Landscaping- Check!

We are officially calling it- the landscaping is done!

Well, it's really about 90% there, but I'm calling it done.  We started out with one incredibly blank slate and absolutely no vision for what we wanted.  Landscaping was so low on the list of things to think about when we moved into the house that it took three summers to catch a vision and move forward.   

Then- 

And now- 

Then- 

And now- 

Then- 

And now- 

We knew this would be the summer of landscaping, and it really has been a labor of love.  Once we figured out more or less what we wanted, we carved out a few weekends and got to work.  We shoveled 8 tons- that's 16,000 pounds- of river rock into our yard over two weekends.  Just Jason and I, with a bit of help from the kids.  Our bed never felt so good as it did at the end of those long and dirty days.

Last year we were known around the neighborhood as the house that laid our own sprinkler system (with the help of two teenagers, in the pouring rain), and this year we've met plenty of people that have been walking by and commenting on our own attempt at landscaping.  It has been quite a project!

I've learned so much about evergreens, pear trees, crabapple trees, spirea, hydrangeas, lilac bushes, salvia, daylilies, buckthorns, barberry bushes, and more.  I am amazed and thankful for the beauty and variety that God put on this earth!  And I honestly never knew I could care so much about the life or death of a plant, but we have said more than one prayer to help ours stay alive- especially as we experienced a miserably windy cold snap right after we planted our newest trees. 

The three huge boxwoods under the front window are my very favorite part of our landscaping.  They are seven years old and came into our nursery as part of a showhome package.  They were our final landscaping splurge, and I was so excited to snag three of them.  They are taller than Noah and exactly what I wanted in that space.  And I am thrilled to see them mature and full in their space now, rather than when we're about to move out of this house.  Adam named them Harry, Larry and Scary.

I also love our new coral burst crabapple tree.  It's one of the few bits of landscaping that I can actually see from inside our house, and I can't wait until it blooms next spring.  Some day we want to put in stone stairs, a patio and a firepit in this little pocket of the backyard, and this tree will offer a bit of shade and privacy. 

We weren't planning on doing any landscaping on the north or east side of the house this year, but thanks to very generous friends that were seeking new homes for some of their shrubs, we were able to fill in those sides this year as well.  We only purchased the "Christmas tree", everything else was free in exchange for labor.  What a blessing!

 And, of course, we will probably never really be 100% done with our yard or our home.  The beauty of calling it ours is changing things out and adding more touches of our personality to it as we go.  But for now- landscaping is a great big CHECK!

Mid June Report

While we've pretty much adjusted to the non-stop togetherness that school break is providing, I am still adjusting to the idea that we aren't taking a month long trip to Utah this year.  We're still filling our days with plenty of fun, but it's definitely been a change of our usual summer pace.

Thankfully the weather has been mostly beautiful, and the cold and rainy days are a perfect reminder to get outside and have fun while we can!

I love this park that is just down the street.  Plenty of swings for all of my kids, a pond that boasts ducks, geese, dragonflies, and odd looking and huge fish that swim near the surface, as well as climbing trees and plenty of trail to ride bikes on, it's a great way to spend a few hours.

We are loving our pool passes and go to the pool as often as we possibly can.  If it's a sunny day, we're at the pool, even if it's just for a few hours.  Surprisingly (or not surprisingly because it's Iowa and the weather here is quite mild) there have been a fair number of stormy or cloudy days since we've started going.  So we definitely go whenever we can.

Adam and Jason finished up their t-ball season.  There was no score kept, which was fine with me at this age, but Adam kept asking when they were going to "play for win or lose".

Adam also spent a week attending Safety Town- a sweet little program put on by the city to educate kindergarteners all about safety.  He had a great time, but the absolute best part of the program was Sadie the Safety Town bunny.

According to Noah anyway.  He was completely enchanted by the bunny.  That sweet boy gets so excited over popcorn popping, doggies walking by, and poorly costumed mascots, apparently.  So sweet.

We had a baby!...over... for a few hours one day.  And the kids were in absolute heaven!  Leah cared for him and rocked him and Emma cooed at him.

Noah shared his toys with him and we all loved him, except for Adam, who was too busy playing with the baby's big brother (a fellow Lego lover was in the house, so what else really matters?)

And then the two hours were over and we handed him back over to his mommy and everyone (myself included) seemed basically okay with the fact that there are no newborn babies taking up permanent residence in our home.

We feel plenty busy just the way we are.

Adam-isms

Question- If you could trade places with anyone in our family for one day, who would it be and why?

Adam- I would trade places with Mommy so that I could do all the hard work and she could take a break.  Do the dishes, stay up late to do the dishes, clean the kitchen...

Adam constantly comes to me with ideas that he's clearly been mulling around in his head for a while.

What if we only saw the color of our eyes? Everything I see would be hazel, but everything you see would be blue!

What if my whole life is a dream?

What if no more babies came to the earth?

I think I know where heaven is.  It's out of our galaxy.

And there is so much about him that proves that he is very much my son.

Mom, I think we should dust these lights.  They're looking kind of hairy!

And he's always aware of others- Mom, you're so busy.  You always have some kind of work to do for everyone.  

I sure do love my big boy.

The Spillway

One of our simple summer fun goals was to visit the Saylorville Lake dam and spillway after a rainstorm, and a few weeks ago we had our chance.  It was a gorgeous day with just enough to explore to keep us busy for a few hours.

Emma found all kinds of treasures while we were there- she thought this fishing lure was a dead baby octopus.

The spillway left me longing for a trip to Niagara Falls, but a little voice in my head whispered "Enjoy this while you can.  Someday they won't be impressed by the force of the local spillway."

Poor Emma Grace fell into a little pond that she thought was just a small puddle.  Never go into water unless you know how deep it is!  

She perked up once we stripped her out of her wet clothes and bundled her up for our picnic lunch.

A few of her favorite candies helped, too. 

After a tasty picnic lunch we headed back home to add another check to our list of summer fun!

This is definitely going to be a "small" summer for our family, 

but so far it shaping up to be a great one.

Happiness Is...

 Trips to the pool!  We decided to buy a family pool pass after all, and it is going to help make this summer super cool!

Rolling down the hill

 My happiest eater of all.  He will gladly shovel anything except applesauce into his mouth.  I love these years (months?) of non-picky eating.

 Prizes at the dentist, even when his first experience with getting a cavity filled hurt enough "to make him want to cry".  

Trying on shoes that Mom will never buy, even if she is totally rocking them.

Summer bingo winners!  

Everyone has chosen the "30 minute late night with Mom and Dad" prize so far... 

Building forts on cloudy days.

Discovering the absolute joy of the train table.

And so many moments that aren't pictured.  Family bike rides past the growing cornfields as the sun is setting, the local library's awesome summer reading program, lazy mornings of sleeping in and reading books, late night s'more roasts, sunrise runs with my sweet running buddy and wandering up and down the street, visiting with neighbors and running around with friends.  Our summer is off to a slow start, but we are absolutely loving it.