Security Panel: Entry door open.
Kellyn: Hello, my name is Kellyn.
Recently we had our home security system updated. Instead of chiming our security panel talks to us in a friendly, female voice. The kids have been thrown off by the new voice in the house. Yesterday morning I opened the door to take the trash out. When I came back inside I found Kellyn introducing herself to the security panel.
There's never a dull moment around here.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Long Holiday Weekends
Long holiday weekends at our house mean tackling projects on our to do list and spending too much money. While our neighbors spent the entire weekend lounging in their backyard pool, Ryan and I painted, dug out and framed in the steps. It was hard, hot work. Ryan did much more of it than I did.
Here's an aerial view of what Ryan accomplished this weekend. He dug into our small hill and installed the frames for the steps.
This week we'll level out the dirt in each of the steps. Next weekend we'll put in the sand and install the pavers in each of the steps. Here's a glimpse of what it will look like with pavers.
It's hard work, but I think the end result will be worth it. Especially when we put in landscaping around the steps and evenly stain the fence. We have so much more work to do this summer!
I worked on painting outdoor furniture. It will be nice to have it finished and provide us with some additional seating.
Don't worry, we had some fun, too. We took the kids out for their first kayaking trip. It was a windy morning when we took them out and lots of work for Ryan and I. I had Kellyn with me, which made our experience quite interesting. She wanted to help paddle, too, and spent most of the time leaning out the side of the kayak with her arm in the water. I spent most of the time trying to paddle around her and compensate for her movements with my own. Thankfully, we didn't tip over.
That is the only photo I have of the kids and the kayaks. I didn't bring my camera or my phone along for photos. Actually, I didn't bring anything that I would've been upset to lose if Kellyn had indeed flipped us over.
After all of that I'm kind of glad Ryan went back to work today. Not saying that I don't enjoy having him home, but we can all rest a bit until next weekend when we finish the steps.
Here's an aerial view of what Ryan accomplished this weekend. He dug into our small hill and installed the frames for the steps.
This week we'll level out the dirt in each of the steps. Next weekend we'll put in the sand and install the pavers in each of the steps. Here's a glimpse of what it will look like with pavers.
It's hard work, but I think the end result will be worth it. Especially when we put in landscaping around the steps and evenly stain the fence. We have so much more work to do this summer!
I worked on painting outdoor furniture. It will be nice to have it finished and provide us with some additional seating.
Don't worry, we had some fun, too. We took the kids out for their first kayaking trip. It was a windy morning when we took them out and lots of work for Ryan and I. I had Kellyn with me, which made our experience quite interesting. She wanted to help paddle, too, and spent most of the time leaning out the side of the kayak with her arm in the water. I spent most of the time trying to paddle around her and compensate for her movements with my own. Thankfully, we didn't tip over.
That is the only photo I have of the kids and the kayaks. I didn't bring my camera or my phone along for photos. Actually, I didn't bring anything that I would've been upset to lose if Kellyn had indeed flipped us over.
After all of that I'm kind of glad Ryan went back to work today. Not saying that I don't enjoy having him home, but we can all rest a bit until next weekend when we finish the steps.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Things Heard Around Here
Me: Aric, why are you hiding under the table instead of eating lunch?
Aric: Because they keep asking if I want to be an Umi friend and I don't want to.
That's what I get for letting them watch Team Umizoomi at lunch time. I thought I was helping foster math, pattern and shape skills; when all I'm really doing is allowing the poor kid to be pressured into doing something he doesn't want to do.
Aric: Because they keep asking if I want to be an Umi friend and I don't want to.
That's what I get for letting them watch Team Umizoomi at lunch time. I thought I was helping foster math, pattern and shape skills; when all I'm really doing is allowing the poor kid to be pressured into doing something he doesn't want to do.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Trucks
I was looking at photos on my phone and realized I had a gold mine that I forgot about. About a month ago I took the kids to a truck show at the park. Various agencies brought trucks, opened their doors and allowed kids to walk through them and explore.
The kids started with an ambulance. They both thought it was pretty neat, until a nearby truck blew its air horn. Kellyn was terrified for the next 15 minutes and wouldn't go near any of the trucks.
Aric, however, was excited about everything and not afraid to climb into any of the trucks.
Kellyn finally decided that checking out a fire truck wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Meanwhile, Aric had no fear that day.
Until he saw Chester Cheetah:
It took Aric awhile to gather courage to approach him and give him a high five. Aric was determined, though, and became upset with me any time I tried to walk away. It was good to see Aric conquer his fear.
Kellyn overcame her fear of the air horn and explored some more:
Her favorite part of the day was leaving the trucks behind and heading to the playground.
And that was our day exploring the trucks!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Planting
I like the warmer, but not too hot, weather. I have spent time outside working on our gardens and putting in new plants. The vegetable garden has had a rough start, but we are on our way.
