Flower Beds

I spent last Saturday in my three flower gardens, weeding and planting some new plants in a few bare spots.  I have some early spring bloomers like daffodils, tulips, and grape hyacinth but most of my flowers are summer blooming.  Here are a few pics.

I am still not entirely sure what this tree is.  I've researched online at still haven't been able to figure it out yet.  I think I will take a picture up to our local nursery to find out for sure.

This is one of the new transplants.  It is a Canna "Tropicanna" and has beautiful purple, orange, and pink foliage with orange flowers.  I can't want until it starts blooming!

One of the rose bushes.  I have two bushes with these blooms and antother one called "Diamond Jubilee" with cream roses.

Since so many of my plants are summer bloomers, I don't have pictures of them yet since they are still in the process of coming up.  I found some pictures online of what my gardens will soon look like and will post actual pictures once they're up.  

(via Google images)

Society Garlic.  I used a picture online because it hasn't bloomed out yet.  This plant has a strong onion aroma and pretty purple flowers.  I planted this in one of my back flower beds about  5 years ago and it is still going strong.

(Google images)

Stargazer lilies are my absolute favorite flower so I decided to try my hand at growing them.  I decided to go with bulbs a couple of years ago.  They have actually done really well in my beds.  I just love their vibrant pink color and heavenly scent.

(Google images)

Shasta daisies.  These were planted before we bought our home over 6 years ago, and I loved them so much that I decided to keep them.  They are in my front flower bed so I get a lot of compliments on them.  I've had people stop and take pictures when they are in full bloom!

(Google images)

Jasmine.  This is a new transplant and is supposed to be a climber.  I planted 2 plants near my back fence so it will vine up it.  Can't wait for it to bloom.

(Google images)

My irises are just about to bloom.  I'm not sure why they haven't already but I'm looking forward to their beautiful blooms.

I decided to edge my flower beds with orange zinnias this year.  I usually plant petunias or celosia as an edger but loved the orange pop. 

These are a few of the flowers in my gardens.  I have many other and can't wait to get some pictures of the rest.  What about you...do you garden? 

A New Look

A few months ago, while searching for a blog designer,  I came across a blog called Utterly Chaotic Designs.  I decided to bite the bullet and get a custom blog design.  I have been anxiously awaiting my new blog makeover for quite some time, and I absolutely love it!!  Brea did a fantastic job and delivered exactly what I wanted.  I chose a kit called "Family Ties" by Kristin Cronin-Barrow.  I just love the whole thing!  Brea  is super sweet and so easy to work with and her prices are very affordable.  If you are looking for a blog makeover, I highly recommend checking her out!

Happy Easter!!

I know it has been forever since I have blogged, but I have been totally overwhelmed.  Student teaching.  Abby's extracurricular activities.  Wyatt (enough said).  A huge door knocking campaign that our congregation is doing in June- since Casey is the deacon over evangelism, we have a lot to do and prepare for.  Teaching Sunday school.  A million other obligations.  A house, family, dinner, laundry (please make it go away!!).  You get the idea!!  Just too much to do and unfortunately, blogging is the last thing on my list.  BUT...student teaching is almost over and my life will be a little calmer, at least until June.  Amen and hallelujah!

But I digress...I posted this to wish you all a wonderful Easter and to tell you a little about ours.  We have had a great one.  Last night we began our preparations.  We have a tradition of coloring eggs.  I actually hate coloring eggs.  It's a huge mess, and I'm the only one that eats hard boiled eggs, but the kids love it so I suffer through.  I didn't take many pictures during the actual coloring process because an unsupervised Wyatt + food coloring + light colored carpet equals bad news.  Here is a picture of the finished eggs:

I bought the roll-on egg dye this year thinking that it would be less messy, but not so much.  At least we put down a paint canvas before we started.

Another tradition we have is making Resurrection cookies.  Easter Bunny, eggs, candy, and all that fun stuff aside, the real reason for the day is to reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on that cruel cross so that we can have salvation.  When Abby was just a baby, I came across THIS recipe for making a cookie while telling the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.  Each ingredient represents something that helps illustrate the story.  The finished cookie is hollow on the inside to represent the empty tomb. 

Abby and Wyatt making the cookies.  I think every picture I have of Wyatt recently shows him without a shirt.  I can't keep clothes on the boy!

