J's Bday and Stockyards

The first day we were in Oklahoma we decided to take a train ride from Grapevine, TX to Ft. Worth, TX so J could see the longhorns and eat at his favorite restaurant. He even got a cowboy hat! Here are some pics of that day.

All in a Day's Work, Part 2

Long story short...I hate my front bushes. They are funny looking, all different shapes and sizes, and not evenly spaced out. So, on a whim, I let J talk me into ripping them out and doing something different. I thought this would be a huge ordeal and cost a ton of money, but it didn't! I found plants at Lowe's for $7 that I LOVED and Justin was more than willing to rip out the bushes with his truck and it only took us about an hour and a half.

I feel the need to brag on my little girl. I have neighbors who's dogs are constantly barking at people and who run/escape any time their gates are open. I have had to trap a runaway dog in my backyard and go find my neighbors to come get him. My little Sophi stayed in the front yard with us all day. She never tried to escape and never gets close to the street even when I'm in the street taking pics. She didn't bark at all except the one time a bird landed in the yard and she felt the need to scare it away. She would either follow me around, ride in J's truck when he was pulling bushes out, play fetch with me, or just chill out and lay down. I'm very proud of my well-behaved child!! Let's hope my human kids are as well-behaved as her! Here's how our day went.

Here are the ugly bushes before the work.

This is the first bush we removed.

This was our process. Tie the tow-rope around the bush, hook to J's truck and pull. They came out very very easily!

Finished ripping out the bushes...look's better already! That "shelf" is apparently something I have to display flowers on! It's built into my house! I'm very excited to use it!

This is my well-behaved little girl. She was willing to help as long as she didn't have to leave the shade!! It was only in the 60s today, so she's in for a long summer of shade hunting!

The damage...

Trying to figure out the spacing of the new plants.

This was an awesome find!! I really wanted to use this. It's evergreen, but has purple flowers on it in the spring. I could only find ones that were like $40 each, but Justin searched all over Lowe's to help me find some for $7! They are PJM Elite Rhododendrons. I have two of them.

This is a Dwarf English Boxwood. When I saw the pictures of this plant, I said no way. I don't want this. But, the people at the gardening place assured me that I don't have to keep it so nice and neat like the pic. I can trim it to keep it the size I want, but I can leave it have "crazy hair". Instead of shaping it, I will probably keep it looking like this, only bigger. I also have two of these.

I couldn't decide what I wanted in the far corner. I knew I had room there for a big bush. I was thinking about a Lilac, dad recommended a Rose of Sharon, and I really love the Burning Bush's here that turn bright red in the Autumn. I couldn't find a Rose of Sharon anywhere, and I eventually settled on this version of Lilac that I LOVED! The flowers are so pretty! (See next pic). It's called a Sensation Lilac.

This is the way everything looks from my front door. The far corner by the privacy fence is the Lilac, then the Boxwood, then the Rhododendron, then another Boxwood, and then another Rhododendron by the door. I still need to get some mulch (the place was closed yesterday), then I'll be all set! So, say a little prayer that my first landscaping project is a success. I would LOVE for these plants to make it!! After Mother's Day, I'll be getting some flowers to plant in between and pretty it up a little. Apparently the rule is, don't plant flowers until after Mother's Day.

My John Deere

I got a John Deere lawn mower! It's really really old, but I got a really good deal on it. I told dad and I'm pretty sure he's jealous! Here are a few pics of J going for a joyride on it!

The people that lived in this house before me left some type of attachment that picks up sticks, leaves, etc. in the yard. We attached it to the mower and it actually works pretty well!! I guess I won't have to be raking leaves next fall!! I can't wait! The mower also comes with a snow plow attachment for the front, but I don't have that yet. So, I also won't be shoveling any more snow hopefully!

Alll in a Day's Work, Part 1

I have decided (with the help of J) to try to do some landscaping in my yard. I have never in my entire life done landscaping. I've only mowed and weed-eated. So, I'm posting a few posts about my attempts. This post is in regards to my backyard. I had to have a new well dug last year. Also, I had a gopher/mole/something that Sophi was chasing and she dug up the other part of my yard. I bought some dirt and tried to level the ground out and then I planted grasseed. I already have some good grass growing in parts, but I haven't taken any pictures of that yet. I'll post "after" pics later. Enjoy!

The day started out rough...we tackled my rose bush first (which needed a lot of help)! The first pic is all the stuff we cut out of it. The next pic is the "after" pic, and I forgot to take a "before" pic. The last pic is the first battlewound of the project. Hopefully it'll be the only battlewound!

The next pics are some before pics of the holes in my yard.

Some of the tools we used...

Some "after" pics...

I'm not sure what this plant is, but I think it's soooo pretty so I wanted to show you!

The tradition has been deer burgers to celebrate a hard day's work!

Lesson learned...if you rake your leaves in the fall, you don't have to worry about them in the spring!

Easter Fun

So, this year Justin went to church at my church with me for Easter. We got all dressed up and I got him an Easter basket. Here is a pic of us all dressed up and a pic of the contents of his fun basket! I made him try on the mask and shoot his rocket launcher! Sophi is very scared of the foam rockets.