Bench, Tulips, Coffee Table and More!

First of all: Happy Easter everybody! We had Easter at our house this year, and it was a blast! My parents, Mike's parents, Mike's sister and my friend Tessa were able to come- it was great! We did miss Allison though, but it was great to hear from her!!

So- some recent projects. My parents actually found this bench at the dump:

And I thought it would look better in a different color:

(also- from our wedding we got the wedding pictures from our parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles and display them now in our home. This is one of my favorite things about our house and demonstrates the legacy of love they have left for us)

For my birthday, I asked my parents to make us a coffee table, so I gave them a pattern.

Living room before:

They had no pattern and just figured it out themselves and made it. Here they are bringing it into the house. I was giddy with excitement at this point, which is why it isn't the best picture:

Living room after: (aren't they so precious?!?)Thank you mom and dad- we love you!

Okay- who knew this is how ferns grow?? They are all balled up- I can't wait for them to burst open into their HUGE leaves!

Finally, the tulips have bloomed and they are beautiful. Enjoy!

And thanks for all the comments on the last blog. That was truly wonderful. Keep it up! :o)

Things New Part Two

This weekend started like any other: lazy Saturday morning, coffee cake, coffee, trip to some home improvement store... Then we got home and went CA-RAZY! Mike got his landscape on and put in some edging around this flower bed. We have NEVER had anything here, so it's really nice to have some boundaries for the flowers this year! Here he is hard at work! Isn't he cute?!?

I planted the flowers that he got for me after I finished an inside project. Don't they look great?

Here is the inside project. Our dining room chairs are damaging our floors, so we decided to get a carpet for that room to start that room remodel. Here are the floors after I cleaned them like they have only been cleaned twice since moving in: (yeah- it's worthy of taking a picture!)

Here is our new rug:

Also- new rule: if you visit the site, comment!!!!! It makes me want to keep documenting our home remodel!

All Things New

So this weekend's weather encouraged me to get out into the yard, so here you have it. Some home improvement (yard improvement) this year. This is the fence that my amazing mother in law planted tulips and other perennials. I so enjoy watching these come up every year. Here is what it looked like just two weeks ago: And now they are getting bigger every day!!!

I then tackled the side of the house where we have some other flowers that I just love each year. This is where the balloon flowers and flox come up.

Before:

After:

Before Menarda and cone flower area:

After:

We need to put in some edging here... more on that to come.

Before along the house where the hostas grow:

After:

And here is the before picture of the great wall in our backyard. Our neighbor built this wall between our yards last year (was it something we said???) so green thumb Marilyn is helping us problem solve what to do with this weird area now!!!