Coffee Anyone?

Too much coffee, two spontaneous dreamers, and a sledge hammer make for a bad combination...

or maybe good one, we'll see.

(Love you Ryan!)

My dream.

I was so excited about this beautiful flower stand.

Some day, I would love to have a yard full of cutting flowers. For now, almost everything in our yard is dead. Everytime I walk past our dead front yard I try to remind myself of the two little lives that I get to put my time and effort into, instead of spending lots of time figuring out why my flowers won't grow (They insist on dying. It's depressing. It's a perpetual flower suicide scene in our front yard.). Also, I'm just discouraged I don't know what to do next.

So, if you see our dead front yard, know that I am wishing for a yard that produces flowers like these. For now I'm most likely inside snuggling with my babies.

Stay-cation

Friday to Sunday, we were jam-packed with fun vacation activities...from home.

Friday night we went to the Templeton High School Football game...mostly to see the marching band. Yea, I have been talking about seeing the marching band all day, actually, all week. 

ok, so maybe that was Josiah... either way Ryan and I had it running through our heads all week.

 Saturday we went to Conservation Celebration at the zoo for crafts, time with our dear friends Jaime and Joe, Noah and Heidi.

Then it was home for naps and off to the beach for our church picnic, dinner, and bonfire.

The kiddos were elated to stuff their faces full of smores. With the extra-large marshmellows the church provided, relative to the size of their bodies, it was like you or I eating a smore the size of small dinner plate.

My favorite quote of the night? As we were driving home at 8:00 at night, glow sticks in hand from the beach fun-fest, Josiah asks

"Mommy, Daddy, are we going to a football game right now?"

"No buddy...it's late, and we went last night" (Thinking, are you kidding me!? Is the kid really asking that!)

"Awwwwww....but I wanted to go to a football game right now.!!!" -insert whiney voice here

Ryan and I look at eachother and start laughing at our son's insatiable desire for fun...then scold him appropriately for whining ; )

 Sunday morning in our house is the most peaceful of all mornings. We typically spend that day drinking coffee and hanging out in the sunroom, enjoying the morning light, reading, talking and snuggling.

Then, later Sunday night we made cookies...front row seats. 

Finish off the weekend with a warm cookies and milk, and looking back, it was a really peacefull stay-cation.

Puttin' Down Roots

Always hard at work, Ryan and I also realize that we just love working in the yard, planting things, making improvements, watching the kids play in the dirt and interacting with the land.

                                             (Collecting the eggs...well, you gotta let them try!)

                    Ryan's new shed in the side yard, to finally get some of that stuff out of the garage!

      My peaceful view, laying on the grass in the front yard, listening to the birds and my kids laughing.
         

    The cute little white picket fence and gate that Ryan put up around the front yard about two days after we found the kids at the neighbors house and half way up a ladder in their front yard. (We live on a really quiet little road, but it still isn't safe). 

Puttin' Down Roots

I am one very lucky girl. 

My husband is such a hard worker.  He is intelligent, strong, and capable. He is my best friend, a great dad, and a talented handyman! 

This season we have been puttin down roots by getting our back, and front yard in shape. We want a great place to hang out with the kids on the grass, to have BBQs in the warm evenings, and a place to let our little ones crawl and romp comfortably. 

Here's a picture of the backyard before. There was a black-widow ridden plank-deck and a sandy dirt patch to the right, where Ryan is standing.

I snuck a picture of Ryan working in the pouring rain. He worked at night, in the dark, and in all types of weather to get the patio and grass in before summer. 

Ryan hand-sifted the dirt for the entire patio (to save money). He took out 6 inches of the existing soil all over the backyard, sifted it, leveled it, and built the frame for the concrete patio.

The grass is in, the back yard is shaping up! We will have plants along the wall border, and, if you look to the right of the picture, you can see our soon-to-be outdoor shower!

              We had a bit of extra sod so we put it in the front yard where we often hang out in the mornings, drinking coffee, admiring the view and listening to the birds while the kids play.   This picture is of the front yard in full use, toys out, the chickens scratched up the mulch, my plants laying around...I just took the photo as the kids went down for a nap.

                    

I snapped this picture right after I took the one above of Ryan working in the rain. He came home from work that day, went outside and began shoveling dirt and gravel. Then, when it was time, he switched gears, came in to have dinner, gave the kids baths and did the bedtime snuggle routine with me. I admire him so much, I have an amazing husband. 

I am one very lucky girl.

Puttin' Down Roots!

A few home projects that have been keeping Ryan and I busy as we sink our roots into our "new" home...

I've finally succeeded at growing something beautiful! Daffodils and iris's are blooming now and they make me so happy.

Ryan planted an orchard with pears, cherries, apples, apricots and peaches, complete with an irrigation system and a fence to keep the deer out!

Finally finished the bay window, it looks great inside and out. This picture doesn't do it justice.
Of course, not to be outdone, our little man is full of smiles, trying to get his belly off the ground to crawl, and he loves being outside. He is so fun to make laugh and he is starting to appreciate our little daily adventures!