Dirt Work

Since moving into the house we have wanted to do some clearing and make the woods in our adjacent lot into a fun place for the kids to play. This week we were able to get that started. Here is the view from the front now.

A path now lets the kids get into the woods and play.


There is now a path into the woods from the backyard as well.

The kids are looking forward to lots of time in the woods and are already planning to do some more clearing by hand to be able to play in a creek on the back side of the property.

This dirt had to be dumped in the front yard, but....


it goes here in the corner we cleared in the backyard. That is whenever a tractor that won't sink into the soft yard is available! Yes, I am worried we will have to do it by hand!

When our yard was first put in we had an area sink, now that is filled in and seeded!


It was exciting to see all the work get started and we are looking forward to getting the grading finished, seeded (although this may have to wait until Spring), and a few new trees planted. We still miss our "park like yard" in Martin, but gradually we hope to make this property enjoyable for our family as well.

He is doing it!!

Carter is trying to stop sucking his thumb. The dentist said it had to go and so did our pediatrician so this week we planned to work on this together. However, last Friday he was packing to spend the night with Papa and Nana and decided he would leave "blankie" at home and try not to suck his thumb. He made it through the night and when he came home on Saturday I had new sheets for his bed and blankie was gone. He has only had one relapse so far and is doing really well. He wakes up at 5 am, so we are a little tired here, but hopefully once he adjusts to the change his sleeping patterns will go back to normal. We tried to make things as stress free as we could for him. His Papa gave him a bear to snuggle, Matthew and I picked him out some cool transformer sheets for his bed, and today the "Thumbuster" arrived (see above). He now has all the tools and we hope he will be "thumb free" in a few weeks.

The pancake eating machine

We had pancakes for dinner this week. Carter informed me he was the pancake eating machine. They all really love pancakes so I always make enough for a few days breakfasts. I was ready to be done cooking them up so I poured the last of the batter on the griddle making one giant pancake. I put it on the "pancake eating machine's" plate the next morning. He was thrilled.

Laurel and her big yellow cast

On Saturday Laurel took a hard hit in soccer. We are blessed to have a good friend who is an orthopedic surgeon and he saw her this morning. We decided it would be best to put her in a cast for 2 1/2 weeks to protect her arm and let it heal. This afternoon we all took turns autographing her cast. Here are some photos:

Times have changed

So here was the math problem this morning: A watch and a calculator cost the man $212. The watch cost $144. How much was the calculator? Which cost more? How much more? Matthew read the problem and then asked "Why does anyone need a watch?" I said, "To tell time when they are away from a clock." He replied "But everyone has a phone." I am old.

Food stealer's consequences

Our food stealer has been doing better, but today he fell victim to temptation and drank a drink I had left out in our room. Unfortunately I have been a little under the weather and he may suffer the consequences of his own actions. Lately he has taken to pointing out the opportunities to misbehave, but not always choosing to seize those opportunities. Apparently Papa and Nana's house is perfect for food stealing, but he is choosing not to do it. I'll take any improvement I can get.
The kids had a fun weekend. Since my parents moved into their new house and are getting things settled the kids were able to take turns spending the night. They thought it was really fun and are all ready to do it again. It was strange to us to only have some of the children at home. Last night Tim was even waiting on the boys to do their nighttime reading when he realized they weren't here. Matthew thought it was really cool when he and Tim "bumped into" Nana and Papa in Wal-mart earlier this week. Hopefully they will remember the times they wished they were closer and continue to appreciate having them here.

Soccer

It was hot. We watched three games, sweated a ton, came home exhausted, and the kids had a blast. Yeah, soccer season is just what I remember. Here are some first game pics: