The Joys of Yard Work

No sarcasm here. We had the best day working our tails off in the yard! 

        For weeks I have been longing for lovely Spring weather, as well as relief from the exhaustion and nausea of the first trimester. And over the past two weeks the weather has been warming, and the symptoms have been waning. The sun certainly was shining brightly today. And we soaked it in (maybe a little too much on some little noses and arms).

We planted four trees along the back of the back yard. 

In progress...

They are just little guys now:

Our little stick trees :)

But someday they will be big, flowering, and gorgeous. I am sure there are lots of wonderful analogies in that thought that pertain to our stage of life with little ones, and our young family. But, it has taken me months just to find the energy to write a blog post, so deep thinking analogies will have to wait until later. ;)

My wonderful husband (who also let me sleep in this morning, bless him!) did the majority of the work on the trees. I mainly held measuring tape, read instructions, and wrangled kids out of my veggie garden, away from the tools, and out of the dirt piles... for the most part. Some potting soil was rearranged and I cleared out two mouthfuls of dirt from our little man; "Boys will be boys." 

But in the end, trees were planted, mulched, watered, and given the chance to grow.

Sweet hubby applying mulch while the kiddos finished up lunch.

Hubby's new schedule is good for lawn care. And we all had fun being outside all morning. 

After the kids' naps we decided that it was just too nice a day to be inside. But the straight sun in the back yard can be intense on a warm southern afternoon. So, we enjoyed the front yard. Where it came to my attention that the weeds and hedges situation needed addressed... badly. So Daelynn and I got out our gardening gloves and the kids and I went to work pulling weeds. After that, I felt energized and ready to go! A feeling I haven't had in a while. I had so much energy I even got brave enough to try trimming hedges for the first time! I, of course, forgot a "before" picture, but trust me on this: It Was Bad! We filled up nearly two full garbage bags of weeds and hedge trimmings, and I didn't even pick up all the trimmings. The kids had the best time playing with rocks and the stroller while I worked on the shrubbery. They were such dolls, so happy just to be outside in the beautiful weather. 

My sweeties and our newly trimmed hedges and shrubberies.

It was a wonderful spring day in our neck of the woods. Got a great workout, the lawn and house are much improved, and everyone seems renewed and refreshed with the arrival of warm weather and the second trimester. ;) It feels like life is starting to rev up again in the Palmer house.