This will be our first full year in our new house. We moved in last September and to be honest didn’t give much thought to the lawn or flower beds. We moved right before school started so were a little more worried about unpacking, organizing the house as much as possible and getting the kids settled and comfortable to kick off a new school year. The last thing on our minds was what the yard looked like. At the time we decided that we would hire someone to come in and mow the lawn so that it was presentable but not put much more effort than that until this year.

Well spring has sprung – at least that’s what the calendar says. One would think lawn and gardening prep would seem rather easy, at very least stress free!

One would be wrong.

First it was the “great shed hunt”. That was weeks of torture, searching, I of course meant searching to find the right one. Thankfully the shed, in all its magnificent shed-ness was delivered last week. Then it was time to find a lawn mower. Let’s just say my husband can never again make fun of me for the amount of time I spend shoe shopping and leave it at that.

We’ve decided what plants/trees we don’t like/want and have started pulling them. Flowers have been (mostly) decided upon and the veggie garden is coming into focus. The one beautiful Saturday we’ve had was spent doing a lot of outside work. Picked out and put down mulch (seriously with the amount of colors!?!), spread fertilizer, (started) weeding, etc.

Now if only Mother Nature would stop having a temper tantrum that would put any two year-old to shame, that’d be great. Would like to actually get outside to start working on the yard to make it match what we’re (currently) envisioning!

P.S. Since I can’t keep a cactus alive (I can stare at a plant and it starts to die) any tips for easy, no-fuss plants (that are SUPER drought resistant – I tend to forget to water…) would be VERY welcome (and greatly appreciated by my husband who will end up taking care of said plants). Bonus points for tips that include kid friendly ideas.