Springtime Gardening!

This morning we spent some time trying to get our garden in shape! It's tomato-planting season, and we actually managed to keep the sweet little tomatoes we started from seed alive, so in the ground they went! (Remember when we planted them and when they started to grow?) Here's my Big Boy Helper giving them a little drink:


I put some marigolds in with our tomatoes, and our gnome friend is standing guard.


The tomatoes are looking small, parched and sad already. They miss being inside our house. I sure hope they survive out there! (Ssssh... if they think it's bad now, please don't tell them what's in store for them come June...) I also got this little end bed ready to plant something - I can't decide what. In the past I've planted sedum - hens & chicks and such - but I'm thinking about small herbs this year, like some creeping thyme? It's a really small bed, though, so there's not room for much. Any suggestions? :-)


I already have some herbs throughout the yard, but I figure you can never have too many herbs, right? Here's a few... first my lavender bush, which has gotten quite large over the years!


Hello, oregano!


You're looking mighty perky, mint!


Good showing, chives!


Daddy also added some new sand to the sandbox, which made Carter quite happy.


Carter found a bug which he had to show me. Then he set him outside his sandbox and said "Go back to your home safely Mr. Sand Roly Poly, have a good day."


While I have you here visiting, I have to show you my honeysuckle coral vine, which is just about to bloom.


And my hydrangea - he always looks so happy and full of vigor at this time of year, but he's yet to make a flower for me. Which I'm sure is mostly due to the neglect I show him.


Ok, perhaps I should post this and try to Google "how to make hydrangea bloom in Texas" - maybe this will be his year!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Trip to the Wildflower Center!

Today we were on a quest for butterflies! We decided to head down to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center to see if we could find any! I hadn't been there in years, it was so nice to visit! Here are some photos...

As we walked in there was a VERY LARGE dragonfly there to greet us...


The ants were a little bit scary!


Hello, sweet bluebonnet.


Well, Courtney found a big butterfly! But should she be standing next to it? NO! She walked through a flowerbed to get there. I had to walk very gingerly around tiny plants to rescue her...


My own little bugs under a gorgeous vine...


Some more lovely flora...


Oooh, and some fauna!! Turtles!!


And finally... what we came in search of... one lone little butterfly! Yay for butterflies! (or is it a moth? I have no idea...)


The kids got to pick out a surprise in the giftshop. Courtney was VERY excited about her bugs!


Thanks for stopping by today!

Another trip to the Austin Nature Center!

It's another beautiful, sunny day here in Austin, so we just had to go on another outside adventure! Today we returned to one of our favorite (and free!) places - the Austin Nature & Science Center.


There are several rescue animals for the kids to see...


Mommy's favorite was this beautiful Barred Owl.


Lots of pretty flora too!


Walking over to the "dino pit" we cross a pretty little stream.


Here's Carter trying to excavate something in the dino pit...


Courtney helped out with the finer brush work.


"Look Mom, a mosasaur!"


Another happy day at the nature center...

My future cyclists!

For Christmas this year, Santa brought Carter a new big boy bicycle! Sadly though, Carter was not too thrilled about it. I think he was a bit ticked off at Santa on Christmas morning, to be honest. There was no mention of a bike anywhere on his list. Mommy was really worried that she didn't do a good job making sure Santa saw his list, and that future Christmases may not be so magical for Carter anymore. But... he finally showed some interest in the bike, and yesterday he wanted to ride it outside for the first time! Yay!! He did so well on it too!! Here's some photos...

Daddy helped Carter get comfortable on the bike and used to peddling...


See that grin?! (but Carter, you better watch where you're going!)


In no time he didn't need Daddy to hold on anymore! (the training wheels help...)


Wait, who's that we see in the distance...?


Oh it's Courtney!! She got a "new" tricyle for Christmas too - Carter's hand-me-down. This was her first time out riding too. She concentrated on those peddles really hard - but she still needs a bit more practice.


Here's my two little bikers, proud of their bike-riding accomplishments!


Oh and if you're wondering - yes - they are in their jammies. What of it? :-)
Thanks for stopping by today!

Catching up on January...

Here are the rest of the photos I meant to blog back in January but never found the time...

In case you didn't get enough Morgan sweetness in the previous post, here she is again!


Courtney still loves playing dress-up!


Carter still loves watching his trains!


They both love playing with playdoh.


Sometimes playdoh playing is clothing optional...!


Notice that Courtney has to open EVERY can of playdoh. Note to self - purge some of the playdoh...

Carter REALLY loves his blocks - here he's hugging them.


Uncle Jon's birthday was January 24th and we had a little party for him! Here he is with his periodic table cupcakes!


Daddy came home from his January Korea trip during Uncle Jon's party - the kids were sooo happy to see him.


There you have it. I've now blogged everything we've done so far in 2010!!! Not all of the posts had emails announcing them, so be sure to scroll back through our blog and make sure you haven't missed anything! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Cousins!

Here's a little photo shoot we attempted back in January! Aunt Laura bought Morgan and Courtney matching outfits - too cute! None of the shots turned out "perfect", but there's still a lot of cuteness going on here... Carter and Courtney love their sweet little cousin!