The Backyard Project

     This past winter I had been doing a lot of thinking about our back yard and what I would like to change and what we could do to make it look better.  So after doing a lot thinking I had this thought, so I said to Steve, " I have a great idea! Lets dig a large hole in our backyard and make the neighbors think we really are crazy!" NO!  that's not what I really said, but I think that is probably how Steve heard it because he was very hesitant and not really motivated to start this project.  Since Steve is such a smart, wonderful husband he knew I would keep pestering him until it was done so he reluctantly said okay and helped me plan out what we were doing.  

     I believe the neighbors thought we were putting in an in ground pool or maybe that we were just board and wanted to dig a hole in the yard.  What we were actually doing was digging out a large section of lawn that swing set and play structure sat on so we could fill it in with mulch and make it look nicer and be safer for the kids when they are playing.  The other reason for doing this is because the grass wasn't looking so good from the kids playing and the dog's doing there thing on every corner of the swing set.  It seem like a simple, fun, cheap project......I was wrong!  After 7+ of digging out sod and dirt I was second guessing the idea but you can't really go back.  Let me just say I have a great husband, he knew all along it wasn't going to be fun or easy that is why he was reluctant to start and he went along with me anyway.  We went to bed that night very tired and sore and woke up the next day feeling the same way. We put nice garden edging around to help keep all the mulch in.  After wrestling with that and hauling load after load of top soil and sod out of the hole it was ready for the land scape fabric and mulch but since it was now 8:30pm on Sunday night we ran out of time and realized that the back of our little Ford Explorer wasn't going to hold all the mulch we needed to fill the large hole, we decided to beg Steve's parents to come the next weekend with the truck to help.Thankfully they said YES.

     So now a week later we were ready to fill the the hole and be done.  We had a truck coming and a few extra hands perfect!  Not so much!!  Steve thought he would take a trip over to the city where we were going to get the mulch the next day, FOR FREE. You will never guess!  Yup, nothing, they were completely out of it.  So now we have the truck and no free mulch.  You see this project was going to be a very cheap one.  I got all the garden edging for free from various places, I had to buy spikes to put the edging in and the land scape fabric, staples  and that was it.  Unfortunately we were forced to spend $106.00 on the mulch that was suppose to be free.  

All I have to say is it looks great and was well worth the money and it smells great because it is cedar mulch.  It wouldn't look that good with the free stuff we were going to use.  I am just glad it is done and I think Steve still loves me??  My arms and back don't hurt anymore and we can now return our new lawn mower because we can just trim our back yard with scissors since there isn't much lawn left.

England Here I Come!

Well, it is official, I am going to ENGLAND!!!!!!! Yahooooo.. I am a little excited if you couldn't tell.  I will be going to see my sister, Marti, and her wonderful husband Steve and their six, supper, great, beautiful kids.   I will be going on the 13th of August and coming home on the 25th.  My mom and I will be traveling together so I am sure we will have a blast.

Honestly I am a little anxious about leaving my kid's and Steve for 12 days, but I have a lot of time to let it settle with me  and I am sure my August 13th I will feel better about it.  I am sure it will be hard to say goodbye at the airport but once I meet my Mom in Detroit I'm sure I will feel much better.

It will be good for the kid's to have some time with Daddy and Grandma, which we are so blessed to have help Steve throughout the 12 days.  

Rhubarb Streusel Bread

I just wanted to share a recipe with you all, if you enjoy rhubarb.  We have a few huge rhubarb plants in our garden and it is all ready to be eaten.  The kids love to go and pick it and just munch on it while playing.  A little to tart for me, but I do remember doing the same thing when I was a kid.  I found this recipe on the Land O Lakes web site, I ended up using butter flavored criso instead of the butter in the bread part because I didn't have enough butter to make the 4 loaves I wanted to.  Yes 4 loaves, I was in a baking mood this morning.  Who knows maybe you will be one of the lucky ones to get one of the 4 loaves??  I hope you enjoy it! 

A Solution To Our Problem ( We Hope)

The last few days have been very difficult with the girls.  To say it nicely to wasn't the best weekend or Mother's Day.  Lots of disobeying, arguing and the use of bad words.  Now when I say bad words I don't mean they are cursing but the constant use of words that are associated with things you do in the bathroom.  I don't understand These are girls!! they aren't suppose to talk like that.  For instance, here are some of the frequent words and name calling our girls use, which then gets repeated by Gray:  Poop-Head, Fart-Butt, Diarrhea-Head, Stupid, Idiot, Diaper-Head, Crack-head ( oh yeah she call me that one!)  and Dingle-Berry.  Just so you all know Steve and I don't go around talking like this so I don't know where they get it from.  So anyway Steve and I figures it is time this stops.  So this is what we came up with.  Each week the girls have the potential to earn $2.  We put $2 worth of nickles in a jar with their names on them.  Each time they say a dirty word or a mean word we take a nickel out and put it in "Mommies Jar"  So the likelihood of them getting the $2 a week is pretty slim, at least till they get use to it.  We will see how it works, we just hope they don't run out of nickels by mid-week. Haven already lost one this morning for calling me a butt head while I was combing her hair. She seemed very disappointed that she lost a nickel so I think this might work.  

By  the time the kids went to bed tonight Haven lost 12 nickels and Rylee 0.  You can see where the problem started.  There is something with kindergartners!  At one point tonight after Haven lost a nickel she told Steve that she "doesn't want to play this game anymore".   At dinner tonight Haven asked Steve, "if Mommy says a bad word does she put a nickel in my jar?"  I think there may be some confusion since there is a jar with my name on it.  This should all be interesting, I will keep you posted.

What We Have Been Up To

This past week was a very busy week for me as you can probably tell since I haven't blogged since the 1st of May.  Well this is what we have been up too.  To start, I ended up having one of the kids that I watch Mon-Fri from 6am-5:30pm. instead of the Tues/Wed schedule that I usually have, plus the other 2 kids I had at different times throughout the week.  It  just made for a crazy week and limited schedule.  On Thursday the 7th was my Birthday.  Steve made me a delicious dinner with my favorite wine. Throughout the week I got lots of yard work/gardening done while kids were napping or playing .  I got some new plants from Steve's mom the weekend before so I had to get my flower beds ready so I could put them in before they got too wilty   We cut down two big ugly cedar trees that were on each side of our house and planted a hydrangea and type of peony shrub?? in place of the overgrown trees.

Saturday morning we woke the kids bright and early to go downtown because Steve was running in the Soleburner.  Unfortunately it wasn't the the sunny 70 degree weather that we had, had on Friday.  Instead it was rainy and in the 40's.  Steve enjoyed the run and the kids like to watch Daddy go through the finish line.  After the race we walked to Starbucks and got hot coco and coffee and then hit a few garage sales and the greenhouse to get a some plants.  On Sunday Steve made lunch and we worked outside in the yard, made a trip to Menard's and stopped at Culver's on the way home for dinner.  I am very ready to start a new week and hope to enjoy it a little more than last week.

    

                                                    

  Laura enjoying her Birthday dinner.

                                                                Steve before his race

Steve after his race

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Starbucks after the race

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Rylee and Kenai snuggling Sunday Morning.

     

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!

We hope you have a great 9th birthday.  We miss you guys so much and wish we could be there to celebrate your big day.  Enjoy the video!

Oh by the way, the part about the "chicken" I didn't know the camera was still recording and we had our chicken cooking on the grill.  :)