Stuff on a Saturday

This past Saturday was one of those where we had a million little house projects to work on. Yard, house, stupid broken sprinklers, etc. I am planting a garden this year...a little more than just tomatoes, which seems a little ambitious since last year even those didn't turn out so well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and watering, so we'll see. But, there are some little snap pea leaves popping up, so I have reason to be optimistic! So, Asher and I spent some time in the yard (ah, such nice weather that day!), and Corey began tackling the rest.

Corey spent the morning with Dain trying to fix a few of our sprinkler problems, but to no avail. You know it's bad when there is a stream of water gushing out from underneath the stone pathway in the front yard. You know its even worse when one entire section in the backyard won't even turn on. Maybe there are evil little creatures that sneak into your pipes during the winter to wreak havoc for the unsuspecting homeowners. All I know is that they were working without a hitch when we turned them off last fall.

Later in the afternoon, Corey's brother Aaron came by to help him finish some other projects they started weeks ago. These projects were of the knocking-holes-in-the-wall variety, you know, the kind that drive you crazy because you feel like you are living in a condemned dwelling? Okay, they weren't that bad, but my point is they are not finished. The two of them went to the local Ace Hardware store where Aaron found some wind-up wooden airplanes they had played with as kids, and they bought 4 of them. Once they got back, all chances of anything getting fixed were disappearing fast, and the planes stole the show. Asher thought they were the greatest thing ever, and offered to retrieve the planes after each so-called 'flight.' There are a few things that can turn men into boys again (ie fireworks, remote control cars), and these airplanes reverted those two right back to 10 year olds.

And so, the projects remain, and I am considering learning how to re-texture a wall and cut sheet rock myself. They did have a good time though, and I can't be mad at that.

The handymen hard at work.

Asher letting Corey hold 'his' plane.

Oops, stuck in a tree.

Later that evening some friends of ours, the Shepherds, had a BBQ at their house with a fun group of old friends. They always put a personalized touch to their shin-digs, which makes them that much more fun! All of us have little boys ranging in age from 2 to 4 (Asher is the youngest) but they all played great together, and the rest of us had fun catching up and eating way too much. Thanks for the great evening you guys!

Hmmm, something not quite right here. Looks like we may need a little batting practice!

P.S. Asher started calling me 'babe' today. What? Corey sometimes calls me that, but it is cracking me up to hear it coming out of my little boy's mouth. He still doesn't call Corey Dad or Daddy...he calls him Corey. Funny kid.

Easter Grass Madness

Happy Easter! Once again, I say that kids make every holiday so much better. We really do look forward to every holiday so much more with our Asher around...I love how kids make everything new and fun.

On Saturday we went to the park for the annual Easter Egg Hunt that our neighborhood puts on. This was our first time, so we checked online to see when it started. They lied. We arrived right after the hunt for ages 3 and under had ended, and were kind of disappointed. I had pictured Asher happily scooping up eggs from the grass, enjoying the Easter festivities.

Here's what really happened: I decided I would just go with him for the next round since the kids were older. Once they started, I grabbed his hand and into the madness we went. Kids were throwing themselves onto the ground in front of us, risking life and limb, and I quickly realized it was going to be near impossible to get an egg. All I wanted was one egg, and we got it, barely. I handed Asher our well earned egg, and realized he was on the verge of tears. I guess being dragged through hoards of candy crazed kids wasn't fun, and he threw that egg on the ground just to prove his point. Poor kid, what was I thinking? It was so not worth it. We did make it up to him by letting him do some of the games, etc. And, later on he did get his very own private Easter Egg Hunt right in his own backyard. I'm hoping that by next year the horrors of his first egg hunt experience are long forgotten.

Time out from egg hunting to spy on the neighbors.

Asher had some fun Easter morning, especially after he started tossing that awful Easter grass everywhere. Ugh. (I tell myself every year that I'm never buying it again) Corey and Asher were having a full on Easter grass fight at one point. Ah, boys will be boys I guess. Shaking an egg to find that there is a special chocolatey prize inside was also a highlight (come to think of it, I like that part too...).

Not even innocent moms watching and taking pictures were spared from the flinging of the grass.

Now Corey, are you playing fair?

Live footage of the Easter grass mayhem.

Church was nice, and later that evening we had dinner with some friends. They took pity on us, and let us come eat and hang out at their place. I didn't take any pics though, we were too busy eating yummy food and chatting. Thanks again Christison family!

Happy Easter!

Try these on for size

Shoes, shoes, shoes. This kid loves to walk around in anyone's shoes but his own. Over the past few months, I realized I have accumulated a small collection of Asher-in-someone-else's-shoes pics. I wish I had some sound effects to complete the effect...think "clomp, clomp, shuffle, shuffle, clomp." We haven't pulled out any summer shoes yet, but I can't wait to see what he tries to pull off with a pair of flip flops. Could be interesting.

Which direction will he go next? Hard to say, judging by the shoes.



Asher sporting some sort of Alaskan Bohemian look. What a cutie.

I'm so glad we are keeping these around, seeing as how they are so frequently worn. Corey swears that cleats do in fact come in very handy...never know when you'll need em!

Happy St. Patties Day

Need I say more?

The dog ate my book

Isn't that one of those classic excuses? Well, in my case it is now true. Corey and I were sitting in bed when I heard a strange ripping sort of noise coming from the hallway. Dion was 'sleeping' in his bed, as we always let him do in the colder months. His bed is (foolishly) placed next to a bookshelf, which he has never bothered to even notice. That night, he noticed. Apparantly, his reading tastes are of the uplifting, nurturing, mothering sort.

Corey walked into the hallway to discover Dion devouring this book. Oh, and there really was no mess to clean up...no shredded pieces or anything.

He was eating it.

P.S. This book adds to the list of things he's eaten, which includes a sock (whole), a screw, various stuffed animals, a whole plate of Christmas cookies, plastic bucket, and very likely a slew of other things to which we have no knowledge of! Chewing has definitely been his vice.