Pinecone Queen

It was so nice outside at our house last night. After dinner the girls and I spent some time in the yard. Charlotte got fussy so I gave her a bath, put her to bed and Stella and I returned outside for a little bit longer. Stella LOVES the pinecones in our front tree. Here are some pictures of her gathering her new treasures. This kept her occupied for about 45 more minutes while I did some yard work.

Good Morning Daddy!

The girls miss daddy while he is in California this week!

For the Love of Perennials

Being frugal and having less and less time to spend in the yard, I just LOVE perennial flowers/plants. I am so excited that the ones I bought and planted last year are returning and looking great! I have 3 or 4 at the base of our front porch (shown below). Some are daisies that will not bloom until later in the summer, but the green is so nice for now.I also purchased two clematis from Lowe's last summer on clearance. They are doing well and beginning to creep up both sides of the garage:Below are some mums that I also got on clearance late last summer. I think they were early bloomers and no one wanted them. The flowers didn't last long. However, my father-in-law planted them on a visit and they are coming back much stronger than expected. Well worth the $3/plant!! I have 4 of them planted in our front island and the green it added looks great. I hope that they do bloom later this summer/early this fall.

Let the Transition Begin

The girls start at a new daycare this week...I hope it goes well!

Tales of the Lilac Bush

2006: We had brought part of Andy's grandmother's lilac bush with us to Birmingham. When we moved from B'ham back to Cincinnati in '06 Andy dug it up and we brought it with us! We planted it on my mom's farm since we didn't have a house yet. 2009: It bloomed for the first time since being transplanted. It was still at my mom's.2010: Last weekend we transplanted it once again to our house and it has really grown over the last few years! Here's hoping it survives...

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night

The girls found their sunglasses while we were getting ready for dinner:

Senior Pictures

My brother did not want to sit through a 1-2 hour photo shoot for his Senior Pictures. So my mom asked me to snap a few photos in the backyard. 15 minutes and 50 photos later and here's what I have. I even let him be Mr. Serious in a few. They are casual, but they are HIM!