Darr Family Blog – Page 148 – The place to follow the Darr Family

Why, Hello There, March!

Weekly Happenings: Wait, what?! It’s MARCH already?! How did that happen?! We even had an extra day in February this year! Okay [insert deep breath], now that I’ve got that off my chest…on to what we actually did this past week. It was another typical laid-back week filled with a trip to the library for story time, grocery shopping, etc. We did go to the park quite a bit (I think we probably went three times, which for us is a lot) because the weather has been great. We even hung around the house yesterday because Paul was doing more yard work (and homework). Yesterday evening I got to hang out with my girlfriends at another LuLaRoe party while the boys hung out at home.

The Weekly Weather: As mentioned above, it’s been really great. Warmish, a bit breezy at times, not too humid…it’s really hard to believe that it’s not even technically spring yet (even though we have to move our clocks forward on Saturday night…what?!).

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been kept busy with work and school (as well as spring gardening). Yesterday, we went and bought a car jack that he used to pull up the support stakes that were next to the trees in the back yard. He already cut the support wires quite some time ago since the trees don’t really need them after the first couple of years, but the stakes were in really deep, so he was waiting until he had a good plan in place before pulling them up (especially since he’d already pulled up the ones from next to the tree in the front and knew that it was going to be difficult). He also added more soil around the bases of the trees and planted wildflower seeds in the beds so that they’ll match the tree in the front yard. Oh, and he used the tree stakes as part of the support structure for the tomatoes, so those are looking pretty great, too.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary. My big focus this week was to change up our routine for when we’re at home. I found that I’ve slipped up and have let the TV become Joseph’s babysitter while I try to get stuff done around the house. Not that there’s anything wrong with using it on occasion, but I was using it way too much and it was sort of affecting his behavior. So this past week, I cut down his screen time a lot. Now, watching a show is a treat (which makes it more special) and he is playing with his toys (and outside) a lot more. His behavior has improved immensely! Also, as mentioned before, I got to go hang out with my girlfriends while we shopped for cute clothes. I have a pretty strict one-in-one-out rule (I only buy something if I know that there’s something already in my closet that I am willing to get rid of), so I only got a few things. I cannot believe how much I love the clothes that are put out by this company! Not only are they comfortable and cute, but they are modest! The dresses and skirts are long enough to cover what needs to be covered and the shirts have longer sleeves and higher necklines (and also have length at the bottom, too). I think I have replaced almost all of the shirts that I had to layer in order to make them modest enough to wear with new stuff that I don’t need to layer at all…which is really important with a Southern summer swiftly approaching.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: A lot of playing with toys, playing outside in the backyard, going to the park, etc. He does still get a bit of screen time; mostly during my piano student time when I need him to be quietly entertained. Speaking of which, something really funny happened in regards to that this past week. He was playing Final Fantasy on Paul’s old DS and came up to me (in the middle of me teaching my piano student, of course) all excited and told me that he defeated a knight and saved a princess. He was so excited that he had to tell me right away, even though the timing wasn’t the best. His two favorite games to play are Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda, and we’ve noticed that his reading is getting a lot better (there is quite a bit to read in both of those games). I guess video games don’t completely rot one’s brain. 😉

This Week in Pictures:

IMG_20160229_101129 — A quick craft I did for the guest room. I took a scrap piece of wood, painted it white, used a cookie cutter as a stencil, and then painted it. We have these sharpie brushes that are like markers but with a brush tip. I used the red one to outline the shape and then painted the rest. I really like how it turned out!

16 - 1 (2) — Hanging out in one of the huge live oak trees that grace our park.

16 - 1 (3) — Once I assured him that the ants on the tree stump were (most likely) not fire ants, he was content to sit and watch them do their work for quite a while.

IMG_20160302_142533 — Getting his work out on….I was most impressed that he was actually able to pedal the elliptical.

IMG_20160302_142739 — …and “push-ups”. Can you tell he watches me work out?! I do modified push-ups (with my knees on the ground, but feet up in the air), so he thinks he needs to have his knees down to do push-ups.

IMG_20160303_175449 — One of my favorite things to see…he loves having Daddy read to him!

