checking in...

One year i will get back to blogging! It just always seems that i am on a dead run and have way too many places to visit while i am on the internet...and of course Facebook has become a bit of an addiction!

so lets start with some of the more interesting photos! haha!  I have been working furiously on getting my back yard ready for Ashton and Shannon's wedding at the end of June!  I am making good progress but there is still so much to do!  In the meantime spring has blessed me with some gorgeous flowers...earlier than usual due to our very warm March...so here are some photos as it is now...The pool is almost there..we are adding a few more trees...and at the moment one of the fence panels is off for a repair..that will all be fixed this week...and we are enclosing the pool pump finally! Yay!  The boys have been enjoying swimming in our newly heated pool..it has been wonderful!

 Clematis has become one of my new garden favorites! I am at the point that i can't add any more trees for height, so i have resorted to clematis and nice lattice frames to grow them on!  Forgive me..their names have not stuck in my head..I think this one is called Niobe

 This one is Snow Queen or something like that!....

a wonderful gift from my very talented doll artist friend Joey!  he sent me a surprise package with this darling boy in there!  He sculpts his dolls and then creates molds and pours his own resin to create his wonderful dolls!  This particular mold is very small..around 6 inches total!  Isn't he fun?  His name is Frederick!

 And spring is always a run of birthdays! Stephanie in April...wow...how did i end up with a 28 year old kid?...and then here the youngest..Jonathon has now hit the double digits..10 this May...Art's birthday was a few days ago and Tyrus is on the 7th and then mine on the 18th!

 some more garden pictures..One of the biggest projects i have worked on was creating my waterfall. I also had to completely tear apart and redo the stream this year...A huge project and i was panicking due to the deadline of the wedding..however, once i finished this i relaxed a lot! I still have a couple more days work out there..but this area id finished!

another one of my Clematis..i planted this one last year and it has gifted me with a ton of blooms this year!

 I aplogize for the random nature of my photos....this is how they uploaded..so i am going with it! :)
the stream and my new spitting turtle..i think he is soo fun!

 the lower pond and bridge..this is where Shannon and Ashton are getting married!

 a more over all veiw of the waterfall...the water is now clear I planted a few more things and mulched...it is looking lovely!

the whole pond area...it is just so wonderful to go over the bridge and sit in the seat at the back and watch the goings on in the entire back yard...a tiny little haven back there!

 So with spring also comes baseball!  Jonathon decided to try baseball this year rather than soccer. He LOVES it and has taken right to it and is doing amazingly well!  He is number 13, he picked that when he heard it was my lucky number! :) Turner is also playing..so juggling two baseball schedules and all of the games is getting quite interesting!  I will post a picture of Turner this week...they are both so darn cute!

 Sprocket recently joined the family..I am a sucker for anything steampunk...so i just couldn't resist! Here she is with her loyal dog companion Cotterpin..they are trying out her newest invention..her time travel wings...she is trying to get back home..i think she will be having many adventures before she manages that!

 and my little angel Isabella...she is making a wish for you...whisper in her ear your deepest wish and she will try to help make it come true!

 Isabella was a great help overseeing the pond construction..she was so excited about the Turtle...and wanted to hook him up right away...

 oh i keep forgetting...Last summer I decided to become licensed to teach Zumba..with my forever quest of trying to get this stubborn weight off...yeah i lost 40 last year..it found me again...*sigh* one of the most frustrating things ever....i have tried so many things..i had to laugh at my "pole" post..that didn't stay up very long...there is no way i can lift all of this weight with my arms at this point..maybe one day it will go back up..but for now i am engrossed with Zumba..well I was until i got so busy with the garden projects. However, once the wedding has come and gone I am going to concentrate on Zumba the rest of the summer...So this spring to get me excited again with the Zumba quest i took two more trainings..Zumba Gold and also the newest Zumba Sentao!  I flew down to Miami for Sentao and had a blast by myself..well it would have been more fun with Art along....here i am at the hotel..the concierge was lovely and she insisted on taking a photo....i went to a wonderful Peruvian restaurant by myself and was in bed by 8:30...haha!

 I did however have a tiny companion...my little Olivia came along..here she is ready for an early bedtime...we slept so good...Marriott always has the most comfortable beds...

 and she reminds us all...only brush the teeth you want to keep! :)

So there you go..a tiny picture of what i have been up to....it has been so busy and full the last few months i would have to write a book to catch everything up!  So here is my attempt at being a blogger again..haha! let's see how soon i will be back!