Our Arboretum Visit

The boys and I hit the Arboretum for a picnic lunch and to see the new storybook houses. They had a great time a totally wore themselves out! That was the best part for mommy;)!

It's April in Texas....time to break out the pool!

Evan, Luke and I went to the zoo with his school on Tuesday. I didn't get any great pics because we were so busy and I just posted a ton of other zoo pics last week. We hung out with his pal Charlie and his mom and little sister Ellie. We got to eat with his teacher which was "So AWESOME" to Evan! When we got home, Luke decided not to nap so I bribed the kids into letting me get in a run by promising we could play in the little pool when we got home. It was 85 degrees here today. This was Luke's first real experience with the pool that didn't include him sitting next to it in a stationary device like a swing;)!

There are lots of things about being a mom that are tough but watching your kids enjoy something for the first time, makes every bump in the road seem insignificant! I can't wait for Luke to be able to get in the big pool.

I know I am a dork for putting them in matching suits, but seriously boy moms have very few "matching moments".

Evan's Kitty Obsession

Not sure if I mentioned this but Evan is OBSESSED with cats. We are asked 3-5 times daily when we will be getting a cat. Jon and I take him to Petsmart or Petland on a regualr basis to see the cats. We have several outdoor cats in the neighborhood...one just had kittens...so he sees cats all the time. We have tried all angles of explaining why we are not getting a cat, but we finally told him that I was allergic. He asked Jon if we could get a cat when we "got rid of mommy"!

I feel so proud to be so needed and loved at my house!;)

A Very Busy Weekend in the Yard

We worked in the yard a lot this weekend. We planted a new bed of flowers, planted the veggie box on the side of the house and added some pots to the front of the house. So far our little veggie box has: tomato plants(despite Jon's hatred of them), a variety of peppers, parsley and basil. Jon is thinking we are going to till the entire side yard to add a full veggie/fruit garden. Nothing like starting with a small project and making it gigantic. With all the veggies we eat though, it may be worth it.

This may not seem like a lot of gardening, but with 2 little assistants, trust me it is! We had to make 2 trips to the nursery to get plants. The boys were thrilled that turning over lots of dirt meant lots of worms. The boys were in heaven!

Luke is getting big!

Well, he thinks he is anyway! The beauty of having boys...there are a few reasons boys are awesome....is they can pee about anywhere without much issue! This includes husbands. Luke is very observant and he has decided he wants to be part of the crowd. So, this picture is his attempt to "pee" in the mulch like Daddy and Evan. He is really impressed with himself! I know I am supposed to be a boy mom because these types of things actually amuse me.;)

More Zoo Pics

I am sure only Grandma will want to look at more, but here is a few. I have to figure out how to add captions to the pics. I am too tired to do it tonight.

The Boys at the Zoo

Thursdays can be pretty long here with no scheduled activities/school so this morning we decided to go to the Dallas Zoo. We hit Subway on the way to the zoo so we could bring our lunch.

Luke has entered the "not wanting to ride in the stroller because I am so big" phase so it took us a good 4.5 hours to do the whole zoo but the boys had a great time. They got to ride the monorail and the carousel. They have a new exhibit called Ghosts of the Bayou in the Reptile Building. They have albino/white gators. It was really cool and there was a lot for the boys to see.

Luke's favorite part of the day was as usual lunch...but his favorite animal was the elephant and we had to stop for a good 10 minutes to watch her. Evan said his favorite today were the turtles. I am not sure if he meant the real ones or the bronzed turtle statues.

We petted bunnies and guinea pigs which is always mommy's favorite part. Nothing like dirty animals that hundreds of people have touched. But I overcome my ickiness for the sake of developing more normal children!LOL

Luke was asleep before we hit the parking lot exit so the trip must have been a success. Mommy was very tired and could have taken a nap herself, but as usual no such luck...Evan was ready for crafting when we got home and put Luke down for a nap!;)

Luke and I have a silly morning!

Luke was recovering on Monday from whatever his Easter virus was and so we hibernated at the house while Evan was at school. He watched some videos and we played with his Easter toys that he had no interest in the day before because he wasn't feeling well.

Luke loves Evan's Fisher Price camera and so he did lots of "pictures". He insisted we take a picture of us with mama's real camera.

Anyway, we had a silly morning...

A Very Hutcheson Easter

It was pretty rainy here for Easter but the bunny did manage to get here!

