Marvelous Mailbox Makeover

Summer is just buzzin' by! And while we've both been busy bees with work, that hasn't stopped Mikey from getting out to do a few summer projects.

We live outside of town and share a main drive with two neighbors (and from the main drive we each have our own private drive.) Our three little mailboxes sit at the end of our curvy main drive and look a little...well...sad. 

Mikey and our neighbor Gilly decided it was time to spruce up the mailboxes. It was time for a mailbox makeover! Take a look...

Here is the "Before" picture. Mismatched mailboxes are sooo last season!

This is no mini-makeover...This is a "marvelous" makeover, which means a couple of shovels isn't gonna cut it. This calls for Gilly's tractor! (Mikey loves any excuse to use his tractor!)

Gilly and Mikey digging holes for the posts and mixing cement. Hmmm....this is turning into a lot of work for matching mailboxes!

The posts are in and they aren't moving anywhere!

And these aren't just any boring ol' wood posts...Mikey and Gilly were sure to pick pieces with lots of character!

Mikey searched and searched online for the perfect cedar mailboxes. This is Wisconsin after all! They are now lined up neatly and secured in place.

Aren't they cute?! I mean...aren't they "cool and rustic." (After all their hard work, I don't think they would appreciate me calling them "cute!")

They finished off the mailboxes by building a planter and adding some nice rocks and plants...Here is Mikey watering the plants!

Good thing Mikey has his handy water tank hooked up to his 4-wheeler for easy watering!

Ta-Da! The "After" picture!

I think the mailbox makeover was a success! Thank you Mikey and Gilly for all your hours of hard work to make our mailboxes look maaarvelous!

Kickin' Off Summer….and the Blog!

Whew! That was a looooong winter!

Although the blog was in “hibernation” mode this past winter, my Renaissance Man certainly was not. Mikey was super busy with a couple big business consulting and voice over projects. He served as our family CESP (Chief Executive Snow Plower...we had a TON of snow!) He's also been advising a couple friends with some cool new product inventions. But, the most exciting project Mikey has been working on is the movie script. (A few of you know about this one...it's been awhile in the making, but has been picking up some steam in recent months! Hopefully I can write more about this later...)

All these projects have been great, but they just didn’t offer me many fabulous photo ops for the blog. (I’m guessing Mikey really appreciated the break from the camera though!) And now that summer is "unofficially" here, it's time to get outside, snap some pictures, and update the blog! It's been a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend in NE Wisconsin and we've spent a lot of time outdoors planting new flowers, pulling weeds, and really enjoying and appreciating our beautiful land. 

Of course, I can't post a blog on Memorial Day without recognizing and thanking those who have served selflessly and courageously for our nation. Especially my Uncle John, who died for our country in Vietnam.

Thank you to all who have served, all who are serving, and all who will serve.

Here are a few pictures of our Memorial Day weekend…

We have so many wild flowers growing in our woods right now. 

My sweet Mikey picked me not one, but two bouquets of lilies! 

 

They're a little difficult to see in this picture, but here are some of the beautiful white, yellow, and purple wildflowers adorning the woods!

The woods are turning greener and greener every day!  

It’s not summer 'til we turn on the waterfalls!

 

I am anxiously waiting for all the flowers to bloom around the pond!

Weeds, weeds, and more weeds! But, we are getting them under control thanks to Mikey’s handy-dandy weed killer system. He hooked up a big tank of weed kill to his 4-wheeler, complete with a hose and wand. He can easily drive around the pond and flower beds and spray 'em away! Genius!

We've made plenty of time for some fun this weekend, too!

Here, Mikey dusted off his remote control boat and cruised around the pond...hopefully not disturbing the fishies too much!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend...and remember to pause and honor those who have served our nation. 

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored all rejoice together with it. 

-1 Corinthians 12:26

Michael’s Newest Landscape Art

Counting our blessings throughout the day is the surest way to put smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts!

 

 

One of our favorite blessings is this beautiful piece of land we live on. As an artist and landscaper, our backyard is basically one BIG blank canvas for my creative renaissance man. Michael has designed a pond with two waterfalls, paths that curve throughout the woods, and countless flowerbeds…just to name a few of his landscaping achievements. We often joke that he’ll never, ever, ever get bored outside because his “Future Outdoor Projects” list is about a mile long!

 

 

And this summer Michael has been busy working hard to check off some of those projects from his list. This is all in an effort to maximize the beauty of the land...and to show God how much we appreciate our little piece of peace in this fast-paced, crazy world!

 

 

Michael loves spending time outdoors playing with dirt…and rocks…and mulch…and wood…and tools. (And I just love that he’s a boy who’s not afraid to get his clothes dirty or his legs scraped up…even if that means I need to keep an abundant supply of stain remover and first aid supplies on hand...at all times!)

 

 

But, his favorite part about being outside is "talking with God and thanking Him for all of our blessings." (Those are Michael's words, not mine J).

 

 

One of Michael’s current projects is a three-tier flower planter. Check it out:

 

 

Michael posing by his three-tier flower planter.

Michael was inspired to design this flower planter because there is a tree stump under the top tier that was a bit of an eyesore. So, he loaded his 4-wheeler trailer with dirt and tools and went to work! He spread out the dirt and leveled it to create three tiers, placed rocks to define the tiers, and added mulch to each bed. Now, we just need to take a trip to the nursery to pick out some pretty flowers to plant in the tiers!


Michael endured a lot of backaches, sore arms, and tired legs with this particular project. It took a lot of strength to move those rocks around so much (because, of course, they had to be placed to perfection!) But, I think Michael will forget about the pain once this cool piece of landscape art is finished!

The flower planter sits to the right of the smaller waterfall that flows into the pond.

Oh, and how cool is this....Once Michael finished detailing the planters with rocks, he realized that the top tier formed a perfectly shaped heart!

The heart-shaped flower bed.

We don’t think the heart shape is a coincidence. We’re convinced God guided Michael’s hands to create that shape as a constant reminder that He is everywhere...and He loves us!

Whoever does not love does not know God,

because God is love.

 

-1 John 4:8

Mikey…the Landscaper (It's a Muddy Job!)

As a true renaissance man, Mikey has a lot of interests, and landscaping is one of them. When we moved into this house 5 years ago, Mikey had a specific vision of how he wanted the landscaping to look around the house and the pond. He consulted his collection of “landscaping” and “gardening” how-to books, drew out the detailed plans, and executed those plans beautifully.

Last weekend was our first nice weekend this Spring to get outside and do some yard clean up. (With so many trees, plants, and flower beds, there is a lot to clean up!) Mikey worked really hard all day…and stayed impressively, perhaps peculiarly, clean. Good job, Mikey!

Then, he poked his head inside and said he had “just one more thing to do” and would be in shortly. Well, about an hour later, he walks in covered with mud…literally from the top of his head to the tips of his toes! Oh Mikey...what happened?!

 

Mikey somewhat sheepishly explaining the traumatic incident...
and I'm trying to keep a straight face while marveling at all the mud! 

Oh, yes...Mikey even got mud in his cup!

Here's what happened...Mikey took the 4-wheeler for a trip through the woods and successfully crossed over the creek.

Then, he got stuck…in thick, heavy mud! Wheels were spinning and mud was flying. Fortunately for Mikey, he had some rope, tools, and a strong tree to create a winch and hoist the 4-wheeler out of the mud! After almost an hour of combat, Mikey won the battle with the mud. Whew!

Note to self: It’s time to stock up on stain remover for the summer!