Spring has Sprung!

This weekend we thought we'd start working on the yard, garden, and planting...then finish during the week and maybe next weekend....instead it was so nice out and we were on a roll!

Beside our regular daily chores and taking care of the girls, together, Rob and I completed these items around the yard this weekend----

• weeded the flower beds
• bought 12 bags (about 1 cu. yd) of mulch and filled all of the flower beds
• bought 4 bags of mushroom compost mix and raked it into the vegetable garden
• tacked down the weed barrier in the vegetable garden
• bought all of the fruit and veggie plants and planted them in the garden and in large pots (tomatoes, peppers, squash, basil, cilantro, cantaloupe, strawberries, carrots)
• watered all of the new plants
• edged and cut the lawn
• bought and put in our new umbrella for our outdoor dining table
• straightened up the garage

Whew!  We even made time to play in the yard with the girls, go to the playground, play soccer, and grill/eat dinner outside.

Now we can relax tonight!  Here are a few pictures---we're still waiting on a lot of plants to continue to grow and bloom so things fill in and we have more color, but in the meantime, the mulch is down and the garden is planted, so we can just water and watch:

 a few basil plants

 side bed with butterfly bush and crepe myrtle not yet in colorful bloom

 another side bed--waiting on the color to arrive!

 just need to get a hanging basket with colorful flowers for the shepherds' hook in there

 front view

 hostas and irises are on going strong

 hostas, clematis, leftover daffodils, and rhododendron 

 an ignored corner bed in the side yard

 flowers hanging on the fence

 Ella checking out the vegetable garden

 with Fluffy

 another view---hopefully it will look filled in in a few months!

view of front porch

another of the front

view of the back patio with our new umbrella and, of course, a pitcher of sun tea brewing!

  cute girl in the garden with her bear

 relaxing on the porch of her "Little House"---she picked out and planted the flower on the railing and was sitting and reading her chapter book while in watered the garden

(Molly was relaxing in her bed for her nap!)

 new sage plant for one of the front beds