Better Late Than Never...

I finally obtained copies of pictures from the kid's Easter egg hunt.  It's a bit late, I know, but the person who had the photos didn't realize they were photos of the kids and thought they were photos of the yard.

It was our second Easter out on the farm of our dear friends.  The kids had a blast running around outside, looking for frogs out at the cow pond, and eating way too much candy.

As you can see the kids were more interested in hunting for Easter eggs than posing for any photos.

A Sneak Peek

Things have changed in our backyard and they are about to change even more.  Here's a little sneak peek:

Pavers are relocating in preparation for our patio expansion.

The back fence is getting a relief from the angles with two new gardens.

Our mud pit by the house is less of a mud pit now.

We're still working and playing hard out back.  More to come...

Things Heard Around Here

Aric: Mommy, I have strawberry boogers.

Me: What?  Oh, that's not a strawberry booger, that's blood.  That's why you're not supposed to pick your nose!

No one ever warns you about the type of situations you will encounter as a parent of young children.  That's probably a good thing, though.

New Shoppe Blog and Facebook Giveaway

In order to get the word out I'm hosting a giveaway!

Two winners will win a quilted tape measure closure bag of their choice 

from my current selection of stock.  

 

To enter LIKE my Facebook page

then check out my new blog for more details.

 

Giveaway ends Sunday, April 29th at 10pm (CST)

 

Don't worry the next time I host a giveaway I won't require anyone to have a Facebook account!

Note to Self

When the kids are mailed a box with a praying mantis egg case inside ignore the instructions that say it will take 3 weeks for the eggs to hatch, and put it outside immediately.  Otherwise you could have a kitchen full of just hatched praying mantises.

Body Art

I always make sure I buy washable markers and crayons for the kids.  I don't want to hover over them to make sure they aren't accidentally coloring all over the furniture or something else that would be ruined.  When I first started buying art supplies I didn't realize this was another reason for making sure they were washable:

Apparently drawing on yourself is quite entertaining.  It has been awhile since Aric drew on himself.  Kellyn, however, is in the midst of this stage.  She constantly colors on herself and allows Aric to color on her, too.  The other day Kellyn fell asleep after one of these artistic moments and before I could clean her up.  She had forgotten about coloring on herself and was quite mad after waking up and seeing her art work, crying, "someone colored on me".

Crazy kids!

Things Heard Around Here

I'm done at the Red Monster.

Translation:
Aric, our picky eater, has asked us multiple times if he could have fish to eat.  This past Sunday was one of those times.  He really wanted to eat fish, and wasn't going to take no for an answer so we took the kids to Red Lobster.  We ordered broiled fish for Aric and popcorn shrimp for Kellyn.  Aric didn't care so much for the fish, but quickly found solace in Kellyn's popcorn shrimp and Ryan's crab legs.  Kellyn, who had a cold, was not a fan of anything but her French fries and playing underneath the table.  As we were leaving she told us in her own way that she didn't enjoy our meal.

Jump

The kids have a trampoline.  They enjoy it and I like how much energy it burns out of them.  Right now we have it located underneath our porch because that is about the only level spot in our backyard.  We may move it at some point, but right now it works.

 

Sometimes I kind of wish we had purchased a larger trampoline so I could jump too.

Sleeping Arrangements

On Saturday Ryan changed the kid's sleeping arrangements:

The kids are now sleeping in the same room together.  Kellyn was getting out of bed every night and Aric's room has the worst airflow of any room in the house.  Our hope is that they will sleep better when they are in the same room.  Though, actually right now they are sleeping in my bed.  Obviously the new arrangements are working out well. 

It did create space for a playroom for the kids, which they seem to enjoy:

 

 

As for the purple paint, well, I know it needs to change, but I'd rather wait to see if this all works out before I take on that project.

Things Heard Around Here

This is the Daddy's Right Mommy's Wrong Dance.  Ryan taught it to the kids over the weekend when he claimed Best Buy was open before 10:00 and I mistakenly argued that it didn't open until after 10:00.  It has been a non-stop source of entertainment for the three of them ever since.

Dear Ryan

You are missed.

Things Heard Around Here

Mommy, pet me.

Translation:
Very much like me, Kellyn loves to have someone stroke their fingers through her hair.  She will lay contentedly watching TV, falling asleep, etc if someone is  playing with her hair.  Of course, she's a bit more demanding than me and I hear this phrase regularly throughout the day or overnight when she can't get herself back to sleep.

Gardening 2012

This year we have multiple plans for improving our gardens, yard, outdoor living area, etc.  We started off this spring discussing what we were going to do about our weed infested yard.  Last summer the grass looked great, except for the small fact that most of it was crab grass.  Ryan and I were a bit overwhelmed by the task of turning our yard into a lawn.  We decided to enlist the help of a professional and hire a lawn care company to kill our weeds, feed our grass and plant seeds this fall.  Maybe by next summer we'll have grass.

By the end of last summer I knew that I needed a border around our front and side gardens.  They were losing all shape and fighting the crab grass was a losing battle.  We looked long and hard before we finally found a great deal on stone edging.  This past Saturday we installed the border, mulched and reclaimed the front and side gardens.

I am really pleased with how everything turned out.  Our only other plans for the front and side yard this year are to plant a fruit tree in the front yard.

The rest of our efforts will be focused on several projects in the backyard.  More on those to come...

Garage Art

With the warmer weather the kids and I have spent more time outside enjoying the sunny days.  Consequently our garage floor has turned into a canvas for the kids.  It is fun seeing the creativity of the kids. 

Aric drew a circle of people, which I thought looked similar to his circle of cars.

Kellyn is beginning to draw her versions of smiley faces.

Not ever growing up with a garage, I didn't realize they could be such a fun place to hang out.