you can learn a lot from flower gardens

We are expanding our flower garden to be a little longer. Now don't confuse me with someone who actually gardens or does it well! I just figured it would look better going the entire length of the garage instead of stopping half way. Insert mini me. She obviously wants to help.

We dug out the existing border edge and yanked up the grass in the new garden spot. We went and picked out a few new plants to start. She helped me transplant and water. We plan to pick up more plants at the new store that just opened in Rockton for all our flower needs! I am hoping that it will be a constant rotation of colors, flowers and plants in bloom throughout the year.

I need more garden pavers and a few more filler plants and voila. We will be done. I honestly got the plant Hen&Chicks because that is just adorable. No idea what it will look like. Don't even care. The name sold me!

Now we can weed the vegetable and the flower garden together. Do I hear bonding time? Yep. Do I hear less work for me? Yep. Do I hear instilling a sense of pride and accomplishment? Yep. Did I take it too far? Yep. Don't even care! We will have pretty flowers to look at while we chill on the deck. 

remembering to enjoy every moment

This expression is currently my self motto. Things are good. We have our health, we have each other, we have the love of our family, jobs, spring time. However, we hit a rough patch and had some bad days. Good days are good. Bad days are not as good. 

We embrace what we have because that's the best way to get through! Smile, enjoy the little moments, and just be grateful. My little one went from 10 years old to practically 30 overnight. We discuss everything. She has big questions that are in depth, insightful and real. She keeps me on my toes with her big plans, big dreams, and big thoughts. 

She has planned her own wedding, her future career choices, and her first job, but she's still at an age where she wants to snuggle at night. I will take it! No matter what happens each day, I know I will come home to a family that loves me, food on the table, and snuggles. I will take that over some other options any day. We will continue to stop and enjoy each moment. We will be thankful, grateful, and gracious despite the laughter or any potential tears. We WILL enjoy every moment!

a little paint makes a big difference

We needed a change up. The dark blue room came with the house, so we got dark beige curtains to match. And now... it needs lightened and brightened. What a better way to get a clean slate and teach your kid a life skill? One can of paint and 2 paintbrushes. Two days, big messes, laughter, conversations. So worth it!

I painted the aqua and my little one helped paint all the trim white, the shelves and the closet. They're finally white again! It looks so fresh and clean in there. Now when she takes friends in there to play or has a sleepover or does a movie night, it will look nice and fresh. She can take ownership for the work she has done.

I got more work done with my buddy than I would have done alone. I got to show her some useful skills. She got to feel useful and grown because she got to help. Painting isn't my favorite thing, but the results make it so worth it! It was a fun little project that kept us busy and it doesn't take much money to get a clean, new look. 

We just love it. It's a bit bright and a bit girly, but oh well. The room looks bigger and cleaner. The little one feels good about herself because she got to help me. And now her beanie boos will have a clean, fun room to live in :)

we DID find it here!

This blue arch make us so happy! It means grandma time. Time to unwind, bake, eat ice cream, thrift shop and movie watch. Is it quite the drive? Yep! Have we done it enough that it's no big deal? Yep! 

We spent an entire afternoon binge watching children's movies and playing Uno. Then we moved to the front steps to watch my daughter ride her bike all over the neighborhood. There were naps and honey do lists. There was a day of reminiscing. An afternoon of hiking. A morning at the library. In my mind, this roadtrip always means SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY IT. 

The beauty of taking an 86 year old (but 68 at heart) and a 10 year old anywhere means you can go at your own pace and you aren't going far. Our big outings are always Goodwill, Dollar General and picking up Popeye's for dinner one night. I mean, we are party animals! These places are purely tradition. Even my ten year old looks forward to hearing, "I will give you this twenty dollars and you can buy whatever you want!" 

Spring has arrived. April has arrived. We got grandma time in. Things are looking okay! Heads up because the next stop is Easter!