Making a House a Home, Garden Style

As you may remember, I had lofty plans for the weekend my momma visited.  And in order to achieve checking off another item on the list, I actually took pictures.  I'm so proud of myself.

We are blessed enough to have our yard already landscaped.  The plants are all rather nice and native to the area, but its the same as many of our neighbors.  I've been waiting 10 years or so to have my own garden and plant what I fancy.  My momma helped make that happen.

Here are the before pictures.  They really aren't horrible.  I really just wanted to clean up the weeds, plant a few flower pots, and maybe replace the pine straw with mulch.

Right side of the house.  No plants here, just pine straw.

Front of the house.

Front porch with lovely pots my mom gave me.

Then, the fun began!  We brainstormed what I like and what my dream yard would have.  I knew we needed some bright pops of color (bright pink?) against all the gray and blue.  Plus, I'd love to have a fragrant flower  (jasmine, gardenia) to welcome guests.  I have always loved hydrangeas, so they made the top of the list.  Next, we planned where the plants would go, and made a list of how many to purchase.  I think I made three trips to Lowes and one to Home Depot.

Now, for the afters.

We transplanted the grassy mounds from the front of the house and added three gardenia bushes, plus mulch.

My hydrangeas!

 Gerber daisies and Confederate jasmine.

 Two jasmine frame the front porch.  I can't wait for these suckers to grow, bloom, and smell amazing.  They turn the air sweet.

And here are the lovely pots.  I really don't remember what we planted, I mainly chose based on color and sun requirement.

I'm terribly excited to enjoy the plants for the next several years.  It feels like a dream come true to have these beautiful and fragrant flowers in my own yard!  I need to pinch myself.  Anyone else garden this weekend?  What's your favorite plant or flower?

Weekend To Do List

My Momma is coming this weekend!  Last time we were together it was to pack up the old place.  She hasn't been to the new house since we moved in.  It will just be the two of us and I have great plans. My hubby left with the kiddos to visit his family and play in a show for the weekend, so I have the house to myself. I am planning on some serious girl-time and knock-out-project time.  I have high hopes for this kid-free weekend.  Perhaps I am a bit too ambitious, but we shall see.  For those moms out there, do you exaggerate how much you can get done with your kiddos and hubby gone?

• Clean out townhouse (kitchen/bathrooms/freshen-up)
• Clean MY house ( without my momma, I'll own up to this one)
• Plant flower pots for my front porch
• Weed/mulch the frontyard
• Hang hooks and plants on back porch
• Paint a chalkboard wall in my kitchen
• Paint a side table
• Pick out paint samples for my bedroom
• Visit the Habitat ReStore
• Visit a furniture store/second hand store
• Walk on the beach
• Drink Starbucks on the beach
• EAT lots of yummy food and drink margaritas
• Re-arrange my furniture/decor pieces
• Bounce ideas for future projects
• Go to the bank
• Make a meal plan
• Grocery shop
• Put away laundry
• Take pictures so I have proof I did some of this.

 The two of us, Christmas 2011

Wow, that's quite the list.  Its a good thing I'm not showing this to my Mom or Hubby.  I'll let them discover this on Monday after its all done.  Ha.