IMG_20160303_102826 — Playing with Play-Doh. He was really enjoying using the cut-outs and then embellishing them (giving his giraffe spots, for instance).

IMG_20160304_143757 — Playing with a tractor that’s older than me (it used to belong to one of my brothers).

IMG_20160305_130849 — You know life’s pretty great if you get to walk in Daddy’s shoes whilst munching on pretzels.

IMG_20160305_160336 — The back yard after Paul got done with the trees.

IMG_20160305_160310 — The tomato plants with their new support system.

IMG_20160305_190250 — He made an obstacle course for his guy to complete. I love, love, love his imagination!!

IMG_20160306_093530 — My new pencil skirt. I was drawn to the print when I saw it on the hanger, but wasn’t too sure it would look good on me. One of my friends assured me that I could totally get away with it, so I went ahead and bought it…and…I love it!

IMG_20160306_104204 — Joseph letting Paul know that he beat the evil knight, Garland, on Final Fantasy (yes, that is a controller for an original NES…Paul still has the one he had when he was a teenager and was able to switch out a few parts to get it to work).

A Rather Interesting Week

Weekly Happenings: This past week was rather interesting, in that Paul took both Thursday and Friday off (more about that later). The first part of the week was normal as far as our normal schedule is. On Wednesday, I did go to a baby shower so Paul and Joseph had quality father-son time (including a trip to Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt). Thursday, Paul spent the majority of the day working in the yards (Joseph and I were out with him for some of the time, but I spent most of the time entertaining Joseph inside and teaching my piano students). Friday night Paul had a camp out, so the earlier part of Friday was spent with Paul doing homework and Joseph and I running errands. Joseph was pretty sad to see Paul go on Friday night, so I took him out for shaved ice. He perked up right away. 🙂 Yesterday, Paul got home from the camp out, showered, and then he, Joseph, and I went to a book signing for one of our favorite authors (Brandon Sanderson). We each had a new book of his to sign (and I also had a crustier copy of another of his). It was neat to get to meet him. Then we headed home (I was a bit tired since I decided yesterday morning to pull all the grass from the planter boxes under each of the trees in the back yard…I almost pushed myself too hard with my back but luckily didn’t injure myself by pushing myself too much) and got Paul’s old lap top since someone responded to his Craigslist add to buy it. With the money we got from that, we went to Best Buy and upgraded my lap top (and now Joseph gets to mess around on my old lap top). The trickle-down effect is great!

The Weekly Weather: It’s been warm and sunny. I think it’s official (even if the calendar disagrees): winter is done for and spring has arrived (in South Texas, at least).

What Paul’s Been Up To: More about his yard work day: Thursday morning, we headed to Lowe’s to get some plants, more wood chips and potting soil, and a couple kits to change sprinklers to drip lines (do you see where I’m going with this?). He then cleared out Joseph’s sand box (which Joseph hadn’t used for quite a while), added some soil, and planted a few things (which we’ll hand water). He also ripped out all the old, dead tomato plants and planted fresh ones. He changed the sprinkler heads out that are closest to the tomatoes (and originally pointed into the garden bed anyway) into drip lines, mowed both yards, and then put down weed & feed (a sure sign that spring is on its way). I’m grateful for all of the work he does to keep our yards looking nice! Friday’s camp out was an overnighter at Government Canyon (the state park that’s just a couple miles from our house), so Joseph and I dropped Paul off and then he hitched a ride home with someone on Saturday morning.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary, actually. I’ve been enjoying the weather. I think I like all of the seasons in San Antonio (yes, even summer with all of its humid ickiness has a few selling points), but fall and spring are my favorites, by far. The air is so fresh (and even smells good, if that makes any sense) and the temperature is just right. Right now, as I sit typing, I can glance up and look out my storm door to see the beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds. Having grown up being surrounded by mountains, the lack of mountains and “big skys” in South Texas took some getting used to, but now I love it and even feel a bit closed-in whenever we go back to California to visit.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: Nothing really out of the ordinary for the little dude this past week. We did take him to get his hair cut on Thursday morning (before our trip to Lowe’s) so that he’ll be cooler for the warm weather. Oh! He got to give his first talk in Primary today. He rocked it! When I wrote it out, I tried to use words that he understood (and could pronounce) and consequently, he read a good 95% of it on his own. It did my heart proud! Oh, and early last week, a friend of mine passed down her kids’ Mega Bloks (since they’ve sort of outgrown them) to Joseph and he’s been having a blast building new stuff.

