baby balloons

Today we were up in Justin's room and in his bin of toy cars he found a small green balloon, one that I no doubt blew up some time ago.  He typically likes his balloons blown up very small, because he is afraid they will  pop otherwise.  This one was green.  Justin decided that it was dirty and he gave it a bath in the sink and then after he wrapped it up in the towel and held it.  It was really cute.  Then out of the blue he told me he needed to do laundry.  I told him there were a load of clean towels in the dryer so have at it.  He did.  He also insited that I call him "daddy".  At one point he rocked his "baby" and at another point he put it down for a nap.  This only lasted like a total of 20 minutes but it was really enduring.

butterfly hunter

I love 3 day weekends.  Every weekend should be at least 3 days long.  Today we headed downtown to check out some of the Rose Festival festivities and hit up Saturday Market.  We bought this awesome bunch of flowers for 10 bucks and carried it all around downtown.  We had an elephant ear, watched boats, walked along the water front and checked out all the activity.   

Justin was on the hunt for a butterfly (that is his orange butterfly net - we toted this all around downtown too).  Yesterday he saw a white butterfly in the yard and insisted that he needed a net so he could catch it.  He remembered that Target had nets in their dollar bins and asked if we could go get one.  Obviously I agreed.  But butterflies are hard to come by and despite his best efforts to hunt one down he did not find one at home or downtown. 

Paxil is on Prozac

The vet recommended that maybe Paxil could benefit from taking some anit-anxiety meds and since I am at my wits end with his inappropriate litter boxing I am going to drug up the kitty.  The pill pockets are genious and Paxil takes his meds with no problemo.  Fingers crossed that it will help.

he is a smart one

We could not resist a bag of otter pops tonight at the store.  Justin was thrilled once they froze and could not wait to have one, but after taking one bite he passed the frozen treat back to me and went to track down some gloves.

burnout?

I think, after almost a year and a half of daily documenting that I am feeling burnt out.  I still pick up the camera and shoot,  but I feel uninspired half of the time.  I still love to look back on weeks past and reflect on what we did/accomplished.  I don't know if it is just my general unmotivated mood that is affecting nearly everything I do right now.  It's a bummer and I am in a funk that I can't seem to pull out of completley.  This weather we are having sucks too.  Where is summer?  I think I need it.

the robe

Not last Christmas, but the one before - Amanda asked me what to get Justin and I said "a robe".  My thinking was that after a bath Justin usually rocks his birthday suit and it isn't always warm enough in the house to be cruising around in the buff for an extended period of time.  Problem is... Justin won't wear the robe.  He would rather sit and shiver.  Which is nuts.  Tonight he humored me and put it on for like 2 minutes.  I had to take a picture for Amanda, so here it is.  He didn't want to hold still too long for me, I guess moving around in circles and generally being a goof makes you warm too.

Is it the weekend yet?

I am having a hard week.  And it is only Tuesday.  I am feeling stressed out and worried.  Inadequate.  All around out of sorts. 

"bring on those boys"

It's back!   My favorite reality show ever - The Bachelorette!  As fun as it is to watch 25 girls and 1 guy on The Bachelor - this is a thousand times more entertaining.  I had butterflies for Ali.  Mondays are gonna be good days again.

more prototypes

Lessons learned:
1.)  Make sure the squeeze bottle is full
2.)  Plastic wrap does not work in place of wax paper (mental note:  buy wax paper)
3.)  This is too much fun!

mini carts and rain

Love the little shopping carts at Trader Joes.  Justin has flowers, peanut butter cookies and applesauce in his cart.

When we left Trader Joes it was just starting to sprinkle, as we continued home it started to pour.  Right in the middle of this picture is a little patch of blue sky and puffy white clouds - but we were underneath gray gloom and major rain.  This bi-polar weather is crazy.  I am ready for consistent sunshine.  So ready!

stuffy heads

I kept us both home today due to our miserable colds.  My cold is actually far worse than Justin's and he was just thrilled to be home on a "school" day. 

weather

lego city

this little kitty...

...went to the vet

more indoor sunshine

water me

My flower pots are looking perfect.  Since I can thank Justin for adding more flowers to both the front and back yards this year I am predicting flower watering burnout to hit in July. 

my apprentice

Today weather wise was absolutley perfect!  We spent a good portion of our day outside playing and working.  This afternoon we came inside and I off-handedly mentioned to Justin that Rachel's birthday was coming up and we needed to think about a present.  Since Rachel was going to come over - he decided that she needed a cake.  So he got right to work.  Her birthday is actually 2 weeks away, but he didn't care - he is the sweetest!

