First Burst of Spring

The last part of March is when the Bradford pear trees bloomed out all around town-and in our backyard. They don't last very long, so I always try to get some pictures of them while they're loaded with flowers! It's always so pretty when they start to leaf out because the petals fall to the ground like snowy confetti.


I like this moss that grows on the bark of the pear tree, too!


The bright coral azaleas...

A rough, rugged looking boy...
...who picked his Mommy a few flowers :) What a sweetie.

A Little Dirt (& Chalk) Won't Hurt

Earlier this week, Mason played in the dirt and drew with his sidewalk chalk while I priced yard sale items in the garage. I cringed when he started to dig in the dirt but tried to remember that he's a boy and it is just dirt! He ended up so dirty & chalky by the time we went inside, but it was all worth it!

Taking a minute to pose for Mommy

This is his new "I'm cute" look
This is a guy that he normally draws, but this time I had to ask what the lines were coming from the nose & mouth. He informed me that it was air coming out! I was impressed & glad it wasn't what I thought it was!
This is "a Space Alien," thus the one eye.
Here's where he made a dirt road then started drawing road signs with chalk.

On the right is a stop sign and on the left is an "M" sign! McDonald's must be up ahead.

Spring has Sprung!

Mason has gotten to play outside the last 2 days. It has been warm and beautiful, although windy. Yesterday, he rode his Jeep until the battery ran out, played on his slide, and had me push him in his swing over & over again. He's so glad to be able to play outside, although we are having to limit the time he spends in the sun due to his allergies. He not only has regular seasonal allergies and eczema, but has now developed a skin sensitivity to the sun that makes him break out into an itchy rash. Poor kid~our pediatrician says to try to play in the shade, so that's what we did today. (post to follow)

Spring Break

Mason has had a blast this week during Spring Break! Wayne & I have had to work, and my Dad has been in Fort Smith taking care of my Grandma who just had surgery on a tendon in her foot. So my sister, Angela, has been watching Mason over the last three days..and spoiling him!

Day One: He got to play with his cousin Cameron's toys, and "Aunt La's" piano. They had lunch at Wendy's because he suggested they go there! He even took a long nap that afternoon, which RARELY happens!



Day Two: Chuck E. Cheese's!!! We only take him once a year on his birthday, so he was in heaven! (poor deprived kid!) He had fun playing with Cameron there, too. That afternoon~ANOTHER NAP!






Day Three: Today was a dark, cold rainy day so they stayed home and played. He did not take a nap...but he was asleep by 8:10 tonight! What a busy, fun week! THANKS AUNT ANGELA!!! (and thanks for taking all these pictures!)

Spring Snow

What's wrong with this picture? GREEN grass with SNOW!?!!

Since Mother Nature blessed us with one last snow, (on the first day of Spring, might I add) I felt compelled to let Mason play in it one last time. Well, I guess I should have let him play in it over the weekend, but it just didn't happen until this afternoon when most of it had melted. The backyard was a sloppy, muddy mess with slushy snow on top. Of course Mason still had a great time while I cringed as he jumped up & down in the mud puddles, trying to remind myself that it's just mud and he is a boy.

Eeeewwwwww
Drawing a face with his rake

What's Going On...

Here's a hodge-podge of what's been going on in our lives over the last week:

Since his first ride on "Chilo" on the carousel at the Promenade, Mason is now a seasoned pro! He's been on "Cherokee Blue" whom Mason called "Ketchup" (he was ketchup colored!)

and "Elvis" (Mommy rode with him this time & got a little green-I'm not a big fan of going round-and-round!) And yes, Mason needs a haircut.

He still loves to play with Playdoh. Here he is with a few creations that Wayne & I helped him make~

Mason has really been into building "towers" with his Mega Blocks. This is his "Tah Dah" look:

I got my hair cut on Friday~Here's BEFORE:

and AFTER:

When my mom, Mason & I were out & about on Friday afternoon, we stopped by Village on the Creeks to see if the flowers were in bloom yet down by the water. They weren't, but some lovely daffodils lined the area around the parking lot, so we stopped for an impromptu photo session (thus Mason's non-picture worthy outfit) I LOVE how they turned out! He just sat right down & posed.




