Skidsteering Fun

Well, maybe "Fun" is too strong a word, but it was probably more fun for Chris to drive the skidsteer than for me to shovel mulch all day long.  Apparently, the horn for the machine is on top of the steering handle.  Chris kept honking it without meaning to; Mike (our future neighbor and owner of the skidsteer) was down working at the lake and probably laughing.

Landscape - Front Yard

So our front yard has been undergoing a bit of a facelift as well.  Last fall we planted a lot of shrubs and grasses.  Most survived the winter, but there are a few yet to be replaced.  At the front of our lot, the original owner had created a berm and planted six trees on each side (one died, so we had a total of 11).  It was a little much, so we decided to keep three trees on each berm and then transplanted the rest throughout the yard.  When I say we, I don't mean that Chris and I dug the holes.  We'd still be digging if that were the case! That was the Mike's landscaping company and their handy machines--though they did dig some holes by hand.  I noticed the other day that the workers don't wear gloves.  My hands would be raw if I went without gloves.

And what I was most excited about was the 15 or so other trees--deciduous, pine, and spruce--that were delivered last week.  I'm looking forward to leaves in the summer and the color in the fall.

The landscape company also gave our front entrance a makeover with a nice rock entry.  We will have to have two columns built flanking the driveway, but that'll come later next month. They will have our address on them as well as solar lights.  All driveways will have the columns at some point.

The biggest transformation came with the mulch. And that was a job that Chris and I undertook with a bit of Misha's help.  (Amy had a tennis tournament and Kristen did chores in the house).

We spent almost all of Saturday moving mulch.  We had to take breaks for Amy's tennis tournament and Kristen's dance recital, but it was still at least eight hours of mulch-moving, back-aching work.  What were we thinking buying 1.5 acres?

After:

We have a bit of our mulch still to move (the pile behind the tree).

Landscaping - Back Yard

We have a fire pit area in our back yard that the HOA asked us to take care of.  Someday we plan to have flagstone installed, but in the mean time, we filled in the area with breeze (crushed rock that hardens with time and water).  I kind of like the way it turned out. It will be nice to not have it full of weeds and looking nasty this summer.

Before:

After:

If I had little boys, they would be in big truck heaven right now with all of the rocks, mulch, breeze, and trees being delivered.

Dancing in the Rain

Kristen kept asking all day long if she could play in the rain.  I told her that she could after dinner.  Apparently she was looking for "nightcrawlers".  She was having fun in her fancy new rain boots.

Dance Recital

Kristen had a dance recital on Saturday afternoon.  I'll admit, after a morning of shoveling and raking mulch, I wasn't feeling too clean.  I did change my clothes, but forgot to put on shoes to cover my dirty toes.  Oh well.  Chris came to the recital from watching Amy's final tennis match and then bringing her to the dance recital, in all his dirty clothes glory, sporting his cowboy hat.  He leaned over and said he'd take the hat off except that his hair was a sight.  Not long after the recital started, someone behind us tapped Chris on the shoulder and asked if he would take off his hat so that they could see.  So we both looked a little messy.

Kristen did a fantastic job in her dance.  She had three different numbers and there were 21 total dances.  Chris left after Kristen's second dance to get back to work.  Misha and Amy came to help all the little girls change in to the proper outfits and be ready for their dances.

Kristen loved that it was "required" that she wear makeup.  Any chance she gets...

Landscape - Beach

We have been having some landscaping work done over the past two weeks with our future neighbor Mike's landscaping company.  Eduardo has been the guy in charge of our project.  His English is only so so and my Spanish is nill, so I always hope that we are getting the right message across to each other.

Before:

Currently (we still have a lot to do, but it will have to come later):

Pretzel Kindness

Over the past couple of months, Kristen's class has been participating in Market Place.  Her teacher, Mr. King, hands out King Cash to students for good behavior or answering questions.  The kids collect the money and then on a designated day, they are encouraged to bring in food, trinkets, gifts, etc. to sell and buy.  Kristen had her Market Place last Friday morning, but wasn't given much advance notice about the day and didn't prepared anything in advance.  She was freaking out a little bit about it.

Misha kindly offered to make some soft pretzels for Kristen or brownies, but Kristen was still being a bit of a pill and so Misha rescinded her offer.  Kristen was sent to bed.  It obviously was not her night.  Misha, bless her heart, still made the pretzels for Kristen.

Peacocks in a Cotton Tree

Misha has had early-morning jazz band practice this past year, so usually I have to drive her to school either Tuesday or Friday and sometimes both days for her 7 am practice.  There is a home along CR 34 that has quite a few well-trained peacocks that hang out in the front yard.  Well-trained because they don't seem to ever go in the road and there is no fence surrounding the property.  As we would drive by early in the morning, I would wonder if the peacocks slept in the barn because they were not wandering about at that early hour.

One morning, I happened to look up in to one of the huge cotton trees surrounding the house and what do you know but that the peacocks were all up in the tree!  There were at least five that I could count, male and female.  Misha spotted a ladder against one of the trees which must have been how the birds climbed up in to the tree.  We happened to see one fly/float to the ground one morning as we passed by.

We never have seen humans at this house, so Misha likes to think that the peacocks have the run of the place.  She has a bit of a Far Side sense of humor.

Kristen's Birthday Day

I like having older children.  Chris and I were out the night before Kristen's birthday, and I asked Amy to make breakfast donuts ahead as well as Kristen's requested cake pops.  Happily, Amy completed both projects and mostly cleaned up afterward.

Kristen was not thrilled that her birthday fell on a Sunday this year, and because our weekend was jam-packed, we had to have her birthday dinner celebration a little early. We ended up at the Twisted Noodle (though she was hoping for something fancier or a buffet like Cinzetti's).  The food did not disappoint though, and we had a lot of fun getting to know the owner Anthony, or George, if Amy was naming him.  He looked like a George.

I got up early Sunday morning so that I could do a little decorating.  Expectations, you know. I whipped up a little vanilla bean icing for the breakfast donuts.

We opened presents after church, though the waiting was not appreciated.  What can you do when you haven't wrapped them yet?  Oh yeah, if you are Amy and Misha giving them to me, you just hand them to me!

I was impressed that Amy put some thought in to her gift for Kristen (the bulletin board with ribbon) and even planned ahead for Misha and bought a gift for Misha to give (a locket with tiny little Paris charms to add to it).

After dinner--spaghetti and meatballs as requested--we sang "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed the delicious cake pops that Amy made.

Hmmm, those two, related or what?

Watch D.O.G.S.

Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students).  Chris participated this year on April 17--the Friday before Kristen's birthday.  That's important, because not only did he participate in Watch D.O.G.S, he also took donuts to celebrate Kristen's birthday!  As usual, having her Dad attend was a big deal for Kristen, and she loved having Chris there even if only for half a day.

Double Digits

My baby turned ten yesterday.  Time has simply zipped along over the past ten years.  Blink...and it'll be ten more in no time at all.  Kristen is an amazingly creative girl with ideas galore.  She isn't a big fan of being the youngest and not having anyone to boss around however.  She is beautiful, sweet, quick to forgive and say "I'm sorry", passionate, and has some pretty amazing hair. Love this girl!  So glad she is mine.

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