Tia Lizz came to visit!

Tia Lizz read a ton of books with Matt. After her car drove away Matt looked up and then burst into tears and started screaming. Tia Lizz you will be missed!

Peekaboo!

Project Update: New England Work Ethic

It's 7:55 a.m. on Ger's Day Off and he is up and out staining wood for the baseboard:



Meanwhile, the squash are also working very hard....

Happy Birthday Steven!

Ger and I went to Steven's Birthday dinner last night. Here is the cake being served:



and here is a rare picture of Ger. :-) He normally runs when I bring out the camera, but he couldn't run away from a seated dinner! :-)

Open Garden Day

Yesterday was open garden day in Philly and my Mom came down so we could be garden voyeurs. Ha ha. The best garden we saw was just a few blocks from us...





These guys had built a little paradise in their backyard; you really felt like you were on a semi-isolated tropical island. It definitely gave us a sense for what was possible!

My Madrinita Came to Visit... Yay!

There are three generations in this picture!

What a difference in 10 years! I floated a project like this for my senior computer science thesis in A.I. - but I couldn't wrap my head around it at the time. Looks like someone is doing it and that is so exciting! I can't wait to read more!

Project Update: Hammock Stand

Ger built a hammock stand for the backyard. The rate of home repair projects may slow down accordingly.

Spring Gardening...

Self-improvement continues with my first year of gardening! Every morning, the first thing Matt wants to do is run outside!

The pansies in the window box have really taken off...


May 15th is the official "no frost date", but I couldn't wait...

Squash from seeds...


and some basil (bought as seedlings)...




Philly is kind-of the unofficial urban gardening captain of sorts. People take their gardens very seriously. It's only May, but I may need to step it up.