Our Smart Little Boy!

Hershey has learned a new trick--he spins around in a circle. We noticed that every time before he would roll over, he would spin first, and then he would roll. I have no idea where this came from, but we figured we could use this to help him learn a new trick--spin. He learned it in only about 5 minutes the first night we worked with him on it. We have worked with him each day this week, and he is getting even better. We are such proud parents! :)

Signs of Spring at the Wingler House

A few lonely daffodils blooming...

One beautiful, tiny, blue scilia blooming...

Leaves sprouting on the river birch...

Jessamine blooming on the deck railing...

Forsythia blooming....

Cody mowing...

My Boys

Cody was studying on the living room floor last night, and Hershey (along with his friend, Mr. Quackers) decided he wanted to join him. How cute!

No More Rain Puddles in the Mulch!

We finally got gutters! It's not the first thing I'd dreamed of spending part of our tax return on, but they were definitely needed. (A couple of my azelas we planted last spring drowned in all the rain that was dumped on them from the roof.) The guy came this Wednesday while we were at work and put them on the house. They look nice, nice as gutters can look, I guess.

Cody worked really hard this week to add extension things to the end of the gutters so the water would run out into the yard instead of in the flower beds. He dug some pathways through the mulch bed and buried the pipes.

Now I just need to get a couple new azelas....

Dinner with Friends

Last night we had the Denius family come over for dinner. We made our famous london broil, home-grown green beans, corn, macaroni and cheese (the boxed kind for the kids), bread, and strawberry shortcakes for dessert. We had SO much london broil leftover! I am a horrible judge of quantity when it comes to food. As my mom says, I'd rather have too much than not enough. Cody made over a 5lb. london broil for 4 adults and 2 kids....needless to say, we (and the Denius family) had leftovers for lunch today.

The kids (and the big boys) had a great time playing Wii after dinner. We all had a great time!

Mulch

Cody and I had plans for a couple weeks now to put down mulch this weekend. Our landscaping is in dire need of more mulch; weeds are already starting to come up, and I am hoping thicker mulch will prevent them from growing like crazy during the spring. The landfill/recycling center here in Greenville provides free mulch (made from discarded Christmas trees, branches, etc. the city picks up), but you have to pick up the mulch yourself. We figured this would save us anywhere between $100-200, and the mulch is actually pretty nice. Since we didn't have a truck, Richard, one of Cody's classmates, offered to help. They had planned on going on Friday afternoon, after they finished their exams. This weekend seemed like the perfect weekend, because it is in between two rotations--this means they don't have to go to work and they really don't have anything to study, so it was a completely stress-free weekend. Like I said, this weekend seemed perfect...until we saw the weather forecast. The entire weekend is supposed to be cold and rainy. Yuck! Not the kind of weather I want for putting out mulch. This didn't stop the boys! They picked up a whole truckload of mulch AND put it out, in the cold rain!

Cody working hard, filling up the wheelbarrow with mulch.

Richard, spreading the mulch around the house.

They were both soaking wet by the time they had finished. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough mulch to go completely around the entire house. They were able to do the front and the sides of the house. We still need some to do the back. Maybe when it's warmer and drier, they can get it finished.

Pictures of the finished product:

Why is the floorboard in my car wet?

That was the question I asked myself last time when it rained. I noticed that the floorboard in my car on the driver's side was wet. Oh, no...that's not good. Poor Cody spent about an hour trying to get it dried up and cleaning the carpets. It has still created a nasty, musty smell in my car--which if you know me, drives me insane. (We plan on getting them professionally cleaned eventually.) Anyway, I took it to the Honda place today to see if they could figure out what was wrong and get it fixed, hoping it wouldn't cost a fortune. They seemed to know exactly what it was even before they looked at it--there are drain lines that run from the sunroof down through the car on the driver's side and it apparently came loose. They put it back together and sealed it with some sort of silicone. The best thing about it--it was only $45. Much, much better than what I had imagined it might be. I guess we will see if it is truly fixed this weekend--the forecast is rain, rain, rain.

Our Strawberry Patch

Nine baby strawberry plants....I can't wait till they get big and we have nice, red, juicy strawberries to eat!

Grow, Garden, Grow!

Cody and I decided to try a garden again this year. Last time we had a garden, it was completed flooded by the river that runs through our backyard when it rains. Most of the garden was washed away; if it was strong enough to withstand the river, it drowned in the puddles of water that sat on top of our garden after the rain stopped. This year, we are hoping that we have outsmarted the weather--we built a raised bed for our garden (plus a smaller version for my new strawberry patch!) The garden bed is 8 x 4 feet, and the strawberry patch bed is 4 x 4 feet.

We built the beds on Saturday afternoon, well, Cody really built them. I just held the boards together while he hammered--he did all the grunt work.

After the beds were built, we added landscaping fabric to the bottom to (hopefully!) prevent weeds. Then, we filled the beds with a mixture of top soil and compost. It took about five bags of each for the small one, and ten bags of each for the large box. Today, I planted nine strawberry plants and mulched around them with straw. I forgot to take a picture before it got dark, so I will try to get one this week. Unfortunately, everything I have read suggests to pluck the blossoms off for the first few months to encourage plant and root growth during the first year--that means no strawberries for a while, and probably not a very big harvest this year.

We haven't planted anything in the garden bed yet--Lowe's doesn't have many plants in stock yet. We plan on planting some tomates, peppers, and cucumbers. We'll keep you updated as our garden grows....

...hopefully all this work will pay off in the end!

My Sis

Mary came to visit this weekend! She got here on Friday about the same time I got home from work. It was just me and her on Friday night, because Cody was on call. We spent most of the weekend working on programs and favor cards for her wedding. We didn't get them all the way finished, but we got a good chunk of them done. Hopefully, it won't take her too long to finish them. I think they turned out really nice, and it was really good to see Mary! I can't wait until the wedding...it will be here before we know it!


The programs still need to be put together by tying a ribbon at the top. I forgot to take a picture of the favor cards.