Spring is Springing

I love to garden.

I don't know where it came from.  I knew nothing about plants and never cared to.  I didn't even know the difference between an annual and a perennial.

Then came my first summer staying home with baby.  I stared out the back door and couldn't stand the ratty mess looking back at me.  I knew it could be something better.  Since day after day, we would stroll past the stunning waterfalls of shapes and colors in the gardens all around the Annex.  How hard could it be?

Before - Spring 2007

Hard.  But I threw myself into it, finding I just loved it.  Learning the perennials, planning the garden, feeling great when they grew.  And admitting defeat when the sun plants died in my mostly shade garden. 

After - Spring 2008

Or finding out I almost killed the gorgeous Japanese Maple with my bad hack job.  It's still in the revival stages after a "DO NOT touch this tree again" visit from the arborist 2 years ago.  

Small Jap Maple - Spring 2010

Last year's basement renovation kept me from even thinking about the garden last year.  It was impossibly filled with wood beams, jacks, old duct work and other random construction related tools, tarps & dirt.

So I'm chomping at the bit for Summer 2012.  So far, so good.

Late March

Today!

Yup, the Japanese Maple is coming back.  The arborist told me at least 5 years before it's back on it's feet.  Year 3 is looking promising.  And I'm not touching it. 

Leafing Out

The Trilliums are blooming. 

Sign of Spring

The Bleeding Hearts are appearing....10 days ago this plant wasn't even out of the ground!

Pink Hearts

And the native Wood Poppy is getting ready to explode.

Soon-to-be Yellow Flowers

I may have some dead-and-gone hydrangeas due to last year's negligence.  I cut the dead branches down to nubs, hoping that the little green leafs from the base will grow up and out. 

They're this year's experiment:

This will be the Before picture

I even had a welcome visitor checking things out....

He had good timing.  Jake & Henry weren't around to smush him to bits...

Moments

I get all kinds of responses when people find out I'm a mother of 3 little boys.  Sometimes awe, other times sympathy, usually a variation on "there's a special place in heaven for you."

Busy doesn't begin to describe my life.  Which is why I savor moments like I had yesterday.

Open on Jake & I eating lunch at kitchen table:

J: Mommy, can I have some of your salad?
M: Sure.

(takes a bite.  again.  again.  again.)

J: Can I have my own?
M: How about you finish your lunch and I'll make you one for dinner?
J:  OK.

(eats his sandwich quietly)

J: Mommy, what letter makes the sound "i-h"?
M: I think that's the letter I.

(finishes sandwich.  gets up and goes into dining room.  SFX: paper being ripped out of pad.  walks back into kitchen.)

J: Mommy, I made this sign for you so you don't forget.

Melt my heart. 

Jake is my energetic child.  He has so much energy, it radiates from him.  He needs to move.  He can't sit still.  He runs into a room, jumps on the couch, dances while humming to himself.  This boy would rather be moving than sitting down spelling or reading.  Always.  So for him to think about a new word and spell it out by himself on a piece of paper...well, I just wanted to cry with happiness. 

Then, back to busy reality, we both forgot his salad for dinner.

Relaxation

We're back.  And it was great. 

I parlayed our Easter trip back home to WI into a Florida getaway for Steve and I...sans kids.  Heaven!  We had an uninterrupted conversation.  And then another one.  On the beach.  After reading the paper! 

I honestly can't tell you how long it's been since we've been able to do that. 

Thank you, Mom.  Thank you, Dad.  And thank you, Fort Lauderdale.

We spent 4 beautiful nights at The Atlantic on Fort Lauderdale Beach.   It was on the North end of the beach, away from the main drag....which was perfect.

The Atlantic

Every room had a view of the ocean...because it was directly across the street.

Stone's Throw to the Beach

Needless to say, that's where we spent the majority of our time.  Basically every day looked like this:

Steve Reading the Paper!

Me Watching the Waves!

