Another installment in my VERY sllllooooow going tour of our home. Outside!!!

Welcome to the jungle, we got trash & weeds…well we HAD weeds.

Here’s some side by side before & afters of our landscaping…

Looking out the sliding doors in the kitchen.  The fence is about 5 ft tall….yes there was a giant weed very close to the top…taller than the kids!!

The biggest desert jungle of them all.  The south side of the house was over grown hiding the 2 AC units & cement debris from the house construction.  The landscapers put down this small, fine rock/sand type mixture. They watered it down & then came the next day with a vibrating machine to tamp it down.  It gives the concept of cement but with a rough/rocky textured top. We plan to have the kids store their toys & ride on cars back here.  Matt also hopes to build a small structure to keep some of his yard implements.

Rattlesnake alley (also known as the north side of the house) too had lots of weeds & is where we keep our trash & recycling containers.  Don’t wanna keep your trash in the garage in 120 degree heat!! GAG!  They again used the same rock material as on the south side  making a pad to park the trash containers as well as a path out the gate connecting to the drive way making it MUCH easier to get the trash & recycling out each week!!

Around the pool was nothing but rock, weeds & 2 dead palms.  The landscapers planted about 12 plants, 2 Mediterranean palms & reworked our rock & smaller boulders for a more pleasing landscape. 

 

A few of the palms they put in…

Which can grow to about 15 feet & eventually look like this:

This one was actually already in.  They trimmed it & it has doubled in branches since it’s been getting water!! Of course you can also see that some of the weeds are already coming back…they love the water too!!

 

The yard itself was…well…not a yard, but a crunchy weed path.  You know these weeds are hearty when they grow with NO water!!  The landscapers removed the weeds, worked the ground a bit & then fertilized.  They also redid some of the irrigation & sprinkler lines that were needing repaired.  Matt added seed, additional fertile soil & lots of water with in 2 weeks we’ve seen lots of change!!

 

The front was already well planted.  The workers trimmed the original plants, added a few new ones, trimmed trees & placed some new boulders.  A little harder to see in the pictures b/c of the sun & shadows..

 

 

In the picture above you can see a section of the path that connects to the driveway.  Below is the rest of it that path the tree was hiding.    

I’m so excited for all the bushes to start blooming.  The most unique is this red one we planted one by the pool & one by the front door.

                  

Despite being in the desert there’s lots of color…it just comes from bushes rather than grass! :) The one in the middle remains green but is bright green and almost looks fake!!

  

We have several of this first one in the front and now in the back.  It blooms a red almost feather like blooms in the spring.  Then we have rosemary.  It’s very fragrant.

Another one that remains green  & doesn’t bloom, but is a very bright green with a coarse look to it.  The last is almost a gray/green bush that blooms a very light purple.

 

I love this bright yellow in our AZ landscape…but we’ll never forget the blue & red of KS!! :)

  

We love the results!!  These lil critters love it too!! They have been frequent visitors in the AM sunning themselves on the wall and drinking the water from the morning sprinkler system run off.

Time for a swim party & BBQ…on Matt’s new grill he somehow worked into this transformation. :)

Isaac I’m afraid will be very sad that the landscapers are gone.  For what ever reason he LOVED the guy & always wanted the guy to hold him.  He cried when he left & was always trying to give him kisses!!! Silly boy.

My fantastic four year old loves all things super hero.  Marvel super squadies to be exact.  I’ve learned a lot about all the different super heroes having Aidan & Matt to school me. You’ll see no Batman or Superman for example b/c they are DC comics NOT marvel.  Wow…shortly into this blog post & you’ve learned something new that will be life changing.

In comes the superhero cake.  You’d of thunk I worked a 50 hour work week & forgot the bday was coming cause I was running around like crazy on Sat. getting prepared!?!?!  I baked the cakes Friday & dirty iced them.  Leaving Sat. for all the inspiring decorating.  By the kids bedtime Sat. it looked like this…

It appeared I had smoked a few to many & was all psychidellic hippy or something…I was ready to head to Walmart in the AM buy something with a plastic super hero on it, but then Matt lent me his superhero talents to create this…

 

On the top layer we have the Avengers- Ironman, Thor & Captain America.  On the bottom layer is Spiderman.  I found the marshamellow fondant to again be easy to work with.  The only trouble we had was the red & white stripes not drooping with the blue buttercream.  Our kitchen is oneTHOUSAND degrees with the appliances & gazillion can lights beaming from the ceiling…oh & the desert like climate.  I could point out the things wrong with it or that I wasn’t please with, but blah, blah, blah that would be boring!! :)

Luckily the splashpads at the 2 big parks in our neighborhood opened Friday.  Unfortunately by Sunday evening one was not functioning so we had his party at the sports park instead of the (more shaded) community park.  The shelters were a bit smaller, with fewer tables, but it all worked out.  Our neighbors with their 2 kiddos came & another neighborhood family which happen to have kids all the exact same ages as my 3.  Ironically the same 2 families that were also at Emma’s party!! :)  We are blessed to have them to share our new AZ life with!

  

It was so windy making the water a bit chilly, but the kids didn’t mind!

