Wildlife, Wallets and Wacky Afghans

Hello everyone!

Well, we made it to Syracuse (actually Manlius, but a suburb of Syracuse). We're in a townhouse with a basement and a washer & dryer. It's been about 7 years since I've done my own Laundry, and, believe it or not, I LOVE it.

We have a small backyard where Michael is enjoying the running and all the wildlife. Here are some pics of our fine (some feathered) friends:

If you look closely at the pic below. You can see the groundhog, right behind our Mr. and Mrs. Duck. The pile of leaves behind our stone garden girl is his burrow. This is right behind our apartment about 20 feet away from our door

This pic is at our front door. We're pretty sure they are the same two ducks, but not positive.

This is Mama Swan. She's sitting on about five eggs. Evidently she hasn't had any babies hatch for awhile (like five years, per the nice elderly gentleman at the swan pond) This pond is about a 5 minute walk from our apartment, right next to the duck pond and the "BIG" playground.This is Daddy swan. He's in the pond right next to the nest. he followed us around the pond this day(there's a walking path around it and he swam around it with us)These are the huge fish in the swan pond (they're about 20 inches long, I know it's hard to see that)

We spend a lot of time at the playground. The "little" playground is right at the end of our building and Michael rides his Bicycle there almost every day. he's getting very good at peddling and steering and has quite the stamina. He'll be on a two wheeler in no time! I don't know how I haven't gotten a pic yet, but I haven't. Here's a couple of pics of him at the "little" playground though

The goofy grin ( I LOVE this and will never get enough of it!

The slide, I swear he could go down this thing a million times and not get tired of it:)He's almost learned the art of pumping his legs when he swings. Almost.Climbing up the rope ladder. He thinks he's grown!

Now, for the Wallets part of my post. I know not everyone cares about my crafty endeavors, but hey, I love it. I made a checkbook cover. This is very exciting for three reasons.....One, i love the fabric and my sister in law gave it to me. The outside is black vinyl with a floral embossing and the inside is a twill floral cream and white. it's so girly girl. Second: this means I have found my sewing machine, thread and fabric. VERY BIG DEAL. I feel almost normal again:) and third: I now have a new checkbook cover for my new checking account at our new bank in our new city. Pretty exciting stuff!

Inside:Outside:

OK, I think this will be the last and most picture-tastic part of my post:) For Easter, Michael and I (Geoff stayed at home to patch walls and stuff like that) went to Little Rock with the rest of the Clan: Paw-Paw, Maw-Maw, Aunt Tina, Uncle Kyle, Alison, Theresa, Jake, Loddi and Chelsea. We had a great time with the grand parents and their dogs and aunts and uncles and their dogs:) While in Little Rock, we took a little trip to a big river and went fishing (well, everyone except me and Paw Paw. I don't fish and Paw Paw had surgery so he couldn't fish) But Michael had a blast and so did everyone else there. We saw lots of pretty stuff and got lots of pretty pictures. While there Christina and I present Mom (our husbands mother) with our b-day present to her. We had both worked on a lot of crochet squares and our plan is to put them together into a pretty afghan. Alison and Theresa and Mom then helped us decide what order to put them in. I'm still in the middle of blocking (with very little space mind you) and Christina, I'm sure is still in the middle of finishing up some of the squares she was supposed to do. I think that's OK though. I've moved and she's busy finishing graduate school and closing on their first house and packing, so I think we both have good excuses:) I think Mom should get it by Christmas. Below are some pics of fishing, Mom and Dad's house fun, Easter egg hunts, and all of us (including Chelsea the Yorkie) figuring out the afghan layout! What a great family to belong to!

One of Michael's b-day gifts in Little Rock, a great bubble wand and bubbles (and Loddi too)

Maw-Maw, Michael & Chelsea

How many eggs does one boy need? MORE!!!!

Maw-Maw and Michael walking to the river. He loved his life vest! (it has Diego on it!)

Paw-Paw (with a post-surgery shoulder) fishing in the river. I think those are Theresa's legs)

Alison and Michael. That's obviously Alison's pole:)

Alison, Michael and Christina right on the river

Michael resting on the tackle box

The last morning fishing. Michael woke with a fever of 104.9 and felt like being naked. Then he wanted a towel for a blanket. You try arguing with a three year old with a fever that high!

The following pics are all of the squares Christina and I did. The pics didn't turn out great, but that was a wonderful night. I'm so glad everyone else figured out where they should go. I' horrible at that stuff!

The daffodil festival in Little Rock. It was gorgeous. We picked some and took lots of pictures:)

All the girls Christina, Theresa, Alison, and Goofy Me

Paw Paw and Michael in the rocking chairs on the deck. That's Jake's bottom.

For Michael's B-day, he wanted a "Blue" cake. So we got a small cake and put blue cotton candy on it. His birthday was the day we got into Syracuse. So we stopped at wal-mart for his presents and some food and went to I-hop for dinner and came home and had cake and presents. We had a really great time and Michael loved everything. He probably had 4 "birthday's" this year:) Now he thinks everyday is his birthday:)

Daddy wearing Michael's lion visor

Michael with skarloey and the track skarloey came with..

More bubble wands!

And then we found some of his other trains and tracks!

So, this is what we've been doing the past month (it all started March 15th). We've had alot of fun, and we're pretty tired. We're getting used to the area and still unpacking, but getting there. Hope this post finds everyone well!