Yup.  A whole lotta nothing.  Perfection.

We also enjoyed a few glasses of wine with our balcony view.

Steve's View of Me with the Atlantic Ocean

My View of Perfection

On our last full day, we mustered up the energy to take a Riverfront Boat Tour around the Fort Lauderdale riverway.  I'm glad we did - it was gorgeous.  There's a whole other side to the city, away from the tourist-laden beachfront strip. 

The homes were insane.  Each one bigger and more beautiful than the next. 

Gorgeous Garden

Perfect Palm Trees

The White House, But Bigger

And what could go better with a winter cottage than something to scoot around in?

Captain said this was Johnny Depp's

But instead of a house and a boat, why not get both in one?

$300 million

This was the crown jewel on the waterway.  Cakewalk.  Largest yacht ever built in the US.  The captain was rattling off all kinds of facts about this beauty.  All I remember was the price and a 2-person submarine on board. 
You can google the rest.

The next day, we enjoyed our last time on the beach...

Happy Feet

...and headed back to pick up the kids.  By then, I missed them terribly. 

But I'm so glad we went.  Relaxing and doing nothing for a few days does wonders.  Not only for my mommy patience, but to just reset my energy.

Including my energy to do house projects...I picked up the kitchen banquette fabric while I was home...!

The Best Part of Easter

It's not just the ride there...

Somewhere in Michigan

Or the cousin fun...

G & my brother's mini-me

It's the grandparents watching the kids so Steve and I can go here.

Heaven

I love Easter.

Get Out!

It's not that I haven't been doing much lately.  It's just that to get things done, I gotta make room.  And money.  So things are moving out. 

Craigslist and Goodwill, that is.

I'm talkin' furniture, baby stuff (lotsa baby stuff), leather shoes, an old drill...you name it, it's going.  And it's feeling good.

So I thought I'd share some pictures of progress.  Then I realized how little progress can be seen.  What?  I've gotten rid of so much stuff...but I still have so much stuff!!!

????

Now presenting pictures of our dumping ground, otherwise known as "the 3rd floor".  Or just "3". 

As in, "mommy, where's my suitcase?"  "Up on 3."  (beat)  "I can't find it."  "Well, it's up there somewhere..." 

I'm surprised we haven't lost a child yet.

Guest Room

Beat up rug - check.  Old doors wedged beside bed - check.  Old IKEA artwork propped up on said doors - check.  Bookcase half blocking the window - check. 

(yes, this is the guest room)

View From the Window

Oversized IKEA Pax wardrobe full of purses and shoes so guests can't even use it - check.  Pillows shoved in the corner because they can't fit in the wardrobe - check.

In all honesty, I do clean up the guest room before guests come (right, mom?).  Right now the bed is full of summer clothes for me to purge...and the bins, jackets and bags aren't usually there. 

Carpet = Goodwill Staging Area

So, the only things that actually are part of the guest experience....are, well, everything listed above.  Eeeek.

I know.  It's an old house.  There's no storage in these old homes.  They didn't have closets back then.  (Yes, I've actually heard someone say that)  But that shouldn't be an excuse. 

Especially not when you have not only one room but two that look like this.

Just As Bad

Bins full of kid clothes - check.  Stroller parts - check.  Paint & supplies - check.  Toy overflow - check.  Outdoor deck chair pads - check.

Nope - Worse

I don't even know what's in there anymore - check.

There's The Storage Area

Poorly built storage area full of...I can't remember - check.  Top of storage area full too - check.

Why would I show these pictures? 

Believe it or not, this is progress.  Our basement renovation overwhelmed us with STUFF that had to get up and out and go somewhere.  It mostly ended up on 3.  And in the green room.  The piles you see here are accessible.  We couldn't even walk into the green room in January.  At least now, there's a little path...

Also, we have plans.  During our regular Sunday morning conversations dreaming about what we want to do in our house someday, Steve and I decided the green room might make a better guest room.  For now.  And we need an office.  Probably the yellow room. 

