Weekend Updates

The past two weekends have been pretty exciting around the Falbo household. The first weekend in May brought Mom, Dad and Amy to our house so Dad and Joe could do some work while the ladies bummed around.

The boys cut down the icky pear tree in the backyard and then replaced some pipes and the spicket to the hose outside (is that what it's called??). Oh, and put in a new wash tub in the basement. I know - super exciting.

Us ladies ended up driving all over the cities to run errands and shop. It was a lot more exciting than what the guys were up too. We finished the evening at the 5-8 and then vegged on the couch watching a movie - or should I say mom and I watched while Joe, Dad and Amy all snored away.

Mom, Dad and Amy left early Sunday and Joe went to work which left me alone so I decided to weed the flower beds - silly I know.

This past weekend Joe and I headed to Babies R Us on Friday to start registering for the baby. I'm pretty sure we were there for about 2 hours - it was fun but overwhelming. Sunday brought more yard work and Joe ended up cutting down the two other trees that he and dad didn't get too the weekend before. I was a little nervous with him cutting the tree by the driveway down but Joe did a great job. I haven't taken pictures of the "after" yet (or the big brush pile) but that is on my agenda for tomorrow when the rain goes away (hopefully).

This weekend is Woodbury garage sale weekend. Joe and I both took off work this Friday to hunt down good deals for the baby. Keep your fingers crossed that we find some good deals!!

And we're done

With yard projects for the rest of this year.

Thursday was Joe's birthday and he took yesterday off. We spent the morning cleaning and finishing the back patio. Last night it finally cooled off some so we sat outside and had a beer and enjoyed our new patio.

Before:

After:

Does it ever end?

Last weekend Joe and I finally decided to tackle the other side of our front yard so it matches the other side.

I was thrilled to have help this year and Joe actually started Friday when he got home from work. I had borrowed "the claw" from a friend last year and Joe used that to start. However, by Saturday morning, Joe had rented a tiller which made life oh so much easier.

Not only did we "rip up" the front yard, we also ripped up some of the backyard. When we bought the house 2 years ago (I can't believe it has been 2 years!!) there was a kennel in the back that we haven't done anything with. We've debated about what to do with that area and finally decided to rip it up and lay rock (similar to mom and dad's backyard). However, that is still a work in progress.

Here are some before pictures:

Front yard before

Front yard before

Old kennel area

Kennel area minus the super heavy brick

Joe and Tony working hard

After

Yes, this is still what that area looks like. We wanted to get the front accomplished and this will be our next project. Right now it is covered with tarp and has now turned into a little swimming pool because we finally got rain. Now for the "after" shots of the front yard!!

View from front door

View from sidewalk

After lots of bags of mulch, rock, more mulch and more rock we finally finished around 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. We were both ready to do nothing and nothing is what we did for the rest of the night. I woke up Sunday, surprisingly, not as sore as I thought which meant I must have spent more time supervising this year.

Anyway, Joe and I love our front yard now, although he does have to grow some grass along the rock. Hopefully if it stops raining, we'll be able to tackle the back this weekend and then no more yard projects until next year.

Hostas - the new weed?

Seriously? Can they get any bigger? I actually dug out this one because it was so huge and I had to jump on the shovel to split it. It split into 5 or 6 hostas, I don't remember exactly. I dug up two more and figured I save the front ones for next year.

This one is coming out next year!!

The other thing I don't like about gardening is how quickly they die. This is a beautiful iris and they looked so nice for about a week. Then rain came and they're all dead.

Thankfully, this little pot always has flowers in bloom and I love it. If I didn't have to plant them every year, I would have a whole yard full of flowers like the ones below:

This past weekend...

Was probably the busiest since Todd and Anna's wedding in September. To start things off, it was Aunt Mary's birthday on Thursday!! Happy belated birthday!! Love you!

Joe had off on Friday so he did some work tearing down and building shelves for the garage. He also patched some of the foundation where there were big cracks and water was leaking in.

I came home from work and decided to make meatballs for spaghetti. Normally I just make a meat sauce but something made me go through the work of meatballs. It was actually quite therapeutic and they were very tasty.

Saturday morning I cleaned while Joe napped and then went to my friend Abby's jewelry party that she booked from my party! I got to see their house which is adorable and hang out with some friends. Then it was back home by 5 to go to dinner and then the Chris Cornell concert at the Myth in Maplewood.

None of Joe's other friends wanted to go so he decided to take me. April had seen Chris perform a while ago in Vegas at the Hard Rock and said he put on a great show. Well, he put on another great show Saturday night and it was nice to have a "date" with my hubby.

Sunday I cooked and baked and Joe actually made a pork roast! I swung past Anna's in the afternoon to do a jewelry drop and then met Carrie at Caribou (nice little tongue twister) for a jewelry/beauticontrol swap. Carrie just started as a BeautiControl consultant so I am having a pampering party on May 8th. If you're free, come on over - it starts at 7 pm. I love, love, love their products and can't say enough good things about them. I just hope that none of my other friends start selling anything for a while. I need a break!

Here is Carrie's website in case you want to order, and if you want to book or throw your own party, let me know and I'll give you her contact info as well.

Also, the best news of the weekend - the garage no longer leaks (it rained on Sunday)!! The roof didn't leak and neither did the foundation! Way to go honey!!!

Joe is AMAZING

We had this super old heater in our garage - I should actually say ancient - and it hasn't been turned on in like 20 years. Joe called Thursday night and asked if I would help him take it out on Saturday. Well, my first thought was, dear Lord - the garage is going to blow.

I now have a new found respect and admiration for my husband. He got the heater out, and he and the heater are all still in one piece. The piece of wood that the heater was on was rotted so Joe got a new piece and made himself a little work space while pulled up a chair in the garage, had a beer and watched. Well, I didn't watch the whole time, I did help a little - he let me cut a piece of wood with the miter saw and hammer in a nail (hammering in not my strength). Anyway - Joe is becoming quite the carpenter and it looks great.

A big ol' nasty heater used to be in that spot

Joe and his work space

This morning I added some solar lights to the front yard (ones that I bought last year and never did anything with) and I can't wait until tonight to see how they look. I also looked at the flower pot I had planted about a month ago and I can't believe how the flowers have mulitiplied. I guess I do take after my mom's green thumb after all.

Flowers that I planted on 6.28.08

Flowers as of last night (7.19/08)