sugar bowl

The Sugar Bowl in Old Town Scottsdale has long been a favorite of my family. It is just a fun old ice cream parlor and restaurant and it sort of take you back in time... which, of course, I always like. I do often wish I grew up in the 1950s after all. It was the place my grandma would always take us for a special treat. So when Jimmy's grandma was in town, we decided to take her there for a special treat... well, okay it was mostly for Jimmy, but we loved watching him eat his ice cream almost as much as we loved eating ours (my favorite Cookies and Cream in the world, by the way).

And after that we had to say goodbye to Nana. We were sad to see her go.

gardening with nana

So we have been doing lots of yard work lately seeing as our yard has no grass and is kind of a mess. Hopefully I will have "Before and After" pictures at some point, but we still need to plant grass so the yard will start looking nice. While Nana was here she helped us plant lots of flowers and did so much work I don't even know how to thank her (fortunately she likes it so I don't have to feel too bad). We have been slowly working on a little garden on the side of our house for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. I didn't really take any "before" pictures, but when we moved in this little side patio was just a mess of extra bricks and cinder blocks and a really ugly palm tree that we ripped out. It also has a big spot with no tile where there used to be a hot-tub, which we don't really know how to fix. We used the cinder blocks to make a compost bin and we turned an old fountain that was left behind into a planter. They left lots of pots behind and we bought some new ones. Its not all the way there yet, but it is looking much better.

This first picture was early in the process:

... And this is what it looks like now:

We went on lots of trips to the nursery with Nana...

She bought Zach a Ruby Red Grapefruit tree as an early birthday present.

And she bought me four white adirondack chairs as a very early birthday present.

And she helped Jimmy pick lots of oranges to squeeze.

Jimmy has learned from the best. He loves watering and taking care of all his new plants.

easter time

We had a very nice Easter this year because Zach's mom was in town. So even though Zach and I were both sick with colds and we had lots of things to do, Jimmy was in heaven so everything seemed to be okay. He couldn't have been more in love with his Grandmother and he wanted to occupy her time most of the time. He would often tell me to leave when he wanted to play with just her... which actually wasn't that bad (especially if it was early in the morning and I got to go back to sleep). Here are some of our pictures from Easter Day. We woke up and Jimmy immediately looked out the window to find eggs in the yard. This was the first year he really understood the whole thing, so he was pretty excited. We went to mass at St. Thomas and then came back for brunch at my house with my dad, Erin, and Danny. Nana made a strata and I made Orange Rolls, Banana Bread, and, of course, Bacon. Then we took some nice naps in order to recover in time for a delicious dinner at Emily's house. Basically, we ate all day, but I think that is what Jesus would want.

hmmm.... where are they?

Found one!

Ooooh!

Tasting the treats.

Unloading the loot.

Jimmy attempting to blow bubbles.

At Mass (what a grump!... he really wanted a sprinkle donut)

Me and my boys.

Brunch. Delicious.

Jesus is Risen!!

chooga chooga

Apparently, this is the noise that comes of Jimmy's ceiling fan when it dispenses sprinkles onto his toy donuts. You have to hold the donuts up real high and say it just right. I tried to do it and he told me that I was shaking the donut too much and all my sprinkles were falling off. What do I know?

we love mimi

Mary McMahon is known by Jimmy and the Burch kids as "Mimi" and she is basically one of their favorite people ever. When I mentioned her the other day, Jimmy sighed and said, "I love Mimi. She plays with me." Well, she does play pretty well with them and makes them all feel oh so special. Here are a few pics I snapped when she came over for lunch one day.

I guess he was checking her teeth for something... Who knows, but he thought it was really funny.

She also played this fantastic game with him where he hides under all his stuffed animals. I remember loving to do this when I was a kid too.

We love you Mimi!