Bountiful

I worked for the last 4 days, so I was unable to spend any time in the garden. Today when I was finally able to get out there this is what I found:

Finished Project

For the last few weeks I've been working on finishing a project that started a couple years ago with the purchase of a plain wood kids table and three chairs from Ikea. The finished product is better than I expected:

I painted the chairs and then covered them with clear coat. The bottom of the table I painted white and covered with clear coat. The top of the table is painted with chalkboard paint. I'm hoping the boys will have hours of fun ahead of them.

While Dad's Away, the Boys Will Play

T.J. is gone most of this week for work and fun. He left Sunday and comes back this evening for a hog conference in San Antonio. That means it's just me and the boys for the week. Other than getting very interrupted sleep due to having two boys in the bed with me we've had a great week so far. We've been busy working on projects around the house and playing outside. We've also been making cookies for T.J. and his friends for this weekends White Trash Classic (no women, no whining). The weather has been perfect and the time outside makes the week drag on less. This is what the boys have been doing:

Painting on the porch

The finished product

Easter Fun

For Easter we had most of the Muir clan over.  Bill and Sue arrived on Friday and Matt and Monty came over Sunday with their girlfriends.  We had a fun filled day.  We had a delicious lunch of steaks followed by some intense Easter egg hunting.  The boys then got to dig into their Easter baskets.  Throughout the day T.J. worked hard to finish the boys' swing set.  We ended the day with a bonfire and s'mores.  It was a blast and the boys were exhausted.

Hudson busting into the basket!

Monty always enjoys his visits.

One of many eggs he found.

The Easter bunny is so tricky.

Monty and Stephanie

Matt and Erin

He finally passed out for his nap, drool on the face, eggs surrounding him, and stuffed animals as pillows.

Grandpa was helping him roast marshmallows

Monty's so tough!

Backyard Changes

A lot has been changing around here lately.  T.J. has been hard at work on the yard, and I've been hard at work on the gardens.  The backyard has also gotten the addition of a swingset and two trees.  The swings on the swingset were a gift from my parents for the boys' birthdays.  Let's just say Nate is loving it.  I'm loving the fact that now I can push both boys at the same time and it also allows me to get more yard work done.  Who doesn't love that.  We got the trees from the tree farm down the road and I am loving the look of them.  It won't be too long and we might actually have some shade in the backyard.  We got a cyprus tree and an oak tree.  Nate has claimed the oak tree as his own and has designated the cyprus tree as mine.  Here's some pictures to give you an idea.

 

The cyprus and the oak

The Bounty Begins

What started out as this about a month and a half ago:

 Is now this (and this was a few days ago, I need to go pick beans again)

Nate-a trial and a treat

My oldest son is now three years old, I can't believe it.  It seems like he just arrived and I was getting very little sleep (although he still doesn't sleep well).  There are many reasons I love my boy, and many reasons he tries my patiences, but at the end of the day I still love to sit with him in the rocking chair as he snuggles in to go to sleep.  I love his sweet heart, and crazy laugh.  I love that everyday he says something that surprises me and makes me laugh (yesterday he knew he was bothering me and he just looked at me and said "serenity now").  I love that he tries to help in whatever I'm doing, even if he is more in the way.  I love how sweet he can be to his little brother, even though he is often a trouble maker.  I love my boy and am sad to see him get older, but also excited to see where he ends up.

Who couldn't love that face?