Poppies

I have lots of stuff to post about that has happened recently, but I thought I'd post the promised poppy pictures first.


I love love love these flowers almost as much as the lilacs!

NOW what's blooming

I have to start posting quicker if only to accurately put up what is blooming in my flowerbeds - the plants blooming here have just about finished!


Here is Alex posing next to my biggest azalea. I love this bush - who wouldn't? Last year most of its blooming was obscured by the big dumpster in the driveway from the garage construction, so this year we got to see it in all its glory.


Smaller red azalea on the side bed. It is being overtaken by three low-growing rose bushes next to it. I really need to relocate the roses, but I realized for the safety of my skin it will be much easier to move the azalea instead.


Alex next to the red azalea in front of the house. This one had gotten very penned in with weedy shrubs around it, so we cut a lot of stuff back - hopefully it will grow even bigger with the space it has now.


My new absolute FAVORITE plants in my yard - my lilac bushes. I discovered that they probably didn't bloom last year because we pruned at the wrong time of year - they get cut back in early summer when the blooms are done. The scent from these bushes is amazing. I would smell it every time I walked out the back door. We've had a couple trees next to the driveway that had to be taken out, and I decided that I will fill the space in with more lilacs.


Alex checks out the bleeding heart hidden behind the lilac bush. This was one of the plants that was relocated last year when we got rid of the flower beds along the sidewalk in front of the house, and I am very glad to see that it survived. The flowers are just so neat to see in Spring. Once those blooms are done I'm moving this one to the front of this bush so everyone can see it.


This is what the beds in front of the house currently look like. The hostas are huge, and the tall spiky plants near the back are the tiger lilies that will bloom (most likely when I'm visiting Texas - I think I missed the best blooming last year). Unfortunately I don't know how much of this riot of green is supposed to be here and what should have been weeded out. I just figure it should be apparent soon enough.


Another favorite thing - look at all these poppies about to open! One actually did open yesterday, but the picture I took today didn't do it justice, so I'll try again tomorrow.


And if anybody has an idea what this could be, please let me know. I figured it was weeds at first, but then these cute little flowers started blooming on it so I decided to leave it for now. It's growing at the back of the driveway, so we are just about the only people seeing it anyway.

America's pastime

So Alex finally started playing a sport I can really enjoy watching. Well, I suppose I'll really enjoy watching it once we get past these early stages - let's face it, t-ball is NOT a very exciting sport to watch.

Now if I can only keep Alex interested in it. He's not much of a team-sport player. He's tried soccer and basketball; didn't hate them but didn't love them either (in fact probably only really liked it because his friends were playing the sports with him).


Posing before the game in full uniform.


Check out the form on this boy. He looks even cooler now that we've bought him his own shiny red batting helmet.


"Ready" stance in the field.


The "quit-taking-pictures-mama" stance in the field.


The BEST part of the game, of course. Ice cream afterward with your best friend.