Dirty hands

Last summer's drought left us with 1 arborvitae out of 9 on our back property line.  It didn't take much to pull those poor, dead bushes out of the ground.  I moved the one good one to a new spot, I hope it hangs on.  Yay for me for clearing them out of there, minus the irritatingly itchy rash on my arm, thank you very much.

The rest of the landscaping is looking pretty good.  It's a mix-mash of different flowers and plants, with no real arrangement to speak of.  I am not going for a professional look, I like my sort of wild and crazy style.  My favorite thing is moving plants and splitting them up and moving them again.  I never really know how it's going to look until it they bloom.  Then I decide if I like them there or not.  If not, I move it.  So much fun to dig in the dirt. 

My project this year, if I can get my lazy butt in gear, is to build a raised veggie garden.  I have not had much success with my deck pots.  They grow well, but do not produce as much as I would like.  I think they need more room.  And since my yard is full of roots from the big trees all over, I am not digging up my yard.  I just need to get to Lowe's for some chicken wire and some stakes.  And maybe some tomato cages.  Any ideas for what I should plant??

The tulips I planted last fall are blooming now.  I just love the color.  I hope they spread and fill in!  I am thinking I need to add some yellow or white ones to the mix. 

Beach Baby

Ethan and I had a lovely time after lunch on Monday, we hit Silver Beach for the first time this year.  The weather was amazing.  The water was way to cold to swim, but that didn't stop my little beach baby from going in for buckets of water to make sand castles.  I can  not wait to spend the summer sitting on the beaches of Lake Michigan. 

Now I get to look forward to all of the sand that will make it's way from the beach to my van and into my house!

Soccer is Back!

After 2 weeks of being rained out, we finally had our first mini-soccer class at the YMCA.  The field was pretty soggy yet and all of the kids came home filthy and tired.  Last September Ethan looked like one of the smallest kids in the class, after 8 months of growing he is now one of the bigger kids playing. 

I can tell that he has some better skills than some of the other kids, but he is still struggling to pay attention at times.  I hope that a week at soccer camp this summer and maybe joining a team in the fall will help bring out some of those attention skills too!

In June, the YMCA is hosting a week long British Soccer Camp.  I really hope that we decide to sign Ethan up.  They have coaches from all over Europe come to teach kids of every level.  It sounds really exciting and I think Ethan would love it.

Here are some snaps of his first class...

Kids are so much smarter than Parents

I just have to share this one thing that Ethan said to Andy and I last weekend...

We were all in the van heading up to Lowe's to run some errands.  Andy and I were bickering back and forth, it sounded more serious than it was.  And from the back seat Ethan lets out a loud and fierce "Kids!"

I was laughing so hard that I was snorting.  It was really funny.  But when it's all said and done, it's the truth.  We were acting like kids, and he called us out on it.  Really makes you evaluate your behavior doesn't it?  It's no wonder kids act the way they do, they learn from the best!

I don't think this will stop the bickering between Andy and I.  That is part of our relationship, I only hope Ethan learns to realize it's mostly teasing.

Have a great day!

T-Ball

What a nice Easter day we had!  The Easter Bunny brought Ethan a pretty sweet T-Ball stand, and we had a blast trying it out yesterday.  I made a nice ham with pineapple, some roasted veggies, stuffing and steamed broccoli for dinner.  Jeanne, next door, brought over some super yummy chocolate brownies for dessert.  Then we spent the evening teaching Ethan how to fake sick to get out of going to school, by watching Ferris Buellers Day Off.  A perfect kids movie right?  NO, not really, but he did think it was hilarious.  Dad's idea, not mine!

Check out some of the pics that I snapped throughout the day, it was a really great day!

Leap into Spring!

I am running full force into Spring this year.  I am absolutely done with Winter.  It's not that we had all that much snow, or even that it was overly long or cold.  In fact, Winter did not really start until well into January and it's only now the end of March.  Pretty short for a Michigan Winter honestly. 

I guess I feel this way every Spring.  There is something about the way the air smells.  About the beauty of the freshly sprouting tree buds.  The way the delicate shoots of tulips and daffodils poking out of the ground.  It's fresh, it's alive, it's new.  It's rebirth and a reminder of life and it's constant circle.  I just want to be outside taking it all in.

Tomorrow is Easter.  Early this year.  Today we spent the morning downtown collecting Easter Eggs from the local stores and visiting the Easter Bunny.  Ethan really loved the eggs.  We spend the afternoon having pretend egg hunts around the house.  I am so excited for the Easter Bunny to come tonight. 

Happy Easter to all of our loved ones!

Valentine's Day-2005

It was January-ish.  I had been emailing someone I had met on one of those crazy dating websites.  We talked on the phone occasionally, but we both wanted to take things slow.  As Valentine's day drew near, we talked about the possibility of a date.  It seemed kind of silly to have our first date on such a romantic holiday, especially because we hadn't even met yet.  But I think secretly we were both pretty excited about it.  He chose a really romantic place to have dinner.  We met at the Holly Hotel, in Holly.  It was about half-way between his place near Midland and mine in Sterling Heights.  Dinner was really lovely.  The old hotel was beautiful.  As we were leaving the restaurant, it was snowing.  We stood on the sidewalk under the street light and danced to a Frank Sinatra song that was playing outside the hotel.  We both would say we fell in love that night. 

It has been 8 years since that night, and through them all, our love has changed and grown.  It has shared many joys and faced plenty of challenges.  Each year will have joys and challenges, and each year we will be stronger for them.  I love the life we have made together.

Happy Valentine's Day Andy and Happy 8 years together!

Our second date- February 19th, 2005  Bistro Bordeaux in Rochester, Mi