For those family members that feel like they would like to see us on holidays, quite honestly we are a train wreck on holidays and are better off staying put then having you Mapquest directions to the local urgent care facility for us. We have a string of 3 Christmases and 2 Easters of being sick! It wouldn't be a holiday without a fever here. Luke was the lucky duck this time. He work up egarly, grumpy and out of sorts..more so than usual. He ran a fever all day and just wanted to lay on Mommy ALL DAY LONG! You will see from the picture that a shower was not in the plans for me with my little leech hanging on me all day. I do look incredibly beautiful, don't you think?

Evan got a Corduroy Bear and a new Corduroy Bear book. He had asked Jon to put a request in to the Easter Bunny via email. He got to use the Bunnykins plates that I used growing up. Grandma got Luke a set but he is not ready for fine China and wasn't in the mood for anything.

Per request of the boys, we got to go for a drive in Daddy's jalopy, or less nicely, his POS. I rode in cleaner cars with teenage boys when I was 17. It is DIRTY and gross. The boys think its fun. Probably because Daddy allows them to just throw everything on the floor. Don't they say you can tell a lot about a person from the state of their car?

We had a nice dinner outside of ham(Jon's request), mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, broccoli salad and canolis.

I have a few pics. There is a nice video but of course that doesn't work on my computer and Jon is not in town so it will have to wait. But hey at least the computer is FREE!

Easter Egg Dyeing Lunch

Carla was nice enough....well, brave enough....to allow us to come over on Good Friday to dye eggs, have lunch and let the kids wear themselves out a bit.

The boys had a great time and Luke, as usual thought that he was one of the big kids. I as usual forgot my camera when packing them up to leave. I also forgot eggs that had been boiled. I was a ble to oil at Carla's. I will post some pics once I get them from Carla or Holly. I cannot believe I forgot the camera but honestly, I was showered and had underwear on and most days just striving for that is quite enough for me!

My Cuties!

Here are the boys in their new jammies from Grandma...and a few other shots just because!;)

Oh, What They Endure!

My children are generally good sports about going in the stroller so Mommy can get her run in! Today it was raining a bit but really warm so I loaded them up and put the weather guard on the stroller. It stopped raining mid run and they enjoyed themselves.

The boys enjoyed the rain in their chairs before we headed out for our run!

Mommy Does Some Planting

So, I had a sitter Wednesday afternoon and I got to go to Calloways nursery BY MYSELF!!!! I got some plants and a pot to do some container planting on the patio. This is the first summer in a couple years that I have really felt up to it. Last year, Luke was attached to my boob and I was still adjusting to managing a cranky 3 year old and an unpredictable baby.;) The previous summer, I was gestating Luke and sicker than a dog.

I planted with the kids when I got home. Here they are. The light wasn't the best when I took these, but you get the gist. The tall green one is plumbago and it will have continuous periwinkle blooms through the fall. The 2 smaller pots have snapdragons and something that starts with a C. My other 2 blue pots have an orange hibiscus....Evan's favorite color....and a very fragrant gardenia.

Some Evan Birthday Videos

We finally figure out how to get videos to the computer again. Here are some birthday videos from Evan's birthday with Papa and his party!

Great news in Bear Country!

On Thursday, while I was getting ready for a night out with some friends, I turned the TV on to keep the boys occupied while I showered and ESPN was on with a crawl that stated the Bears had just traded for Jay Cutler. Let's just say there was screaming.....lots of screaming by mommy...to the extent that the children were frightened for a moment. Woops!

I tried to explain that this was like a big Christmas present for mommy but they just didn't get it. We are VERY excited here about the trade! Here is a flashback pic of my first little Bear and a video from when the Bears won the NFC Championship and Mommy was at the game and Evan celebrated with Daddy.

Grandma is getting another new leg!

Last Tuesday, Grandma had her second hip replaced. She is currently doing well and is on the mend at the rehab center she stayed at last time. We are happy she is doing well! Evan is walking around town telling everyone who will listen that his Grandma is getting ANOTHER new leg...it is great to see the expression on everyones face!

Grandma sent some treats in the mail. Evan got a lot of Easter stickers to craft with and Luke got "Little Blankie". My mom made both boys blankets when they were born and Luke has latched onto his and wants it to go everywhere. I asked Grandma if she could make a mini-version and she did. Luke loves it and he now has to "nu-nu"(that would be Hutcheson speak for nap/bedtime) cocooned in "Big Blankie" while feeling "Little Blankie".

Thanks Grandma! Here is Evan with his stickers, Luke coloring like a big boy and Luke with "Little Blankie".