Starbucks ... Anyone?

I hit the jackpot last week at the Crate and Barrel auction. Who knew you could have so much fun bidding on things you really didn't know you needed? I think I'm now addicted. Anyways ... I saw this fantastic coffee/espresso machine and decided that it was mine for the taking. Some girl tried her best to outbid me but I brought the fancy pants machine home for $30! I looked it up at Crate and Barrel online and became even more proud of my purchase once I realized it sold at their store for $375! Are you kidding me? What makes a coffee maker worth that much money? I thought $30 was pushing it!


The purchase gets even more fun when you're married to a Starbucks trained barista! So if you're in the neighborhood and not in the mood for spending $5.45 on your next coffee drink ... feel free to drop by and we'll fix something just for you. (Okay ... by we ... I mean Ben will be happy to fix you a drink!)





He'll even clean up after you ... talk about service!

Future 2035 US Open Champion!

Ben gave Joshua his first golf lesson last week and he definitely has NATURAL talent! We grew the rough out in our yard to give him true US OPEN like conditions. We didn't want him feeling any too confident on his first attempt ... always have to keep the ego in check!

Check out how he addresses the ball ... practically perfect!

And like any good golfer ... eventually ... you get frustrated, give up and decide that eating the golfball might just be the best thing you've done all day!

Look What Dad Taught Me!

When I have to work on a Monday, Ben takes care of Joshua. I'll usually call from work to check-in and Ben tells me how "Daddy/Buddy time" is going. Daddy/Buddy time most often consists of some NASCAR watching, a trek over to Joe's Farm Grill for a hamburger and watching a few episodes of The Backyardigans.

This past week, when I called home, Ben told me he had just fed Joshua Cheerios and milk and had even taught him how to drink the milk from the bottom of the bowl! FANTASTIC! I admit, I was a little impressed at the time since I have yet to master that talent without half of the milk landing on my shirt. But ... who knew the fun that awaited us at dinnertime!

For dinner, I gave Joshua some fancy rice and meat meal and after a few minutes of eating that delicious spread, Joshua decided to bust out his new talent. First, he picked up the bowl and tried to feed himself by dumping the contents onto his head. NICE! Then, once most of the meal was recovered and scooped back into the bowl, he decided to put his sippy cup inside the bowl of rice and attempted to drink his juice. My favorite part was not the incredible display of talent but that he got so super frustrated when the drink lid twisted and he couldn't get anything out. And that he never once took the cup of out the bowl to drink ... he just put the whole thing down ... moved the top of the cup and gave it another go!

WORK DAY at the Bost House!

My mom and grandparents came over this week to help me around the house. I certainly don't have the green thumb of the family and I'm not so into organizing the garage ... so I am THANKFUL they came to rescue me!

From the minute my mom arrived, Joshua wanted nothing to do with me and hung onto his "Bella" with all his might.

Bella taught Joshua how to plant ...

Water...

And most importantly ... play in the dirt!

And while we were organizing the garage ... (Okay, I was on water duty ... they were organizing), Joshua made quite the find! A box of Ben's golfballs and golf hats! He was super excited about his discovery until the hat slipped down and he could no longer see. Such a minor detail!

Workdays are WAY more fun when you get to be the water waitress and the photo girl! I LOVE IT!

A little SPRING BREAK FUN!

Thanks to good genes, (okay ... those would be Ben's), Joshua has never been a shy kid. But you never know how one is going to react in a new place ... surrounded by a mob of other children and crazy moms all geared up with their cameras! (They must all be bloggers too!)

What was I worrying about? (I really wasn't worrying ... well, a little when the lady wouldn't let me in the door because they were "at capacity" and I could see all the fun we were missing out on standing by ourselves in the lobby for 15 minutes until some mother decided it was lunchtime for her chicklets and left .. but other than that ... I wasn't worrying!) After all, I am related to 2 of the most social butterflies in the world ... my husband ... and now ... my son! Joshua squealed with joy from the minute we finally got through the door! He loved everything! He loves the magnets, the costumes and the yellow submarine! He tried to make friends with the little girl in the plastic playground and even reached out to the cute boy dressed in an unfortunate outfit clearly not meant to be worn by anyone in this decade ... or last.

I'm glad he liked it because unlike my grandpa Howie's favorite saying ... Try it before you buy it ... I bought the membership before we went in!

Howie is trying to get Miles to come live in the yellow submarine! Miles just wants to make sure he can get his tank working first. What a smart kid. My child just went in the submarine and didn't even think about oxygen!!

Too bad you can't see the purple yogurt all over his face ... 14 months old and I have yet to figure out that one must bring wipes or a washcloth on an outing! I'm a slow learner!

Why ride in a stroller when you can help Mom push it?

A bit of VERY FUN, controlled chaos!

They're Brown and Green and Sometimes Mean ...

Okay ... so earlier in the day he was getting out his inner lion ... then he found a finger pupper dinosaur and was NON-STOP with the dino growls in the kitchen. He even corrected me. Apparently my dino growl wasn't quite making the cut. I said, "Joshua ... ROOOOOOAAAAAA!" He said .. "Mum, mum ... Grrrrrroooooooo!" And really, who wants to argue with a 14 month old? He was so positive about his skills that he stood up and showed me what one looks like in action. I have to say ... it was pretty impressive!

Oh ... I forgot to mention ... don't mind the excess drool! It's totally part of our wardrobe these days. The half-drenched shirt look is very in this spring! It's a season "must-have!"

