YEAR OF THE YARD

I should probably say yearS of the yard since we actually spent several months last summer and ALL of this summer working on the yard! But we are now at the point where anything else we do is just fluff. We have done the grunt work (although planting bulbs has caused Ben to grunt a lot) and now we can enjoy :) After this Christmas, I am going to make everything I've blogged for the last three years into a book (blog2print.com), so I wanted to make a record of all the hard work we've done so in the future we can look back and remember. So this might be boring. I don't have any before pics, but just imagine weeds and dirt and that about it. I also didn't include any pictures of the front yard. We have worked a lot on that too, but the backyard is especially rewarding because we put it in from scratch, while the front at least had sod and sprinkling system when we moved in.

Last fall we were able to put the trampoline in the ground, get sprinkling system done, lay sod, and do the concrete pad. But this year, I look back on all the work we've done and I seriously cannot believe it!!! The fence was a big one, and thank goodness we did not do that ourselves because everything else was way more difficult and time consuming than we could ever imagine! Way back in the corner you can see the shed we put together. It lived in the garage for about a week while we built it which was nice since it was so rainy.
In April my Mom helped pick out most of these plants. I love that most are perennials and will get better and better each year (I hope). We have gotten several pickup loads of bark to spread around the flower beds, and I HIGHLY recommend getting bark this way instead of buying by the bag. It's way cheaper if you are getting a lot of bark.

We also did the "garden wall" as we call it. That was one of the first things we did this spring. The garden boxes are behind it, and next spring we will plant vegetables in them. We scored some cheap trex on KSL and built them out of that. It's hard to see, but there are stepping stones that lead into and around the garden boxes. Then there's the playset. Ben and I nearly killed eachother while putting this together. It wasn't a bad one to put together, but just imagine Ben standing on the platform holding the roof up which was big and VERY heavy for one person, while I look for the right screws and bolts and keep dropping them on the ground and having to climb back down to get them. All while Ben continues to grunt and sweat under the weight of the roof. It was awesome.

Ben built this firepit and the benches around it. The sandbox also has a bench around it, kind of hard to see. We used trex for that too. So far no cat poop in the sand box. I don't know, maybe there is Malia poop since I sometimes let her run around naked. Who knows. The flagstones were GREAT fun (sarcasm) to put it. First we had to go GET them from someone's backyard where they had been previously used around a pond, and were covered with dirt and spiders. But now it's done and the bitterness of what a PAIN it all was is fading :) In the spring I am going to plant moss-like ground cover seed between the stones. We have used that firepit several times and it is so fun to have. It's also nice and tall to keep little ones from falling in.
The side yard. There are two flower beds back in the corner that will have trees and flowers someday. The rocks that you see are just a small sample of what goes all around the house. We got those rocks from our own lovely dirt. Payson soil is ROCKY!!!!! I can't emphasize that enough. But at least we got free rocks.
A few fun little things are the chiminea and potted plants. The big one in the front is actually cemented in the ground. We learned the hard way that it was not going to stay upright if a the umbrella is up and a gust of wind comes along, even though it had a whole bag of cement inside of the pot. The umbrella is strategically placed to provide shade to the area where the chairs are since we get late afternoon sun there.

A few more things we did, for my own memories (again, ignore this, it is boring): curbing, gravel (lots and lots of gravel), rolls and rolls and rolls of weed fabric, two dumptruck loads of dirt (the poor wheelbarrow has really worked hard this year), stained the deck, planted 5 trees, and countless plants.
Wow Riley! You really are just like Spiderman!!!

Kindergarten, Soccer, 10K, Labor Day

Riley started Kindergarten this year!!! I am so excited for him. I loved getting him all registered, going to the office, walking around the halls and seeing the lunchroom and gym. All those things take me right back to when I was in elementery and I can't believe HE is about to start this new phase of his life. The first day he was so excited and didn't have ANY problem with me leaving, which was a great relief to me. I love this! He gets out of the house and learns and has a good time, and I can run errands or whatever with just Malia who thankfully isn't old enough to say "I want that!" about everything she sees in the store.

Riley and his pal Hayden

They got star treatment coming into the building with red carpet and all.

Two pairs of chubby, happy cheeks. This was just before I left the classroom and set him free in his new adventure of KINDERGARTEN!!!!!!

