We spent some time landscaping this weekend. We had to replace the floor of the porch last summer and had to take out some of the shrubs when we did that. We weren't quite sure what else we wanted to put in so we waited until this year to figure it out. Here are some before pictures:

We spent all weekend working on it - from cleaning out the extra weeds, to planting, to mulching...and we still aren't done! We got some window boxes and hangers to place extra flowers on the porch that haven't gotten finished yet. But, we're getting there! See...

Here's the new holly bush on the right hand side of the house:

And here is the front view, before the mulch went in...

More to come later!

The joys of children...

My friends' daughter turned 1 last week. Trent had to work a prom so I took the kids by myself. All was going well (if you don't count Matthew trying to get a Smirnoff drink from the cooler because it looked like water! Thank goodness for other moms!) until after the gifts were open. My children decided to play with the baby's new ball and proceeded to fight over it. What you see below is the result of Molly tackling Matthew to get the ball and my intervention! Gotta love kids!

My favorite Mother's Day card...

Last year, Emily gave me a hand made card with this poem written on the inside. It is my favorite. All of the misspellings are hers. It was hard not to correct them but I resisted the urge since they add to the adorableness of the whole thing.

Mom the best one
Outgoing with your conversation on the phone
Thoughtful you get us stuff
Helpful with my homework
Entelegant you are very smart
Reperdouce you help make people
Super you rock!

Delightful you'r almost never grumpy
Almost always nice
Young your only 31

That is your special mother's day poem. Love, Emily
age 9, 3rd Grade

Birthday palooza!

The six days between May 7 and May 13 are some of the longest, craziest, hectic, bad days of the year. They are the worst 6 days every year since about 2004, when Matthew started realizing what his birthday was and what it meant. You see, Emily's birthday is May 7, Trent's birthday is May 8, Mother's day almost always falls right after their birthdays, and Matthew's birthday is May 13. Plus, it is prom season which means that most Friday and Saturday nights in May Trent is out until real late, photographing couples for local high school proms. And he also usually schedules himself to be out at one of the local high schools during this week to start photographing the rising seniors to get a jump on next year. Now, keep in mind that this is all good stuff but having it come all at once can be a little taxing!!

So, rather than trying to get the house looking presentable enough to have family over for birthday dinners during the week, Trent and I decided that we would celebrate Emily and Matthew's birthday on the Saturday in between. Matthew had a t-ball game this morning and Trent has a prom tonight so we decided to do a lunch barbecue. Matthew requested a "Mike Wazowski" (the little green monster from Monster's, Inc. I am sure that I spelled that wrong!) cake and Emily wanted a cake with the number 10 on it. Pictures follow:

Emily and Grandpa...

Matthew and Uncle Eric with the new Boston Red Sox hat Aunt Stacey and Uncle Eric gave him. Matthew always wears his Yankees hat to their house to annoy Uncle Eric, who is a big Red Sox fan! Now we can annoy Grandpa Jim with the Red Sox hat (he's the Yankee fan!)

The "Mike" cake...

Emily turned 10 this year. Trent is old enough to have a 10-year-old daughter; I am most definitely NOT! She wanted a cake that marked her transition into double-digits! :-)

And who could forget Molly Moose! She is the only one who doesn't have a special event during this period in May and she handles it like a little trooper! I think she was just excited to get cake!