Yeah, but, flowers though...

I did warn you in my last post that I have new flowers blooming every day.  I love taking pictures of them too, it's almost therapeutic in a way.  I've been enjoying spending time on the porch, reading and watching the kids play.  I only got two hanging baskets this year because of the tomato buckets, but I think they are really pretty.  The vine part of this one has already grown noticeably so I expect it will be trailing very prettily by fall :)

This one doesn't have anything trailing but it's right above one of our porch chairs so it wouldn't have been practical anyway.

aww, who's this adorable little girl?!

notice her one dimple?

and I put out the hummingbird feeder a few weeks ago.  The other day Chase and I were sitting on the porch reading and I actually saw a hummingbird there... for maybe .02 seconds, but STILL, it was exciting :)

my potted strawberries are filling out and growing very nicely already, I think we might actually get strawberries this year too!

It may look like I need to weed my front flower bed but these little things are actually Poppies!  Ricky's Aunt Darla had given me some seeds last year that I sprinkled in a few places and I'm pretty excited to see the poppies popping up : P

of course, there probably would be some more by now if I hadn't kept pulling them thinking they were weeds.  I finally went over to Darla's the other night to look at her poppies and verify that these were in fact them (and I should stop pulling them).
I keep telling people about these flowers too.  Aubrieta, or Rock Cress.  I'm in love with these adorably dainty little flowers.  They are evergreen and stay green all through the winter and have a very long bloom time too!

and I'm loving the bright purple Asters right now as well, even though they're "not supposed" to be blooming : P

who knew purple and orange would look good together, huh?

This coreopsis is gorgeous.  I got a deal on a canvas from living social and got one of my coreopsis pictures on it.  I can't wait for it to come.  I really hope it turns out like I'm imagining!

My purple Iberis is finally starting to bloom too, way behind the white for some reason, which is still blooming and looking gorgeous too.

I got these chives last year strictly for the flowers.  I wanted a plant with flowers that looked like the "Horton Hears a Who" flower and these are the best I could come up with.

I actually really like the flowers and I actually did use the chives in a dish last year : P

Joanna has discovered she likes to climb trees...

(Katy wishes she could too)
my other pretty girl...

my dianthus has really started blooming profusely. 

pay no attention to all the grass clippings in my flower bed.

I don't know why but I can't stop laughing at the stamens of these blooms... It looks like they are waving at you or something.

the geranium out back finally has more than one bloom on it...

the foxgloves:

I'm sure you'll get some more pictures of these as the season goes on : P

The Nierembergia that I planted back there for my annuals are doing really well and spreading out some as well.

and my Hydrangea bushes are threatening to bloom this year!

I still need to plant the Dahlia plant that my Mom had gotten me for Mother's day but right now it is beautifying our patio table:

here's a better picture of the clematis vine to show how well it has filled out this year... See all those buds!  It's going to be loaded with blooms soon :)

Chase finished his last lesson for 1st grade math this morning!! Yay!!

He's a little bit excited, haha!

I decided we're going to be doing one math worksheet a day throughout the summer and also continue with reading lessons.  He's been doing well with reading and becoming more confident.  Lately I've been having him just read me a story for his lesson.

It's slow going still but he's getting there!
and now [drumroll] for some crappy cell phone pictures!...
My poor sad weigela bush is blooming.

sad, right?

I hacked it like crazy a couple years ago, thankfully it is still alive, hopefully it will continue to grow and get big and pretty again.
My sister Christy helped me discover that this is a Kousa Dogwood tree:

  Originally native to Korea, Japan and china, it has no serious disease or insect problems in the United States. Kousa Dogwood blooms later than the native Dogwood and their blooms attract bees and butterflies. The Kousa Dogwood also has fruit that attracts birds and squirrels. Believe it or not, the fruit is edible to people.

those green things in the middle of the flowers turn red and the birds just love them... I think I might try one this year too, just to see what they taste like : P
that wild geranium I posted about a few weeks ago has a lot of tiny pink blooms on it now.

 oh and here's Katy getting some puppy therapy...