What a present!

Nicholas got a swing set for his birthday. Well, not really, but the timing worked out that way. I've been saving my pennies and searching/debating for months on the right one. We needed something smaller, little upkeep and I wanted it to kind of blend into the yard.

Success! It's large but small enough and it tucks nicely into to south side part of our yard.

We had it set in concrete so it wouldn't tip. We can attach the swings on Sunday. The hardest part of this install is waiting until Sunday to slide and use the fireman's pole. Nicholas is fast and had one unapproved slide before I caught him. Sneaky!

Breadsticks, sprinklers & sports

Another full & fun weekend! Andrew had a baseball tournament (4 games), Ben had a soccer party, and Chris took both boys to a REAL game. They had a blast!

Nic and I made breadsticks for Ben's soccer party. Hit the playground hard before the baseball games and enjoyed outdoor time at the games. While I wore sunscreen I still broke out in sun hives on my upper chest and tops of feet. Stinking sun allergy!

Nic is napping, just not when and where I want him too.

I've been hardening off my plants and Saturday night I forgot to bring them indoors. I freaked out a little bit. I think they'll be ok, a little worse for the wear but survived. I'm a gardening loser!

Somehow we fit in turning on the sprinklers, a little yard work and bike riding.

This family is ready to keep the warmer weather.

Planting seeds

We are so ready for spring around here. Perhaps a little early still, we planted seeds for the garden.  I had harvested some seeds from plants last year and we also purchased a fresh crop for this year.  This is a great project for all of the kids as everyday we are seeing growth progress.  Now if I can just keep the plants alive and Lucy away from them!

Yard work - Blackberries

Around here the snow has melted. The yard is in dire shape from a long winter. I've decided when the weather permits (today it was 70, yesterday 65) that I will work in the yard. Nicholas loves being outside and so do I. Yesterday I pruned all of our fruit trees, the are now ready to go. Today I set to work on weeding, pruning and setting the blackberries up to trellis. The plants were too small last year to trellis but as you can see they have grown. I hope to get a few pounds of fruit this year. If I do the yard in bite size chunks I might better maintain it this year.

I do love the Internet and You Tube specifically. Thanks Internet! I watched many a video on pruning trees and various pruning techniques. While not a pro, I think I got the job done.

Happy spring!