Spring Break Project

Ok, it’s spring break so naturally, I decided to bite off more than I can chew and grade the backyard with a shovel and the labor of two young children.  A neighborhood child taunted Zach and Julia last week with ‘your backyard is boring’.  So, I’m ashamed to say, that it lit a fire under me to defend my children’s worth in the eyes of the other 6 and 7 year olds on our street.  When our house was built 15+ years ago, the builder decided against hauling all the trees they cut down away and instead buried them in our backyard.  So, we have this huge hill that is death to all blades of grass.  That, with the fact that we were otherwise occupied when seeding was optimal means our backyard looks like tumbleweeds should be blowing down the barren wasteland and a shoot out between cowboys will occur at any moment.

So, I came up with the idea of building a small retaining wall into the hill and leveling the ground out a little bit so hopefully a new swing set can be put up and eventually a shed be built both on flat land.  Problem is, I’m cheap and don’t want to rent a CAT to grade the area so the kids and I started digging on Monday.  Strangely, they are enjoying the work.  I feel like we are getting nowhere fast especially since I can only work about 1 1/2 hour a day and still fit in everything else.  Hopefully, at the end of the week we’ll have a trench dug that still will not impress the neighborhood kids but at least it’s a start.  Also, if anyone out there has a playset in good shape that they want to get rid of, let us know.  Seems like that keeps getting put on hold more and more. 

Yes, we put our kiddie pool up (actually, it’s been up for a few weeks). And, yes, I put Natalie’s feet in it.  She actually did seem to enjoy it but we made sure she didn’t get too wet because it is cold water.  Zach and Julia have been in the pool a lot lately making up stories for all their Playmobil people in boats.  For some reason, today’s story involved all the pop beads in the house.  I woke up to the sound of the screen porch door slamming, little feet running across the deck and then voices discussing whether the beads sunk or floated.  Ahhh, the things that kids can entertain themselves with!

Also, Natalie is smiling A LOT.  What a huge blessing!  Awful how much I depend on even the smallest person’s opinion of me.  :)

Amy