Sunday, May 26, 2013

Project Backyard and Garden

Ever since we moved into our house I've wanted to have a vegetable garden. I'm beginning to realize that you can't do everything at once and we're having to do things in phases. Last year, our spring/summer project was landscaping the front yard. That was a huge undertaking, but now it's complete and all I have to do every season is change out the beds with annuals. We also threw building a swimming pool into the mix. We were pretty busy between those two projects! 

The plan this spring/summer was to focus on landscaping the backyard around the pool and near the patio and to plant a vegetable garden. We're not finished with the area near the patio, but I did buy some pots and planted some container arrangements around the pool. It's nothing fancy, but it makes the pool area look a lot nicer. 

This was how it looked when I first planted it.


Four weeks later this is how much they've grown!


Our next project was the garden. We marked off the area and killed all the grass. Then Josh and Eli tilled the area up. The worst part of all this was getting all the dead grass and roots out of the dirt. It wasn't fun, but we finally finished!

Don't ask me why my child is wearing a helmet...I have no idea.


I wanted Eli to be involved in this project from start to finish. I think it's going to be fun for him to see how those tiny seeds grow into plants that make food for us. I'm hoping it will also encourage him to try new vegetables...fingers crossed!



We couldn't decide if we wanted to make rows or just plant the seeds in the ground, but we ended up going with the rows. It's what we did when we planted a garden 10 years ago and it seemed to work great. We planted purple hull peas, lima beans, snap beans, squash, zucchini, watermelon and cantaloupe. Yummy! I can't wait to cook some fresh veggies!

Josh formed all the rows and Eli and I planted all the seeds. 
He had so much fun helping me.


May 5th

May 12th

May 25th

I'll keep you updated on the garden's progress. I'm so excited about our latest undertaking.

Mother's Day 2013


Mother's Day weekend Eli and I went to Mom and Dad's house for a quick little visit. Now that they live closer to us these quick overnight trips are perfect for getting family time in without having to totally rearrange your schedule! We LOVE having them closer to us!!

Last year for Mother's Day we got Mom a necklace with Eli and Tinsley's name on it. She loved it, but mentioned that she wanted one with her kids on it. Well, this year she got her wish :) I gave her a necklace with mine, Joshua's and Caleb's names on it. Now she has a necklace for all her little darlings :)
Grandkids

 
Her kids

We met Josh, Andrea, and Tinsley at a little pizzeria Friday night when we got there and then went back to Mom and Dad's house. Eli was so glad to be with Grammy and Pop again. He was able to play his much loved Toy Story game with Pop. This kid amazes me with his gaming skills. 

We didn't have a lot of time, but it was nice just to sit and visit with everyone. Caleb and Kailey got in late that night so we didn't see them before we went to bed, but we visited with them in the morning. After we woke up we went shopping for a little bit and then we met Josh, Andrea, Tinsley, and Andrea's parents at a nice little restaurant. While we were waiting for our food, all of us went outside to do some pictures with Mom.

Mom with all her kids


Love my mom!

Andrea, Mrs. Barbara, and Tinsley

Mom with Eli and Tinsley

Sweet, precious little girl!

Grammy and Tinsley

Grammy and Eli



Me and Tinsley
Kailey was our photographer for the day so I had to sneak in a picture of her and Tinsley :) We're all in love with this little miss priss. 


Eli and Pop had a short little boys weekend, but they had a great time. I know Eli's looking forward to when he can go stay a long time with Grammy and Pop. He always has so much fun there!


We left after lunch and returned home. The next day was officially Mother's Day and even though I told my boys not to get me anything, they did! They treated me like a queen and I felt very loved and appreciated. Eli made me some very precious crafts and pictures at school and then he and Josh got sneaky and made me another card. Eli handed it to me that morning after I woke up and as he gave it to me said, "Can I have your phone now since you're getting a new one?" Haha! He was so excited about having a phone to play games on that he gave away the fact that Josh gave me a new iPhone 5 for Mother's Day. I also got tiki torches to use by the pool :) Those two gifts on top of all the new landscaping that we've done so far means my Mother's Day was very full! I feel incredibly blessed and thankful for my sweet little boy who made me a Mommy. He makes my heart so full and happy. 


I love anything with a handprint.

The card he made me at school.


The card he and Josh gave me.

He said that this was our pool and the garden in the backyard.

My two hints for my Mother's Day gifts.

After a great service at church that morning, we came home and took a picture to remember this day. I love this little guy so much! Just for fun let's do a little trip down memory lane...(for some reason I didn't take a picture with my little guy in 2011).

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day 2013

I am so honored to be Eli's mommy. It is such a privilege and a joy to spend my days with him, raising him, and watching him grow up. It is my prayer daily that God help me be the mother he intended me to be. I'm also so thankful for the great mothers I have in my life. My mom and Josh's mom are always there to help me when I need it! I would not be the mother I am today without them :) It was such a wonderful Mother's Day. I can't wait to spend many more with my family!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Happy 3rd Birthday, Grant!

The weekend after we got back from Disney World, we got to go on another trip. We got to celebrate Grant's 3rd Birthday! Jessie loves to plan parties just like me and she had a cute painting theme for Grant's birthday this year. Everything was adorable!






Eli found Mamaw as soon as we got there and ran to give her a hug. He LOVES Mamaw so much!



We were so excited to see Brett Daniel there! He was just starting to walk and was still quite wobbly. I can't believe he's growing up so fast!



Jessie and me

Jessie and Will

BFF's :)

Eli was kind of in a weird mood that day (happens sometimes) and he really stuck close to Jessie. 
She didn't mind a bit!

Jessie had Will build easels for each kid to use as they painted their masterpiece and then they set up the easels all over the yard. It was so cute!


Addi couldn't take her hands off Brett. She's going to be a big sister very soon and loves being a little momma!


Brett with his favorite aunt :)

Jessie and Grant


Brian, Josh, and Shane

My little artist


Eli finally decided he wanted to paint so I helped draw the outline of a flower for him on his canvas and then let him go to work. He said he was painting the flower for Mamaw.


Zue-Zue came by to check his progress and to sneak a hug from Eli.


Eli was so serious as he painted and when he was finally finished he was so proud. He couldn't wait to get Mamaw and show it to her.


Mamaw LOVED it!


As if the party couldn't get any better, Jessie had a local snowball stand come to the party to make snowballs for all the guests. They were delicious!



Grant chose to have a cupcake and a snowball at the same time.



Then it was time for the Silly String battle. All the kids (big and small) loved this!







Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Grant. He looked a little surprised when he heard all the voices singing to him.



There was a little meltdown after the birthday song when it was time to cut the cake. Grant hadn't asked for anything else other than a cake for his birthday. When he realized that they were going to cut it, he wasn't too happy. He kept saying, "No, no, Momma! I want to eat it big!" That sweet boy wanted the cake just for himself!

After the cake, it was present time. As always, all the kids jumped in to help Grant open his gifts.

Brett got a late gift from us since we weren't able to make his first birthday party back in March.




After presents, it was play time again. The kids loved running around, swinging, blowing bubbles, driving the cars, and just have fun!





It was a wonderful party! Grant got so many fun new toys and games. He'll be busy playing with them for a long time. Happy Birthday, Grant!


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