The Stevens Family

One of Burlington's churches caught fire this morning. It was a beautiful red stone church and is sure to change the face of Burlington's downtown, which is known for it's many steeples.

We took full advantage of the spring weather this weekend, and worked on getting our yard into shape. We don't really have any money in our budget to actually buy stuff for our yard, so we've mostly been using what we have, and what plants we can get from other people.
Our yard wasn't horrible to begin with, it has really nice thick grass..but we have a few areas that are patchy, unlevel, or just messy looking from all of the demolition we've done and the nutshells the squirrels leave behind.
Here is a shot from last May:
Since then we have cleaned off the sidewalk, planted some hostas and peonies, and made a small patio out of the bricks from our chimney. We plan on expanding the patio eventually, it's only big enough for our grill right now, but it's a start.

Our yard also had a lot of stones and cement blocks sitting around, and since I didn't know what else to do with them, we decided to push them all together and make a little herb garden.

Next on the agenda, rescreening and clearing off the back porch. Fun Fun!
Needless to say, all of this outdoor work has taken a toll on my housework, and I think I'll be stuck inside for the next couple of days. yuck.

It's been a few weeks since I've posted a Photo Hunt picture because of being at class all weekend for a little while, so I thought it was time I joined the game again!
This is of Jayden (of course!) at his favorite spot at Nana's house earlier this spring. He loves playing with the little rocks that line this pathway and it's always the first place he goes to when we get there.

Don't let my lack of posting lead you to believe that it's been quiet around here...quite the opposite actually. Here's a brief update:

• Jayden has been sick with something, we aren't sure what. He was out at Joe and Barb's yesterday morning and Barb called to say that Jayden just wasn't himself. He's had a temperature, and he's been very sleepy and irritable. All I gotta say is, thank God for Pee-Wee. We wouldn't have been able to get through the last couple of days with out him. We put him to bed in his big boy bed tonight, mostly because he crawled into that bed, laid his head down on the pillow, and pulled the sheet up over his head. He fell asleep fine, we're just hoping he makes it through the night alright.
• I took my real estate exam yesterday, and I passed! I'll start shadowing at Remax while I wait for my background check to go through (which takes 9 weeks now!). I'm very excited, and can't wait to start my new career!
  

This weekend is the first weekend we've had in ages where we don't have a huge deadline to meet on the house, and I don't have my class or any studying to do. Woohoo!! I think we'll be working on the yard mostly, I've started turning over some ground for gardens and digging out some ground for a brick patio.
That's our little update for now, hopefully I'll be able to add more this weekend sometime. We shall see.

Besides the stove top, we've still got to get the hardware on the cabinets, woodwork to put up, and doors to refinish. We aren't going to rush into everything, Josh and I both agreed on taking the week off to relax a bit.
We did have Easter here, with both Josh's family and my family. I wanted all (two) of Jayden's cousins to be here so we could have an Easter Egg Hunt and do fun kids stuff. The Easter egg hunt went much better than I thought it would, I thought Ethan would be the only one to go after any of the eggs, but Taylor really went for them too! Jayden just kept wandering off. :)

Getting ready for the hunt! (Nice front porch, huh?)

Ethan and Heather

Taylor

Jayden, in his Easter duds. Thanks again for the shirt and tie Aunt Meep Meep and Aunt Memee!
This is what happens when you try to get a smile by asking to see Jayden's mouth. Mmm...chocolaty.

One of the many things Jayden received for Easter was Pee-Wee's Playhouse Volume #2. We already had Volume #1, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, and Pee-Wee's Christmas Special. "I had a thing for Pee-Wee growing up, and I recieved the DVDs for Christmas a couple of years ago. I thought it was time to introduce Pee-Wee to Jayden. Jayden wasn't all that interested in watching TV, he would sit for maybe five minutes at a time. Well, now he's a Pee-Wee addict. We have to have the show on all day. If we turn it off, we get a pitiful, overly dramatic Jayden crying up at the DVD player "Peeeeeweeeeee! Peeeeeweeeee" with real tears in his eyes. If you start singing the theme song, he'll join right in. If he's having a tantrum, and you just mention "Pee-Wee" he cheers right up and starts saying "Pee-Wee!" with his hands excitedly up to his mouth, while running into the living room. He's even starting to get the Tequila dance down. I just thought I'd share a bit of whats going on in our house right now. It's all Pee-Wee, all the time. And the sad part? I love it. I really do. I finally have an excuse to watch my Pee-Wee DVDs.