Amy and Mike come to town

My friend Amy and her new hubby Mike are moving cross country and decided to make a stop in Austin along the way. We are so glad they made time in their schedule to have lunch with us. It was the perfect day to grill some fajitas and relax on the porch. I hadn't seen Amy in over a year and we had never met Mike, so we had a great time just visiting and watching the kids play. Thanks Amy and Mike. Best of luck with your new adventure!

Spring has sprung...

and we can't get enough. Soon it will be 1000 degrees in the shade and the mosquitos will take over the yard. So for now, we are enjoying the cool mornings and warm afternoons.

Henry's bag-o-tricks

Spring Staycation

The kids were out of preschool last week for Spring Break, so Brian took a little time off too and we had a GREAT week. We started out by tackling some yard work (my hamstrings still burn from pulling weeds for 5 hours, which is pretty sad). Aubrey had a little fever early in the week, and since Tues was a rainy day, Brian worked and the kids and I worked on getting healthy. It paid off. Her fever broke that afternoon and she was ready to bask in the glorious Texas sun on Weds. Our neighbors rented a house on the Llano River and invited us to come out and join them for a night. It was a perfect day and Aubrey had an absolute blast splashing in the COLD river. We discovered that not only is Henry not a fan of the snow, he's not a fan of the sand either! Seriously, what kid doesn't like to play at the "beach." Regardless, we all had a great time. It was the perfect little escape. Once we got home, we did some more work around the house. Brian finished fencing in the yard and I did some spring cleaning. We topped off the week with a trip to the rodeo fairgrounds. Both kids loved seeing the animals. Henry went nuts over the tractors and trucks. I need to record the sound he makes when he sees anything large with wheels. He takes a quick breath in, kind of like a gasp, and then says "oooohhhhhhhh." It's priceless. This was definitely a relaxing week and just what I needed. There is something to be said for having a vacation at home. Besides the cost savings, which is huge, it is far less stressful. Traveling with little ones is hard work!

One happy girl

Aubrey and her buddy Clara

The big kids and Henry. He was content to sit on someone's lap, which is pretty unusual. He really didn't like the feel of the sand on his feet.

On to the rodeo. The petting zoo was pretty wild. The animals were a little aggressive and kept trying to eat our clothes. After some initial excitement, Henry got a little nervous about this deer getting too close. HELP MOM

The baby goat had quite a hold on his shirt.

This was the highlight of Henry's day. He still isn't talking much, but "bus" and "truck" are two words he says VERY well. The whole time we were in the petting zoo, he kept saying BUS BUS BUS. So I finally got him away from the goat and took him over to see the milk "bus" he had seen on the way in.

The girl working behind the table could sense this boy was in love. So, she let him come behind her gate and touch the bus.

We ran into quite a few friends, including Amy and her kiddos.

Aubrey's first pony ride!

We let Aubrey pick two carnival rides. Her first choice, the airplane. Future pilot?

Tagged

My friend Amy tagged me and asked me to do this...

1. Open your 1st photo folder.

2. Scroll to the 10th picture.
3. Post the photo and the story behind it.
4. Tag 5 or more people. Let's just say if you're reading this a you blog, go ahead and consider yourself tagged!

This photo was taken on May 30, 2006 in front of my parent's house in Santa Fe. Aubrey was almost 7 months old. I was back from Japan for a visit and my grandmother was in town. We were outside taking pictures with the 4 generations of women. Aubrey and I ended up staying in Santa Fe that summer. Brian was deployed on the aircraft carrier and Aubrey did not handle the trip home well (she slept for maybe 3 hours of the 13 hour flight). I wasn't looking forward to flying back to Japan, solo, and then not having Brian in Japan with us. Plus, my dear friend Kris was getting married in Sept and I was in the wedding, which meant another trip back alone. So, we enjoyed a beautiful summer in the mountains.

Black and blue

Shiner

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before Henry got a black eye. Today was the day. Funny thing (well, could be funny to some, or could mean gross negligence on the part of yours truly) is he got it the same way his sister got her first shiner, and on the same side of the face... he had a run in with the coffee table. Now, after two black eyes, maybe I should think about child proofing the thing, huh?

Aubrey, nearly 3 years ago.

Henry, moments after the "incident." Doesn't look too bad here, but by the time her went to bed, he had the look of nice blue eye shadow under his eye.

They have a similar look, don't they. Something like "Um, mom... this is all your fault. I'll get you back, you just wait."

Here comes the... snow?

Yes, it snowed here yesterday. Crazy. It was a wet snow, but it did manage to accumulate enough for some snow balls, which Aubrey loved. Henry is still not a fan. I was OK with it as long as it didn't interfere with the kids going to school. They did let out an hour early yesterday, which was a little overkill, but at least I was already at school helping out with Aubrey's class, so I didn't mind. Today the sun is shining and it's in the 50's. That's a Texas winter for ya.

So happy...

Henry's one and only smile. Seconds later he was pelted by the above featured snowball, and that was the end of his fun.

Did I mention Henry wasn't happy?

But she was.

Aubrey and her new buddy Clara, our neighbor, couldn't get enough of the white stuff.

Busy.

As much as I hate to admit it, this blog has taken a back seat lately. Seems we're spending more time living life these days and less time talking about it, and photographing it. Not a bad thing, right? We have been working hard the last few months on getting settled into the house. It is coming together slowly, and with each improvement, I love it more. I have focused most of my attention lately on my office. Ahhh, just to say I have an office makes me smile. I'm sure it will be years before every room is exactly how we want it, but that's OK. I love the process!

Here's a peak at our latest projects...

My office before... it's a small room off of our master bedroom and it's just the right size for me.

And here are a few as it stands now. Still working on filling the walls.

Brian helped me build some custom shelves.

I made a relaxed roman shade

I painted and recovered an old chair.

Gave an old file cabinet a new life with a glossy enamel finish. The photo doesn't do the color justice.

And voila.

Moving on to the dining room...

I bought some burlap and found some linen remnants and made these drapes.

Remember this blank wall to the right?

It's now filled with some of my favorite things. The sunflower painting was done by my talented mom, and the tulip print comes from my amazing friend Jared. You must check out his art. I hope to own an original one day.

Next up, the kids/guest bath.

Before. The door made it pretty tricky to bathe the kids.

After

And finally, Brian is working on fencing the yard.

Busy busy.