Time in "The Cage!"

We went over to the Wallace's on Monday for some SPRING BREAK FUN! Joshua experienced a thin slice of heaven in "the cage." So many toys ... all in one spot! Apparently, the cage brought out a bit of his inner lion? We've got a growler on our hands!

Joshua shared a few of his snacks with Miles and he and Joshua quickly became the best of buds! Food ... it just brings people closer together.

I know Joshua looks a bit concerned that I'm taking a picture of him eating?? Dude, no worries, it's for the blog! After snacks, Joshua and Miles decided to test out their movie star skills and show us a bit of The Titanic. If only I could put on a little Celine in the background? You know Miles was wishing he could shout ... "I'm KING OF THE WORLD!" He'll be up for an Oscar, don't you think?

Hitting the Streets of Agritopia

Saturday was the community garage sale. We had high hopes of crawling out of bed early and finding all sorts of treasures but rock throwing got in the way of our master plan.

After we grabbed some coffee, we set out! First stop, our neighbor's house where we taste-tested some of Nick's fresh salsa! Loved it! Especially loved not having breakfast and having a salsa/coffee taste in my mouth. YUMMY! Thankfully, the Martin's let us borrow a semi-clean towel to use for Joshua ... the boy who might have set a new record for sneezing on our short journey.

As we continued down the street, Joshua used his super-grin and scored himself a yellow bear! We cruised on down to the end of the block and introduced ourselves to a new family. We weren't there for very long when I happened to mention that I was a bit hungry and we needed to go home and get breakfast. Libby (our new best friend), told us her family didn't eat the french toast she made and offered it to us! She wrapped it up on a groovy plate and gave us "real" syrup!

JACKPOT!

We took off down the street with our yummy breakfast and were the envy of all the neighbors! They were a bit jealous of our find!!

After breakfast, we went back around the neighborhood. We watched several of our neighbors get tortured by a personal trainer who has a boot camp in the park every Saturday, we found Joshua a really annoying Elmo button toy, we checked out the rec center and the heated pool, and we headed home! What a morning!

But just in case you think that I was kidding about our normal boring days of rearranging the Tupperware drawers ... here is Joshua enjoying some after naptime fun!

Throwing Rocks!

We woke up on Saturday morning and decided to have coffee and cereal out on the patio. Since Joshua was wearing his baseball pajamas ... Ben and Joshua practiced throwing rocks for the dog. Why rocks? I can't give the dog a ball because he becomes COMPLETELY obsessed. And because Harley doesn't have that big of a brain ... he really doesn't know the difference :)

4:45am ... and What Am I Thinking About?

Is there treatment for this condition? I woke up this morning - a good 2 hours before the alarm was set to go off and crazy thoughts are swirling inside my head ... It's Friday. I work. If I work, what will Joshua be doing and more importantly ... who will be there to take a picture of it? I tossed and turned and finally - at 5:45am - I gave up on the thought of going back to sleep.

You see, before the days of blogging (um, that would be before yesterday), I went about my day and thought nothing of having anything cool planned. We just did normal things like hang out in our pjs until 2pm, sort through the Tupperware drawers and check out the clearance rack at Target. (Did I mention I found an incredible FLORAL carseat for Joshua on a recent Target excursion? You may put your hearts at rest ... I'm already putting aside quarters for his therapy!)

No worries though. Since I have an incredible archive of pictures ... I'll just use those until I can find something FANTASTIC to do with our days. You'll never know I'm using old pictures. The beauty of a bald child ... the hair do doesn't give anything away!

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Last weekend, we took Joshua to get his 1 year old pictures taken ... 2 months late :) He was way more interested in the boas hanging on the wall and the gigantic teddy bear but he did manage to tear himself away for a few fast snapshots! Okay ... 82 snapshots! I guess my plan to only spend $9.95 on one pose didn't work out too well?!!!

Hmmm ... How does one start?

So ... do you just start writing about your life today ... or does everyone want to see a recap of your life? Geez - that would take forever. Not that my life is that exciting or that I want you to see pictures of all my fantastic hairstyles ... but it seems a bit strange to just leap in right here.

Well then ... a bit of a journey down memory lane. I'll make this quick ...

Ben and I went on a date April 10, 2002 ... we got engaged September 10, 2002 and we got married May 10, 2003.

Okay ... this could take forever. Here is a picture that pretty much summarizes that last 4 years. Golf, Harley (the pug), and the cute yellow house.

And ... then ... Howie arrived. Which is great because in addition to him being just about the cutest thing in the world ... I now have a reason to blog. Because really ... who wants to read stories about golf, Harley and a cute yellow house? Bring on the bald kid!

Now I think we're all caught up! Which is a good thing ... because it's definitely time to hit the hay!

Gentlemen ... Start Your Engines!

It was bound to happen at some point. After all, you can only be a "blog stalker" for so long before you feel as though you too have something important to contribute to the world of blogging.

But I'm not sure this is a healthy step for me? I mean, in the last fifteen minutes, I've signed up for an account, managed to forget my user name, misplace my password, and read the "HELP" menu 3 or 4 times. Is this supposed to make me feel good about myself ... or just completely clueless?

I am, however, willing to set aside my blogger fears and tiptoe into the blogging world ... where I can now have conversations with my blogging friends!

So ... I can't promise anything spectacular but I can promise oversized pictures and chaos! Ready?