Easter 2014

Josh came to town for Easter last weekend. What fun it is to have him around!

We managed to color and hunt for eggs with Ezra.

The egg dying didn't go as well as we hoped it would.

Ezra tried to drink the vinegar dye!

But then we went outside for an egg hunt.

Ezra didn't quite get the whole pick up the eggs and put them in your basket concept.

He kept stopping to pick up rocks and leaves instead.

It's a lot for an 18-month-old to understand.

I did manage to get one photo of Ezra retrieving an egg.

                                      

Josh's fingers were orange from the egg dying we did earlier.

He thought it looked like he had been eating Cheetos!

The next day we tried an egg hunt inside.

This time we put one M&M inside seven eggs and placed them around the living room.

After he opened an egg and tasted the first M&M he was on a roll!

Here's a photo of Ezra with an M&M in his hand.

Clearly appreciating the yummy-ness of chocolate!

You can even see both of his dimples.

Lots of time for some nephew/uncle wrestling.

Uncles are the best!

Battle with the Boxwood

I finally completed the front yard makeover! Woo-hoo! It only took me about...20 years or so.

When we moved into the house it had very boring beds in the front. As in just a line of Japanese boxwood in a row. A straight line. So un-nature-like.

This is a Japanese boxwood for all you non-gardener type people.

Except my boxwood didn't look this nice. Over the years it was neglected and had to survive many rain-less, hot summers.

Oh, I tried to take care of them. But when you have so many other things on your plate as a single mom, the yard always ends on the bottom of my priority list.

And when I actually tried to trim the boxwood they were very mean. Mean, bad boxwood.

Try cutting back those bad boys without suffering scrapes all over your hands. 

And even if I did cut them back, they always looked pitiful.

So they had to go.

Except they put up quite a  fight. The boxwood resisted all efforts to come out of the ground. It took hours of digging, and pulling and clipping roots before I finally won the battle against the ugly boxwood.

Once we got them out I decided to plant smaller and less "hedgy" plants.

It looks a bit sparse right now, but with some heat they should all fill in nicely.

This bush will sport some pretty flowers in the spring and summer with bronze foliage in the fall.

 

This little guys loves to help in the yard.

Here he is identifying the ground cover I planted.

Is this ceratostigma plumbaginoids, Mimi?

He's a genius I tell ya.

These are called Lemon Ice Petunias.

So pretty.

And although they are annuals, the rest of the plants should come back year after year.

If I can keep them watered.

And Mother Nature will cooperate and send us some much needed rain.

Shake Shake

Ezra loves chocolate milk. And who can blame him? Delicious, chocolaty goodness. I love chocolate milk too.

When I first started giving Ezra chocolate milk I would put the lid on the cup and say 'shake shake" while I mixed the chocolate syrup with the milk.

It didn't take long before Ezra would request "shake shake" when he wanted chocolate milk.

So. Darn. Cute.

I mean how can I say not to his little face when he asks for "shake shake"?

It's not possible.

Yes, I am officially wrapped around his tiny little finger.

Breakfast with Josh

While I was in Lubbock recently Josh and I had breakfast at a local restaurant.

We went to a place called The Egg and I.

I had the french toast. Lots of butter and syrup.

Josh got eggs and sausage and potatoes and gravy.

It was meh. We didn't love it as much as the Cracker Barrel. 

But we tried someplace new.

After breakfast I had to head back home, but not before I drove Josh crazy with a photo shoot.

Here he is in his apartment.

And outside his place.

Please stop taking photos of me mom!

San Antonio

I went to San Antonio last weekend to see mom while she was in town.

While I was there Nancy, Meredith, GMA and I went to La Fonda for brunch.

I love the front door.

And how cute are Meredith and her GMA?

So cute!

Monday morning Nancy was getting ready for a job interview and mom was there to help get her scarf just right.

Jill was there too.

Helping supervise the situation.

Nice to spend time with the special women in my life.

You too, Jill.

Forever Young

Josh celebrated his 20th birthday last month.

And yes, I'm just now getting around to posting this.

Life. Sigh...

My baby is 20. He's officially out of the teenage years.

Seriously, where did those years go?

Rod Stewart's song Forever Young popped into my head when I started writing this post.

May the good Lord be with you

Down every road you roam

And may sunshine and happiness

surround you when you're far from home

And may you grow to be proud

Dignified and true

And do unto others

As you'd have done to you

Be courageous and be brave

And in my heart you'll always stay

Forever Young, Forever Young

Forever Young, Forever Young

May good fortune be with you

May your guiding light be strong

Build a stairway to heaven

with a prince or a vagabond

And may you never love in vain

and in my heart you will remain

Forever Young, Forever Young

Forever Young, Forever Young

Forever Young

Forever Young

And when you finally fly away

I'll be hoping that I served you well

For all the wisdom of a lifetime

No one can ever tell

But whatever road you choose

I'm right behind you, win or lose

Forever Young, Forever Young

Forever Young ,Forever Young

Forever Young, Forever Young

For, Forever Young, Forever Young

Dear Joshua Alan,

Happy 20th birthday!

Here are some of the things I love about you:

I love your great, big hugs.

I love that when I think of you it makes me smile.

I love that you always try to make peace in the world.

I love that you're my son.

Love, 

Mom

Lookin' Good

Nancy had her house painted a few months ago and I got to see the final results last week.

I dare say Nancy's house looks better than any of her neighbors.

Wish I had gotten a better shot of the cheerful, yellow front door. In my defense I had the stomach flu and felt like death.

So glad her house is no longer looking like the 1980's.

YAK!

We took Ezra to see a traveling petting zoo on Saturday.

At first Ezra was a little hesitant about the goats. Note the furrowed brow.

These little guys were my favorite.

David took him into the tent to see a pig, a zebra, a yak and other smelly creatures.

After that, Ezra decided the goats were a-OK.

 He even got brave enough to touch one!

This goat's head is not stuck. He knew how to tilt his head to get it through the bars of the gate. 

That's one smart goat.

The big attraction was camel rides. 

No thank you. I'll enjoy the camel from a distance.

So we went home and the next day Kelsey took him to the same animal display.

Now it's all Ezra can talk about.

I came home from work yesterday and the first thing he said to me was yak! And pig, and camel and zebra.

That traveling petting zoo left a big impression on one little man.

Haute Wheels

Alex and I attended the Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival in Houston a few weeks ago. The weather was very cold, but we had a fun, unique experience.

We got there early and stood in line for a little while. Just enough time for our stomachs to start growling as we could smell all the different foods.

We were issued these lovely bracelets to wear if we wanted to participate in adult beverages.

Neither one of us did. It was a bit chilly for a cold beer.

At least we were at the front of this very long line.

Once inside we made our way to this truck. It is called Coreanos which translates to Koreans in Spanish. They made a curious mix of Korean and Spanish food.

We grabbed one of these burritos.

Alex's face says it all. 

It was delicious, but so BIG! We couldn't stop eating it even though we knew we had so many other truck menus to explore!

I just thought this truck had an interesting name. Not sure what kind of food they had.

And I thoroughly enjoyed the banner for the Houston Press.

It says "We've Got Issues."

Sense of humor. Gotta have one in this crazy world, right?

Then we checked out a crepe truck. Be still  my heart.

Truly decadent.

We got coffee to warm up.

I think Alexandra got some cheese curds here.

We saw trucks with PB&J sandwiches and BBQ and cake pops and special sodas.

It was a fun experience.

I guess I could have fun doing anything with my favorite girl.