Linda and Cary Come to Visit

We had a great time when Linda and Cary came to visit us :) They arrived last night and stay through to this afternoon - There was plenty of fun to be had with pizza and grilling and lots of Clue! Brad and Cary even squeezed in a ride on their mountain bikes... Nevermind the buckets of rain that poured last night! A little mud won't deter a real cyclist ;) So here a few pictures from their visit :)

We ended up playing Clue well into the night and I think a good time was had by all!

Ok so you can't see it in this picture but Linda and I are modelling our Clue tokens... I was Prof Plum and she was Ms Scarlett... Linda has a New Version of Clue so the pieces were pretty cool:

Wes challenged Cary to a Pictionary game first thing this morning... I think it was a tie!

Yep, It's me and Brad being smilie :D

And Linda and Cary being Sweet

Setting out on their muddy adventure!

I think the ride wore Brad out...

Oh, and there was ONE casualty during last night's storm... Sadly, Our Leaning Tree leans no more...

New Flowers and Dead Clover

I just wanted to share a few quick pictures of our first azaleas and one micro daffodil :) Enjoy!

These Bright Pink / Magenta azaleas are in the front flower garden :)

These Light Pink azaleas are just beyond the back fence and are smaller than typical blooms

It may be hard to see on this picture, but this bush is going to make TONS of flowers... soon - Can you see the buds all over? I'm relaly excited about this one... Even though it's off in the Way Back Yard

These are gonna make for a really pretty bush - the flowers are a pink coral color

Brad was testing out some poison in the back yard (aka Clover Killer)

This is one of a handful of teeny tiny daffodils that opened up this morning. Most of them are light yellow but there was one or two that were yellow and white :)

I planted this hydrangea earlier this week - It was a gift from Mom Smith and I can't wait for it to bloom! I've been feeding it coffee grounds in hopes of Blue Flowers :) Pink would be ok, but I already have SO many pink azaleas around the yard :)

This is basically our entire vegitable garden... so far :) The only thing not planted here is the corn and some spicy peppers :)


These are the beginnings of our Cherry Tomatoes

and these are the orange tomatoes - I can't wait to take pictures of them because they're sure to be pretty :)

Brad got this cutting of a fig tree from his mom and we'll see how it does :)

Ok, this might be my favorite picture.... It's my Irises! They have JUST peeked out through the dirt :) Yay! I can't wait to see them grow and bloom!

Spring Break!

What a fun week! Wes is out for Spring Break and he's travelling around the great state of MS to celebrate. First, we headed to my parents' house on Monday and spent some time with Mom and Kim. Daddy was there Monday and had to head back to Birmingham on Tuesday so I didn't get to see him for long. Kim was finishing up her National Board Certification requirements so after that, we had to celebrate... by vegging out! Mom and I also played a few games of pool only to find we were equally matched.... equally BAD at it! That's ok though becuase it was a looot of fun!

After spending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with Mom and Kim I headed back home after sending Wes off to Brookhaven with his Nana and Poppy... Last I heard they went bowling so I know he's having fun :)

Meanwhile, Brad and I got down to business while Wes is gone. Brad was off Friday so after the prerequisite bike ride, we tackled our yard. Mom gave me some Gardenia bushes so I planted 2 under the guest bedroom window and 2 on the side of the house. I think it would be wonderful if we had guests coming to visit and we could crack their window so the awesome smell would float in :) Can you picture it?

Ok, so it may be a while before they're tall enough to bloom and waft high enough to reach the window...

I also planted several Delphinium seeds:

NOT to be confused with the Larkspur I already planted....

And, the Blueberries are sprouting nicely. Brad read that you're supposed to pinch off the buds / berries for the first year to encourage stronger bush-growth so we've already pinched off a handful of little white buds :) We look forward to Next Year's Crop :)


We also had to mow our yard... Well, Brad had already mowed the front and back yard, but he wanted to take another crack at the clover that is our "lawn" so he did that and ran the weed eater while...

*I* mowed the very back yard! How cool is that? Ok, I know it's no big deal, but I've never run any sort of mower so it was new for me :) And, my favorite part was running over the ant beds - The mower made a satisfying grinding sound and dirt flew out of the side spout :-> Maybe I should address my ant hostility sometime...

The finished product -Isn't it beautiful?

It's Official!

