Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone is having a very great Mother's Day! McGee just left to go over to his parents' house for an early dinner, but I'm not joining him because I caught a nasty case of Poison Ivy. It is not very fun... And I wasn't able to sleep much at all last night. Plus, it looks really gross, so I worry that I'd make his family lose their appetites :-(  The worst day of it was yesterday though, and I wasn't planning on going to the doctor or anything for it because my insurance SUCKS so I just didn't want to deal with a large bill right now. But it was definitely getting worse and worse as the day was going on, and while McGee and I were out running errands he kept looking at me (it was pretty bad on my cheeks, chin, and neck), and then he said, "Do you think maybe we should get you to a clinic or something?" and I was feeling pretty miserable, so I was like, "Yeah, that sounds good". And luckily we found a CVS right near us that has one of those Walk-In Minute Clinics, and the Nurse Practitioner there said I had a really bad case of Poison Ivy, so she put me on a heavy-duty steroid regimen that tapers down over 2 weeks. I had to take 6 pills yesterday and 6 pills again today, and I'm happy to say that I'm noticing an improvement today. One of my arms is still REALLY bad (it looks awful and gross... so I've been wearing long sleeves even though it's high 80s and really humid today), but my face and neck are doing a bit better. Last night they were soooo itchy though, so i couldn't really sleep (even though I'd taken 2 Benadryls and had lathered up in hydrocortisone cream). I've pretty much been awake since 3am this morning... so... it feels way later than 5pm right now.

BUT, enough of my complaining about stupid Poison Ivy. I decided I'd take some pictures of our yard now that we have a bunch of flowers and leaves! That will be a nice pretty post that seems fitting for Mother's Day.

Here's a bush with beautiful flowers that's right by our front steps. I have no idea what it's called, but it has some really bright fuchsia flowers! 

And here's a white bush (that seems like a different type than the fuchsia bushes), and another fuchsia one that isn't quite as healthy and full as the one by the front door. 

Here's a picture from our driveway of that same area. You can also see our plum tree, and the HUGE tree that is next to our house (that's the one we were concerned about before we bought our house, but the arborist said it's quite healthy and we just need to have it trimmed every few years). 

This is a picture from our driveway of the other side of our yard (you can see part of my car!). This side is just straight-up forest area, but it's awesome because it really blocks us from the road now that the leaves are in.

This is the back of our house. There are a bunch of bushes that seem like the same type as the fuchsia bushes in the front yard, but these are mostly red flowered bushes, with one bush that has light pink flowers. And you can see our screened room (that's behind the pink flowered bush)

This is a view to the left of the screened room (you can still see the pink flowers). There are some more tall trees that give us a bit of privacy from our neighbors, and you can see the retaining wall that will eventually have our BBQ grill and some nice chairs for lounging.

This is a view if you were standing on that retaining wall near our grill. You can see some more of our big trees, and you can see that they pretty much block the road. When the leaves are gone though (Fall and Winter) you can see all the way to Valley Forge National Park! 

And this is the view from our Master Bathroom window! I have no idea what kind of tree has those pretty white flowers, but I think it's quite a nice view. 

That's our yard! I tried to get all angles for you so you could really see the whole yard. And I apologize for my lack of knowledge about flowers and plants! I'll learn eventually I think. Our daffodils on the side yard have stopped blooming (they're my favorite type of flower, but they never bloom for very long!), and my marigolds that I planted are still alive and doing well. The white and purple flowers I planted (in the planter boxes) have pretty much committed suicide, but I'm still trying to save them. 

I hope you're all having a great day!