And… a few Justin stories to preserve: 

Today was an "open the windows up and let the warm air come in" kind of day.  I was in the back yard setting the sprinkler to water the weeds grass and was too vigorous with turning the water on at first.  I adjusted it so that it was perfect and came inside to spy Justin retrieving towels from the kitchen to wipe up the sprinkler water on the floor that had come into the open window.  It was almost like he didn't even think twice and just went about covering up the wet floor.  Wiping it up would have been better, but the fact that he was fixing the issue and doing so without alerting me was kinda awesome.

The following weekend Justin had some left over candy he brought home with him, it was on the coffee table and he would always ask me if he could eat one at various times throughout the week.  Again I was out back watering and Justin was inside - when I came back into the house Justin told me to sit down and that he was sleepy and was going to go upstairs and take a nap!  Really?!  He told me to turn the TV on and sit down.  I knew something was up.  I also knew the box of candy was missing from the coffee table.  I asked him if he had the nummies, he said he did not - I knew he did, but didn't let on.  He sat out of my site on the stairs and unwrapped a candy and ate it and then came back down in the living room telling me that he had a good rest.  I let him think he pulled the wool over my eyes and later pointed out that he left his wrappers on the stairs. 

And Justin has also started doing the "hey! Look over there!" bit when he doesn't want me to see something that he is doing.  I am not sure where he learned this trick, but again I let him "fool" me over and over.  

prototype...

...for graduation cupcakes

potty shot

Justin's favorite book is "No David" and he likes to read it on the pot.  He can actually read this book, but I think he just has it memorized!

yay for warm weather

peonies

After three years I think they may bloom this year!

fresh leaves

The trees that line my street really popped today.  I love the new delicate leaves.

Mother's Day

Justin and I had a great time taking in the Cirque du Soleil show Kooza today. 

trains, cupcakes, books, caterpillar

Today was National Train Day.  Justin and I ventured down to Union Station to check out the trains.  Justin was quite excited to be going, some of his favorite YouTube videos feature the big orange train he is standing next too.  He could not wait to get out of the car and check it out - but it was very busy and crowded there so I think he lost his enthusiasm quickly.

It was such a beautiful day today.  After checking out the trains and Union Station we went and had a cupcake at Cupcake  Jones {I still stand behind my feeling that they suck}, then we went and had lunch {yes, we had dessert first}.  We also spent some time in Powel's picking out some new books.  It was a nice day with my favorite person. 

This afternoon Justin spotted this very fuzzy caterpillar in the yard and was simply amazed by it.  I was in the house at the time of discovery, but Justin was just thrilled and asked me to come outside right away to check something out.  He was full of questions about it and he even asked for me to feed it - I plucked some of the new leaves off the tree and while I was holding the fuzzy little thing it took quite a few bites out of the leafy greens. 

I am quite certain that Justin wanted me to take it inside and make it a "pet" - but I didn't want to go there, certain it would die. Justin played with the thing for well over an hour, poor thing was just passing through and really didn't want to hang out just in our yard. At one point when the critter had lost all of the white spiky fur that was once on its back I had to tell Justin to let it go on it way

too much

Too much staring at a computer screen makes way for eye strain and fatigue. I took on a few graphic design projects this week and although I really enjoy the work it is kickin' my booty. I don't have enough time in the day anyway. It is nice to finally get some legitimate use out of that expensive software I bought a few years ago to do this very thing.

pink dogwood

My favorite tree! 

Dahlias

where everybody knows your name

At the Oak Grove Starbucks they know Justin's drink and that he likes to have his name put on his cup.  It is not because I take him there, it is because he goes there often with his dad.  When we went in last week I was shocked that they knew his order and his name, I mean really?!  Anyway... Jason sent me this picture he took of Justin today, apparently at Justin's request.  It is a pretty cute photo I think.   

KOOZA

Every spring when the big yellow and blue Cirque du Soleil tent goes up - I want to go and catch the show, but I never end up doing it.  I was lucky enough to see the Cirque Du Soleil show "O" in Las Vegas in 2005 which was nothing short of amazing and left me wanting to see more!  Today I popped online out of the blue to just check on ticket cost {they are not cheap} and when I found 2 front row seats to the show this Sunday I knew I was going.  When I saw "O" in Vegas it was also from the front row and so it will be amazing to see another show up close as well.  I will be taking Justin, I hope he enjoys it, because I am so looking forward to it.

I also love having tickets hanging up on my fridge again, if only for a few days.  Which reminds me, I need to get my DMB tickets for Labor Day weekend.  And if KOOZA is a hit with Jusitn, maybe we will hit up the Lion King too!

he's gonna take this show on the road someday

Justin likes to preform and lately it has been to Dave Matthews, on the front porch, with the volume cranked!

ice cream and cake

Justin made an awesome play-doh cake today. He even "baked" it by putting it in front of the fireplace. It is funny, but I don't mind the mess of play-doh, but what drives me batty is when the colors mix!