The finished cookies.  Not only are these cookies an excellent tool for teaching the Easter story to children, but they are very tasty too.  (FYI: the plate that the cookies on were my great-grandmother Helen's wedding china.  Very special to me.)

Goody bags that I made for my Sunday school class.  I couldn't find Easter treat bags at our Walmart because it is under construction and everything is in the wrong place, so I opted for brown lunch bags and ribbon.



The Easter Bunny came! 



Checking out their baskets.  Can't you tell that Wyatt just woke up?

Getting ready for church.  Wyatt was not in a picture taking mood this morning at all.  This was honestly the best I could get!

 



Lots of sweet people at church gave Abby and Wyatt lots of treats (i.e.: candy), so they left services on a sugar high!  When we got home, I made a nice lunch of ham, roasted asparagus, baked potatoes, rolls, and strawberry salad.  Then it was time for the egg hunt!

Again with the no shirt thing.  He just won't wear one!  Shoes either, apparently.

Ignore the brown grass.  We spent all day yesterday gardening and working on the lawn, so it will be really green, really soon!

Abby showing off one of the prize money eggs she found.  I wanted to hunt for these eggs. ;)

Well, that's the gist of it.  I hope that you and your family had a great day too!  Stay tuned for some fun (and more frequent) blog posts.  I have a lot of things to share including some wedding preparations (my sister's getting married and I'm her maid of honor), some decorating and outdoor projects,  gardening posts, fun stuff with the kids, and lots more.  Plus, I'm getting a blog makeover really soon!  I can't wait!!!  I've been on a waiting list for over 2 months and it's finally my turn. 

Happy Easter!!!

Weekend in Review

It's been a busy, wonderful weekend!  It just went by way too fast, as usual.  I've got a busy week ahead of me so I'm gearing up for it. 

Friday:  Friday started off great!  It was Hawaiian day at school, so I brought leis for all my students and greeted them with an "Aloha" at the door.  They loved it!  The rest of the school day went off without a hitch and all was well until I got home and discovered something very important was missing- my college and student teaching ID badges.  I wanted to throw up when I realized they had fallen off my lanyard.  I drove back to the school (on the other side of town, might I add) and searched the teachers' parking lot.  With the lovely Panhandle winds, there is no telling if it was there and just blew away.  I'm praying that they fell off in the classroom or the school somewhere.  If not, it's going to be a hassle to get them replaced. 

So after all the ID drama, the family and I went and had dinner at our favorite local Mexican food restaurant, Fernando's.  We ran a few errands, came home, and I went to bed at 9:00pm, which is a rarity for me. 

Saturday:  Saturday was a relaxing family day.  Casey got up with the kids and let me sleep in.  I didn't wake up until 9:15am.  That's a far cry from my usual 5:30am!  After we picked up the house and did some laundry, we headed out for some shopping.  Our first stop was haircuts for the guys.  Wyatt was starting to look like Shaggy from Scooby Doo, so I knew it was time to take him in.  Next, we headed to Old Navy to pick up a few things for the kids.  We decided to stop in for a treat at Bahama Buck's before picking up groceries.  After getting home and putting everything away, Casey made homemade Italian sausage pizza. We got the kids bathed and in bed, and Casey and I watched some UFC fights before going to bed.

Sunday:  I'm teaching the 3-5 year olds Bible class this quarter at church, and I had 9 students this morning!  That's the most I've ever had.  It was fun lesson.  Our wonderful preacher had an uplifting, encouraging lesson about keeping your focus on God.  After church, we headed to On the Border for lunch (we love Mexican food!).  Casey and Wyatt took an afternoon nap while Abby and I headed out for manicures.  I got a hot pink mani with the new OPI Black Shatter polish over it.  I like it!  Abby got a purple mani with silver polka dots.  She's a free spirit!  I love Sundays.  The only down side to today is the 50 mph winds.  I'm praying that we don't have another round of wildfires around here. 

The rest of the afternoon I've been busy getting things ready for school this week: planning/prepping lessons, getting outfits and lunches ready for the kids and myself, etc...  I'm hoping that I can take a relaxing salt bath this evening to rejuvenate myself for the week ahead. 

Hope you all have had a great weekend!  Have a blessed week!!