torture by decoration

Spring is here for sure and with it my allergies. I have been knocked out with medication or knocked out with itchy eyes, sneezing, and a faucet for a nose. I choose the drug induced stupor as the lesser of two evils. One of these days I'm gonna have a good job and get the good stuff that takes care of the symptoms without the whole nodding off at your desk situation. Kate has been real helpful with the allergies by keeping the stuff outside. Oh wait, no she hasn't. instead she makes a great big "Screw You" center piece from the tree I tried to kill when we moved in. As you can see by the flowering goodness the tree isn't dead yet. Though branches seem to be coming off of it and into our house at an alarming rate. We think the wind knocked this down but we wouldn't put it past Kate to help the wind along with some rope that she carries in her purse. Also thank you to Kris and Tom for the great easter swag and card. They sent along a number of treats for the boys that we have hidden in the easiest place to find. I wonder how sophisticated our hiding spots will get over the years. Right now the Dinning room cabinet works but soon it will have to up high. Once the boys start to figure out we are hiding things from them it will turn into a cold war game of cat and mouse. I remember being pretty good at finding the things that Mark and I weren't meant to find but we were home alone alot.

Spring Fever

Henry is getting way more smiley lately. We can all get him to smile but what really gets me is watching Finn try to do it. Henry starts to smile and then gets this wide eyed look of fear on his face as this blond bulb head is coming in for a kiss. He goes from joy to “Holy Crap!” in two seconds flat. Finn has gotten better about driving his bulltruck over Henry and Henry has gotten more OK with it. I know that they are going to have a lot of fun with each other as they get bigger and I think Finn is anxious for that to start.

We are a little more then a week away from a trip to AZ for an extended weekend. After a couple of days of nice weather here in Portland we are back to the cold dreary spring that we have yet to grow to love. The warm desert days are looking better and better. I’m pretty excited to see my brother and sister in law as well as my sister and her family. Basically all the boys I grew up with relocated to AZ so it will be a nice family reunion. I’m excited for them all to get to see Finn again and meet Henry. There is a gang of kids that Finn will get to play with and since Grandma and Papa are coming with us too, a gang of people that Kate and I will get to play with. It’s spring break right, we can get our party on.

A walk awalk awalka

We went for a long walk Sunday and it was really great. If you ask Finn how it was he'll say "Pretty good." That is his answer for just about any question you ask him. He says it in such a nonchalant way too. We wandered through the fields of the sports complex across the way. Stopping to watch some Little league baseball, women's soccer, and the skater boys watched over by a line of parents in their S.U.V.s. We cut across the street to the Nike World Campus and meandered the bark trails. We walked up to Costco and had a lunch of pizza and frozen yogurt. We made our way back home through side trails of ducks and play grounds. Finn was in and out of the stroller a number of times on our 3 hour walk and played on 3 different playgrounds. Henry slept in the swaying hammock oblivious to the many rain showers and even hail. It was nice Portland day, and a great long walk around our new world.

A Sunday Garden

Sunday was project day for us and we set about turning a section of the backyard into a flower cutting garden for Kate. We started off the day with a fresh pot of coffee and a sausage scramble with some of Farmer Brown's eggs. Fed and caffeinated we went to Menards and got some supplies. Back at home El Finno was ready for a nap and Kate and I got busy removing the grass from a Kidney bean shaped area next to the garage. The ground was fairly wet but it was still hard work and 6 blisters and 2 hours later we had the space cleared. I used a lot of the removed grass in dirt to fill in the sink hole behind the garage, it might not be a permanent fix but at least none of the drunks will fall in as they stumble down our alley. I'm always looking out for the stumbling drunk! On the dugout bean we then laid a mixture of manure, peat moss, and vermiculite for the plants. Apparently all that stuff is plant crack and they really dig it. We then laid down a weed barrier over the space and fed the now awake baby before heading out again to Home Depot for the plants. Kate had drawn out a plan for the house and listed the flowers and shrubs that she wanted to Finn and I just played in the cart as she went around loading it up. Back at the house we planted the newly purchased flowers, shrubs, and apple tree in our little space and then covered the area with mulch. It turned out nice but at the end of the day I was beat and my hands are all tore up. There are still some plants to go in but it does look great and it felt very good to get started on the yard this spring, and on earth day no less. Pictures to come once I mow the lawn.

Updated: with photo goodness