April shower are just about over and that means I’m excited to get my May flowers into the garden in the next couple weeks!

Wayfair sent me two unfinished wood Adirondack Chairs to customize so I could put my own spin on them and add them to our backyard patio. I’m still in the process of cleaning the space up and getting our garden ready for spring and summer. Nature does not want to cooperate. I don’t want to plant anything until I’m sure it won’t freeze. I can’t do yard clean up if all the leaves are wet because it’s been raining for days. I can’t paint chairs on the patio if it’s pouring. And also (this has nothing to do with nature) it’s hard to make my garden dreams come true if my handyman (aka husband) is always gone on work trips.

But between rainstorms and travel, E got the chairs together and out to the garage and I got them painted and accessorized.

The chairs are solid wood and really sturdy. They came in long thin boxes and it took E a little while to put them together, but they are definitely not coming apart again. (They almost ended up living in the basement though, because they baaaaaarely fit up the stairs.) They’re very generously sized, with wide armrests perfect for resting drinks.

The idea of painting in between every one of the slats with a brush was exhausting, so I went with the easier option. I bought 3 cans of the yellow and used 2.5 of them to cover both chairs. I used painter’s tape and some old paper to define the stripes I wanted to paint. To be totally honest I just did my best guesstimate and it turned out FINE – the screws on the back of the chair made it easy to line up the tape and I was trying to finish during naptime so finding a tape measure wasn’t going to happen.

How fun are those colors? Our outdoor seating is dark brown with beige cushions so that bright pop is going to be so cute out in the yard. Our old wooden table fell apart over the winter so we’re in the market for new patio furniture table too, but these will be perfect for sitting and relaxing with snacks and a glass of wine or a beer now that it’s finally warming up.

And today it is FINALLY nice out, so I moved the chairs to the yard where I can keep an eye on Linc’s dirt digging work while I enjoy the sunshine. I picked up a couple of throw pillows to make them even cuter. I got super lucky and found these at Big Lots – aren’t they perfect?

Linc definitely approves of the new chairs.

And now that the sun is shining I can mow that crazy grass. I’m so happy it’s finally time to sit back and relax in the yard!

Someone shared this article about Grand Designs on Facebook last week and I’ve been binging the episodes available right now. I really need everyone to go watch it so we can talk about how bananas some of these houses are. I can’t even decide which one I love the most, but the very best part of the show is that it follows through ALL THE WAY to the end. The home flipper shows on HGTV drive me crazy when they say “if we sell it, we’ll make $100,000! So far, no offers.” WELL THAT’S NOT REALLY YOUR PROFIT YET, IS IT? The British have weird houses made out of mud, by at least they FOLLOW THROUGH.

That had nothing to do with this post, except it’s what I’ve been watching while I catch up. And now I’m caught up!

Sunday:

Easter bunny haul

He bought this with his birthday gift card and is SO pleased

Just chilling out, feeding myself a bottle as if that’s something I’ve EVER DONE BEFORE

Monday:

Super happy to be shopping with me!

SUPER over shopping with me

Oh you know, just letting the 2 year old run away (E is watching him from behind that tree)

Tuesday:

Gorgeous weather for a beach wedding!

My new glasses are…big

Did nothing else but edit wedding photos because I was so excited

Wednesday:

Staying hyrdrated

Toddler yoga

Lots of naps

Thursday:

Octonaut playdate was VERY much enjoyed by toddlers

This is called Nine Man Morris, they learned at Old Sturbridge Village and E made them a board

Starbucks date

Friday:

Puddle playdate

The futuuuuuuuuuuuure!

The opposite of the future

Saturday:

SQUIREL!

How to escape your children

The opposite of escaping your children

It turns out Grand Design does sometimes give up on people – the mud house never got finished. So I guess I don’t have to feel guilty about being terrible at following through with some things. I think tonight I’ll finish a whole pint of ice cream and celebrate my success. Hashtag goals.

I had absolutely no idea I was three weeks behind until I tried to find photos from last week. I guess that means spring is making time go by faster, which is good, because this winter was approximately 746 months long.

Sunday:

I bought GIANT yarn because it would be fast, but I still haven’t finished

Gnocci with garlic bread from one of the boxes

Last minute book report finishing

 Monday:

Happy baby

Me: Evan, are you ok with Linc sleeping on you? Evan: Thumbs up.

