Landscape Success

Our landscaping attempts are complete. It is safe to come visit us as we will probably not put you to work in the yard. :) Darren did a GREAT job with the blocks and border. I am extremely impressed and pleased! You are more than welcome to come visit and enjoy the fire pit with us this fall. Marshmallows and hot dogs for the kids, brats and beer for the adults. before by the garage

before in front of porch

after in front of porch and by garage -

there are flowers planted in the quarter circle area and in the front by the porch.

before in front by the downstairs windows

other side of basement windows

after in front of basement windows - I want to plant roses there.

before by chimney

after by chimney - not sure what I will plant there. It is very shady so many some shade loving flowers. I'd like to plant herbs, but I'm sure they won't get enough sun.

before by deck

after by deck - those hosta plants are from the front by the basement windows. The rocks are from our South Dakota rock collection we have been moving with us for all our moves. We are finally displaying them the way we intended. A piece of home wherever we go!

more by the deck

around the corner of the house

A picture to show you where the back meets side yard.

Darren building the fire pit area.

Finished product - BEAUTIFUL!!! The benches are from the old deck that Darren reused.

working on fire pit and pathway

The finished pathway with the new landscape by the deck.

Another garden peek

I thought I'd share how much our zucchini and pumpkins have exploded! They are going to be producing shortly. Zucchini anyone?? Looks like I am going to have lots of zucchini jelly to make this year!

The corn is beginning to tassel now. Stephen is excited about that. You can see the cucumbers right next to the corn. Darren was nice and put up some chicken wire for them. Now we can pick the cucumbers without too much trouble. I will start canning them this week.

Sweet Pea is 9

Before Blase was born I called him "Sweet Pea". I knew he had outgrown that nickname a long time ago, but it really hit me on his birthday. Can he already be 9?? Am I that old?? Where did all those years ago? I only have 9 more years and then he's probably going to move out. Crazy!! They sure do grow up fast.

Blase opened his gifts in the evening. I think he was excited about getting a nice shovel. He doesn't realize that means work.
He also received quite a few extension pieces for his electric train set. I am hoping to post a picture of his creation as soon as its up and running.

Blase will be a well-dressed kid as he received two shirts, a pair of sandals and a new coat.

Isn't he handsome, taco sauce on the face and all?

He requested a 4th of July themed cake. It had sprinkles instead the cake and yummy frosting with sprinkles. We already finished the whole cake, which is unusual for us.

He did blow all his candles out too!!

Birds and Cicadas

Here are the boys' latest treasures. I love it when they find a treasure, but sometimes I'm not too thrilled with what they want to keep. For instance - Stephen found this nest, baby bird and egg. I let him keep the nest, but NOT the birds. He was disappointed.

Stephen with his nest. His collection officially numbers three this year. He also has an empty hornet nest. Hummm...patience is a good thing when you have boys who collect EVERYTHING!

The poor little birds. I have to admit this was a cool science lesson.

Blase found these cidcadas on one of our trees out from. We were impressed with the one above. He made me stay as a lookout while he ran for the camera. He was certain it would fly away before we were able to take a picture.

This is one we found on the other side of the same tree. There were between 7-10 empty cicada skins. We have found them on flower leaves, trees and just on the ground. Last year Stephen, Cormac and Rex collected over 30 of them in one day. NO I did allow them to keep all of them. We already have one cicada skin and that is enough for me!

Mushrooms in the yard

Welcome to our mushroom exhibit from our yard. Do you know how hard it is to identify mushrooms? These are a few of the mushrooms I found in our yard. I am certain there are more kinds out there.

one mosquito

two mosquitoes

No wonder my hand was all ate up after this!!

Garden 2010 update one

Blase by the tomatoes. They are almost as tall as me now.
peppers, beans, corn, cucumbers

peas

squash and pumpkins

Proof that the peas are as tall as me.

Blase and Stephen in the corn.

carrots, beans, tomatoes

Blase by his beans. They are become a jungle since this picture.

South Dakota Trip #2

We spent a week in South Dakota preparing for my Bestgen grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary party/reunion that my family hosted. I hardly did anything compared to all the work my parents and brothers and their wives put in. Hire my family if you want something done on time and in good working order.

While we were in SD it happened to be Rex's 4th birthday. He was super excited to have a party at the Mark Park. We were lucky to have his cousins, aunts and uncles and a few extras come for his party. He was spoiled as usual and loved every minute of it.

Rex and his cousin Sarah with his cake.
Cool glasses from Mom and Dad.

He had lots of helpers.

This is what Adam, on the ground, and Dirk do to make their mother freak out a bit! Adam was throwing a screw up to Dirk and Dirk actually caught it. I'm surprised I caught a picture of it.

I was playing tether ball with my sister and hit the knot at the top of the ball. It bruised half my hand. SORE!

Bear Butte - again. Yes I'm fascinated with it. I thought this was neat with the moon coming up over the top. Of course it looks much better in person, but think as beautiful as you can imagine and its more than that!

Bear Butte with a rainbow around it.