Happy Easter

In protest to all the cute Easter dresses and crafts available for little girls, and the lack of cute things for boys, I organized a bow tie making day with a few of our good friends. We got a picture of the handsome boys wearing their ties (and us moms) at church on Easter. Isn't it a fine looking group of little friends? :)

Snow Day

Somehow a snowy day always makes me feel like I should do something out of the ordinary. So today we took advantage of the car being covered in snow and decided to stay in and try a few things I have been wanting to do.

We made a fresh batch of finger pain, and Henson spent about an hour making artwork which is now hanging in our kitchen.

 This was at the beginning...

 The messy aftermath

We also made cloud dough, which is just flour with baby oil, but it makes it so that the flour still feels soft but can be molded like moist sand.  It's actually pretty cool.  It my be a coulp days before my kitchen floor is entirely free from flour residue, but it was worth it.  I had to convince Henson even take a break to eat and nap.

 

 Of course, what's a snow day without playing in the snow.  We built our first snowman of the winter (although I guess it's not really winter anymore...)  Henson lent him the hat, and gave him some flours from our bush.

 

And of course, I had to build a snow dog for my animal loving boy.

 It didn't last long, because as soon as we had built it Henson tried to sit on it, than pick it up.

I also made the broccoli, cheese cornbread muffin recipe that I have been wanting to try.  They were ok, but I think Henson liked them better than I did.  Our whole wheat zucchini bread is still much better.

I didn't just play the entire day.  I also reorganized (or started the process of reorganizing) the sewing room and our food storage.  I can't wait until I can get some wood to build my shelves in there, it will be so much easier to keep my materials sorted.  I also got a zuccini tofu lasagna ready and in the oven early, so despite playing with my toddler basically all day, I'm allowing myself to feel productive.

As much as I am ready for spring to be here, it was nice to have an unexpected snow day.

Lopez Update

The beginning of spring is in the air, and the nicer it gets the more motivated I am to go places. Luckily there are plenty of places to go in Alexandria and DC.  Some of our favorites have become the zoo, the aquarium and the Natural History Museum. 

I've always loved the turtles, and now so does Henson. 

Hanging out with the golden ape at the Natural History Museum.

I love living within walking distance of so many parks here.  We have taken to packing picnics and walking to the park when the weather is warm enough. 

Otherwise we are plugging along as usual.  Henry is still working through his MBA program, and if all goes well he should finish up in December.  It will be nice to have a little extra family time for the holidays.

Henson is learning his alphabet, and has started naming letters whenever he sees them.  We still have a few more to get down.

I am still doing freelance sewing work, and enjoying the start of spring cleaning. 

Happy spring to everyone! 

One Year Older

On Sunday I celebrated my 26th birthday. This week I had someone ask me if I was turning 21, and someone else ask if I was turning 30. I guess somewhere in the middle isn't so bad.

The wether celebrated my birthday by becoming beautiful and much cooler, and Henson celebrated by making it easily through a straight hour of sacrament meeting. It was a quiet, lovely day, filled with cake and lots of time outside.

Fun day for photos

It was a beautiful day outside, and we had fun taking some impromptu photos. I tried to get the dog to join in, but he was content to sit under a tree.

I caved...

Yes despite my better judgment I finally gave in and got a Pinterest account. I held out for a long time, but after searching for something and having all the results come up as Pinterest pins I joined the club. And yes, although I don't spend much time on it, I do now understand some of the obsession. So for those of you who are members of the site, I have now joined you. For those of you who think it is a silly craze like I used to, I now give you permission to mock me.

Mothers day weekend in Florida

This is my first time blogging and posting pictures from my phone, so please forgive any formatting issues.

In May we spent a week in Merit Island Florida, which is Near Coco Beach. It was the first time for all of us visiting the Florida beach, and Henson's first time at the ocean.

In fact this trip was full of firsts for all of us. Some of them included

-Henson's first flight (and he was a trouper, even sleeping despite his usual no sleep in public policy)

- Henry and I went jet skiing for the first time. Since we were staying with my parents try watched Henson while we tried it out. We took turns driving, and it was a lot more fun than I anticipated.

- Henson's first time at the beach. He loved it! At first he didn't know if he liked it and had to figure it out, but by the end he was grabbing our hards and walking toward the water. He also unfortunately liked eating sand.

- My first time seeing a live crocodile. We had lunch our last day at a little place on the water, and from the deck you could see crocodiles in the water. They were pretty far away, but still fun to watch.

- My first massage. Henry and I took advantage of the non-DC prices and we each got a massage. It was very relaxing.

All in all it was a fun and relaxing trip.