This Weekend I Loved.....

The sound of: Merle Haggard crooning country as we grilled steaks on the patio under our globe lights; birds chirping in the morning - gotta love Spring!

The sight of: My happy patio containers we planted last weekend - a mix of viola, golden moneywort, heuchera, golden oregano, golden spiderwort and grasses; the turquoise blue egg laying in the pot of our topiaries under a watchful mother bird busy incubating her tiny hatchlings

The smell of: Baby Gus fresh from a bath with daddy

The taste of: Aaron's yummy steaks. Mmmm.

The thought of: a close friend of mine becoming a mom this year. Makes me smile.

The act of: finally committing to a new project. I ordered lots of happy fabric swatches pre-cut in 5 inch squares for me to hand sew a baby quilt. This one is for practice. My goal is to make one out of squares of Gus' favorite first year onesies.

Field Guide

Field Guide
By Billy Collins

No one I ask knows the name of the flower
we pulled the car to the side of the road to pick
and that I point to dangling purple from my lapel.

I am passing through the needle of spring
in North Carolina, as ignorant of the flowers of the south
as the woman at the barbecue stand who laughs
and the man who gives me a look as he pumps the gas

and everyone else I ask on the way to the airport
to return to where this purple madness is not seen
blazing against the sober pines and rioting along the
roadside.

On the plane, the stewardess is afraid she cannot answer
my question, now insistent with the fear that I will leave
the province of this flower without its sound in my ear.

Then, as if he were giving me the time of day, a passenger
looks up from his magazine and says WISTERIA.....

Working Weekends

It takes a village to make a college look its best. Aaron has a gorgeous (albeit labor intensive and time consuming) project going on right now. Gus and I pitched in Saturday to help him make some progress.

Gus was amazing. He played with his toys on a blanket in the shade or napped the whole time with occasional snacks. Makes getting things done a snap. Better enjoy this before he learns to crawl!

He particularly loved high speed trips on the Gator wearing dad's hat.

Boys in Blue

Splish Splash

Another trick for getting yard work done. Fill the tray of his highchair with water.

Literally a good hour's worth of entertainment

Easter in Austin

We were able to visit my great friend from college,Lindsay, and her adorable family in Austin for the Easter holiday. It was a great time to visit as we had many things to celebrate - Easter, her daughter Hadley's 2nd birthday, and both couple's wedding anniversaries. It was a great time of year to visit and so much fun to see her adorable girls who treated Gus like a little lap dog -which he loved!

Hadley happily sharing her baby toys with Gus. He played with each one.

Mallory keeping Gus company for breakfast. She kindly offered her NutriGrain bars which now elicit squeals when he sees one.

Aaron and I stuffing over 100 eggs with stickers, lizards, candy and bracelets. Aaron shared his childhood strategy for Easter egg hunting - get as many eggs as you can and THEN crack them open to see what is inside.

Gus gearing up for the Easter egg hunt and his first taste of cupcake.

A driving lesson from dad


Hanging out with Mom

The last 2 days were spent at the hotel on Congress Street where we were engaged. Its a fun little quirky hotel next to a great little taco bar/coffee stand and all kinds of fun restaurants and shops. Here is Gus enjoying a new hobby - digging his hands into cups of water to flick and splash.

Austin Buds and Blooms

Besides eating as much Mexican food and Bar B Q as possible we engaged in our other favorite travel past time - enjoying the local flora. Can't visit Texas without seeing vibrant bluebonnets.

One of our favorite things about Austin is the diverse plantings - palms, cool agaves, wildflowers....

Crazy looking succulents.....

.....and even gorgeous roses all at the same time. The best part is Austin really embraces the opportunities they have for diverse and unusual plantings which makes for a cool, unique ambiance around town. Sure beats hedges of boxwoods everywhere.

Sweet Smile

Grumpy Monkey