Backyard Fun

Sibling love.

Aren't they sweet? I did not set this up, I just ran for the phone. They had moved the bench over to the shade to enjoy the grass, and were hugging each other and having a conversation I wasn't privy to. I did have to ask them to recreate the cuteness, since they had moved on to a horsey game of sorts by then...

I heart them!

Life has been pretty great for us this month. Quijote's work finally starting dwindling down for the semester, and we have been able to do a lot together- all of us, as a family- which is pretty much my idea of Fun- yes, with a capital letter :) Our volunteer work with RST (Refugee Services of Texas) is one of the things we've all enjoyed doing as a family. It's been a little bit of work and sometimes a little stressful, but it has also been incredibly rewarding and so fun for us all. Miss E wants us to do it every day! We only do it once or twice a week. However, for reasons of safety, I am not allowed to give many specifics or post pictures. So that is that ;)

We've also been working a whole lot in our backyard, so I'll get in my little soap box about that instead- jaja! (I hope that's the correct phrase?) Well, we love our home and loved our backyard from the start. The shaded patio in the back is connected to our breakfast nook and can be seen from large windows in that room and from the kitchen. It's not so large that we find it overwhelming to care for, nor too small that we feel like the kids can't play or we can't hang out as a family or entertain. It is protected by an L shaped set of walls and an L shaped fence that keep away the strongest winds and provide shade (there's also a young oak in our yard and a huge tree in our neighbor's yard, plus the house itself, that altogether provide a lot of shade, at different times of the day).  It was always pretty perfect for us as it was, but I've had a plan in my head since I first saw the space: a sitting area in the shaded patio, a table for enjoying the shade the house casts on the red pavers in the afternoon, herbs, veggies, and a general cottage-style-sort-of-thing going on in the "garden" (which has turned into a container garden for practical purposes). The kids love their swings and have wanted a playhouse for the longest time- a tree house, in fact, but we don't have a tree!  

The first thing we did was getting rid of that shed. It was housing rodents! It gave Quijote a bad toe injury. It was useless, as we're not in the habit of storing things we don't want. It took up so much space. It was cute. But otherwise, I hated it. Quijote started hating it too, after the possibility of losing yet another toenail... sigh. Well, the toenail survived and the shed is gone. It was an adventure, getting rid of it. But it went away on May 4th, and we danced a happy dance. Literally.

The empty spot in the far corner by the "raised" garden bed.

It took a few days to clean the area. It didn't seem to us like it should be, but it was in fact a lot of work, moving dirt around to a -sort of- leveled, flat, rockless space. We also had to dig out that garden frame, which was old and deep and full of garden soil that had hardened and needed to be watered and turned and amended.

Then May 10th came around (Mexican Mother's Day), and we celebrated our work by picking up the playhouse (another fun adventure...LoL) going to Starbucks, taking pictures for the annual Facebook tradition of B-C children calling our Mom "Blessed" and making the first attempt at building the playhouse. There was also some mulching somewhere along the way...

Miss E in her handmade Mexican top, enjoying her chocolate milk- they were out of boxes so she got a real cup. 

This is the best we could do. There are shots of winking eyes, and kids that are slipping off the couch... haha!

Kids enjoying the front yard while I clipped the broken flower branches after a snow storm.

By the time American Mother's Day happened, we had built most of the playhouse, mulched, leveled, amended, and planted grass seed :)!! We also bought a lemon tree on one of those trips to Lowe's, and planted it. On Mother's Day, I woke up to breakfast in bed and a whole lot of progress in the yard!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were all pretty beat up and sore, though. I think the kids were sick too! A weird cold front had interrupted things sometime that week and made everybody sick and almost killed my morning glories and definitely killed most of my green beans (four or so of them did thankfully survive!). We took a slow morning. Slept in, nursed colds, and basically had a staycation. Quijote did let me take Miss E to Coulter Gardens to pick up flowers for the playhouse window boxes and a snowball bush.

Miss E enjoying the beautiful Koi Fish pond.

I also bought a tiny little Bougainvillea from an Etsy shop. I hope it survives!

Grilled chicken, home made bread, and a comfy patio seat is all I need!!

We had a little Mother's Day party in the patio. Q grilled, the kids played, Boo chased his tennis ball. I sat back and enjoyed it all. It was wonderful. Then we told stories when it got dark- the kids LOVE telling stories and roasting marshmallows.

Again, the week started up on us and life went back to normal. It was a much needed break. And honestly, the hardest part was done. After that, we slowly dug up some steps (I'd go out there in the morning and try to get work done while Q was at the office, then he'd come and get so much more done, then I'd reshape them...) and filled them with concrete. I think it rained soon after so some of them have cracked. Or maybe we let the kids step on them too soon? But anyway, they are awesomeness. They look rustic and cozy and are so fun to step on. They also divide the yard a little bit, which will help when we transition from yard to garden as the kids grow older. Right now I have "training wheels" on and my garden is easy to care for, and very small. But I really am loving this gardening thing, and will be doing more as I am able.

Then it was time for cleanup. The yard was in a muddy, messy, leafy, yucky state. I washed our patio seats, our patio carpet, our patio pavers, paved floors, brick walls, and windows. The pristine condition did not last for over 30 mins, but it was just getting too crazy out there. My daily cleaning had been left aside for the sake of the bigger projects. I also weed the lawn and all the plants, water the grass seed, and tend to the seedlings along the fence and the plants in the beds, and the herbs and tomatoes. It's been a fun kind of work for me, and the kids and pup love their outdoor time as much as I do. I hope the heat stays off of us a while longer! It's been so great to have good weather to work in and enjoy our outside space.

The white cushions. I'm so glad I have a picture.

The completed playhouse. Our latest project was turning the wooden garden frame into a table. There are pavers on the grass where I am trying to kill crabgrass. Ugh! I've also over-seeded and thrown compost on one side of the lawn. I'll be doing the other side soon.

It now has support beams for the legs and will need another set of legs in the center.

The tomato plants and my herbs.

A rainy day that saved me a watering round.

The kids, enjoying the rain, trying to reach for the rainbow <3

So this is it! We're pretty much done! We wanted to do our "nesting" before our travels begin for the summer. I am so excited that we've accomplished so much and are now able to enjoy our space for a little bit before we turn nomads again and enjoy the rest of the world for a little bit, too!