 

We had a simple BBQ & enjoyed what food didn’t blow off our plates! The kids also played on the 2 big play sets at the park.  Isaac’s favorite!

Aidan opening his Tron motorcycle race track from Mimi.  He got lots of fun boy toys. Superhero lego type guy, Power Rangers, Transformers, play compound bow, torpedo launcher for the pool, Bumblebee shirt & bubble blower & a Thor t-shirt. (He went to see Thor with Matt the day before!)

 

Here’s the only good shot I got of the pinata I made!  I went the  lazy route where the kids could fill their own bag with goodies from the smashed pinata. I got the idea from  here.  Total cost for me was about $3. Two dollars for the streamers & 97 cents for the hero poster. I had the hanger & hot glue gun.  Frys gave me the 2 brown paper bags. I had found cheesy, super stiff empty cardboard pinatas at the store for upwards of $20…mine was less than $20 including all the goodies. SCORE!!!  (FYI I did use my sewing machine to “gather” the streamers…SO easy!)

*Unfortunately our hard hitters busted the hanger twice making the pinata fall, but not spill the goodies…so Matt ripped it open!! :)

All was well, all was fun & had a happy hero 4 year old!!!

It’s been 4 fantastic years since we welcomed this little boy into our family.

I could show you a hundred more photos of him sleeping.  He had 2 modes the first year of his life…sleep or SCREAM.  My hands were only free for pics when he was sleeping. :) Luckily now it’s a faint memory & I’ve forgiven him. ;)

NOW he’s a constant source of joy (& ER bills, but forgetting all the glass eating & styrofoam snorting adventures)- he is a hoot!! 

So many smiles have replaced all those tears he shed as a baby.

 

He’s not afraid of anything dirty, sticky, grimy, greasy, or muddy & luckily loves bathtime!

 

Potty training has not been the best of times for him, but finally thanks to my IPhone he is potty trained…except through the night…ugh.

From his laugh that sounds like Ernie, to the funny words & phrases he says-  using the word “ours” like this…”Are they coming to ours house?  I like ours van”, then there’s O.M.S.R meaning "oh yes them are”.

 

His new way to answer yes when we ask a question is by raising & lowering his eyebrows, or when you tell him to do something he gives a thumbs up-winks one eye- & makes a clicking sound all simultaneously.

Our sweet 4 yr old boy…

 

Much to my surprise a day that I thought was going to be the best because I was getting to eat at the recently opened Freddy’s in town got even BETTER!! Apparently my sneaky husband had been keeping a secret….a visit from MIMI!!

Emma was so shocked when she got out of school to see a visitor!!  We had fun at the park & just hanging out Friday. Saturday the kids were itching to go somewhere with Mimi, so the Phoenix Zoo it was.  We hadn’t been yet & it was in the low 80’s so a good time to get out.

Isaac LOVED the stingrays…Mimi may or may not have squealed like a little girl when a stingray touched her. :)

 

It was a last minute idea to go to the zoo yet they had this sign ready to warn people of Emma & Aidan!!

  

They have this same dragon statue at the Wichita zoo!

 

We bought an arm band that allowed us to ride the carosel, train & visit the stingrays. We rode the carosel 3 times!! Isaac loved it!

Pretty sure all our friends and family in the midwest could hear Isaac scream as we forcefully pried him off the ride!!

We went straight to Sat. evening church from the zoo.  Matt & I had to volunteer on Sunday & decided to take mom on her offer to watch the kids and do lunch together after volunteering. Yay!!

While Mimi & the kids watched & movie & played Matt & I enjoyed lunch, browsing at Barnes & Noble.  Immediately upon getting home Emma was ready to head to Target to spend her belated bday gift card from Uncle Adam that Mimi delivered.

One hour ten minutes to spend $11. Whew.  I’ve decided people who give my children gift cards must hate me!! ;)  With her gift card she bought a ceramic painting kit that she & Mimi did together…

It was a great surprise & great visit.  We’re happy to be able to say that we will be back for a KS visit NEXT MONTH!!

    We attended church Saturday evening so we could volunteer at the busier services on Sunday AM.

We stopped before going to church to snap a quick pic of the kiddos.

First up the best one…

Up next the most realistic one…

And last a stunning one that makes me wonder when she grew up…

Church was A-mazing!  I have video below of the opening to service.  We were in the second row so it didn’t have the same effect as seeing it at a more of a distance. We followed church by the next best spiritual experience- ice cream!!

Easter 2011 Opener from Palm Valley Church on Vimeo.

Grandma & Papa helped the Easter bunny deliver gifts from KS when Matt brought back the new van. :)

The bunny knew Emma’s love.  Candy & clothes. :)

   

We then had an Easter egg hunt at the park with our neighbors.  Isaac is in love with anything that looks like a ball so he had fun.  Emma was thrilled to find eggs with playdough!!

  

Neighbor girl & Isaac’s playmate “A” and Aidan & “S” swapping eggs based on their favorite colors. :)

 

Silly mommy.  Give kids buckets of candy & then expect them to look for a picture!! :) Hahahaha!!!

 

My sweet baby found a peanut butter cup & proceeded to devour it.