Happy Father's Day!

Today is the day that we all thank our Dad's for being who they are. My Dad is pretty awesome, I have to tell you. He's always there when I need him, even when he's 1500 miles away (give or take), with a shoulder to cry on, an ear for listening, and good advice when I need it. One of my favorite things about my Dad is that he kind of thinks he's Superman, and he's ready to do anything or help out in any way he can. But honestly, he's always been my hero so maybe that Superman thing is true. Here's one of my favorite pictures of us:
Love you Dad!

The other hero in my life, dearest Hubby, has been hard at work this weekend since it's Outside Project Weekend 2011. We do have plans to grill burgers and go see a movie, and he has yet to see the present on the dining room table for him. All in good time...

So here in northern MN, the hardy green thumb ladies usually start rolling out their flower beds and whatnot sometime in May. This year has sucked for weather though, and we've had cold and rain for more months than I care to count. I think we've all decided "screw it. I'm planting anyway!" Today was a balmy 63 degrees, and although the weekend has been overcast the rain has held off a bit so we went ahead with our plans.

We have a window well in between the house and garage that we cleared out sometime last year. Our intention was to fill it with rock and some landscape lights. These were very good intentions for upwards of a year or so. Well this weekend we finally decided to go for it! So we went from this ugliness:
To this!
Looking good! The lamps kind of blend in, but there are 4 on this side of the fence and 1 right on the other side. I originally wanted white rock, but the multicolored river pebbles were not only $1 cheaper per bag (x30 bags = saved us $30!), but they also got a little better with the overall "brown-ness" of our house. I did my part by weeding out most of the longer bed, which I have to tell you - not so much fun at 8 months pregnant. I also held the weed tarp (that goes underneath the rock to keep weeds from sprouting up), and I was an integral part in positioning the lights. Not to shabby when I'm feeling like a blimp! I let Travis do all the heavy moving and lifting of the actual rock, naturally. :o)

I also took the opportunity while at Lowe's to pick up a few flowers to dress up our front porch a little. It looks a little drab, and we really need a bench out there or something. But honestly, I think my true Minnesotan neighbor wives are ashamed of the lack of flowers our house has. So I needed to do something! Here's what I came up with:
Some hostas and impatients
and a pretty, red Salvia with some white impatients. There's also some "dusty miller" mixed in which is like a white, furry fern. I thought it looked pretty cool, so we'll see how it fares. Actually, I'm no green thumb at all, so fingers crossed that all of these do okay!

Here's my latest bump picture at 35 weeks:
Have a great week!