French Drain Documented

This is a project that M took upon himself to improve the yard. When it rained this one side of our lawn would puddle up with water for a long time. He thought that a French Drain system would be helpful and it is!! It works like a charm. No more puddles and that means no more breading grounds for mosquitoes! H invited his coworker over to help - what a good friend. It just so happened to be one of the most hot and humid days when M decided to do this project. He wanted to make sure that it could get all done by that evening too. So he asked me to help start digging the night before - - at 9:00 p.m.! I was in my pj's and flip flops. The ground is like a wet suction cup with every step and the bugs were out and about. My job was to hold the light while he dug out the sod. Now I knew M was strong, but not this strong. He was pulling these huge clumps of sod that are completely filled with water. He is standing in the trench full of water heaving out the monstrous loads, bugs are swarming him (and me because I am holding the light!), and he says "Isn't this fun?!". What a guy. After a little while I am really noticing the bugs all over me and am asking M every few minutes why we can't do this in the morning. I am then given the job to shovel the sod out so he can pick it up. Now I am shaking because this wet land smells like sewage and the bugs are eating my alive. I also notice that every time M lifts up the sod an army of huge spiders come running towards me!! If any of you know me then you know how I felt about this. I was beside myself. I must have been in shock because I didn't think of going to change my clothes so they wouldn't be running over my toes and up my legs .\dfkla;kdhf lksjfhg. Oo that gave me the shivers just writing about it. Lets move on.

M's friend came the next day and his wife and family came too. We swam at the pool next door while the boys worked hard to finish the job. I made sure they had drinks, but you could tell that they were delirious from heat, exhaustion, and dehydration. They were moving very slow by the end of the project. You can tell in the pictures. Luckily they got to come swim afterwards. We have such nice neighbors. Wow, this story turned into a long one. I hope you enjoy the pictures. . .




Our great neighbors.
M's coworker and wife

Before we cut the ground

This shows the three stages of the system. Ground, rocks, hose, rocks, sod on top.

Almost finished!

Last clump of sod to roll over!!

Camping

About a month ago we went camping with some friends. It was perfect weather. We can't go anymore because it is too hot. We had fun camping again. It has been a long time since we have camped. C loved the freedom to roam and she needed it. So many rules back home. She found joy in holding a stick and looking at bugs and just running around. J was a good boy. We brought a box for him to sleep in because we didn't have a pack n' play yet. I worked fine but he ended up sleeping in his car seat inside the tent. M made a great fire and cooked up some famous rice and chicken (Jamaican style). We stayed up too late talking and we went on a little walk in the morning. Nothing like a Utah camping trip, but hey, it is as close as we can get.

Army Crawl

I just wanted to document that today J is officially army crawling. He has learned so fast. C can't protect her toys anymore and I've got to baby proof the house again. I need a walker!

April Happenings

Since I missed out on Aprils blogs, I will go through our activities with pictures . . .

M had a happy birthday -- the big 26!!
He doesn't like cake so I made him a pie.

Easter was fun this year C loves egg hunting. We practiced at home before going to the community egg hunt. It was a made house so we missed her age group. We just let her go with the older kids since she was turning 3 soon anyway.

She liked to watch everyone else run around like animals - grabbing and pushing. It was amazing to see all of the parents in the hunt with their kids. Making sure that they get more eggs than the other kids.

C finally got the idea to start picking up the eggs and she had a lot of fun. It was a bit cold so by the end she was shivering and shaking. We didn't stay for any other activities.

This is J at six months old. Handsome devil.

This is the story of J's life. The hardest part of his day is to keep from getting smothered and hurt from his big sister. Her tough love style isn't the same as J's. This picture happens about 50 times a day. Not kidding. I am having a hard time teaching C how to treat a baby. I don't think she can help herself.

This is our neighbors pool. We went to their son's birthday party. She didn't want to get in the water so she demanded to be pushed around the pool on the floaty throng.

C did pretty good at hitting that thing. When the candy fell she picked up one and had to show everyone what she found. In the mean time all the other kids were grabbing handfuls of candy as fast as they could. We had to coax C to pick up more. I think she was overwhelmed with all the treats around her feet!!!!

April 20, 2007 C"s birthday!!!! J is 6 months and they are happy siblings.

Thanks Grandma A!! She loves the present you sent her. You are so thoughtful. Thanks to all who sent C little presents. It meant a lot to her.

We got C play food and church movies and so much more. It was fun to be able to give her presents this year.

On the 21st we had a little get together with friends and had dinner and cupcakes. The kids had a blast!

Happy Birthday C!!

Tomatoes

We received our first tomato off of our plants today. C and I were so excited. We haven’t been spraying fungicide on them so the bottom leaves are a little sad. It’s not stopping them from growing though. I think we will have way too many tomatoes to handle than I thought. I should have planted green peppers. I eat those more than tomatoes. Does anyone know any good recipes or canning ideas for me? I would hate to waste them. C said her “little cute mato” is “a-licious” (delicious).

M bought a barbecue grill yesterday and we had friends over to grill some chicken. It’s a big grill! What a fun time we will have this summer. Oh, an idea. Grilled tomatoes!?! Does anyone have a recipe for that?

Gas Prices

Isn't it funny how people get mad at gas companies when they charge too much for gas, but they don't get upset at fancy restaurants or nice new car dealers when they over price. If it is costing too much; then use less. I think it is a great step towards conservation. If it is costing too much then maybe people will make an effort to use other methods of transportation. I hate that gas is high priced, but I hate that houses close to downtown cost so much too. Demand determines the price!!!

Thanks to the Coovers and other good friends M and I are doing better at conservation. We are starting a garden and a compost pile too. These are good steps to being more self sufficient and friendly to the earth as well. Here is more info on how to be self sufficient. http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html Does anyone have good suggestions about how to implement good conservation habits?

Bird Watching

These first two where taken at our apartement

These next two were taken at our house.

I love our bird feeder. We got it back in February when we lived in an apartment. I was able to watch birds all day long. I loved it. Now that we have moved into our home I thought the birds wouldn’t come. Luckily I was wrong. Beautiful cardinals are coming and feeding on the seed we have set out.

I am enjoying this moment; kids are napping (never happens at the same time! Or at all.), I am relaxing on the couch, and I get to watch these beautiful birds. Wonderful birthday moment!

I have been watching these cardinals closely for a while and I have come to a conclusion that they are such a romantic bird. The red ones (male) are beautiful, but not arrogant. If you watch closely after they gather some seeds they fly back to the female (brownish/yellow) and give them their seeds. He actually feeds her. Oh, my heart melted when I noticed them taking care of their sweetheart! You can see in the picture the red one sharing with the brown. Right when the male starts flying towards her she starts to fluff her feathers rapidly until she is done eating. I even saw a few females up close to the feeder; even on the feeder, but they wouldn’t be eating the seeds. They would wait until the male broke it open and fed them. It is so much fun to watch birds. I have to thank the Coovers for getting us interested in bird watching. M and I have decided that when we are old and retired we will be traveling bird watchers! Who knows – maybe?

Comical Kids

Sucking on toes is alway a favorite past time.

It makes him so happy!

C fell asleep in her little chair. She has been skipping naps here and there so sometime she decides to fall asleep with out telling us. Talented sleeper. By the way this is her favorite play dress - thanks C.W.