Our Garden {2013}

Early 2013 Garden

Last year was my first attempt at gardening and I would say that it was pretty successful despite the drought and animal invasions.  This year I have added spinach and roma tomatoes to the line up.  Last year we did not get to eat one strawberry because the rabbits beat us to them, but the plant spread and has yield enough to share.  We have picked about two pounds so far and they are so yummy!

Strawberry Plant

This is a picture of our second round of picking.  And no editing! These are that vibrant in real life!

Near the garden we have a few pine trees and Matt was startled one day when he discovered a nesting duck while mowing the lawn.  There are six eggs.  Madeline named the mama duck Ella.

Ella covers the nest when she leaves. 

Little Man Baby Shower

My mom and I threw a baby shower for my sis-in-law Amanda this past weekend.  We thought the Little Man & Mustache theme was so cute! I was able to reuse my mustache mold from Wyatt's b-day and we found an abundance of mustache decor at Hobby Lobby. Original? No, but certainly cute!  Samantha's shower was my inspiration.  Read about her Little Man shower here!

The beautiful mother to be!

Here are the sources that I used:

Straw Tags

Dinnerware Packets

Banner and Food Signs

Games

Pom Poms

Paper Fans

Invitations

Mustache Favor Tags

Last Day of School 2013 Edition

Oh, boy! We have been waiting for this day!!! I am excited for our eight week break! The last month has been busy, busy, busy! I need a bit of a break before I begin my PTO officer duties (I am the new treasurer), start working full time (hopefully), start a new year of Girl Scouts with a larger troop, and have three kids in school. Here are our last day pictures! Today was Aloha day at school.

Side by sides of my babies! These kids have grown a lot during the past year. Physically and mentally.  I am proud of all they have accomplished!

Happy last day of school to you and Happy Summer Break!!!

Madeline and the Tooth Fairy

I am sure that you have figured out that this blog is a little about everything! I am so behind on my photo books and right now this blog serves as documentation for the BIG things in life, like lost teeth!  Last night Madeline successfully knocked out her front tooth that had been hanging on for dear life.  She lost the other front tooth a few weeks ago in a tumble with the concrete sidewalk.  She has a lisp. So. Darn. Cute.

Here is her note to the Fairy. Thank goodness the Fairy does not deliver dogs!!!

Here is Wyatt sans front teeth last year:

Mother's Day

We had a lovely day yesterday!  I was lucky enough to have my whole family for the day.  Most Mother's Days Matt has worked,  so this was a treat!  My family joined us later in the day for tacos.  Matt made a yummy Mexican rice and I made homemade sweet corn casserole. I was disappointed that there are not any leftovers!  Michael and Amanda made cheesy potatoes similar to the ones at Taco Bell, but better.  

Love homemade gifts!  This is the highlight of my day!

Madeline made a bread warmer, which we used last night to keep the tortillas warm.  

See her little finger prints? Precious!

Luke made the flowers in church this week and Wyatt presented me with Love Coupons and flower magnet of the cutest second grader I know!  My boys are so sweet!

Free 8x10 Collage

You can snag a free 8x10 collage at Walgreens with this coupon code COLLAGE4YOU until May 11th.  My little brother, who is not so little anymore,  is graduating high school next month. My sis-in-law Amanda did a  great job taking his senior pictures and I could not pass up a free collage!

I was also able to get 50 4x6 prints for the price of 25 with the coupon code 25SPRING25. We are using this picture as the open house invitation.  Fifty invites for $5.13- you can't beat that!  I used this free tag and various free fonts to create this invitation. 

Oh, did you notice the facelift?! I needed a change this felt springy and bright!  I have some cute new social media buttons on the top courtesy of Pancake Ninja and My Favourite Things' tutorial.

Picnic Table Makeover & Patio Update

Matt built a picnic table back in 2011.  It has been a great addition to our back yard and even though we re-stained it in 2012 it was showing a lot of wear from our Indiana weather.  We love this table and it works well with our family so we decided to spruce it up with some paint rather than stain.  

I was inspired by these pretty picnic tables!

Sources:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

We followed our usual steps:  clean, sand, prime, and paint, but this time I had some help!

I chose a rich brown color and applied two coats.  Matt made a hole in the center for an umbrella that is arriving any day!  

The patio is coming along!  Here is what it looked like after Matt used a sod cutter to remove a four inch layer of grass and dirt.  That stuff is HEAVY!  

Here is the first layer of paver base.  Can you visualize the addition a bit better than my toy markings?