Backyard Facelift

I saw Amanda tonight and she informed me that I was a big tease for not sharing the backyard improvements yet! :) 

I have been waiting for the right pictures! I know it's not a major difference, but it really does make a big deal! I can't wait to start adding plants. 

A big thank you to Derek's family for helping us out! They all worked so hard to get our yard in shape for the summer! 

Whole yard before and after! 

We started with this flower bed that runs in front of the shed- aka. Derek's "Man Cave." I want to have monkey grass as a border on all of the beds. I will definitely be planting something that covers the ugly pipes that stick up! I'm also thinking of adding some Crepe Myrtles in this bed, but I'm not sure yet. 

We were just working away when I noticed these familiar looking leaves... Poison Ivy! Derek's dad also pointed out the poison oak that was hanging from the tree that is in the bed in front of our chain link fence! I was SO worried that someone would break out and it would be all my fault! We decided to leave the vines alone that were in that section. We will probably spray them and then pull them down later. 

Poison Ivy and Oak! 

The kids mostly played outside, but the girls were in and out. Thomas took a nice long nap while we were working! This is Derek, right in the middle of all the brush! Yikes! 

When we moved the dog house a bunch of nuts rolled out! I guess we know what the squirrels have been up to! Anna-Kate said "look at all the coconuts!" and then she and Kristen spent an hour collecting them all on the patio, so later we could all trip on them! ha! 

There was some vinca ground cover already growing in our yard. It's not my favorite, but it was there and adds some nice color, so we decided to leave it! 

It's really not a lot but it is the start of some pretty great landscaping! I love planning things like this and seeing what a big difference they make. This is definitely a project that will look better throughout the summer and the next coming years! 

Amanda, I hope you read this and that you and Jackson are ready to play! ;) ha! 

(almost) Perfect Mother's Day!

I have had such a great Mother's Day weekend! 

Derek had to leave at 5:30 (AM) today for his last week of training in St. Louis. So I got a nice early wake up call this morning to shuttle him to the airport! Did I mention it was at 5:30 AM??! ha! I'm not really a morning person! :) I wish Derek could have been here today... that would have made for a perfect Mother's Day! :) 

Since he had to leave today, we celebrated on Saturday. A couple of weeks ago, Derek and I asked his parents if they would help us get our back yard in shape! It has been neglected since we moved here (actually, I'm pretty sure the previous owner's neglected it too!). So I'm sure you can imagine it was bad! Now that Thomas is bigger and Anna-Kate is always asking to play outside, it is really important to me that they have a nice area to play. 

Here's our backyard before we started. It doesn't look terrible, but trust me, it was a mess!

I will go over all the details and the before and afters really soon. The pictures I took just don't do it justice, so I'm going to have to get back out there when I'm not so hot and sweaty and can take my time with it! :) 

Derek's parents came over around 10 and we pretty much worked all the way up to 3:30! I was pooped and finally gave out, but Derek worked for another hour getting everything wrapped up. I am so grateful for all of the help! We got everything done we had wanted to and I know that there is no way we could have done it by ourselves! 

So that was really a gift to me! I bet they didn't even realize it! :) 

Saturday night, we went over to Derek's parent's house and ate dinner and swapped gifts! Anna-Kate picked out a lady bug charm for my pandora bracelet. I got a heart charm from Derek's parent's for it too! 

Family is the most important part of holidays for me. Even when I'm not with mine, I'm thinking of them and missing them terribly! That's why I try to surround myself with as much family as I can where ever we are. I'm grateful for Derek's family here in town and I'm grateful for my friends here that are like family to me! 

I wound up staying up late helping Derek pack and getting things ready. I think I really was just trying to put off the inevitable! I wound up falling asleep around 2 but then I spent most of the night worrying about being alone all week! (That's a little backwards, I know!) 

After Thomas and I dropped Derek off at the airport, we headed home and ate some breakfast before church.

Our class started a series on Song of Solomon which is really good. Today's lesson was great. But it was hard to be there without Derek! 

Y'all- I'm the first to admit that I am terrible! I have SO much respect for women who go months or longer without their husbands. I don't know how you do it! I don't like to be without Derek for one night! So please excuse me for being so mopey! I know I'm a big ol' baby. 

I promise to try to keep most of my whining to myself! :)

After church we ate lunch at a little Italian place here in town. I prefer our other italian place but it is closed on Sundays! Which I really do respect- but it drives me crazy when I want to eat there after church! My food was really good though and boy Anna-Kate ate it up! I got so tickled at her eating Fettuccine Alfredo! 

We made a detour on our way home and made some pictures at Harding. The front lawn is so pretty in the spring! 

Thomas says "cheese" now! 

I am so sad that this picture was so shadow-y!

Anna-Kate and Thomas were worn out! I had to wake them up for church. Poor things! 

It really has been a wonderful Mother's day weekend! :) 

Happy Mother's Day! 

Menu Monday- Week 17

Derek and I are still trying to eat healthy, so I posted the weight watchers points beside everything. We were in the mood for some different meals, so we tried a lot of new things! 

Last night we had the Shepherd's Pie and it was very different with lentils instead of ground beef. Anna-Kate and Thomas ate it up. I thought it was pretty good too! 

Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets- 4 points

Baked Sweet Potato Fries- 2 points
Steamed Broccoli

Grilled Apple Chicken- 3 points

Creamy Cauliflower Puree- 2 points
Sauteed Zucchini

Savory Chicken and Wild Rice- 5 points

Sauteed Squash

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie- 4 points (this one is a brave choice)

Spinach Pasta Bake- 5 points (we used fresh spinach and mushrooms)
Rustic French Bread- 3 points

What's on your menu today? Comment below and leave your link! :)