Frisbee anyone? How about s'mores ?

This is a photo of the farm land next to our house. G-man explained to me the what and why of the big clumps of white---but sadly, I have retained none of that information-because, all I can think of when I see those big white things are marshmallows. And then all I can think about are smores!

The boys wanted to venture outside today. It was awesome...not too cold and the snow had melted . We started with some bocce.

Then we moved on to frisbee. Do you notice in the background a big rectangle made of wood? That would be our never fully frozen ice skating rink. Bummer! It was a good effort, but just did not work this year. Too much freezing and thawing. We might give it another go next year. The boys and I decided to tear it apart before it snows again. As soon as we started pulling the plastic back, a mouse jumped out. I thought the boys would run(like their mom) but instead they wanted to get closer and closer.

We gave up on the rink because the plastic was still a bit frozen. Now we have a lovely plastic mess in our front yard. Sorry G-man.

We decided to go back in for a little rugby in the basement. G-man is all about rugby. Thankfully, he has given playing the game up. He played in college and for a bit when we were first married. He's taught the boys a few moves.....which they shared with me this afternoon. They went easy on me. The best part was that while keeping score they were practicing addition facts and counting by 4's. I love it when fun and learning get all mixed up!

Those wild & crazy O'Neill brothers

The boys have been continuing to love "pretend play". In fact, they just keep adding to their cast of characters. Last weeks newest additions were "the O'Neill brothers". Let me tell you a little about them. They love to break the law, in particular--speeding. They cannot seem to maintain the limit that "Policewoman Peach"(yes, they have enlisted me into this madcap ride) has designated-30mph. As soon as PP mentions the speed limit they are off ......rapidly increasing speed........


The O'Neill brothers show no favoritism when it comes to vehicles.....scooter or plasma car, they are master drivers of both. Though, they have been known to throw wheels to the wind and hoof it instead. Once on foot, their favorite trick is to lure PP into the fake jail with the fake plate of cookies. She falls for it every time!

There have been a couple "disagreements" between the O'Neill brothers....oh,did I mention their first names? They would be Mack and Derek. Anyway, even with a disagreement here and there, I was very happy to see that the O' brothers are striving to be peacemakers (as they told me).

Their disagreements end with a handshake and a hug. Way to go little O's!

Re-arrange-itis

I'm at it again.

My girlfriend came over on Wed, armed with pepperoni bread,homemade chicken soup and some amazing Italian cookies from a local bakery. Her goal was to help me decide if my family room furniture would work better in other places. That's a fancy way of saying, she was helping me move furniture.

We ended up eating and chatting for so long.....so we only had about 5 minutes to move the furniture(she had kids getting off the bus). She gave me some great ideas and I'm really happy with the change(on the first floor). Our problem is that when we first moved to our house, we bought some furniture for the bonus room(second floor)...and then could not get the furniture through the doorway because the arms are so big! Until we finish the basement, the pieces must stay in our family room. That is why I'm always moving them....they really don't belong there. G-man was happy with the change. Not a big deal.

My friend had also suggested that I switch the boys bedroom with our bonus room....BTW-it's not an official bonus room. It's just a big bedroom that we don't know what to do with. It probably should have been split into 2 bedrooms to begin with. That is a future project.

So, Thursday I woke up thinking -I'm moving the rooms....NOW! We are talking big pieces of furniture and lots of little things. I started and then felt like I was making a mistake. So, my super hero decorating friend came to the rescue-again. After she could sense confusion in my voice.....she said "I'm on my way!".

We've moved to a new town and all our friends live a minimum of 20 minutes away-which is a long drive for the natives. I remember when I lived in Detroit and Minneapolis....everything was at least a 20 minute drive. Here 20 minutes is a day trip(am I right Carla and Carol?!)I was thrilled that she came 2 days in a row.

We started by eating and chatting again.....and then to the upstairs rooms I had already started moving. After moving some more things, dropping a bookcase on my foot and evaluating again....we decided to move things back and keep them the way they were. It was all worth it-we got some good exercise and had fun chatting.

Now, I need to organize, box up toys and dream about all the things in the Pottery Barn catalog I would love to buy. Don't worry, I'm a dreamer not an impulse shopper.

**I welcome any decorating suggestions :)The above pictures are of the bonus room. I feel like there is so much wasted space. Plus the room does not feel very cozy.