UPDATE:  We accomplished a lot!  The weather didn't cooperate for beach time, but we ate well and wore ourselves out!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Saturday was the big day.  Hubby took the kiddos and I to the airport, where I met my Momma. We arrived around 11am and waited for our flight.   We didn't board until 1:20pm.  From there we flew to Cleveland.  Lucky for me, Handsome slept almost the whole way.   Princess entertained herself with an ipad.   Momma and I played Scrabble across the aisle.   It was a tiny plane.   One seat on one side of the aisle, and two on the other side.  I had to keep both kiddos with me because my side had an extra oxygen mask.  We had an hour and a half layover before the next flight.  There really weren't any kid friendly food places nearby, so I was an all-star mother and fed my offspring a dinner of Teddy Grahams, Nutrigrain bars, potato chips, PB crackers, milk, and apple juice.  It looks like a lot typed out, but they shared everything.  In addition to feeding my kiddos, we also tried to let them burn off some energy. This is where I am EXTREMELY thankful my Momma was along.  One of us could dash after Handsome while the other could watch the bags.   Handsome was always trying to dash through an open door or make the automatic doors open.  He almost made it into the President's Club.  It was also necessary to have two people for bathroom breaks.  I can't imagine trying to wrangle two kiddos, three bags, and diaper changes by myself.  Thank Heaven's for family bathrooms.  At one point, my Momma was waiting in the hall with Princess while Handsome and I were finishing up our business.  I could hear my child screaming for me.  I'm sure my mom was hoping no one would think she was trying to kidnap her.  Oh, and in the middle of all of this, I lost my boarding pass.   Not just mine, but my kiddos too.   And didn't realize this until 5 minutes before we were to board the plane.  We waited for the end of the line before I hung my head and confessed to the ticket taker what had happened.  She then asked to see my ID, and of course I couldn't find it.   A few minutes later my Momma found it at the bottom of my purse.  Seriously, I don't know what I would have done if she wasn't with me.  I would have had an emotional breakdown.
The second leg wasn't too eventful.   Princess fell asleep for the last 30 minutes.   Handsome flirted with the flight attendant. Once we landed, the captain announced the ramp was closed and we couldn't get off the plane.  We had to wait until it was re-opened.  Now my kiddos were upset.  We had to sit for another 15 minutes.  Once we were allowed off, it didn't take too long to get to the car and get on the road.
We decided to head to my Momma's house in SC instead of staying in her apartment in the city.  We drove through one of the most hellacious thunderstorms ever.  I mean, I love thunderstorms, and this one was awesome.   The lightening strikes where so bold and bright you could see a darker black outline where it used to be.  I think it burned my retinas.  The rain came down in sheets.  We pulled over for a bit, then decided to keep going.  We drove 30 mph for about 30 minutes. We could barely see the lanes, most people were driving with their hazards on.  I love a good thunderstorm.   It was like a welcome home present.
All in all, it really wasn't a bad trip.  Somehow I managed to get through it functioning on very little sleep and being emotionally exhausted.  Next time I decide to move across the country after working 8 days in a row while frantically packing and cleaning until midnight or later every night, please kindly remind me that isn't a good idea.  In fact, slap me in the face and tell me I'm insane.

Happy Momma's Day

Dear Momma,

I miss you.  I can't remember the last time I saw you for Momma's Day.  I know it won't be this year, even though I am close by.  But in little over a month, we will have the whole weekend.  Can you puh--leeeeaaase wait until then?  Thanks, I knew you'd be understanding.

Speaking of understanding, I understand you more, now.  More than I did three years ago.  And I want to say thank you.  Thank you for the sacrifices you made.  The ones we hear about, but don't understand until we make them ourselves for our children.  You know, the ones where you always pee with a kiddo in the room.  The lack of privacy is forgotten when you get a standing ovation for "going in the potty".  The sacrifice of eating every meal standing up while watching the kiddos with an hawks eye.  When you do sit down, you're always looking over your shoulder to make sure no one is drawing in the walls.  Thank you for listening to my every fear and worry.  Thank you for making me feel like I'm your favorite kid, when I know even more now there is no favorite child.  Each one is special and loved no more, no less.  A momma's love only grows.
Thank you for allowing me to falter and fail.  For allowing me to learn from my mistakes.  For making your own mistakes so I could also learn from those. 
But mostly, thank you for trusting me to Someone Else.  Thank you for praying for me and my future spouse.  You knew you couldn't watch me always, listen always, lead always, or comfort me always, but Someone Else can.  Your prayers to our Heavenly Father certainly helped.
Today, I thank God for trusting me to you.  For allowing us to learn from each other.

Happy Momma's Day!

Love Always,
MME

Happy Birthday, Momma!

It's my Momma's Birthday!  I think she is 25, but I can't remember.  It probably a good thing I don't know, she probably wouldn't want me telling the internets her age.  I miss her bunches, but just a few short months and she will be much closer!  Twenty hours closer, I think.  That's a baby-sitting opportunity waiting to happen.  Are you busy June 18th?  I think I might have plans and need a sitter for the weekend.  j/k.....sort of.  Anyway, I scrounged around to find a pic of my beautiful Momma, but the ones have don't do her justice.  I'm going to blame it on the old camera, bad lighting, and my general inability to take an artful picture.  

I know this one is grainy, and has horrible lighting, but I love their eyes!

Handsome is only a few days old, and GrandMomma had a long day with Princess, but she is so proud of him!

Outdoor lighting is better, but Princess wants to escape.

Seeing these pictures makes me realize how few I actually have of my Momma.  Guess who is having a photo shoot the next time I see her? The perfect belated birthday present!  Smooch!