Memorial Weekend Planting 5/06

It's Memorial Weekend.... time to start planting the flowers..... Bruce and I picked up these 10 bags of Miracle Grow Soil up at Walmart on Friday after work...... Saturday morning, Vicki met me at the house around 9 a.m. and we drove out to Rhodes in Henderson to flower shop... When I got there I was glad I had her with me.... she is very knowledgable about perinials and was able to to guide me as I tried to make up my mind which ones to get.... I also got one gorgeous hanging plant and a potted plant, and the of course my all time favorite.... Impatiens...
Now all I have to do is figure out where she'll go....
Resting place until I can make up my mind where the perfect spot will be....
Definitely will be where this one will stay.... Now all I have to do is start the planting.....

Planting Impatiens in Front of House

Every year I'm never sure if I buy enough Impatiens or not.... Here are the little lovelies I bought this year.... The Impatiens go in the Front of the house and out by the light post.... Within no time at all these will begin to bulk up and grow to touch the bottom of the siding on the house and then some....

Impatients By the Light Post

Here I have to dig out all the weeds and then add some Miracle Grow to the existing soil...
A mixture of different colors create a beautiful bouquet once they grow into full bloom....

Front Yard is Done.... Next... The Backyard...

I had some left over Impatiens, so thought I'd plant them in with this new perennial I'm hoping will take and continue to return year after year.... It has these pretty salmon colored flowers that grow on it and should spread considerably and cover the whole area beneath the tree.... At least that's what I'm hoping for....The little green leaf plant over to the left is the same as one I put in last summer (it's an annual)and before the summer ended, that whole area was completely filled in.... I liked it so much I decided to get it again this year even though it's not a perennial..... The little plant to the right is a Dark Leaf Clover Plant (Dark Dancer).... This plant should come back year after year and I'm hoping will fill in more area over time....
This is the second year for my Rododendrom .... I got it at K-Mart.... I was told it prefers the shade so this is where she ended up.... this area gets the least amount of sun then any other area in my yard.... I'm hoping each year she'll grow bigger and bigger (so far so good)...
I'm not sure what the name of this bush is.... but when I bought it, it was a lot smaller .... I think she can get pretty big before she's done... Maybe I'll actually have to start trimming her back in a couple of years... But for now, I'll see just how much more she'll grow.... Right next to it over to the right are my Shasta daises... They were given to me by Linda S. ...... And would you believe it.... right in the middle of them are these lilies of the Valley.... Of course by time the Daisies are finished growing the lilies are overwhelmed to say the least.... But much prefer the Shasta Daisies and not being that good at uprooting and replanting.... I'll just live things the way they are and if the lilies don't make it.... they'll just have to try harder next year.... The little red leaf bush growing in the center of the porch was very tiny when I planted her a couple of years ago... This year she's showing some real growth potential.... It'll be a few more years before she starts to get trimmed back too.... I'm hoping it'll get big enough to fill in a big chunk of the center front area....
Every year I plant Impatiens around our light pole as well as in front of the house, along our sidewalk.... I love to mix different colors together..... By the time summer is over these flowers will grow to unbelievable heights.... And are so beautiful!!! I
Last year the Impatiens were reaching up and beyond the siding .... These are one of my favorite flowers and although I'm trying to implement more perennials into my yard.... I will always put these in....
This probably won't be the permanent spot for this little beauty.... but I'm liking it here for now.... I doubt we'll hang it as it gets too windy up here and each year I hang plants only to have them terribly beaten about and loose a lot of the flowers on them... So this year this baby is staying grounded!! I may still buy a hanging basket for the back and front but on a much smaller scale.... I can't remember what the name of these two plants are... all I remember is that they are another perennial and I'm thinking of putting them somewhere around the front porch as well.... They're suppose to spread as well..... Mama's gloves got a good work out today..... Not to mention my poor ole body... I can only pray I can still move when tomorrow morning comes around....Meanwhile... they did their part and time to set them aside until tomorrow when we'll start all over again in the backyard....

Mother's Day 5/14/06

These photos were taken on Mother's Day.... A few before church and a few more after.... just to make sure I had plenty (like that's ever a problem...LOL).... As I'm always the one with the camera going around snapping pictures.... it's not often I get one of me and Bruce together.... but we did manage to get this one.... And here are the happy Mothers celebrating our special day together.... It meant so much to me that Olivia and the boys wanted to come and spend the weekend with us.... And to even get up early and go to church with me.... an added bonus...... Can't tell you just how much that meant to me..... You are a very special young woman, Olivia..... I like to think of you more as my daughter.... than my daughter in law.... Olivia with her oldest son, Jasonn (he's now 12 years old)... Isn't he one handsome fellow!!.... and I'm so very proud of the young man he is too....
Olivia with her youngest son, Kyle (who is now 11 years old).... And he's just as handsome, and I'm just as proud of him too....


Thank you Olivia and thank you Jasonn and Kyle........ I had such a wonderful weekend with all of you... I just wish it could have lasted longer.... I will hold the memory of this weekend close in my heart for a very .... very long time.... I guess the next time we get together, we'll be moving you guys to South Carolina....