This is also his first year of soccer, so it's a big year for my little guy. He loves soccer, and he thinks the shingaurds are so cool. He's been a little discouraged because it's hard for him to get in there and get the ball and score a goal. I mean, lets face it there are 14 or so kids all huddled together trying to kick one little ball...that's a lot of little legs and bodies and who in their right mind would purposely jump in the middle of that! I've been telling Riley it's no big deal if he doesn't get a goal, just to keep trying and have fun. But the other day he scored his first goal, and he was so proud of himself. We were so proud of him too, and because we love him so much we will wait until he's much older to tell him that unfortunately the game was already over when he scored that goal :) But he finally found his moment to get the ball all to himself and take it all the way down the field and score an awesome goal, afterwhich he turned around and gleefully clapped for himself! Nevermind that he had no competition because the other kids were starting to find their way off the field and to their parents. Way to go Riley!!!!!

Riley and Hayden

For some crazy reason, I told my friend that I would run the Labor Day 10K with her. I told her this at 3 am when we were both at work, and any one who works nights knows that you sometimes say things you regret or don't mean. I went ahead and registered and had two weeks to get ready, during which time I ran probably 3 times and never a full 6 miles. So I was nervous when it came time for the race. But I have to say, it was a blast (except for miles 3,4,5,and6 and getting up at 6am) but the finish line was AWESOME and I did it in just under an hour! I also love how people hand you water cups along the way, and then it's okay for you to just toss the cup to the side of the road. I felt kind of bad about that, but it also made me feel cool like "I am a professional, serious runner and I have no time to throw this cup away properly." Ha! Ben and the kids were there waiting for me, and so was my Dad, Laurie, and my brothers Ben and Sam and sister Kelsey. I think this may be the start of something great!

It was a great Labor Day weekend! My family came and stayed over Sun night. After the 10K the next morning I hung out with family, saw the parade, went out to lunch, took a long nap, and then watched Avatar at Sam and Stacia's house. They just finished their basement and it is SO cool and makes me want to get started on ours. They have a projector and movie screen, and their is nothing like watching a movie like that sprawled out on a comfy couch with surround sound and a blanket! Waaaaay better than the theater :)

Riley trying not to smile :)

Dad, Sam, Riley, Ben, Malia (mooching) Laurie, Kelsey, and Little Ben.

How cool are these guys! I love how Riley's ears are being smooshed. Glad they were wearing their safety goggles to play with Sam's little flying helicopter.

My Little Hero.

Today I took my two kids to a Nursery here in town to look at some trees. Malia was wandering around a little, and Riley in typical fashion was very concerned about where she was and whether she was following us or not. He was so stressed about it that I almost got annoyed and even said "It's okay Riley. She can walk around...she's safe here."

As I was checking out a few minutes later, and chatting with the lady about how much I love a certain plant, I heard Riley say "Mommy! Look at Malia!" Halfway aware of what he said, and still signing my receipt, I glanced around and my eyes fell upon a sight I will never forget and hope to never see again. Malia was floating face down in a little pond that was set up in the nursery. I can't even explain how horrifying this was. The pond was about 30 feet from where I stood, and I bolted over knowing every second counts. And as I was running towards her I was shocked to see that she wasn't flailing about like you would expect, but just moving her arms and legs a little, like she didn't know what to do. She was right in the middle of the pond, which was only a few feet across, but I knew that a few more seconds and she could be gone. I jumped into the pond and yanked her out not knowing how she would be or quite how long she had been that way. She just gasped a few times and had this shocked look on her face, but within a few seconds she was perfectly fine other than being covered in disgusting moss.

I am so grateful that everything turned out okay, but literally sick to think of what could have been. I am so thankful to Riley. He later told me he heard a splash and looked over wondering if it might be Malia. He saw that it was and told me. I didn't hear a splash. I was busy chatting. Riley, I love you so much and as I told you today, you saved your sister. As a parent, it is painful to even think of something bad happening to your kids. Today that almost happened. Maybe I am being over dramatic, but it's not everyday (thank goodness!) that you see your child nearly drown. It can happen so easily. I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for Riley and how aware this little boy is of his surroundings.

SUMMER FUN....FINALLY!!!

