Alot of work, but SO worth it.

Since moving in 2 years ago I have wanted to get the flower beds behind the pool cleaned out & looking nice again.  They had been neglected for many years & it was a monumental undertaking.  There was a picket fence along the top edge that I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep, it was in need of repairs & paint.  One afternoon while walking around up there I bent over the fence to pull a weed.  When I barely leaned against the fence & it fell over, I decided it was time to take it out.  Most of the posts were rotted out so getting it out of the ground was very easy.  I liked the open look & decided it was time to get this looking better.

My good friend, Trudi, foolishly offered to help so I took her up on it.  We spend an entire day pulling out the overgrowth & moving some of the plants that were already there.  As you can see there were amazing results.  The next day Kevin brought me home some mulch so I could get the beds looking even better.

All done!  Before you couldn't see the ground it was so overgrown.



I changed the line of the top edge, makes it much easier to mow & looks alot nicer.





When Kevin brings mulch home, he means alot of mulch!



Happy 6th Birthday Jake!

Well, it has been a busy few months but I have finally taken the time to put up a few pictures of Jake's 6th birthday.  The cast on his leg did nothing to spoil his fun.  I spent most of the day asking him to please be careful & get off the rocks as he only got the cast a few days earlier.

It came as no surprise that he wanted a Cars 2 cake.  I found some plates with the characters and just cut them out & mounted them to wood skewers  Then I got wooden letters for his name & age at Jo-Anns and Sarah painted them up nice for me.  I had left over checkered flags from the last Cars cake so we added them as well and used fondant sheets to make the top layer look like a road with the white lines.

We all had a great time & enjoyed Easter dinner afterward.

What IS that noise?????

It's 1:30 in the morning.  I suffer from insomnia most nights and I must have just fallen asleep, the last time I remember seeing on the clock was 12:45 a.m.  I awaken to a strange sound and struggle to make sure I am really awake and not dreaming.  There is this loud animal sound that I quickly realize is not outside but somewhere in the kitchen or living room!  I have no idea whether it is something that can wait till morning or a furry pest that we do not want running amok in the house.  We have had squirrels fall down our chimney is the past and that didnt end well.  I knew the sound was not another mouse, as I caught one of those Sunday night.  I heard it bouncing around the basement on a glue trap and collected it and the trap in a shoebox for Kevin to dispose of in the morning.  I actually left it on the washing machine with a note.  He loved that! Not being up on all the sounds the wildlife in Ohio make I decided to wake Kevin. 

As you can imagine he was not happy with this choice.  I assured him I was awake and to listen for a moment and he would hear it too.  Grumbling, he got out of bed and grabbed the flashlight.  He looked around for a few minutes and returned to bed declaring "it's just a tree frog, good luck finding it."  How it got into the house I will never know.  It finally quieted down and we both eventually fell back asleep.....until 4:30 a.m. when it woke us up again!  Kevin got upto get ready for work, not really having time to look for very long for the little bugger.  I got up a bit later and cautiously went into the kitchen.  Not finding anything I told the boys to get some breakfast and Alex was to finishing loading the dishwasher.  I went to brush my teeth only to be interrupted by Alex yelling "MOM, I FOUND THE FROG! IT'S IN THE SINK."   I got the little pest scooped up and tossed him out the back door, only to find that the raccoons have gotten into a bucket of aluminum cans that should have been taken out to the shed.  Ah, country living.  It's OK, I wouldn't change it for anything.  I love our "new" home.

Jake Gets His First Cast!

We had an exciting first day of spring break.  I was in the basement sewing and Jake had gone upstairs.  When he came back down to see me I heard crash, bang boom then screaming.  I ran to the steps and he was at the bottom of the steps by the front door crying about his ankle.  When I looked, it was in a very weird position & he could not put any weight on it.  I decided it was time to go to the Emergency Room so off we went.  After 3 hours there I was told it is "probably a fracture" but I should see the orthopaedic doctor the next day.  So, Tuesday we saw Dr Teater who told us that there is likely a hairline fracture based on his evaluation.  At this age it is very hard to see on an x-ray.  He recommended a cast to make sure Jake's leg is immobilized and he cannot do any further damage while it heals.  He has a boot to go over the cast so that he can walk when he feels up to it and does not slip on the kitchen & basement floors.  Thanks doc for saving us another ER visit!

Jake did very well with the whole thing & walked a little but this morning.  If it hurts he is supposed to put it up & he is good about doing that.  Oh, never a dull moment in this house!  Happy Birthday Jake!  He will be 6 on Friday.

Happy 13th Birthday Sarah!

OK, I know I am a bit behind getting out the pictures from Sarah's party.  It has been a hectic year so far.

Sarah turned the big 13 this year so we had a little bigger party than we normally do.  She got to invite some friends and had special invitations printed for the big day.  I made them "treat bags" out of fabric that matched the colors of Sarah's party and printed custom iron-ons with the image from the invitation and their names.  Inside was 2 dresses for their American Girl dolls as well as some other fun little things.

Everyone chipped in and she got the mattress that converted her baby crib into a full size bed, something she has been wanting for a LONG time.  It was a good birthday party.





Her purse cake with the invite in the frame





The new mattress arrives!



Her new bed all set up



Her dolls got all dressed up for the occasion.  The black dress is one that was in the gift bags.  The pink one was a special one only for Sarah.



Christmas 2011

Christmas Eve was spent eating, eating & more eating.  The 5 of us had a great time just hanging out and being together as a family.  The kids got their annual new PJ's as well as some new tub time items.

Jake gets his Cars the Movie Bath Set



Alex get 2 big bottles of Axe body wash.  Look out ladies!





Sarah get her lavender scented bath set



Christmas Morning

The first stirrings of kids was at 1:30 a.m. which was meant with a stern "GO BACK TO BED!"  Then at a more reasonable 6:30 a.m. we all got up to see what Santa brought.  Here are the highlights of the morning.



Jake gets a new Vortex Nerf Gun




Alex gets his much awaited e-mail address





Sarah gets her new favorite movie, Monte Carlo

The morning was a bit rushed as we had to go to church and then to Grandma and Grandpa Couchey's house. When we got there the kids realized Santa had left 3 Light and Sounds Light Sabers.  They were the hit of the day.  It was a very nice day.



Christmas Eve, Eve 2011

No, that is not a typo.  We celebrated Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa Adams on the 23rd this year.  Christmas Day being on Sunday made it a little more difficult to have the festivities the night before with Church the next morning so they decided to have it on the 23rd.  The kids all had a blast playing together, as always and it was so nice to have Uncle Jeff & Aunt Susan here to enjoy the evening with us.

All 7 sitting in the same place at once, a rarity.  Uncle Kevin oversees the food choices.



The girls sit with their dolls, waiting for the time to open presents.




OK, we have the presents now, can we open them!