Sunday

We took a few pics before mass on Sunday because, for some very odd reason, we were running extremely early!




Luke also fell asleep near the end of mass, which he hasn't done for months. As it turns out, we were all getting sick, so that probably explains why he fell asleep!

Weekend Project

I think I'll start a series of posts that recap our weekend projects. We will have major and minor projects to do for the next few months (years???) and for the most part, they're fun projects!

This weekend, despite it being Easter weekend, Ryan accomplished a LOT in the yard. It started on Good Friday, when a friend called and offered half a load of black mulch (which turned out to be a LOT!). We'd been planning on adding a couple of garden beds and planting our trees we'd picked up at Arbor Day, so we accepted the mulch and sealed our weekend's fate!

Much of Friday was spent shoveling mulch and planning the bed (we only had enough for one new bed), and Saturday morning Ryan and Beth went to pick out rocks to line the beds. He randomly ran into a friend at the rock yard, and his friend offered to deliver our pallet of rocks, saving us a hefty delivery fee! So thank you! Saturday afternoon was spent at the crawfish boil, so the actual rock placement happened on Easter Sunday, after mass and lunch. It was a good way to spend the day (says she who had to do absolutely nothing) because the kids spent the afternoon outside. Ryan, being the amazing husband that he is, asked nothing of me since I'm at the point in pregnancy where just about everything is uncomfortable. So I told him what an amazing job he was doing. :-)

The beds look fantastic, I really think it dresses up our yard and takes it to the next level! We have rocks for another bed and will get around to that on another beautiful weekend!

Our pallet of rocks, mostly empty at this point

bed #1, completed. this bed existed, but consisted of dirt around the trees. the mulch and rocks make it stand out.

finishing up the brand new bed.

the big tree in the middle was, ahem, "transplanted" from the garden bed right next to the house. we don't know what kind of tree it is, but it was going to get huge like the other tree in our yard- and it was planted two feet from the house! it would have had to come out eventually, so hopefully it'll survive the move! other trees are planted around it- i'm not sure exactly what went in the bed, but we had crab apple, red maple, red bud, white oak, pines, tulip poplar, and a river birch. we still need to buy some deer fencing to protect them while they're little!

a big helper, pulling a rock in her little wagon!

claimed his territory, he didn't like the wagon being used for official business, haha

Zoo Day!

yeah, i'm sorta famous.

what's the big deal with the prairie dogs? they look like squirrels.

very brave boy, he treated the goats like he treats finley! a little pat then off to something else.

beth was a little more unsure about them, but she did quickly touch one or two.

outside the monkey cages.

he wasn't too interested in the animals, he wanted to run around and climb on everything!

so happy to finally see the elephants! this is all she asked to see, all day.

it was a perfect day for the zoo, the weather was gorgeous and the flowers were in bloom!

a beautiful smile. :-)

what's a trip to the zoo without friends? there were big girls and little brothers. this is sadly the best picture i got of them, ha!

he finally gave in at the end of the day (around 2 pm). he got just enough of a stroller nap to not sleep at all on the way home!

Easter Egg Hunt

Our church hosts an Easter Egg hunt every year and this was our first year to attend. They have hunts for the kids in different age categories, so it's not like the 1-year-olds go against the 5-year-olds. Actually, it wasn't much of a "hunt" as the eggs were all just tossed into an empty field! The kids had fun; Luke just wanted to open and close the plastic eggs and of course Beth was obsessed with the candy.

New things

a future play room/game room/home school room/entertainment room/etc. just a big open room at the top of the staircase. :-)

luke's room, eventually the boys will share this room since it's huge

beth's purple room. we're working on a shabby chic feel in here. her furniture used to be mine, and before that it was my mom's! my dad sanded, stripped and painted it for beth.

a shoe basket (there's another by the front door). we've decided that our home will be a shoe-less home since our backyard tends to be soggy and shoes get very dirty!

our steep staircase. there are three steps, a small landing, then the flight leading to the upstairs game room. we couldn't figure out how to get a gate around the three small steps so those are free steps- no wipe outs yet (knock on wood).

an aerobic septic system. yup, we're septic now.

our big backyard. our lot is 20K sq feet, which is a little under 1/2 an acre. we have no fence yet, and the backyard is very low. we have lots of standing water in the back, and there are a few "holes" in the middle of the yard where water tends to stand. there are also lots of crawfish holes!

a view of the backyard from beth's room. if you click on the photo to make it bigger, you can see our small bog. we also have a hawk that likes to hunt back here, he sits on the telephone wire and swoops down for breakfast and dinner. sometimes we see him twice a day.

our downstairs formal room, which is currently our playroom. we spend most of our day downstairs given the fact that the kids can't go up and down to play, so for now the formal room is the kid's room.

a half bathroom! yay!

The move

old living room-the day before the move

old living room- two days after the "big" move- we still had a bit to clean out!

last play time in beth's old room

in beth's old room

new living room, in progress during the move

new living room- six days after the move. mostly put together.

our second morning in the new house, the view out my back french doors

enjoying breakfast on our second morning

the "formal" room, which is a playroom for a few years until the kids are old enough to go up and down the stairs without my supervision. this was during the move.

hello counter space. i think this photo alone is at least double the space from my old house!

child labor is awesome. my youngest brothers (with beth and luke's help) ripped out dead plants and added mulch to my front garden beds.

beautiful long FLAT front driveway, plenty of room for bikes and trikes

playing together nicely...for now.

mohawk