This Week in Pictures:

IMG_20160221_185737 — He’s a building machine!

IMG_20160222_133021 — Digging through his new treasures.

IMG_20160225_135228 — I love this goofball!

I got a text with this picture while I was at the baby shower I attended. He sure loves his Daddy! He got rather brave with his frozen yogurt choice (up to this point he’s always had vanilla with fresh strawberries) but this trip he decided on coconut frozen yogurt with chocolate chip cookie dough bits, sprinkles, and Whoppers. I laughed really hard when Paul told me!

IMG_20160226_082139 — Joseph’s sand box-turned-garden. He’s expressed interest in helping with gardening, so we picked out a few plants and he’ll get to help water them. The two in the back are a yellow bell pepper plant and basil, and the two in the front are cilantro and a strawberry plant (Joseph was rather insistent that we get a strawberry plant).

IMG_20160226_082217 (1) — The new tomato plants with the drip line system that Paul set up. I’m so grateful to have a husband that knows how to do this sort of stuff! We’re also eventually going to plant pumpkin seeds (with their germination and maturation cycles being what they are, we need to wait a few more months before planting if we want pumpkins for the fall).

16 - 1 (1) — Digging into his shaved ice at “Ahamba Bucks” (Bahama Bucks). He was also brave here…he normally gets vanilla shaved ice with vanilla ice cream on the bottom, but this time he got strawberry shaved ice with vanilla ice cream on the bottom.

16 - 2 — He thoroughly enjoyed our momma-son date…even though he kept giving himself brain freezes from the shaved ice and ice cream (I even noticed goosebumps on his little arms…when we got home, he asked to get into his long-sleeved, long-legged fleece pajamas, hahaha).

IMG_20160228_121515 — Getting ready to give his talk.

Bonus Video: Joseph’s talk! Oh, and for curious minds, the sleeping baby I’m holding is my friend’s, not mine, lol. My friend’s husband was home sick, so I agreed to watch the baby while my friend fulfilled her nursery calling. 🙂

I Think Winter is Over…and The Rodeo’s In Town

Weekly Happenings: Well, it’s still February, but it sure feels like April or May. Joseph is rather confused. He keeps asking me if it’s still winter. I really can’t blame him, though. With the weather behaving like it has, we’ve been wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts all week. Monday, we had a fun family day. Paul had the day off, so we headed downtown to go see the rodeo. We didn’t buy tickets to go see any of the bull riding or anything, we just walked around the fairgrounds. I think Joseph’s favorite part was the petting zoo. My favorite part was seeing how much he enjoyed everything. After we were done at the rodeo, we headed over to the zoo to see the new giraffe exhibit. Needless to say, it was a pretty crazy day. After that crazy day, we made the rest of the week rather low key. The only other thing that was really different than our regular routine was that on Friday night I had friends come over for a party I was hosting (more about that later). While I was partying it up, Paul and Joseph were hanging out upstairs and having quality boy time.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been sunny with highs in the upper-70s to low-80s. Craziness!!! We are supposed to get a few rainstorms coming through, but I don’t think the temperature is going to drop too much because of it.

What Paul’s Been Up To: Aside from school, work, and homelife, not too much has been happening out of the ordinary. He did attend a scout training this past weekend and then also has a campout coming up soon (over at Government Canyon State Park, so about a mile or two from our house).

