April through pictures

 We started April with a birthday run around Washington D.C.  As you may have seen from the previous post.

Xander had his annual update with children's cardiology.  He officially was released and everything is good with his heart.

We had plans to go camping but had to cancel two days prior.  A storm was coming through and it was going to be a wet and cold weekend.  It was good that we cancelled because it actually did end up raining all night Friday and half the day Saturday.   Many times that we have a storm predicted, or even rain, it dissipates before it gets here. So, Sterling spent the weekend in the tent and I had the honor of enjoying one night with her.  She loves tent life.

I ordered a huge pile of dirt.  The kids and I transferred it all to the backyard

The next day, I leveled it out.  Since having our pool done, our yard was hazardous.  It's always been a horrible backyard space, but it was really bad.  So now I'm waiting for some grass to grow through and have a more enjoyable space.  We're still deciding what plants to add around the yard.

A couple days later, we opened the pool.  It didn't look as bad as I thought it'd be so that was a nice surprise.  

Then we celebrated our Ginger bear turning two.  She requested a banana-blueberry sundae.  Anytime I buy bananas she's always stealing them.  She's the best tiptoeing bear I've ever met!

   

We had a second annual glow in the dark easter egg hunt.  It's always so much fun.  And Sterling always wins.  Earlier in the day, we had an Easter scavenger hunt.  They each had 8 riddles to solve before finding their prize.  Sterling won Jimmy Johns, her favorite lunch spot.  Xander won DQ for ice cream.  He loves DQ!

The kids have been swimming everyday.  We've had 80 degree days so it's been the perfect way to cool down.

As they swim I've been reading.  This book was hard to put down.  I had it done in 3 days.  I'm now reading Night Road by Kristin Hannah.  I've had this one on my shelf for 8 years, I think it's finally time I read it.  It's been so nice lately to have this season of slowing down and actually being able to enjoy a book.  I can't read through the kindle app because I get too ADHD and start surfing the internet.  Physical books is the only way for me.

I snapped this picture because it annoys me how my neighbors can see everything I do on my deck or backyard.  So I'm looking for some deck privacy ideas and also yard ones for when we are in yard and pool.  They just had their deck built so they are always on it staring into our yard.  I caught the lady video calling someone showing them our yard.  Ugh.  They're nice people, but I'd still like privacy.  The hunt is on!

Nick and I spent a few hours on Sunday cleaning the garage up.  We had a bunch of wood pieces that needed trimmed down so they'd fit in the garbage cans.  Tools needed reorganized (I like to take tools and not put them back, ha!). It needed a good vacuum too.

I've also been going back and forth between putting up blinds or curtains.  For the past two years, we've just had paper blinds but I'm about over them.  We had 3 Day Blinds come give us a quote.  We have 25 windows and two sliding doors and they want to charge over 11K.  Crazy over priced when I know I could do it for heck of a lot cheaper.  It's like wanting to buy a box of Annie's Mac and cheese.  If I go to Publix, I'll spend over $3 a box, but if I go to Walmart, I'll spend $1.50.  I get the exact same thing, so I'm going to Walmart.

Next week I have a home remodel company coming to give me a quote.  We have a few projects up our sleeves so we want to see what each will cost roughly.  

Have a great day!