So, I've posted these pictures for me.  To get on it.  To keep the inspiration flowing...and the ideas floating.  Not to mention embarrassment helps leads me to accountability.  How's that for motivation?

Excuse me while I pack the car and head to Goodwill.

Construction Fatigue

I shouldn't be complaining.  The work means improvements for our water and sewer.

Or does it?

Since they dug us last week, our water pressure has gotten worse.  Way worse.  To go from running 2 showers, a toilet and a tap with nobody complaining...to a toilet and a tap but only getting a drizzling stream in the sink.  Well, that's just atrocious. 

Thank goodness I made friends with the workers, so they're nice to me.  They feel my pain and want to help.  And they did.  Until the water was shut off again yesterday.  When it turned on, our pressure was back to bad.  But then, better.  So...we just have to deal with wonky pressure and war zone-like conditions for another 2 months.

Yes, war zone.  We started out saying "we live on a construction site."  Then it turned into "we live in a dust bowl."  One neighbor called it a dirt pit.  Now, we just look out the window and feel like we should be dodging bullets. 

Our Street BEFORE

Our Street TODAY

It's become a game - we wake up and look out our 2nd floor window down the street and say, "who are they digging today!?"  Then I get a minor heart attack this morning when I see this:

NOT AGAIN!?

The guys know our water pressure is not right.  But I was praying we'd avoid more digging on our shared parking pad. 

Then I found out the work isn't for us.  It's for our neighbor across the street.  He's getting his water upgraded today.  Lucky for us, the city water main IS ON OUR SIDE OF THE STREET.  So we don't have water again today.

Awesome.

Poor neighbor we share a wall with - more of his pavers had to come up...it's quite a collection now.

Here's my view:

Good Thing They're Nice

The guys are really, really nice.  I have nothing bad to say about the crew.  That might be the only upside to all of this.

So as the fatigue sets in, I'm enjoying the view from the back of the house. 

Green??

I haven't seen this much green this early.  It's beautiful and scary all at the same time.  I prefer the beautiful.

Right Side

That right there is a stunning Japanese Maple that I almost killed.  Oh, I felt so bad. 

I brought in an arborist to try and save it from my hack job 3 summers ago.  It pains me to see it on life support.  I was assured it could make it back, but that there would be a long road ahead.  I can see some branches that didn't make it through the winter...but lots more new growth sprouting, so I'm already hopeful for this summer.

Purple Violets

I found violets in full bloom - these almost seem a little past their prime already.

Lungwort

The flowers on the Lungwort are showing up.

Super Hellebore

And this one's my star.  The Hellebore is going crazy.  It will be the third season in my garden for this plant.  You know what they say about planting a perennial...1st year Sleep, 2nd year Creep, 3rd year Leap.  She's definitely Leapin'.

And it's still March!

The Monkees

I managed to get birthday pictures x2 done at the Superstore. 

I started with Jake.  Every birthday is remembered with a picture session at the Superstore.  I buy the pictures no matter what - good, bad or ugly.  For $30, it's a fantastic memory.  In fact, one of the worst sessions got me my favorite shot of Jake & Henry.  I almost cried that day, they were behaving so badly.  But now the picture brings a smile to my face whenever I see it.

Here's my one year old:

G is 1!

And here's my six year old (!):

J is 6...???!!!!!

Time out.  Here's where I almost cried during THIS session. 

I call George my "Jake Part 2" because of how much he reminds me of Jake when he was a baby.  So, watching George stand there holding onto the '1' and then flip to Jake in front of the camera with his hands in his pockets totally threw me.  What happened to my baby Jake??!!

Thank God Henry was screwing around so much behind the camera - it kept the tears from welling up. 

Then I got the good old group shot:

Almost everyone is smiling

And I got one more pose for kicks:

Lookin Like Daddy

Steve circa 2002

Think they're related?