Swing set

Something pretty exciting arrived at our house on Sunday! The Dohmen's got a new (giant!) pool and no longer had room for their swing set.  They kindly offered it to our Sambo.  For now, it is in our garage, but we are looking forward to setting it up in the yard.

Yard Stuff

The pretty little yellow flowers that my mama so generously shared with me are abloom!

And so are the peonies!  Peonies are my favorite flowers and I have had to be so patient as I waited for these to bloom.  They are transplants from my first li'l  house and from my friend Margaret.  This is their third summer at this house and two of the three bushes decided this would be their year to flower. 

 
If you look closely at the photo above, it looks like Mabel had a poop fest.  But really, we just had our yard aerated.  I tried to take a picture of the guy doing the aeration, but I felt sort of weird doing it (I didn't want him to see me taking his picture), so the only photo that I got was from afar and you couldn't really see what he was doing.

Our "spring crop" garden is getting ready for harvest.  I didn't get a chance to take any photos yet (hence the second yellow flower photo), but the leaf lettuce is just about ready to meet our dinner table.  Spinach and radishes aren't far behind.  Yay for food from our own yard!

Something to Drink?

Snow!

Brian (with the part time aid of our neighbor's slow blower) did an excellent job of clearing off our driveway.  Meanwhile, I was quite happy to have a good excuse not to help.  Thanks for doing all of the hard work, honey!  :)

Christmas Programs

The girls had their Christmas programs at church on Sunday night.  They did a great job and both programs were very entertaining.

Black Friday Shopping

Thanks to Brian's online Black Friday shopping, we now have a ginormous TV and a blu-ray player.  They will reside in the basement, once it is done, but for now they have found a home in the living room.  I think it might be time to go shopping for a TV stand, too.  :)

Christmas Time!

Art Start

Here's the start of Baby P's art collection.  :) 

Kitchen Shelves

 

Aren't they lovely?

Dining Room Artwork

I am still a bit undecided about the decision to add some art to our dining room.  I think it will stay for a while, though.  Big hugs to the boy for helping me hang it.  :) 

Blinds

We now have blinds in our dining room!  Yay!  I think they look kind of funny when they are pulled up, but I really like how they look when they are down. 

Cross Stitch Meets A Paint Can

In case you don't follow my "pretty blog" - aka www.graceandlightstudio.com - here is my latest project. :)

Outside

We love all of the time we have been spending outdoors in the past few weeks - and so does Mabel.

In the past few weeks, we have put edging and new mulch around the flowers that border the house and started a garden. We have also been working on the never-ending project of filling in the dead patches of grass that seem to pop up in places where *someone* likes to pee.

We have made a lot of meals on the grill and even spent a few warm mornings just sitting out on the deck reading the newspaper/cross stitching.

Summer is wonderful!

P.S. Doesn't Mabe look funny in that top photo. I think she looks kind of stuck up or maybe like she thinks she is very regal.

Like New Again

We washed and watersealed our deck, last weekend. It was a task that I was not looking forward to, but it ended up that I thought it was totally fun. As soon as Brian told me I could apply the waterseal "liberally" it sounded like a lot more fun. :) Plus, our deck looks brand new, again and that is awesome!

Morning Light

One Year Ago

We owned an empty (and snow-filled) lot.

Happy February!

And The Tree

Christmas At Our House

Our House

Brian did an excellent job of making it "Christmas-y."