We're local church members! We joined this morning and it was really great! Of course they have already been welcoming us with open arms so no one was surprised when we walked forward this morning. I was a little bummed because our preacher was out with the flu, but I just couldn't stand to postpone any longer! With all the travelling and camping, etc I feel like we had better seize this opportunity while we were all present and dressed to match :)

After we were introduced, I told Wes to get ready to shake a lot of hands and meet a lot of people - The congregation didn't disappoint and Wes was a complete charmer throughout the process... Afterwards, I asked a friend to take our picture:

That's when Wes decided to relax and be himself :)

In unrelated news, we've been making delicious food lately! Today, we had awesome enchiladas... Unless you ask Wes... He declared they were "horrible" and has been eating them for about an hour and a half. When he kept on complaining about them I said, "I get it. You don't like my cooking." Not wanting to hurt my feelings, he said, "No. I like your cooking. It's just the food that's bad." Oh, ok. Glad he cleared that up!

Gardening Time Again

It's Official! Spring is headed our way! Thank Goodness! So that means it's also time for the garden updates to begin :)





First, the tulip I spotted on March 1st is still blooming beautifully :) But sadly, it still blooms... alone :( I thought there would be more of them but so far only one ...

We saw the yellow daffodils all come and go and this new breed popped up a few days ago... It's pretty, but it's no purple tulip ;)

My freesia bulbs have new growth making its first appearances so I am really looking forward to their delightful fragrance :)





Brad's blueberries are now safe and sound in the ground - With black landscaper cloth to keep the grass out! And already new leaves and brighter shades of green are showing up :) (even SINCE this picture was taken a few days ago)

My rose bushes also are now planted in place under our bedroom window. I hope they grow well with our lack of Rose Experience :) I can't wait to see the blooms!

I also planted several poppies and larkspur seeds in peat pots.. Initially, the poppy seeds produced little green shoots and I was thrilled! Then, the larkspurs sent up a few green shoots and I was ecstatic... But now the poppy shoots have all withered and disappeared... What could have happened? I've been very diligently watering everything so I'm a little confused! :(

And, also, I finally planted my iris bulbs (rhizomes?) They are a beautiful purple bearded variety... I've always loved irises and supposedly bulbs (rhizomes?) are fairly easy to take care of! I really cannot wait until they start growing!

Speaking of growing, I have one small Wesley update, too. :) I always add new foods to his diet with a hint of fear that he'll absolutely despise it and a temper tantrum will ensue... So, you can imagine what went through my mind as I made tacos the other night. I wanted to ease him into the idea so I made a small taco salad on his plate - Crushed tortilla chips, taco meat, cheese, lettuce and a few tomatoes... He made unhappy complaints but knew he wouldn't be off the hook until he ate. So, he opted to eat all the tomato pieces and then the lettuce and I thought he was putting off the spicy meat for last... But after he ate the lettuce and tomatoes he declared that he was glad that was over and there was nothing but yummy food on his plate. So I had to ask, "Do you like the rest of your taco salad?" and he said, "Well, yeah, who wouldn't like meat, cheese, and chips?" Who indeed!

Camping with Chuck and Jullia - March 6-8, 2009

The weather sure has been beautiful these past 2 weeks - We were glad to take our Annual Ivey Camping Trip this past weekend so we could truly enjoy the sunshine and spring breezes :)

There were a few technical difficulties before we arrived so Brad and I ended up joining Chuck, Jullia and Wesley in the RV instead of pitching our tent... annnd I think Brad thought that was plenty cozy because we didn't even LOOK at the tent for the rest of the weekend :( That means there will be MORE camping in the future to make up for this Tent Deficit ;)

I had never been to Roosevelt State Park before and was pleased with how pretty and peaceful it was - We even had a beautiful lake riiiight across from our site :) There was a small beach down the road and sand castles were quickly underway on Saturday :)

Other than the sand castle, there weren't many activities this weekend. Wes created a few treasure maps for the grown-ups to follow and we all were successful in the hunt for the Hidden / Buried Golf Ball.

We also played at the park and wandered around on meandering walks :) Sunday morning, Brad and I finally stumbled upon a hiking trail so we grabbed Wes and headed out.... Only to hit a dead end within moments!

All in all, it was a delightful, restful weekend full of delicious food!

No camping trip would be complete without transforming the RV into a light show :)

We thought we were going places!

Wes peeks out of the RV door :)

~*~

The end result = one tired, happy little boy

March 1- Snow!

We woke up Sunday morning and were surprised to see the yard blanketed in snow... and snow flurries were still being swirled around in the wind! It was like a beautiful winter wonderland! Brad actually spotted it before I did and he snuck out to make a little surprise for me:

He also created a miniature snowman to surprise Wes when he got back from my parents' house:

After running around and throwing a few snowballs, it was time to get ready for church. I ate a bowl of cereal and then peeked back out to see that ALL of the snow had melted... In the time it took to eat breakfast, all of the winter wonderland was gone. *sniff sniff* Wes didn't even get to see it :(

All is not lost, though, because there was one last surprise we discovered in the flower bed...