Hurricane Lincoln

Tuesday:

Letting the toddler get his own food so I can watch Jill’s Tuesday playdate

Sweetheart

Too cool for my filters

Wednesday:

Home Depot Helpers

Doing homework in the sunbeams

Evan was not interested in me today

Thursday:

He was so excited to be “uppa”

Mid-afternoon toddler crash

I don’t know why they’re yelling

Friday:

Linc’s chores include letting the dog in and dumping all his food on the floor

Tired boy

In case she forgets her name

Saturday:

Chubby baby arms

These tiny beads are a pain but they keep the kids super busy

SEIZE THE DAY

I think I lost a week because of spring break. It was a black hole of time, between my parents visiting and E’s work schedule changing and having all four kids to watch full time. It has made it very clear that my goal for the summer should be to make sure at least one kid is signed up for an activity every week. So far we have two Seaport camps, town day camp and VBS. Maybe I should look into farm camp for my horse and chicken obsessed daughter.

Happy Easter! Our day started 100% too early (like at 11 pm last night) thanks to a grumpy baby and ended with children who hate 10000% too much candy. Thank goodness our spring break does NOT start tomorrow, because I need to send these monsters to school. Far, far away to school.

Sunday:

Eating cereal at the big table

Quite in church, thanks to coloring supplies

Headed home after the egg hunt

Monday:

His new favorite toy

I have no idea where these came from but they’re fantastic

We had a snow day, so we watched a LOT of movies

Tuesday:

Chillaxing

Buying egg dyeing kits on clearance the year before is one of my smartest moves

Poor dog would do anything for attention

Wednesday:

Talking to the baby

I got some goodies from International Delight and that mug could not be more true

Helping with yard work

Thursday:

Shopping buddy

Eye appointment

NO I’M NOT TIRED DON’T PUT ME TO BED

Friday:

Eating kettle corn with a spoon, as one does

Easter-themed piano lesson was adorable

Caroline calls this the “ornament” and she LOOOOOOOVES it

Saturday:

Fun at the town egg hunt

More ornament nonsense

A rare glimpse of the Easter Bunny at work

I am SO TIRED from just one night of terrible sleep. My body had completely recovered from that newborn phase where 5 hours broken up into 3 sections seems totally fine. It occurred to me this morning those days are coming back and so I should go to bed at 9 pm every single day between now and August. And I swear I’m going to start doing that, right after the Walking Dead ends for the season.

Having Wednesday off for Veterans Day really confused me all week. I do not like random mid-week holidays.

Sunday:

The turtle’s name is Stretch, which Caroline forgets every time

Anyone need a really poorly made tutu?

Toddler nursing is a little like being mauled by an animal

Monday:

Everyone needed some love on Monday

And then he got stuck. Poor choices.

Probably the largest collection of Wendy’s kid’s meal toys in the world

Tuesday:

Shopping buddy

He is SO convinced he’s helping

Ballet has replaced swim as my least favorite activity (because I have to bring all the kids)

Wednesday:

My children asked to be locked in a closet

A friend asked me to take a picture of her bow

Evan asked me not to talk to him anymore because he was too busy

Thursday:

Bus stop weirdos

Partners in crime

The queen of snack-stealing

(FYI: That popcorn came from a free PINCHme box, which you can sign up for here. It’s free and they send you samples. I got some good stuff.)

(Also FYI: That’s not an affiliate link, they just sent me one so I would share, so I’m sharing.)

Friday:

Toddler Party

This appears to be a very low budget horror movie, filming in my neighborhood

(I think it is this movie, but there’s no real info on IMDB yet. There was a sign on the door that said Dark Pledge.)

Sleepy baby

Saturday:

Babies are not super helpful on photoshoots

I’m going to make-over that Cozy Coupe, but Linc already loves it

Caroline wants a pet “just for her”. I said no to rodents.

We had some amazing weather this week, especially for November. With the sun going down so early it is really important to my mental health that I get outside for some vitamin D at least a few times a week, or I start to go crazy. So it would be great if we could keep at least a couple warmish, sunny, non-snowing days a week for the whole winter. Then I could keep doing photo sessions too, which also make me super happy.