A Great Day!

Today has been a dandy! It's time for the annual neighborhood clean-up, which involves a tree-trunk-tractor at it's best. We heard them working on the next street over and Brooks helped me gather all our clean-up stuff. We hurried and made our pile on the side of the road, then he patiently waited. Soon enough, the dump truck and tractor made their way to our street. Brooks started jumping a little, it's hard to conceal such excitement, but soon the excitement turned to reverence.

For two hours, we sat outside and watched the tractor in action, we even had a picnic to wait out the workers break. Then the neighbors heard the commotion and came over to see the action. The darling driver was nice enough to show these boys some tricks. We saw a wheelie, which was pretty incredible and then he backed up to the bottom of the street and cruised up the street as fast as he could go, all the while gathering garbage that had fallen on the street. Then he parked in front of the house and posed for a picture with these darling boys. The only problem was that they couldn't take their eyes off the tractor long enough for a good shot. So we did the best we could.

Once the tractors had left, Brooks and I had popsicles in the backyard and called dad to tell him the exciting news. We sat and chatted for a bit to the background music of my brand new wind chime. The weather is perfect. It couldn't be a better day. Gosh, I am lucky.

And last week Brooks told me I had the biggest chest in the world, so I guess I really am lucky.

A Birthday Wish From Far Away.

We Love You!

We Miss You!

What a Change in the Weather!

Last Thursday . . .




It so broke my heart to see these blossoms fighting the freeze last week. And after the beautiful day we had today, it's safe to say we are all grateful for the sun. There is something so magical about springtime. Perhaps just a longing for warm, but sometimes I feel as though I have willed the blossoms to be. Brooks came into my room this morning screaming, "mommy, mommy look, we have a papercot tree!" Apparently, he loves springtime too.

We Really Did...

Celebrate Easter!

We colored eggs.

Hunted for baskets and goodies.

And had a wonderful Sunday.

And did I metion the Cadbury mini eggs? Doesn't get better than that. Happy Easter!

As Of Late

As of late it seems we've been busy, but doing what? I'm not exactly sure. Brooks is loving the warmer weather and it's made me feel like spring fever has kicked into full gear. But we have had fun spending our days with friends, celebrating birthdays, doing oodles of laundry (why won't it ever end!) reading books and watching a few shows.

It's taken him three years to really discover ice cream. And now that he has, he can't seem to get enough "balilla." We find him like this all too often.

Brooks is obsessed with... Wall E. He loves Wall E and always tries to imitate him and Eve. Every night before Brooks goes to bed, he promises he'll have good dreams about Eve and Wall E.

We have also been reading a lot of books. Right now I am loving his two favorites, Are You My Mother? and The Best Nest. Both books were given to me for my second birthday. My mom read them to me all the time. I still remember the tune she used to sing the little song to. It's fun to see things go full circle. So, it was super cool when Amma came down a few nights ago and read to Brooks. He thought it was pretty great...so did I.


Brooks also recently shared a scripture in primary. He was so excited all week to get a turn to talk in the microphone. He had his scripture memorized and couldn't’t wait for Sunday to arrive. Just when Sunday seemed it would never come, we made it to primary and he was ready and roaring to go, but he had to wait through the prayer, then singing time, then announcements. Well, Brooks was fed up with waiting, so he just hopped right up next to the lady giving the announcements and looked up at her pretending to listen. I was watching in the back row and was rather embarrassed and so I started motioning for him to sit down. I was mouthing the words “sit down Brooks, it’s not your turn yet.” All of a sudden, he yelled at me from across the room “What? I can’t hear you mom!” I sat down and the nice announcement lady said she was fine giving the announcements with Brooks by her side. She finally finished and he gleefully gave his scripture, then he skipped over to his class. All was well with the world, at least for that Sunday anyway.

We also had a little luncheon to celebrate St. Patrick's day with Brooks' cousin Myles. We ate lots of green treats and they played to their hearts content. I think it is amazing to see what a sweet relationship cousins have. Somehow, even when they are young, they seem to understand that this little buddy is family. Brooks thinks Myles is terrific, and he is.

Last, but not least, we are into full March Madness swing with brackets and all. I keep calling Bryan to rub in a win, on the rare occasion it occurs. See, I choose my teams based on a few criteria: cute uni's, team mascot, whether or not I think it's a cool school, and occasionally the actual ranking comes into play.

Bryan takes his picks a bit more seriously; weeks of research and study, he listens to each and every ESPN analyst and is sure to check the current standing/scores every day and night and sometimes twice at night while watching Sports Center.

Even thought I tease him, I love this time of year. So GO MEMPHIS!

VICTORY!

I recently fell in love with this . . .

but not the price and since we are in a recession, I just couldn't justify the purchase. However, I couldn't get the fresh, fruity, floral aroma out of my head I had to find a way to get it. So I thought how can I be frugal about this?

eBay was my answer. Fortunately, I found it on eBay. Unfortunately, I did not find if for the cost-effective, recession-proof price I was hoping for. So I found this . . .

And yes, the price was just right. I quickly bid on the item as the auction was soon coming to an end. Disclaimer, I don't shop eBay very much and don't have the best track record, so I was a little nervous. This beautiful bottle of smooth body butter could fall into the wrong persons hands. Brooks and I were out so I had to call Bryan to see if, hope that, maybe I won the auction.

Well the magic words were heard, "you got it, you won! You bid on . . . (wait for it) body lotion?"

Yes I did and I couldn't be happier. I looked for a bargain and I found one. Besides I am sure to smell delish. I am proud to say that I saved the family money one health and beauty product at a time. Not to mention the incredible feeling and validation I got from winning this bid.

Yes, I am a WINNER! And it only cost me the small price of $8.99 plus shipping and handling.

Happy Things

It's raining on top of old, brownish, yucky snow dashing all desires to venture out. So even though we are stuck in the house, I thought I would share a few of my current favorites from right inside my very own abode. I suppose it doesn't have to be a beautiful day outside to enjoy some pretty things inside. I got this idea from designmom and I think it's a great way to beat the wintertime blues, for today anyway.

I just got this Linnea calendar for $8.00 at Tabularasa. I think February is sweet as can be.

Brooks has been a big helper this morning. He got himself sufficiently dressed(according to B.) and even made his bed all by himself.

And last but certainly not least, my favorite way to enjoy a gray day...a cup of hot chocolate. My recipe includes milk, chocolate syrup, vanilla and a touch of cinnamon
all swirled together into a frothy wonder by none other than my favorite Cocomotion.
And of course I had to add some whipped cream...it's raining!

So what is making you smile around your house today?