Thankful on a Thursday: backyard blooms

I am the opposite of a "green thumb"...whatever that is (black thumb?). I cannot keep simple house plants alive, like a lovely winter cactus I had taken home from my great-grandmother's home to remind me of her after she passed. You think that I'd be able to keep it alive because 1. it had sentimental value and 2. it's a cactus, but somehow it still died.

Outdoor plants do much better around me, only because nature takes better care of them than I ever could. This goes for weeds + moss too which have taken root in our grass. Although, in our defense, our grass was messed up before we bought the place (yet we didn't know because it was overgrown, disguising the dead leaves that had killed patches of grass).  I digress.

We gained a LOT of foliage when we moved her last spring. It was so fun to watch things bloom and try to figure out what they were. We have two very large maple trees (a PAIN in the fall) and a dozen smaller flowering trees. One is a plum and one we suspect is an apple that no longer bears fruit. We also have a lot of flowers; tulips, hyacinths, many different colored roses, mini roses, petunias, a butterfly bush, wisteria,  a rhody and a few others I don't know much about.

For our housewarming one of Ben's aunts gave us some lovely yellow daffodils and lilies. We set the pots outside with every intention to plant them. Eventually it was "out of site, out of mind" and then when Ben was mowing the lawn last week he mentioned that the daffodils were growing. I missed getting a photo of them while they were still blossoming, but it cracks me up that nature did a better job taking care of these plants than I could.

{I mean...really?}

Here are some other, prettier, things that have begun to bloom and blossom in our yard recently.

{purple buds that turn into very pretty blossoms. anybody know what this is?}

{this one reminds me of cherry blossoms, but I know it's not. maybe?}

{pink + white tulips that did not bloom last year}

{our wisteria is running out of room to grow. We may move it soon}

{these poor strawberries are being strangled by weeds}

Perhaps some day I'll find enough time, motivation, and know-how to make things look a little better. For now I'm content looking at how pretty the flowers look without any effort on my behalf.

This week I am thankful for:

601. the lovely plants + flowers that defy the odds and bloom anyhow.

602. a week full of gathering with friends just for the sake of socializing and catching up.

603. God's promise of provision.

604. Ben's promotion at work! woohoo!

605. a close knit family.

606. meeting new people and making new friends through my church/job.

607. sweet little movements in my belly increasing every day.

608. the way my husband makes me laugh.

609. the joy of putting together Kai's Easter basket, including his first Bible.

610. lunch out with my mom + sister today, even if Malakai maybe might have been a cranky, screaming, thrashing, mess.

What are you thankful for?