TIP for the week:

WEAR A HAT - when working outside on the first sunny day of spring - otherwise you will end up with a toasty bright red forehead like someone I know (me LOL). :D

the sun is shining

ahhhh, finally!
I have spent almost the entire day outside!!
I LOVE it!!!!

I got dirt put into several of our square foot garden boxes! I got my compost put into a big black trash barrell. The idea being that I could just roll it to keep it nice and mixed. Slight problem, though, its too heavy now :S so now I am not sure that was the best plan. LOL


I got the flowerbed around the mailbox all ready. I made it bigger!! And I put the plastic weed barrier around it to keep the grass out. I will be planting marigolds in here.


I also created a new flowerbed here on the east side of the house.


I got the grass all pulled out of the spot, and put down the plastic weed barrier.


I planted daffodil bulbs. I had bought them last year, but never got them in the ground (I didn't know where to put them - should have thought of that before I bought them.) - so I found them while working on cleaning the garage - and they were already sprouting, with no dirt, and no water. So I am happy to get them into the ground!


So here is how the yard is shaping up so far-- there is still lots of work to do.



One thing you can't see in a photo, is how patchy our poor lawn is. So today I spread grass seed all over. Hopefully the weather won't get too cool for that. I wanted to get it down while we were still getting good rain, so I don't have to pay to water it.

I obviously need to do the front mound under the playroom window - it needs LOTS of work - including getting all the weeds and grass out of it, without hurting my boxwoods. I need to get the plastic barrier in, to keep the grass out. I have to put rocks all around it, to hide the ugly plastic barrier. Then eventually I will plant marigolds!!!

I will be putting more cement on my little front porch - because it's just too small. That means my rock garden up there will get much smaller. So far, I have put down roundup weed killer to get rid of all that green ya see. Once those are all dead, I will move the rocks and make the cement form and get that all done!

The corner mound (which ya can't see in this pic, but you can see it in the background of the mailbox pic) needs work too - I have to redo the weed barrier, and replace all the rocks on top. Hopefully this time it will work and I won't ever have to weed there again. Grayson and I collected several more big rocks when we went on a walk today with the wagon! I like that we are getting it more filled in.

I will also be cleaning out space on the west side of the house, in front of the fence for flower beds there too. I haven't decided what kind of flowers yet - I would just do Marigolds, but that might get to be a bit too much Orange. Maybe Tulips, we'll see. And then there will be Lavendar and Thyme planted next to the house.

I am still trying to talk Tyson into letting me put in more trees, but we'll see if that will have to wait til next year or not.

Next on the to-do list is THE GARAGE: - keeping my fingers crossed for more good weather. I hope to get it all done by the first week in May. We are going to slide everything from this wall - and paint, then put up shelves. Then we'll put everything up onto the shelves and paint all the rest of the walls. and eventually get a plumber to install the sink I got from Dad, so the boys can wash up when they have gotten all messy outside.

come see

Scrap Whispers
I love joining in at Scrap Whispers -The game is that one layout page is sent to the first person on a team of ladies, and she "scraplifts" it (meaning she copies it - but with her own spin on it) then her new page gets sent to the next person on the team, who "lifts" her page and so on until the team is finished.
Come and see if you can find my page!!

Parenting 505

"A sweet and obedient child will enroll a father or mother only in Parenting 101. If you are blessed with a child who tests your patience to the nth degree, you will be enrolled in Parenting 505. Rather than wonder what you might have done wrong in the premortal life to be so deserving, you might consider the more challenging child a blessing and oppertunity to become more godlike yourself. With which child will your patience, long-suffering, and other Christlike virtues most likely be tested, developed and refined? Could it be that you need this child as much as this child needs you?"
Lynn G Robbins, of the Quorum of the Seventy - General Conference April 2011 ~ "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ya to Be?"