The Swin Life: A Weekend Recap and My Usual Mondays

This past weekend was the first weekend in a very long time that we didn't have t-ball, out of town plans or beer brewing taking place. I said a long time ago that as soon as we had a free weekend I wanted to finally get some flowers in our flower beds. (Most normal people already have flowers planted.) I was actually looking forward to just relaxing but I also had a few things that I needed to do.

Saturday morning I got up and went for a nice and easy 2 mile run. When I came back I showered and got ready for the day. Andrew and Blake were both up and in the process of getting ready when I got back. We went to the donut shop for a breakfast. (I had a protein shake & a cake donut with no frosting.) I always take my phone everywhere but I forgot to take it with me and I missed taking a picture of Blake's crazy messy face. Just imagine red icing everywhere! After breakfast we ran to target then to Lowe's. My plan for the trip to Lowe's was simple I wanted to get some soil and stakes so that I could plant the tomato plants my mother-in-law gave me. We also needed some kind of fence to keep the dog out of the flower beds. (I have never grown tomatoes before but I figured I could try it!) When we got to Lowe's the guy in the garden center told us these racks of various plants were $50 for the entire rack. We looked at them and decided to pick one out. It was full of plants/flowers that were a combination of things that I love and that Andrew loves! Then we got focused back on the purpose of our trip things for growing our tomatoes. I found stakes for the plants and fence to keep the dog out so that our plants would be safe. Then we got distracted! We loaded up on more plants than we could fit in our car! We ended up getting two different carts that were $50 each. When they rang up the total for the plants on those carts it was $1200 but we paid $100. Can't beat that right!

All the plants/flowers we got!

What were we thinking, we bit off more than we could chew! We had to make two trips to get all of our stuff home. When we got home we got to work immediately. First order was to rototill all the beds in the back. They were hard like concrete. (Andrew and our neighbor did all the hard work prepping the beds for planting. I ordered us lunch from Jimmy Johns and set up the little pool for Blake to swim.) Then we got to work planting. We had 4 beds total that we were going to do. We accomplished one bed completely but called it a night. Here is what we accomplished on day one.

We need to put more fence up to keep the dog and child out!

This was hard concrete like dirt. I can't wait until it all fills in!

This is looking into the backyard from the front. On the right there are 3 shrub sized rose bushes and the left is a climbing plant with awesome pink flowers!

Sunday morning I woke up and started working outside by 8:30 am. I left my boys (all 3 of them in bed watching cartoons.) I finished the second bed in the backyard then moved on to the front yard. I worked in the back for 3 hours and it was so hot! Then I moved to the front yard to try to finish planting everything there. I worked on it for a few hours then had to stop so that we could go watch the USA vs Portugal world cup game. Here is what I accomplished in the front. I have a lot more to fill in the front part of the flowerbed. After all that we didn't even get the tomato plants in the ground! The bed is rototilled and new soil mixed in so hopefully I can get the plants put in there today when the rain stops!

My boys in bed watching cartoons.

The opposite side of walkway in the back.

Same side as the other picture. Needs a fence.

Front flowerbed progress made. Ready to finish and get more color in there!

We went to R Bar&Grill to watch the soccer game and drink Prairie Bomb on nitro. It was good! We sat outside and watched the game. Blake came with us and was a trooper! He got upset when it got loud as normal. I took him over to the yogurt shop across the street to get him a bribery treat! It worked until the USA took the lead, then the tears and demanding to go home came. He really did do great though.

My outfit for going to watch the game!

Blake snuggling on his daddy during the game. This was in between crying fits!

That brings us to our usual Monday. On Mondays I always do laundry and the floors. Since it's raining today I will only vacuum and sweep, the mopping will have wait until the rain stops! (Mopping with a huge dog that brings in mud is like the worst idea ever!) I started laundry last night before bed and starting working on it again early this morning. This is how my chair always looks on Mondays as I fold clothes! It's my least favorite day but doing all my laundry on Monday I don't have to do any for the rest of the week. (Unless we have an potty accident that is.) I also do our weekly menu and grocery shopping on Mondays. Looking forward to a fun week ahead and anxious to see how our flowerbeds look when they fill in!