What Sarah’s Been Up To: A bit more about the party I hosted: A friend of mine is a consultant for LuLaRoe (really cute and comfortable clothes that happen to be modest even!) so she came over and my friends and I tried on clothes, chatted, snacked on treats, and had a good time. One perk I didn’t realize at first was that if my friends bought a certain amount of clothing, I got free clothes. I was so lucky, because they bought enough clothing for me to get two free pieces (and then I bought a third because I couldn’t decide between two prints of a certain shirt…plus I wanted to support my friend a bit). It was so fun! I also had a book club meeting which was tons of fun as usual. Other than those things, my week was pretty average.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: The most notable thing that happened was that he got ahold of my phone while I was otherwise occupied, unlocked it, and took some pictures of himself…seventy-two, to be exact. I am so glad that they were just digital pictures that I could simply delete instead of it being an entire roll of “old-fashioned” film. Crazy kid. I had been experimenting with a setting on my phone that made it so that if I was at a “safe” place (i.e. a place that I unlocked my phone a lot of times), I would only have to do the pattern unlock once a day and then the rest of the day I would just need to do the swipe to unlock. Since home is a “safe” place, all Joseph had to do was wake up my phone and swipe to unlock (things that he’s used to doing with his tablet). Needless to say, that feature is disabled now, ha! He’s also into making his own jokes. One of his goes as follows:

Joseph: “Mom, how did the turtle cross the kitchen?”
Me: “I don’t know, how?”
Joseph: “He ran!”

This Week in Pictures:

IMG_20160215_092213 — Getting ready for the rodeo. I noticed when he put on his hat, it was a bit small (he’s had it for around a year or so). Paul had pointed this fact out before but I had never quite realized it, so we figured we’d look for a new one while at the rodeo.

IMG_20160215_105300 — Riding down a giant plastic cheese slide…because why not?

IMG_20160215_115637 — His new hat is a much better fit.

IMG_20160215_120317 — There were quite a few goats there.

IMG_20160215_120519 — This baby goat was so cute!

IMG_20160215_120523 — I started petting it and it laid its head down on my knee, as if telling me I needn’t ever stop. 🙂

IMG_20160215_120543 — Petting a really fluffy llama.

IMG_20160215_120736 — We thought this alpaca had an awesome face. 😉

IMG_20160215_120936 — The wallaby was SO soft!

IMG_20160215_120952 — Saying hello to a goat.

IMG_20160215_121049 — He also liked this donkey a lot.

IMG_20160215_121217 — He was a little put off by the size of this cow (it WAS pretty substantial), but finally consented to brushing its back.

IMG_20160215_143526 — Checking out the giraffes. There’s an adult and two adolescents, all male. I love my plaid shirt-clad, sunglasses-wearing boys!

IMG_20160215_144136 — We have to take a picture on the elephant almost every time we go.

IMG_20160217_134927 — This shot and the next few are what I decided to keep from the seventy-two shots he got (mostly of himself, but there were a few of the floor, walls, tables, and ceiling fan). I call this the kissy-face.

IMG_20160217_134809 — Then there’s this one…I still laugh each time I see it. I think he was attempting a mad face, but the expression is simply priceless.

IMG_20160218_133227 — Make-shift slide for the win!

IMG_20160219_154539 — Drawing a picture of him with a dog. Pair this with his completely random comment in the car where he said that if we got a dog he would clean up after it, and I think I can safely say we’ve entered THAT phase of childhood…luckily he later decided that his plush Pluto was an acceptable substitute (especially since we have no plans on getting a dog any time soon).

IMG_20160219_175633 — Playing with Daddy’s old harmonica.

IMG_20160219_175614 — According to Paul, Joseph said he was “playing a sad sad cowboy song on the harmonica.”

IMG_20160220_121447 — Please excuse the “bathroom selfie” for the few pictures. I had wanted to show my new clothes to friends, but lacked a photographer at the time (I suppose I could have asked Joseph…ha). This is one of my free items from my LuLaRoe party. I already have a dress that is the same cut as this (it’s called an Amelia), just a different pattern, that I love, so I knew I wanted another, if possible. It actually has pockets!

IMG_20160220_121849 — Here’s the other tunic I ended up buying. The prints are so fun. I love cute, modest clothes!

IMG_20160220_091958 — One of my friends dropped off a valentine for Joseph from her son (who is one of Joseph’s favorite buddies) who was sick on Valentine’s Day and unable to deliver it then. He was so excited!