LOL memo - I have a SERIOUS before picture available! Soon as I can I will go get new pics and post em up... Basically this is how we got the place. Construction unfinished and front is a parking spot and turn around for all the neighbors - not something I was too thrilled about - which was the main reason for throwing the garden in ASAP. That's my littlest baby boy smiling at you, he's a cheeseball to the extreme. The grey roof to the right is one of our neighbors. Very nice people, with a couple of very cool dogs, a chain link fence seperates us. Those two white posts with the wierd green at the bottom now have clematis on them since it was the only way I could think of to hide them! The old shower and the doors are gone. The two arched windows in the patio roof are history. Gosh this was almost a year ago! VERY VERY "BEFORE." Here's the area I'm starting to work on now, around the side of the house. It will be divided in two - a woodland garden with pond and play area for kids (will occupy the from somewhere off the left of the pic to about level with the basement door), and another area (everything to the right)that has a fairy village/garden and a butterfly/hummingbird garden, and a large lawn and patio for entertaining. That purple leaf plum was planted within a few months of signing papers - it was my way of staking my claim to the property. Nothing was growing there and I decided that HAD to change immediately. It has since been moved and replaced with a redbud and numerous tulips.

In the 19th Century they used to be called, "Sweet Violets". Long before roses became exploited as a money maker, Sweet Violets were the favourite flower to give to a sweetheart or someone you loved. Sweet Violets and Forget-Me-Nots were given on Valentines Day to sweethearts, Mothers and Grandmothers, Aunts and beloved school teachers. Beautiful violet "papers" were a treasure. I have three colors growing in my yard and i am trying to get them to take over my lawn. They can be "crystalized" (sugar coated) and used on cupcakes, cookies, and cakes as beautiful edible decorations. They are very high in Vitamin C and contain Vitamin A. They add an elegant touch to a tea party to float them in hot tea or freeze them in water in ice cubes trays for champaigne or punch. Freeze them in a bundt pan either alone or with other edible flowers, for an ice ring in a punch bowl. Here is a recipe for Crystalized Sweet Violets: Crystallized Sweet Violets Fresh, perfect violet-- flowers 1 Egg white White superfine granulated-- sugar Gather violet flowers. Rinse them carefully, pat dry and place on paper towels. Beat egg white until frothy but not stiff. Dip each flower in egg white and shake gently to remove excess. Sprinkle with sugar all over the flower, coating the back as well as the front. Place on a shallow tray lined with waxed paper. Dry in the refrigerator for one to two days. Store for as long as a month in airtight containers layered with waxed paper and placed in a cool, dry location. Use to garnish cakes, ice cream, fruit salads, pies, and so on. ~Annie

"Their BF was no more than a caregiver for them while I finished my degrees. After that I felt that he could not do enough for us,so I divorced him and told him to move on. It took him a while to get over it, and he turned from a nice gullible man to a crazy nut. " You know i was going to defend you for your household but after reading more carefully i fully understand now why people are so pist off at you. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS LINE I JUST READ. So you basically used this man, your ex, while you finished your degrees and then tossed him! WOW> You are a lowlife troll. I dont care if you pregnant. GOOD for you to marry a rich person. BUt HECK, for a moral perspective, your a leach. Hope your current husband made you sign a prenup to prevent you from dumping him and taking half his business. Yes, you provide for your kids. But they will hate you when they get older when they truly realize why you left their BF. ANd yes, they will have low self esteem while their stepfather caudles their new brother. So he didn't give any money to your kids. He still was a stayat home father while your got your degrees. You would be nothing right now, with no degrees if it weren't for him! If you didn't think your ex was worth anything then why did you have kids in the first place with him.? Why didn't you just use birth control , get on with your studies, and get married to a rich person in the first place????? oh and degrees mean nothing. I have a friend who dropped out in high school..he's a billionaire! and he still hates school...lol... You said it, your ex turned from a gullable man to a crazy nut. YOU USED A GULLABLE PERSON TO MEET YOUR ENDS , TOSSED HIM AND MADE HIM CRAZY. Who's the bad person here???? Take a good look at yourself! you know what? dont cry wolf. you made your bed, now ly in it! Don't complain that your new husband is a terrible stepparent. He is not terrible. You are a terrible person for dumping your ex the way you did and now you are complaining your rich husband doesn't look at your other kids the same way? WHY SHOULD HE?

From what my BF has said, and from what I have observed, A__'s mom usually wants what's best for him... But sometimes what's best for him has to be pointed out to her. His basic needs are always met and he's well cared for, but I've noticed that she sometimes confuses "What's best for him" with "What she wants"... An example: A few weeks ago, she had some plans several evenings in a row (I think one was work and two were social) and devised a bizarre and elaborate A__ care schedule where he was at three places each day (Mom's, Dad's, Papa's, Grandma's)... The reasons for the elaborate swapping scheme included things like that she wanted J__ to change her car battery in the parking lot during A__'s soccer game (so he should pick A__ up from school and take him to soccer), but J__ was on call that night, so couldn't keep A__ for the overnight (so he should sleep at Papa's) Grandma (BM's mom) pointed out that this was a lot of traveling for A__ and perhaps it would be better to change to just one change each day, so whoever picks him up from school is where he stays that night. Once someone pointed out that this was going to make for a tired and cranky A__ with little consistency to his week, she said ok and went with the revised plan... So she DOES want what's best for him, she just seems to think that "what's best for A__" = "what's easiest for her"... So J__ might have to point out that it's good that A__ and are getting pretty tight, but I think she'll be more-or-less OK with it if he does (he had to point out that it was important for A__ to spend time with Papa, and then she came around to the idea, so I'm banking on that. As BM problems go, I have it pretty easy! No drug addictions, no taking J__ to court all the time, no not feeding A__ because she had no dishes... Just some immaturity and occasional crabbiness - nothing I can't live with.