We are officially in the "asthma" club

After many episodes of breathing, coughing and wheezing issues even with several allergy meds, Luke is officially on an inhaler. This has been an ongoing issue during allergy season and whenever he gets sick since he was about 18 months old. After being treated with oral steroids last month, we were back at the ped today after 2 straight days and nights of wheezy coughing.

The upside of the inhaler is that a year of the inhaler equals the amount of steroids in 4 days of oral steroids. Less steroids in his system=much happier mama.

We chose a less time consuming method of med delivery and he did great with it tonight. He has felt so crappy with the cough that I think he is more than happy to do whatever it takes to feel better.

The downside of starting competitive sports at 5...

Icing ankle inuires at 6! Evan has soft tissue injury on his ankle and icing a 6 year old even when Mommy is a veteran of sports injuries, is challenging.

Easter Egg Extravaganza!

The best egg of the day...according to our vote! It was a neon green Luke creation.

Evan hard at work

Luke creating egg masterpieces

Love the smile from my first baby boy!

How fake is that face?

Adobo Chicken Tacos

This was from May's Cooking Light. Adobo Chicken Tacos with Avocado Cream, Slaw and Mexican Rice. It was really good. Jon really liked it and the kids thought it was too spicy. It is sometimes hard cooking for people who think that all Mommies whip this kind of stuff up on a weeknight, but my saving grace is I love food and in the long run, I think I am creating food lovers...we shall see!

Broccoli from the garden

We harvested our first florets and enjoyed them as an appetizer with ranch....everything just tastes better when you grow it yourself!

Natual Birth Control

Don't worry, I am not risking my sanity by trying natural family planning. I have a 3 year old and these days that is enough birth control to last a lifetime.

Aside from the newborn stage where you never know whether you will sleep again, 3 year olds are one of the most difficult stages of parenting for me and Luke is a raging 3 year old.

Three year olds are very difficult to reason with and Luke is no exception. Today, he told me that he didn't like me because I refused to let him wear his Batman raincoat out and about with nothing but Batman underwear underneath. He told me that EVERYONE else does this!

At least I know it's a phase...if he wants to wear the raincoat with underwear for his wedding, that will no longer be my problem.

What is on your bucket list?

I am currently trying to convince my Dad that on his bucket list, is going to London to watch the Bears play with his daughter...of course this is if the powers that be decide there is an NFL season.:)

The NBA will be thrilled...

that we are able to get our kids into a quick bath after dinner with the promise of at least 1 quarter of NBA playoff basketball. They love ending the day snuggling with Dad and watching basketball.

Dinner Tonight

I know it seems like a cop out with little kids and a hectic schedule, but I really have come to feel that really simple food with amazing ingredients is so much more flavorful than a complicated 50 ingredient dish. I do love making intricate recipes for special occasions, but at the end of the day I will take something that is simple with very few fresh ingredients.

Tonight, we had soccer practice till 6:30, so I was looking for something easy. This is from Ina Gartens' new cookbook How Easy Is That. She was inspired by the simple food in Belgium for this one. It is tuna in toasted sourdough with hummus and radishes. The tuna is made with Italian tuna in EVOO...such a huge difference.

It was light and delicious, but still filling enough for a warm spring night.

April In Texas

That's the sprinkler on behind them...

It was snowing in the Midwest this weekend and so is why I live with all the downsides of Texas! I love warm weather:).

Zoo Trip

We have been to the Dallas Zoo more times than I can count, but each time we go the kids find their favorite animal of the day. Last Tuesday, we went with Luke's preschool for a field trip. His favorite for day was the giraffes. The new exhibit lets you get up close and personal...and feed them. Luke somehow decided that the giraffe was named GoldBug(from one of his favorite books).

The weather was perfect and we had a lot of fun hanging out with preschool friends. We somehow ended up in the "Dad Group", that is the group of kids that had Dad with them at the zoo. It was a lot of soccer dads. I really love men and quite honestly they are much easier to get along with than women sometimes. However, it is like leading the blind in situations like this. None of them were quite sure how to manage whining 3 year olds, meal times, potty breaks, etc. By the end they were asking me what we should do next to make the day go better. It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. It really is shocking that we have not had a woman president yet...

As The Garden Grows...

Jon created a new "seating area" by the pool, so I had to add some color.

My tomatoes are doing good so far and growing well....still crossing fingers.

My good friend Carla made me want to try asparagus, so I got these 2 plants.

I planted Italian Flat Beans from seed under this tepee...not sure if I was more excited about the beans or the tee pee.

Look at my happy little broccoli making its way into the world....

More Adventure Guides Pics

Evan is really starting to look old to his Mama....how time flies!

Adventure Guides Campout

Evan and Jon spent last weekend on their Adventure Guides camp out. Their group is great; the boys go to school together, play baseball together and soccer too. There are some Dads that on on their 3rd kids and many like us our on this ride for the first time. They had an amazing time!

Luke and I had a nice little time ourselves and has some of the other Moms over to hang out on Saturday night!

The Dads typically have a huge bonfire tradition after the boys go to bed that involves lots of burning...luckily, there was a fire ban so none of our coolers or chairs got lost as collateral.

We feel very lucky to have found such an amazing school and community!

Just wanted to say that...

I am now the mother of a boy who needs to wear deoderant. Jon brought this to my attention and I swear it is so hard to come to terms with. Granted, Evan is a bit ahead of the curve and will probably have facial hair by 12. Is it any wonder that I sniff Luke for the sweet smell regualrily before it goes away?!

Car Shopping...

Jon is FINALLY looking for a new/used car. The 98 Jetta was swell for awhile when I wanted to listen to Bob Marley, smoke pot and make out on the cloth seats, but really... He is a big researcher so we may have the car before 2012, but tonight he called me from Atlanta and told me he had gotten an upgrade for his rental car...to a Mustang. You should have heard the excitement in his voice. I have nixed the Mustang, but can not wait to ride in a slightly more adult car....call me snobby!:)

Sins of the Father...

Jon has been traveling more lately and last week he was in Minneapolis. The upside of this was that he got to have dinner with Jeff, Sue and Phillip...can you tell when we don't get to see family much;). If it was not enough that I fly solo when Jon is traveling, he occasionally brings home gifts for the boys...thus enhancing his Disney Dad status. This time he made a DIVORCE worthy purchase...I mean did we not have a marital agreement. He brought Evan a Vikings helmet cutout for his wall. I mean REALLY, I about died. Evan claims to like the Vikings, just to annoy me. However, this took it to another level. The boys are free to cheer for other teams...just not in the same division. Don't worry Dad, the helmet is in the back of a closet and payback will be bad....look for a Michigan paraphernalia to appear at our house right before the Michigan-Ohio State game!