Landscaping, Before and After

A big project that we recently tackled was our front landscaping. We pulled some things out, rearranged shrubs and planted begonias, liriope, blue something or other, and hostas. It took a lot of work (mainly done by my hubby) and four trips to the nursery (you never know how much to get).

Thanks hon! It looks great. See the difference for yourselves. Here are a couple of "before" pictures from last fall. Not much but boxwood and nandina planted a little haphazardly.

Here is the "after" picture - much more color and empty spaces filled up. I'm afraid last week's heat wave hasn't been good to our new plants. We will see how July temperatures treat them.

I also had to show you my front door. I love this door bucket from Southern Living at Home. I made the floral arrangement myself. I guess I've gleaned some of my Mother-in-Law's talents over the years.

Happy 3rd Birthday JJ!

This is the first of several "catch up" posts.

JJ's birthday was Friday, May 23rd, a day that began with a funeral and ended with a visit to Grandma & Grandpa's for the holiday weekend. Since we had already had a birthday celebration for his special day, we didn't plan much for the "official" day. Grandma did, however, make him a cake. The one request that JJ had was that it have a rocket candle. Well, Grandma and I found out that they don't make rocket candles. But boy did Grandma come through! I wish I had taken a picture of the "rocket candle" that she created out of a party horn. Only someone with her creativity could have done it. JJ was not disappointed! Thanks Grandma!

We had a "family party" back in April to celebrate both our boys' birthdays together. Of course we picked a Mickey Mouse theme for the event since we were headed to Disney just a few days later. Here are some pictures from the party.

They were both excited to get bean bags from Mom & Dad.

The cake - That's what it's all about!

Blowing out the candle. He was so proud!

My little JJ is now 3 years old! He's such a spunky little guy. You never know what he's going to do next. JJ is very much an independent thinker. My easy going baby has turned into a strong-willed little boy. And he is so onery (as you can tell from these pictures). Boy is he onery!

Here he is at 12 months getting into a box of Kleenex.

Great fun!

He found another box here at 20 months.

I knew something was up when I heard that giggle from the other room!

He has a great sense of humor:

His favorite thing to say is "That's so funny!"

Happy Birthday, Little Man! We Love You!

What Have We Been Up To?

Has it really been a month since I've posted on my blog? Shame, shame! Well, what have we been up to? Let's see.

We celebrated JJ's 3rd birthday, we've attended two other birthday celebrations & a baby shower, we had two family illnesses, AJ took swimming lessons, the boys attended music camp & VBS, I went on a date with my husband, I got a pedicure with my MIL, we traveled, we hosted family at our house, we celebrated with family, we mourned with family, and I helped plan a BIG event that was a BIG success.

Whew! Are you as tired after reading that as I have been this last month? I promise not to neglect my blog now that I have my energy back and lots of fun things to share. Check back soon for more updates.