Nana, “Yes, it might have oil in it and we might not get to play in the water.”

C – “Salt water – yuck!  I liked the swimming pool (at the hotel) more!”

View from the backyard:

A couple of years ago I planted round stepping stones.  Never been happy with them. They were spaced too far apart from each other and made it difficult to roll the garbage can to the street. So, we finally decided to get a sidewalk poured along with a pad for the garbage can (and large enough if we ever decide to get another garbage can that they both can fit).

There is a grassy area between the sidewalk and the house. Not sure what we are going to do there, as it is on an incline. I’m guessing this will be a project for the fall or next spring, but who knows – I might get a wild hair and tackle it this weekend.

Here are some pictures of the forms, concrete and of the cat annoyed with all the noise.

J lost his second top tooth last week.  He is having trouble saying “s’s.”  He has been with out the other tooth on the top since he was 2 and decided to do a flying leap out of a grocery cart.  I’m so used to his missing tooth look, but now that he is missing both… still trying to grasp that he is growing up so fast.

J asked me to take this picture.  Awhile back he had a hissy fit and had these taken away from him.  Now that he has these stuffed animals back, he is over joyed.  C has always had either his blue blanket or “Giggles” the stuffed bear to keep him company.  J on the other hand loves many stuffed animals.

C has learned how to roller skate.  Grandma and Grandpa gave the boys roller skates two Christmases ago and C has just these past few weeks been REALLY interested in them.  (Plus, I must say, I have discouraged the boys from using the skates as I didn’t want to have to make an ER visit.  Fortunately they have been very careful and all is well so far.)

C is getting really good at using the skates.  Here are some shots of C roller skating on the path behind our house:

Also included in these pictures is a basket (for reference in size, floor tiles are 12″) that will be used on Monday for Mrs. L.  Kids are encouraged to bring in sweet smelling items (a brownie, candles, potpourri, etc.) and will be collected in the basket.

The flowers are artificial, but I thought they were very pretty.  They will be given to Mrs. L on Wednesday along with the green planter that they are sitting in.

Here is J getting his piece of tape from Mr. Keith and J getting ready to bow.

Here is C getting his yellow belt and giving Mr. Keith a “high five.”  (Thanks for the great pics, Anne!)

C’s class went on a field trip today to the Botanic Gardens.  It was a great day, with the temperatures in the lower 60′s – a few clouds to keep the sun out of our eyes and just enough sun to remind us that Spring is upon us.

C loved all the beautiful flowers and colors.  He is my child that appreciates prettiness/beauty and nature thus the trip was an absolute joy.

In between looking at the beautiful flowers, trees, ducks, fish, etc. there were “stations” where the kids could do hands on crafts.  C planted a marigold plant, colored a bookmark and made a butterfly out of a plastic baggie filled with biodegradable paper and flower seeds , pinched together with a clothes pin.  There were other stations that we didn’t get to do, as our time was limited.  One of the stations that would be fun to go back and do was making a flower out of tissue paper with a chenille/pipe cleaner stem.  The tissue paper was white and the kids “colored” the tissue paper edges by dipping it in Kool-aid water.  Neat idea!

Here are some pictures of the neat stuff C brought home – namely the pretty flowers that he picked, the bookmarker that he drew and colored, his marigold he planted and the butterfly he made…