The front yard is coming along nicely. Everything is growing bigger, blooming and filling in.
Our yard still looks terrible, but I don't expect it to look nice until next year. Every time the lawn guy comes he sprays weed killer and most everything dies. I am looking forward to seeing our yard with nice, lush grass.
The columbines in the side yard are done blooming, but they are filling in the otherwise boring side yard.
My Mother's Day hydrangeas from last year are blooming. I've always liked the full blooms of a hydrangea. I read somewhere that if you put a penny in the ground at the base of the hydrangea it will turn the flower blue. I planted two pennies and figured if it didn't work it didn't cost me much. I'm not sure if it was the penny or if I just have the right kind of soil, but I have blue hydrangeas.
On a side note, I did see a praying mantis climbing on the hydrangea. I'm assuming he was one of ours.
This year we added two gardens to the back fence. I thought the area looked boring and I really hate mowing along a chain link fence. On one side we put in blackberry bushes, strawberry plants and pin wheels in hopes of scaring birds away. We're not having much luck with the pin wheels.
On the other side I transplanted plants we already had in a side garden that never got much sun. It also happens to be on the side of the house that we plan to terrace, so it had to go anyway.
My garden just wouldn't be complete without a Texas shaped bird bath. It's just what every home needs!
By our basement door we added another garden. It helps to keep the grass from growing against the house, and hides what used to be the mud pit underneath the garden hose.
The last little area of landscaping we did was in our new concrete area. There was a small strip of dirt that was 15" x 8' and it needed more than weeds and dirt.
We made some small changes to the vegetable garden this year. Instead of three boxes all together we removed a box and added a larger one on the other side of the yard where it could get some afternoon shade.
The vegetables have had a bit of a rough start this year. I went back this year to the Amish nursery to buy my plants. I won't go back next year. I had a fun day with my friends, but the plants were more expensive this year and half of what I purchased died almost immediately. I'd rather stick to the local stores and save some money.
If all that wasn't enough I've tried my hand at some container gardening. Usually my pots have looked like this with one type of flower in different colors:
After the success of my front pots:
I decided to go crazy and make another one. I had an empty pot and clearance plants. I figure they'll come back around with a little sun, water and love.
All I have left to do is water, weed and tend my garden, that and the terracing project which we plan to start in the next few weeks. I can't forget that we need to re-stain the unevenly stained fence. I guess we'll be busy all summer long.
Now I leave you with some photos on how far we've come:
The front yard is coming along nicely. Everything is growing bigger, blooming and filling in.
Our yard still looks terrible, but I don't expect it to look nice until next year. Every time the lawn guy comes he sprays weed killer and most everything dies. I am looking forward to seeing our yard with nice, lush grass.
The columbines in the side yard are done blooming, but they are filling in the otherwise boring side yard.
My Mother's Day hydrangeas from last year are blooming. I've always liked the full blooms of a hydrangea. I read somewhere that if you put a penny in the ground at the base of the hydrangea it will turn the flower blue. I planted two pennies and figured if it didn't work it didn't cost me much. I'm not sure if it was the penny or if I just have the right kind of soil, but I have blue hydrangeas.
On a side note, I did see a praying mantis climbing on the hydrangea. I'm assuming he was one of ours.
This year we added two gardens to the back fence. I thought the area looked boring and I really hate mowing along a chain link fence. On one side we put in blackberry bushes, strawberry plants and pin wheels in hopes of scaring birds away. We're not having much luck with the pin wheels.
On the other side I transplanted plants we already had in a side garden that never got much sun. It also happens to be on the side of the house that we plan to terrace, so it had to go anyway.
My garden just wouldn't be complete without a Texas shaped bird bath. It's just what every home needs!
By our basement door we added another garden. It helps to keep the grass from growing against the house, and hides what used to be the mud pit underneath the garden hose.
The last little area of landscaping we did was in our new concrete area. There was a small strip of dirt that was 15" x 8' and it needed more than weeds and dirt.
We made some small changes to the vegetable garden this year. Instead of three boxes all together we removed a box and added a larger one on the other side of the yard where it could get some afternoon shade.
The vegetables have had a bit of a rough start this year. I went back this year to the Amish nursery to buy my plants. I won't go back next year. I had a fun day with my friends, but the plants were more expensive this year and half of what I purchased died almost immediately. I'd rather stick to the local stores and save some money.
If all that wasn't enough I've tried my hand at some container gardening. Usually my pots have looked like this with one type of flower in different colors:
After the success of my front pots:
I decided to go crazy and make another one. I had an empty pot and clearance plants. I figure they'll come back around with a little sun, water and love.
All I have left to do is water, weed and tend my garden, that and the terracing project which we plan to start in the next few weeks. I can't forget that we need to re-stain the unevenly stained fence. I guess we'll be busy all summer long.
Now I leave you with some photos on how far we've come:
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