grow!

What We Wish For

January 18, 2011Leave a comment

The color of one of my new rose bushes is called “Peace”. It’s soft white with a light pink edge – just stunning. Pictures to come.

When I made up the marker, I couldn’t help by make a peace sign on the rock. We all need a little more peace in our day, lives and world. What better way to channel that peace than with a beautiful, fragrant rose. And a simple little marker to remind us to sow the peace we want to see in the world.

One of my favorite prayers is the prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

The Goon Room

A little of everything and nothing, all in one blog

Tag: outdoors