I have to admit that I do not have a green thumb and half the time I forget to water things so you could say I am "garden challenged":)  Unlike my neighbor who knows ALL the names of plants and flowers in LATIN, I can't even remember the names of what I planted in English!

But, I must say since my 2 oldest cupcakes are currently taking a homeschool Junior Master Gardener class for 2 hours a week at a local arboretum, I have been more interested in overcoming my challenges because of their enthusiasm and interest.

So in our backyard we replanted our flower garden during our spring break from homeschooling last week. The original flower garden looked like this.  The big butterfly bush in the center of our small flower garden should bloom soon during the summer. (My neighbor told me this AND the Latin name for it)


Here's an up close picture of the Camelot Rose Foxglove ("Digitalis purpurea 'Camelot rose') that my daughter picked out to plant that is on the far left of the above photo.

We planted these Feather flowers in containers by our front porch steps.  My cupcakes call them Easter egg flowers since they reminded them of the shape of eggs.

We bought some hanging baskets to hang on some stands around our yard.

I also went to the Dollar Tree and picked up some cute garden decorations.

My in-laws started a vegetable garden and my cupcakes and I helped plant their garden a few weeks ago. 

Here are my cupcakes with my father-in-law as he dug the holes for the tomato plants.

Here's my oldest daughter planting collards.

Row of radishes and cucumbers

I am on the right helping 2 of my daughters plant. What fun!

Here is my son and youngest daughter planting more collards.

We planted peppers, radishes, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, collards, and blueberries and next month I hope to give you an update on my in-laws garden with the Garden Challenge Link Up in May!

Then after we helped plant the vegetable garden, we headed across the street to my in-laws neighbor.  He has lots of land and some furry and feathered friends on his property.

I've never seen or touched a baby donkey before, but this little fellow came right up to the fence for us to pet. 

Here I am with my 4 cupcakes petting our furry friend.

After we saw the baby donkey we checked out the chicken coop and each of my children were able to hold a chicken.

Our family would love to raise our own chickens since their eggs are so delicious.  Does anyone have any resources to share on how to get started with raising chickens?

 The same daughter took some Easter candy, Laffy Taffy, and made a flower garden out of the candy.  She worked on this by softening the different colors in the microwave and forming it into flowers.  She even took the picture and asked, "Mom, can you put this on your blog?"  :) 

Here they are gluing the jewels on the crown.

Another tradition we do at the beginning of Lent (forgot to post this during Lent) is burn last year's palms, which by the way is the only proper way to dispose of blessed palms.  Then we put the ashes in a small pot with soil. 

Then a week before Easter Sunday, we plant rye grass seeds in the pot.

Please join Lynda, Anna-Marie, and myself at No Ordinary Blog Hop (NOBH).  Click button below for details and to read some great blog posts that have already linked up!

Last year on Easter Sunday, 2010

Happy and Blessed Easter from our family to yours!

You can refer to my Palm Sunday post that I wrote at the beginning of Holy Week to find more links to the Triduum and Good Friday.

 My 10 year old loved painting her egg lavender.

My 6 year old using a Q-tip swab to draw lines on her red painted egg.

Here are some of the completed eggs.

Please join Lynda, Anna-Marie and myself for April's No Ordinary Blog Hop (NOBH). You can link up any or all your posts for the entire month of April. The blogger with the most posts will be awarded a Star Blogger Award!  Click below for details!