Last summer/fall, we slaved away in our yard getting landscaping started. I guess we didn't get enough because this year, from April on, we have continued slaving away come rain or shine. All this has been for the end goal of being done and enjoying our yard, and we are almost there although I don't think there's such a thing as being 100% done. One reason we have been hurrying to get a lot done is because we had Riley's 5th birthday coming and were having a party at our house. I wanted everyone to hang out in the yard and the kids to enjoy the swingset, sandbox, and trampoline. So we worked our butts off during this heat wave, and come party time guess what happened? It RAINED. So the party moved into the unbeautiful, unfun garage which is definately the least kept up part of our house. Perfect! So what else to do but strap on my viking hat (see pic below) and get the party started.

Malia and Grandpa Cook staring at eachother. She doesn't want him to make a quick move and get her watermelon.

Don't think we've had a party yet where Riley hasn't gotten shy and pouty when everyone sings to him. Hard to see the cake, but it's a "How to train your dragon" cake with toys on it. I made it three layers tall, thinking I was all cool, but them come time to cut it into 30 pieces was not so cool. It was like little skyscrapers falling all over.
The rain stopped for a little bit, and Riley opened his presents.
Sadly, by the end of the party Riley had a fever of 103 (I know!) and sacked out on the couch. He loves him bumblebee transformer costume from Sam and Stacia.Riley had his first sleepover at our house since we've lived here. He's been friends with this little girl for a long time, but they don't see eachother much since we've moved. They had a great time on the swingset and pool. Malia learned quickly to get out of the way!

They wanted to take a bath together, with their swimsuits on of course. They were in there for almost two hours! When it was about time for them to get out, I decided to stand outside the door to evesdrop on what a 5 and 6 year old can talk about for two hours. I was shocked when I heard them about to play a little game of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" or something to that effect! So I open the door and remind them that we keep our private parts PRIVATE! Oh dear.

These two slept until 11 am!

Malia is contemplating whether to gently wake Maggie up, or jolt her out of sleep. She ended up doing a nice little hair and cheek stroke, but as I walked toward her she quickly got in a little slap. She is WAY more of a slapper than Riley. PLUS, she pinches. I thought boys were supposed to be the aggressive ones :)

WHAT'S BEEN GOIN' ON....IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

Wow it has been a really long time since I've posted! Things here have been SO busy, and I can blame it mostly on the backyard which is finally almost sort of done (I'll post pictures another day) and my new job which I am spending more time per week training for than I will actually spend working each week once I'm done. Anyway, here's the latest of what's been goin' on here.

Everytime these two get together, I have to marvel at how they have the same hairdo and even sort of look alike! My little brother Ben gets offended when I say they are twins, but I'm not saying he looks like a girl.....just that they have the same hairdo! This hairstyle works for ALL genders, aparently. Since we tickle Riley in the neck all the time, he likes to pass it on to others. My Dad really enjoys this! These next few pictures are from the 4th of July.

No this is not my normal smile. This is my Hulk smile. This may sound like nothing to everyone else, but the fact that Riley WANTED his face painted and stood and LET a stranger paint his face is awesome. Here is another sign that he is learning to go with the flow...sometimes :) I love this little guys personality. He has a LOT of personality.
Hanging out with Uncle Sam at the 4th of July Parade in Mt. Pleasant.
Her Highness, the "Divine Miss M". My Mom gave her that nickname either shortly before
or shortly after her birth. Okay okay, check out the sandals! She doesn't walk well in them, but that's not the point. The point is they are so dang cute and everyone loves them.

This is my big mistake. We have this huge beanbag, and for years I've been wanting to wash the cover. Problem is, the inner cover is ripped so to take the cover off would be to let the stuffing out. The other day I got stubborn and decided it would all be worth it in the end, just to have a clean beanbag cover. What you see in this picture is what's left after the majority of the stuffing had been put back into the cover. The cover did get washed, but doesn't look that great because lots of the little foam had stuck to it and balled up on it in the washer and dryer, so it has all these little foam balls stuck to it. Ben warned me not too, and he swore he would have no part in the cleanup, but I proceeded. In the end, I admitted my mistake and Ben did end up helping me. NEVER AGAIN! NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!

On the 16th of July we took a trip up to Idaho to visit my Mom and Grandparents. This is the first vacation we've taken with all four of us, and after it's all said and done, I have to ponder "Is a vacation with small children really a vacation?" I know several families who load up the kids all the time and go on vacation and seem to think it's great. But I have to say those five days were difficult for me! Of couse I did have fun too, and as I write this post one week later I feel mostly fond memories of the trip. But MAN! My idea of a vacation will have to change, I guess.

In the hotel room. So far the kids are enjoying their vacation.