Looking for Frogs

Kyle sitting on the back deck wondering what to do now that Nana told him and his brother to go outside and play for awhile... It was just to nice a day to spend inside playing video games.... I'm not sure who had the idea first, but finally Olivia and the boys decided to check out the back field for frogs.....
Jasonn sitting on the back deck (probably thinking about playing with his hand held game).... I grabbed my camera.... Knowing there'd be some good photo opportunities ahead and followed them...... Got them to pose for this picture in the middle of their search for frogs.....
Olivia watching her boys play.....
I think they may have found one here.... Have to give Olivia a lot of credit here for venturing in that close with all those creepy crawly creatures lurking about.... As for me.... I went no further than the edge of the field and even then wondered if I might be getting to close to the unkown.... There's this long deep ditch that sets several feet back from our back yard.... The purpose is to prevent water overflow into our yards as the field is very wet during the spring season.... Mother Nature harbors frogs.... and oh yes... even snakes in it..... some of which have actually ventured into my yard...... I can remember one very cool summer when they all seemed to take solace in our yard throughout the summer and of course after a few run ins...... I rarely left my house......So although I wanted to get some good pictures.... There was no way I was going any further in then the edge of the field.... Here the boys are searching for more frogs.... No problem... it's loaded with them.... They found plenty....
I'm not sure how many they found... but I do know they had fun looking.... And I had fun snapping pictures of my brave and very handsome grandsons.....
Of course it was fun snapping pictures of my beautiful daughter in law as well.... Olivia striking a nice pose here.....
Jasonn giving Nana a thumbs up......

I told the boys they could find as many frogs as they wanted but the rule was that they were never to enter Nana's yard..... I don't think they cared as long as they got to play with them ....After hanging out with the frogs for awhile, we built up an appetite for dessert so headed back to the house for some of Olivia's delicious Apple Cake...

Olivia's Apple Cake

I asked Olivia if she'd like to bake one of her specialty desserts for our spaghetti dinner on Saturday.... And thankfully she said she would.... After tossing around a few ideas we decided we'd go with an Apple Cake.... She learned to bake several new apple desserts while Klaus was working at the Apple Packing Plant in Lafayette.... Below are a few of the ingredients she used for the cake.... (She said I couldn't share some of her secret ingredients).... Cutting up some of the apples for the cake.... Using my Pampered Chef knife.... Mixing the batter in my special mixing bowl from Tupper ware... Love this bowl... It has this special bottom that keeps it from sliding around on the counter top.......
Once she had the batter all mixed and poured into the bundt pan... Jasonn and Kyle had the honor of cleaning out the bowl..... So to make sure one didn't get more than the other... Olivia drew a line down the center of the bowl and then assigned each boy his own section....

For the topping of the cake, Olivia had to finely chop several more apples ..... This time using my Pampered Chef Chopper.... Love this thing... Makes things so much easier when preparing meals and yes even desserts....
A little Brown Sugar to sweeten the pot.....
Hey.... hey... hey.... I thought the brandy was suppose to go into the pot???
Not even melted yet and already starting to look good to me.....
Olivia getting a big hug from Jasonn...
Once the cake was baked and cooled.... it was time to spread on Olivia's special topping....
Let me tell you..... That was one delicious cake..... Later in the day after we finishe dinner and hung outside for awhile, we all came in and had dessert..... I brought a couple of slices of cake into work for Pete and Mark .... It was a big hit with both of them....... Sorry you missed out BonBon..... but you were in New York City.....
Thanks for the great dessert Olivia..... As always.... Another great success story for your baking skills!!!

Olivia's Hot Wheels

A few months back, the Russells realized they were in need of a 2nd vehicle for Olivia .... Finally they found just the one they wanted and the price was right too.... Never mind that it may have seen better days.... and the paint job leaves much to be desired.... Olivia LOVES having her very own car and with the added pleasure of knowing that it is all paid for to boot.... Here she is posing along side, what she affectionately refers to as.... MM (Momma's Mobile).... Olivia wanted to make sure I got a good close up shot of the fine detailing on the hood..... I have to tell you... makes me wonder what I'm doing driving around in the Pacifica..... But jealosy isn't a good thing to display so kept my feelings of envy to myself.....
She's very proud of her little redheaded ponytailed thingy on her antenna....
Now check out this interior.... nicely decorated don't you think.... special little do-dads here and there to give it just that special "Olivia" touch....
And notice the little froggy scenario she has going on here..... Steering wheel.... seat covers... And even the floor mats... .... little froggies everywhere.... YOU GO GIRL!!! All I can say is.... Be still my beating heart!!!
But the best touch of all.... pictures of her two boys, Jasonn & Kyle on her dashboard.... Aren't they just the most handsome boys you ever laid eyes on!!
Unfortunately.... the car won't be going with them when they move to SC.... Yep.... Olivia has to make the big sacrifice.... It's been decided that no matter how much Momma Olivia loves her Momma Mobile.... it won't be making the trip..... she even has a buyer already to take possession when the time comes..... Be brave Olivia.... and who knows... maybe you can find another one just like her when you arrive down south.....