The Amazing Makeover

Since the day we moved in, our front yard has been a source of frustration and headache.  When we bought the house in the middle of winter we had no idea what sort of upkeep all of the bushes and grasses and mulch beds would require--and the ominous task of weeding said mulch beds.  Weeds grow rampant out here--much worse than in the dry climate of UT,  hence the frustration and headache (and backache)!   With three kids underfoot, weeding is not a task one can spend a lot of time on...

This is the front mulch bed when we first moved in three plus years ago...

 We promptly hired some landscapers to tidy it up and it looked like this...

But only for a couple of weeks.  They love their mulch beds out here in PA--I think they are supposed to keep the weeds at bay.  However, in our experience there was no difference.  The weeds came back in full force, and there was literally no staying on top of them.  I finally gave up, and Paul would just mow over the weeds.  Pretty ghetto.  But, that gave us an idea--why not just get rid of the mulch beds altogether and plant grass?  Grass can be mowed (and doesn't ever need to be watered out here)--what could be easier than that?  So, we did just that, starting with this big tree.  

 We think the end result turned out quite nice!!  MUCH easier to maintain, and we actually hang out in the front yard a lot more now.

We especially love our new paver walkway...

Our little flagstone patio is quite nice, too.  We even have a nice seating area to watch the boys ride their bikes up and down the driveway...

Sam (with his friend Sam who also has blonde curly hair) enjoyed watching the skid steer moving around the dirt and pavers...

Now that the grass has grown in a little more it even looks better.

We are very pleased with our low-maintenance make-over.  It even gave us a little more curb-appeal!!

Miscellaneous April Stuff

I am forever playing catch-up with my posting, but life got really busy at some point...

I wanted to include these miscellaneous pictures from April (which seems like forever ago) on the blog.    There are some super cute ones of our ever-growing boys that are not to be missed, plus, we have been very busy lately and there are a lot of everyday-happenings that we don't want to forget...   

For instance...

Every Saturday for 10 weeks we headed to one of the local elementary schools for Max's T-ball practices and games.  Max didn't love it, but he never complained about it and unlike a lot of the kids went out there on his own and tried hard to pay attention and keep his eye on the ball.  It is such a hard sport for his age group--a lot of waiting around and little understanding of the rules.  But, I do think he enjoyed it.  He definitely got a few good hits...

We spectators had a great time watching the games which were real nail-biters but always ended up in a tie...

Sam would actually get pretty bored at the games, so mommy and daddy would take turns playing catch with him.  He is going to be really good when he is finally old enough to play...

Our energetic monkeys are always finding something to climb on and jump off of...

Paul and I (yes, I actually helped this year) did a lot of work on our garden (remember this was in April--the plants are much bigger now).  We tried everything we could think of to minimize the weeds here as well with weed cloth, mulch and hay.  So far it has worked beautifully!  I will have to post some current pictures of our beautiful tomatoes--no blight yet (although I am not going to get my hopes up on that matter...).

 

My beautiful boys.  They are getting too big... (sniff, sniff)...

A Visit from Vermont

Back in April we had a very nice visit from Mimi, Auntie Joey, and Koa.  The boys always have so much fun whenever anyone from Vermont visits, and this trip was no exception.  I am a lot behind on posting this event, so instead of a long narrative, I will just let the pictures do most of the talking...

We enjoyed an awesome picnic at Max and Sam's favorite park--West Goshen.  The boys ran around and played in their matching shark shirts (that Mimi brought back from one of her trips to Florida) all the while enjoying their favorite cold beverage...

Well, Jack didn't get to really run around and play--but he definitely enjoyed a good snooze in his new set of wheels (thank you, Mimi!!)

Then, the boys got treated to ice cream (thanks again, Mimi!)!!

Jack especially benefitted from this visit--he was never wanting for someone to hold him--there was always an extra set of hands willing to snuggle him if mommy was busy.  JR loved his Auntie Joey...

And I think he thought Koa was pretty cool, too!!

Sam hugging his beloved and super-cool cousin Koa...

We are super excited for their next visit!!  Hopefully they don't keep us waiting too long...