Things Are A'Hoppin' Around Here

Weekends? We don't have those these days. The days formerly known as weekends have become better known as yard-days to us. And as tiring as it is to go-go-go all seven days of the week, it feels SO good to see progress being made.

When we bought our house we had a vision, and though that vision has changed some, it's starting to come around. It's just taking a lot more elbow grease than we ever thought we had. In fact, we've enlisted the help of our family more often than we expected to. And for that we are SO grateful. There is no way with Little-Miss-Runs-A-Lot that we'd be able to get anything done without the extra hands to help pitch in! :)

So below you will see the progress that is being made...

THE FRONT YARD

We finally got the boxes in the front cleared out and leveled, ready for planting!




So we took a shopping break one morning to go load up the car with EVERY available inch filled with plants, dirt & bark! (the car was literally so full Sophia looked like she was riding in a Rain Forest!)

Plants in the front. They look so little!

Complete!

And Now...
THE BACK YARD

Taking out the bushes around the pond; What an undertaking! These things were matted in and tangled so bad...

Starting to frame out where the cement would be poured.

The Grandpa's Hard at work.
(Thank you both Grandpa's for all your work!)

Matthew supervising the Grandpas!
He is a perfectionist, you know!?!

Cutting boards on the most exciting Christmas gift a homeowner could get!

The pad for the shed, done!

Funny little corner (someday Sophia's toy storage area), done!


The sidewalk out to the shed pad, done!

A Special Thanks to Papa for all of his cement expertise! :) I know that Matthew will forever be grateful for the time and finishing that you put into the cement!

Leftover cement dumped into the pond...sorry to say there were a few left over fish. :( Matthew likes to say they gave them an Italian Mob Burial!

The back cement areas with curbing installed

The pond is gone...no going back now! It's amazing to me, even after a week, that there used to be a pond there, and now we have a mud puddle waiting to be seeded for grass...It seems so BIG!

And...all of these big projects just wouldn't be complete without some kind of injury in the making! On the day of the big cement work, I saw my phone lighting up with a phone call just after walking my kiddos to the cafeteria for lunch. When I saw that it was Matthew, I wondered what he could be calling about at 11:30 in the morning. Call it the "Mother's Intuition" that kicked in, but I had a feeling something was up.

And I was right. He tells me, "I'm on my way to urgent care." The first thing I am thinking is that he cut his finger off with the new chop saw he was so excited to finally use; Not because I think he's a clutz or doesn't know what he's doing, but I just know how it can get when you're preoccupied with a dozen other elements in a big project like this...But thankfully it was MUCH less scary than that. But my stomach still turned a little when he told me "I stepped on a nail." Yuck. (Aunt Char, Uncle Jim, Devin, Dan & Erin will remember the little stint I had one summer when I stepped on a nail at their place!) So, being that it had been 10+ years since he'd had a tetanus shot, that's where he was headed. So, the following are pictures of the "culprit" and the injury (Note our mini-Vanna White modeling the injury on the foot!)






So a few days of dealing with a sore arm from the shot, and an urgent care bill to follow, all is well!

***Many, Many Thanks to both of our Dads, Josh, Papa & Both of our Moms for helping in the yard, and helping with Sophia so we could both be in the yard! We really appreciate all your help!***