Mid-May Madness

Hello, Friends!

While I am happy to report that May 2011 is not half so crazy as May 2010, it is holding it's own.  Last year, our elementary school was closed after the last day of school, so we had all kinds of sentimental memorial stuff going on, plus 5th grade graduation and middle school orientation and a long list of assorted other events.  But this year, we do have Endeavor's track meets and a few other upcoming end-of-school activities.  Good times.

Check out Endeavor after her last track meet:

I'm pretty proud of Endeavor.  For the life of me, I cannot remember how we convinced her to run cross-country and track this year.  She wasn't too sure about it, to begin with.  Practices are tough.  But Endeavor stuck with it, and she's seen some major improvement in her running times.  She's also found that she feels less stressed about school on the days that she runs.  I'm just happy she's found something she enjoys doing for exercise that she'll be able to do anywhere, anytime.

And here we have Justone at the district art exhibition.  His art teacher selected some of his work for display.

That awesome fish graphic was made by Justone.  Good eye for design, eh?

I have a few projects I'm working on around our house, but they are slow going.  Most of the indoor projects are on hold while the weather is good and I can work on outdoor projects.  And my outdoor projects really aren't that exciting.  Unless....

....you'd like a tutorial on planting geraniums in the cement planters on your porch.....

{Note the feathers.  We have nests EVERYWHERE this year.  Five in the playscape alone.}

....or you are really into patio cleaning.  This isn't the before pic.  Trust me, it was worse.  This is the during.

We consider this little outdoor storage area to be one of our best home improvement projects ever.  It's a convenient way to hide the stuff that would make our side yard look trashy, otherwise.  During the winter, we store our trailer back here, too (one of the fence panels is removable).

Oh, did you say you wanted a tutorial on prepping your AC unit for summer?  Because I could give you a tutorial on that....or not.  Seriously, thanks to some tutelage from the Bionic Man, I did it myself this week, and I'm very proud.  Why doesn't anyone have a blog link-up party for THAT?

I'm sure you can relate:  you get one project out of the way, and there's another one breathing down your neck.  This front flower bed is well established, and (other than needing a little mulch) looks great.

But on the other side of the porch....this bed awaits.  It really needs a makeover.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this.

Happily, I have not yet killed the lovely hanging basket that my family gave me for Mother's Day.

Sadly, I do fear for it's life.  Care and keeping of hanging baskets and potted plants is not something I am known for.  But at least the children and the dog are thriving, right?

Another bed that needs work.  The hosta bed.

Weeding, mulching, and a couple more plants are in order, here.  And.....HUNTER!  Have you been digging in the hosta bed?  I'm going to pack this bed so full of vegetation that you won't have dirt to dig in!

Honestly, it's a good thing I take pictures for this blog or I'd miss more than half of what goes on around here.

What are you doing now that the weather is warming?  Any outdoor projects at your house?