The Chapel on the Creeks was open and I've always wanted to see the inside(I'm dying to go to a wedding there!) It was gorgeous to say the least. There is an amazing painting of the Last Supper in the Groom's Quarters! Anyway-back to the story~no photography was allowed inside the Chapel, but we walked around the side and found this beautiful 2-sided bench.


On Saturday, Wayne mowed for the first time this season, raked up leaves & sweet gum balls from our trees (ugg) and edged. Mason had to mow as well. Yesterday we purchased a new Bubble Mower at Wal-mart to replace the cheap-o $4 mower he's been using. He's been playing with it non-stop in the house (with out the bubbles of course!) and can't wait until it's warm enough to get back outside.

That's all for now!

Spring Cleaning, Decor & More!

It's hard to tell that it's Springtime today because it's SNOWING here! Here's what it looked like at 9:oo this morning:
It looks weird having snow on top of green grass!

At least the snow has not eliminated the urge to dust away the winter blahs with some Spring Cleaning! I've gotten some much needed cleaning done today and we've made some progress around the house over the last few weeks. Here's what we've been up to:

The day we returned from Tulsa was nice & warm & Mason got his very first ice cream from the ice cream truck! It's been driving around our neighborhood for a few weeks now (already!) and we finally caved. Of course Mason picked out a huge Spongebob with bubblegum eyeballs. He loved it but wasn't able to finish the whole thing. I tried to get a good picture of him holding up the ice cream, since it was a "first," but of course he wouldn't hold it up right and finally just made this silly face. I have no idea where he came up with this face, but that's the face he always makes when being silly.

A few weeks ago, after getting the new shelf in our office to match the new desk from my parents, I started rearranging all sorts of things & I ended up moving Mason's books from his bedroom into the office bookcase. They are so much easier to get at & I like having his books with ours. It also freed up a lot of space in his room for toys to be reorganized.

This is our Bradford pear tree (what's left of it after the ice storm-It's not too bad though) Early this week we had a tree service come out & top & trim a different large tree in our backyard (one that's right next to this pear tree) and it looks much better. Now we aren't scared of it falling on our fence, storage building or into the precious neighbor's pool. (that's a whole other story! LOL)

I even made (slice & bake) sugar cookies last weekend! In spring colors of course.

Now you won't believe this one. Drumroll please.....
I cleaned out The Junk Drawer! Don't act like you don't have one.
Ours was beyond unruly and embarrassing. I was sick of digging around through batteries, twist ties, tools, broken pieces off toys, etc. So I bought a huge drawer organizer at Walmart, sat down with the drawer and went to town. Here are the beautiful results:

Last weekend I also put away the St Patrick's Day decorations (what few I have) and brought out the Easter/Spring stuff. I was inspired by my friend Sherri and her post about decorating, the blog Southern Hospitality & one of my fave blogs to check out, Bless Our Nest.
I usually keep most of the decorations in the living room area, but Spring pastels don't exactly lend themselves to the RED in my living room, so I mostly decorated the kitchen this time.

The kitchen table centerpiece~I pulled a watering can vase from my baker's rack, a little fern/snail plaque, threw my coaster set on there just because they matched the SLAH tray, and finished it off with 2 little ceramic bunnies that I've had since I was little. (Well, one was mine & one was my sister's. They're now both mine!) Bwah ha ha :)

In the corner~Lots of SLAH (Southern Living at Home)stuff.

It looked a little plain, so I added this ivy & purple flower...

Another corner~a hydrangea arrangement I made years ago (with the tips chewed off from my cat. At the time I was so mad, but now that she's gone, I like it. Weird, I know.) And a little Dept 56 bunny pot.

More SLAH, a (fake) chocolate bunny and the green votive candle is a new one from Yankee~Vanilla Lime (YUM)

Onto the Living Room~ A huge egg candle (There's a blue one just like it on the opposite table)

Bunnies on the the mantle with another flower arrangement (I did not make this one)

A plaque I love with tulip candle holders (have them in green & orange too)

I made this ceramic egg in Kindergarten...

That's it for this extra-long post! Next Spring Project: Getting ready for a Huge Yard Sale! (wish me luck on that one!)
Happy Spring!