Right away at my Mom's place, Malia was loving the cat. Cat didn't wanna be loved, but oh well. As you can see, my Mom has a knack for plants.

My Mom gave Riley a bunch of fun camping supplies for his Birthday.

One of the fun camping things, demonstrated by some crazy lady!

I got Birthday presents too!

We went to the capitol building in Idaho. It is a really pretty place, and fun to roam around in.

Riley and Ben in front of a headless statue. I zoomed in to check and make sure it's not also a topless statue since sometimes they are. It's not!

There's a reason Ben looks so proud in front of these doors. It's because he and his co-workers made all the doors for the remodel of the Idaho capitol. He's been wanting to see them for a while, so I'm glad we got the chance.

This picture looks like we are in danger of falling, but it really didn't feel dangerous at the time. It must just be the angle.

There was this cool free park with water features nearby, so we had a little fun there. It was so hot and originally we were planning on just watching the kids play in the water, but then we realized the only way to not be miserable was to join them so we went and played with them and had WAY more fun!

Malia just sippin' on my Mom's Diet Coke.

We also went to this science/discovery place that was really cool! We all took a turn pulling ourselves up in this chair using the ropes and pulleys, which makes it easy, then let go and it slowly lets you down.

I'm so proud! Riley is taking after me as a cashier. I was a cashier at Walmart for a couple years during Nursing school. So glad I can be inspiring to him! No really, he was so cute checking this lady out at this kid size grocery store.

Then it was off to see my Grandma and Grandpa Blacker, but Riley calls them his "New Grandma and Grandpa" since he doesn't remember them from his last visit when he was two. They have this dog named Sky Blue, and Riley loved the dog and had a good time with his Great Grandma getting the dog to obey commands. Sky Blue is very well trained and such a fun pet.

Sky Blue about to run in a circle around Riley.

My Grandma is hiding in the back, and there's my Grandpa behind me. I have to laugh at Riley's face. Not his most photogenic shot. This is at their house in Idaho. I have such great memories of my Grandma and Grandpa. I would stay with them a lot during summers. My Aunt Ali is just two years older than I, so she and I would run around and have fun. But my Grandma and Grandpa were always there keeping us out of trouble and supplying us with "garbage" as my Grandpa would call all the spare change in his pocket. Wonderful memories! And I can't leave out my Great Grandma Sprague, because she is part of these memories too. She is at a nursing home in Colorado where her son lives.

So my Mom doesn't just walk around in a tank top, just to clarify. We were getting ready to go the waterpark, and stopped to eat lunch at this nice park. It had a great playgroung but more importantly SHADE!

That's Ben's body being thrown off the slide into the water. I have to tell a funny story about my Mom. She and I went down these slides at the same time (there are two next to eachother, the yellow one is cut out in this picture). She was wearing a workout tank top, but it had no....uh hum....padding. So she cut the pads out of an old bra she hated and put those in the tank top. Problem solved! So we went down the slides and once you land it's pretty violent under the water because you land with so much force and you can't tell up from down. Apparently it was just to much for my mom's little pads, and as she surfaced she saw one floating right in front of her and one floating a few feet away! We were dying of laughter. She quickly gathered them up and went away to put them back in place. They came out again later as we were throwing eachother around in the wave pool. I'm am chuckling even while typing this because it was so great! I told her to stitch the pads in place next time!

Poor Malia, couldn't go on the rides and got a little cranky being in the stroller when there was so much water nearby. She did get to spend a lot of time in the amazing kidde pool. One funny story about Malia. She had a swim diaper on all day, so at the end of the day as we were getting ready to leave, we decided to get her dried off and in a regular diaper. We figured we didn't need to go to the locker room for this, so we took her swim diaper off her right there as she was standing on the concrete. The second we took it off, she began to pee......OF COURSE! Well, it was only my mom and ben and I that saw, and it was closing time so we figured no harm done and what could we do anyway. Besides, her puddle blended in with all the other puddles everywhere from wet feet. A couple seconds later a little kid comes and stands right in the puddle and then walks off. Oh my goodness!

They had some fun slides! Just seeing these pictures makes me want to go again.

So that's what's been goin' on in a nutshell. The summer is flying by, and man it is HOT! Riley's fifth birthday is this Sunday, so more pics to come!

Maybe She's Born With It.....Maybe It's Baybelline.

Curvy AND really knows how to put an outfit together. This girl can WORK IT!!!