Projects around the house and yard

I decided that we needed to show all of the things we have been working on lately- i.e. the last few months!!

We have a playground in the backyard now. It has been wonderful. The boys especially love the sandbox and swings.

 For family night last week, Scott led the way in building the bird feeder. The boys thought that was especially cool, cuz they had seen a Bob the Builder show where he had built a bird feeder too! I like to watch the birds that come in the morning. 

I LOVE this pic of Andrew- this is the face he made when I said, "smile!" Isn't he a cutie?? He loves the red shovel, and puts up a big fit if one of the other boys has it. He is the tool boy, he loves to get into the shed outside when we leave it open and find Scott's tools. Especially the hammer. This pic also showcases the border Sco built around the playground. It turned out great and keeps all the woodchips contained.

The bench on the front step used to be black. The paint was chipping off like crazy, so I thought about stripping it and starting anew. But I decided that that was a lot of work and just went with spray paint!! Primer and a few cans of red did the trick! I love how it stands out. Also notice the ivy that we are attempting to tame. That plant is a BEAST. It looks nice when under control, but it grows like crazy and sticks to everything. If anyone knows how to get the old sticky tendrils off of stucco, let me know. We pulled the ivy down last summer and I still can't get the root junk off the column.

This planter is between our driveway and the neighbors yard. There hasn't been anything there but weeds that we kill off every month or two, so I decided to get a few plants and some mulch for it. I planted all perennial stuff, I want it all to grow and hide the electric boxes in it!! I hope they will be happy and grow. I love smelling the lavendar, it brings back many good memories of family vacations. I think I might plant several more lavendar plants around the yard.

This is our front room wall. Not the greatest picture, but it shows the cool lantern we hung up (2 euro from the basket factory!!) with an led candle. Also the window that I have had for 5 years at least and finally spruced up this spring. It had so many coats of paint on it. I stripped it all down and found some really pretty hardware that I love. Then we blew up a picture we took from the sacred grove in NY, and now we have a window looking out to it.

This is Andrew's room. Scott learned a few electrician skills installing a ceiling fan/light. The boys rooms get so hot at night and this really helps cool the room down.

Another shot of the playground and cute Andrew!! More to come later!!