Spring!

It's the first day of spring and I am certainly ready for something pretty to look at outside. I am tired of the brown and drab!

We did a lot of weeding today, but still have a lot to go. I want to get the vegetable beds ready although I am still thinking about rearranging them. Big Daddy wasn't thrilled with this idea because we just sent a bunch of wood back with my dad a few weeks ago. Oh well. Big Daddy cleaned up the front yard a bit too. It was very windy and cold outside, so the kids went inside early. They were arguing with each other, so I had them clean and organize the toy closet. They did a nice job!

The Lenten roses look beautiful, but I can't see them from inside the house. The magnolia and the weeping cherry have little buds on them. The daffodils are up and getting ready to bloom. I can't wait to see some color out there.

A few weeks ago we went to the nursery to look around and I saw some things I would like to add to our garden. Hopefully we will do it this summer. I have a tree to replace and would like to hide the compost bin a bit and add some evergreens.

Big Daddy took out the four maples on the other side of our fence. They were pushing against our fence and that property is just a junk area since the developer went under years ago. The roots were growing into our yard because we water our plants. I liked looking at them, but they needed to be a few feet away. I miss when it was all trees behind us.

I hope the weather warms up soon. I am ready for spring!

Baby Birds

We have three bird houses in the backyard (and 2 more waiting to be hung up), but where do the birds decide to build a nest?

Under the bench on our vegetable garden.

We had seen birds start to build nests in the birdhouses, but then they stopped and we didn't know where they went. That was until we started playing baseball in the backyard. A bird would fly out from under the garden shelf whenever we would get too close while playing baseball, so I decided to take a look through the tall grass/weeds (yes the lawn needs to be mowed). I didn't see anything, so I figured the bird was just hiding out there or eating some great bugs.

On Saturday, Big Daddy mowed the lawn and while we were out playing baseball in the backyard, the bird flew out again, but this time it sat in the fruit tree yelling at us. I decided to look again and there was a nest with three baby birds inside. (Now looking at the picture, I think there are four.)

Baby birds thinking there was food coming. I forgot they were there and clunked a pot down on the ledge and they started peeping for food.

Waiting to bring food back to the babies. It is fun to watch the bird sneak back into the nest, always choosing a different route and looking around to see if something is watching.

Spring Weather

We have had a bit of spring weather the last two days and the kids have been loving being outside. Yesterday started out rainy, but by the afternoon we were playing baseball in the backyard. Lovey is suddenly a huge baseball fan and listens to the games on his radio at night. It is a pleasant change from the weather station that he listens to. Next year he wants to play baseball instead of soccer. He does a lot better hitting the ball when it is pitched to him than hitting it off a tee. Crazy.

Today we were blessed with a bit more sunny weather. We went down to the neighborhood basketball court so Lovey could shoot baskets and Littlebit could ride her scooter. He is getting quite good at shooting baskets too. He was very excited about March Madness this year and watched quite a few games with Big Daddy. He now reenacts the games in the backyard. I finally had to stop him from shooting the ball on the top of my yard waste container and instead into a large plastic pot. Now when it hits the yard waste container, he tells me he can't help it, it was the other team.

Littlebit is content to ride her scooter and play with her My Little Ponies. Yesterday they were picking the grass and feeding it to Scoot-a-loo. She was outside by 7:30 this morning feeding her ponies grass again. She stayed out there by herself until Lovey woke up at 8. (He never sleeps in that late.)

Littlebit was so excited about the sun today that she put on a sundress and then wore her winter coat outside.

Happy Spring!

It certainly doesn't feel like spring here. We would love to get outside and play and plant in the garden, but it has been rainy and there is a possibility of snow again this weekend. I had to resort to buying daffodils. I love the rain boot vase, very fitting.
I made these little pipe cleaner flowers for Lovey to take to his teachers. I think Lovey and I might make some more today, because they are very simple to make.

You need 2 red (or any color you choose) pipe cleaners and 1 green pipe cleaner. Make a small loop in one red pipe cleaner and twist.

Make two more loops, twisting after each one. This should leave a small tail.
Do the same with the second red pipe cleaner. Use the one of the tails to twist the two together. Use the second small tail to twist onto the green pipe cleaner. Make a loop in the middle of the green pipe cleaner for a leaf and you are finished. Make a whole bouquet and give it away for May Day!