Fun outside & recycling

We decided to build a play area for the kids. I was tired dragging their Little Tikes mountain climber out onto the lawn and then back again. So we started by framing the area with 2x8's and leveling the dirt.

We ordered cedar wood chips from a local company and they delivered that day.

Partly finished. We are going to paint the shed and add some fun signs and outdoor artwork to the side. We are also going to be planting some flowers and evergreen bushes around it.

The kids love it, I love it and it smells so good (because of the cedar)

This ladder was falling apart so Brian hung it on our shed and planted two Akebia vines. They will eventually take over the ladder and fill it with nice flowers.

More recycling. Our house had a Dish Network satellite installed when we moved in. We tore it down, I spray painted the top part aqua, put it on top of an old step stool (also spray painted aqua), sprayed a couple of coats of poly and we have a bird bath.

Landscaping

Nothing is getting done to the interior of the house lately. Even though I look around and think, I need to finish those kitchen cabinents/moulding/trim/tv stand/curtains/hallway/schoolroom/bedroom, etc. It has been nicer to be outside. We are planning a major front door overhaul. And by overhaul I mean ripping it out and building an actual porch, replacing the rotting threshold and putting in a new door.

In the meantime we are working on landscaping our backyard. We have big plans for it.

Here is what is looked like when we moved in:Pretty much it was a lawn filled with mud and moss with overgrown butterfly bushes in between. We ripped those bushes out first thing.

When we had to take down our chimney we saved the bricks and made a circular brick path around the yard. The inside of the circle will stay grass but the outside will be filled with walkways, secret gardens and lots of flowers.


This is where the 2 major butterfly bushes were. Where you see the concrete blocks will be an 8 ft wood bridge. In the very back corner will be a playhouse/stage for the kids.


A closer look. We planted a dogwood tree, blueberries and ginkos. Underneath the blueberries will be cranberries and a variety of ground cover/plants.


The blueberries.


This is the back of the yard with the enormous lilac tree that I love and Brian hates. Our neighbors took down a huge maple tree and we bought the wood. We have about a doze of these huge logs so we placed them at the base of the lilac. We'll be planting ground cover in front and ferns, hostas and shade loving flowers in back. It will look pretty.

So it's not much to look at now, but will be next year. I can't wait.

Conversation with a 4 year old

Ellie is almost 4 (she'll turn 4 a few days before this baby is due in June).

Ellie: "Mommy, I love you but I don't love your freckles."

**Note: I have red hair, blue eyes and a million freckles.**

Me: "You don't love my freckles? God put them there and I like them."

Ellie: "Well freckles are like dots and I like dots on my dresses."

As I laughed she ran off to play. 4 year olds - gotta love them.

Helping

In my house, everyone helps out. My motto "If you can walk, you can work". Well sort of. Graedon has a fascination with this vacuum. I think because he knows how to turn it one and it is lightweight. I came around the corner to see this.
He also loves the mop but only because he thinks it's a sword and can run around squishing imaginary spiders on the wall. Next I need to train him how to cook dinner.

Let's go on a nature walk....

Start with a great jogging stroller. We bought this almost two years ago and have used it almost everyday since.

We pass by the rose garden park that is right around the corner from us. The park is small and is shaped like a triangle with the street on all the sides.

Turn down the dead end road
.
Walk down the long, straight road. There are some really neat houses to look at on this street.

One of my favorites.

The house in the back is so tiny and surrounded by woods. We have Ellie and Graedon convinced that the 7 Dwarfs live there.

Down the hill. You can't tell in the picture but it is pretty steep. Especially when you are 8 mths pregnant and holding onto the double stroller for dear life so your children don't plummet to their death.

Cross the bridge.

And we are there. Ellie & Grae are allowed to get out and run.

Of course you must climb on all the downed trees.

This is the tree the girls call Camel. It is perfect to sit on.

Looking at the "creek".

Time to move on and check out other trails.

Graedon doesn't want to go so Lauren has to grab him.

Which results in tears. I packed him in the stroller after this and gave him a bag of Goldfish crackers. That made him happy again and he was running around in no time
.
Group shot. Notice Graedon. That is his smile-for-the-camera smile.

This place is really neat. You can hear cars zooming by on the main road but you can't see them. You can also see houses in some areas but for the most part it feels like you aren't in the city. We've been to this place many times and I'm sure we will be visiting more in the summer. It's so nice and cool down there.Thanks for coming along to the woods with us.

Ummm,

So what could be more fun than eating Goldfish?



Eating them off the back porch of course.



Why do you ask am I taking pictures instead of stopping him? If this was my first kid you would bet that I'd be over there in an instant. Since he's my 5th, well, really what is it going to hurt?



I prefer my snacks on a plate but hey - who am I to judge?

Let's go play...

It has been raining for days here in Oregon with a few breaks. During one of these breaks, I made the kids go outside and run around. Hey it will be fun! Right?

Apparently not.

Brian's new wheels bought with birthday money and painstakingly put together.

New use:

We experienced technical difficulties...

As you may have noticed, the blog was down for days. Brian accidentally let the domain name expire and then tried to renew it with the worst registrar around. If you are thinking about purchasing a name through RegisterFly - don't. Bad, bad, bad. We finally wrestled it away from them and registered it through someone else. Now we are back up.

I have plenty of pics I've been taking and will post those when I get a chance.

More kitchen progress...

You know those faux drawer fronts they put right below the sink? Well we tore ours out and were looking for some metal mesh to put there. They had some at Lowe's for $30 a sheet - ouch.

Lo and behold we found something that would work at Goodwill for get this $1.99! Gotta love Goodwill. We are not sure what it was originally for but it worked perfectly for our drawer fronts. I wish I would have taken a picture of it before but picture the white metal in a round flower pot shape.

Brian took some old moulding we had laying around and built a frame for it, shoved it in there and I love it. Now I need to prime it and paint it the brown cabinent color.

Our upper cabinents are all painted, moulded and hardwared, our floor is done, wall paint is done, curtains are done. All we need to do is put crown moulding on the ceiling and baseboard moulding. I bought some of those neat chrome drawer organizers, they kind that you can pull out. What a difference! Makes our cabinents functional. I need to buy about 6 more but they are $30 a piece so I'll have to buy them as we get some money.

I'll try to have updated pics tomorrow. For now here are the faux drawer fronts.