Hell Month is Over!

Well May, a.k.a. "Hell Month," is officially over. I just about killed myself this month. I learned that I am not invincible, and this house will get sold when it gets sold. I wasn't able to do anything but lay around on the couch today. I think maybe I have the flu on top of exhaustion. It's just not worth it. I have to cut back. I don't have time to, but I'm going to have to. Yesterday I got some more demolition work done on the deck. Trey and I got it loaded into the van. He had to take it down to the neighborhood roll off by himself though because I couldn't get out of bed! At least part of it is done.

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a lovely evening with a couple of my dear friends. We went to an Indian food restaurant and spent the evening talking. It was a great way to spend my birthday. I feel really lucky to have good friends who I can spend hours talking with.

On the demolition front, I got more done on the deck. I didn't have much time to work on it, but I made some progress.

Beth Ann SOARs

My daughter was given a special award today at school. It is called a S.O.A.R. to Success Award. SOAR stands for Safety, Ownership, Attitude, and Respect. She was presented this award at a ceremony in front of the whole school this morning by her teachers Beth Shaffer and Tracy Levy. We are so proud of her. Her certificate says, "Beth Ann has made tremendous growth this year. She works hard and is dedicated to achieving her best!"

After going to the ceremony at Beth's school this morning, I took Livi, Ray, and Louis to the Children's Museum so we could have some fun. Here are some cute pictures from today.
Cutest firefighters in town:


Professional grocery shoppers:

My "big kid":

Vegetarian "fisherman":

A Day Lost

I've been working really hard, and it was past time for a chiropractic adjustment. I went to my chiropractor this morning, and she really hurt my neck. I really like her, and I've been going to her for nearly ten years, and this is the first time she hurt me. She did a good job of it though. I was pretty much out for the count today though. I'm so irritated because I lost an entire day. I spent the day laying around. I'm very frustrated. I've made no progress, and I didn't even get to spend any meaningful time with the kiddos. I just spent the day vegging. I did get a cute picture of Ray, Livi, and Louis with the puzzle Livi got from her grandmother.

One year old baby

I forgot about this old video. It's so cute that I wanted to put it on You Tube. This video was taken on Louie's first birthday. He got this little baby iPod from his Me'Me' and Pe'Pe' and he loved it!

Demolition Woman

I've been thinking that I might have a career in demolition work when the house renovations are over! LOL. Today I tore down this stupid, ugly, rotten storage thing that was on our deck. It's amazing what you can do with an hour, a hammer, a screwdriver, and pure brute force.
Before:

After:

Of course, doing this exposed yet another problem that we have to take care of:

Memorial Day

We took some time today to work on cleaning the house which has unfortunately been sorely neglected as of late! The weather was great today - overcast, cool, and misty - my favorite weather. I think Trey and I got enough rocks moved that we can fix the fence. Also, I think we're going to take the rest of the rocks and make an area to park our pop up camper. That's an expense that won't happen, so that's good. It'll just be more back breaking work. Yuck. Oh well, it has to be done. There's always something. Here's our progress out by the fence:

I could live here until I am 100, and I would never get used to having cold Memorial Days. I'm used to Memorial Days filled with outside BBQs at the lake and hot weather. This cold weather is just weird to have on a Memorial Day. We're going to build a fire and make hot chocolate tonight which while it will be nice is just WRONG! Here's a couple of cute pictures that I took today:

Garden of the Gods

Yesterday we decided to take a day off. We went with our friend Kathy and her daughter Tessa down to Colorado Springs to the Garden of the Gods. It was a really nice day, but unfortunately the kids and I are fighting a nasty cold. We did a lot less hiking than we had intended, but we still had fun. Here's a shot of Pike's Peak from the freeway on the way down:

Here's some from in the park:

Progress and a set back

First, the progress: I pulled up the stump, and holy cow was that a lot of work! I also got the landscaping bricks down on a large area. I got an area even for the sandbox, and Trey filled it up with sand. Here are the pictures:



We have some progress in the kitchen, too. We finally have one door hung, and I think it looks really good.

Now, the frustrating set back: The whole deck is going to have to come down. There were several places that we were going to have to fix it, including the step that broke, but unfortunately, the whole underneath is just rotten. There's no way to fix it really, so we're going to have to tear it down. We are going to replace it with pavers and make a nice patio. I'm just so frustrated. It's beginning to feel like the never ending journey. At what point do we just cry "uncle?" I'm so tired and so tired of being tired. I want Trey and I to grow old together not kill each other trying to sell a stupid house. Our dream of roadschooling for a year seems to be gone, and I'm wondering when we are ever going to be able to move.

Beautiful Ballerina

What a super busy but pretty fabulous day! Today was Olivia's last dance class. I love the way her dance school does their performances. Instead of having a big production, they have a dance sharing where the parents come and basically observe the class. It's more than that, but it is very low key. I love this dance school, and Olivia's teacher is really fabulous. They learn a little ballet, a little jazz, a little of several different styles. Here's some of the jazzy stuff they've learned.

After the dance class, I took the kid's the Ray and Olivia's school picnic. The preschool/kindergarten that they went to is really a great school, and I am so glad we found them. If we do sell the house and move, I'm going to miss them. I finally got one of the songs from Ray's graduation downloaded.

I'm still working on that massive landscaping project. I got about a hour and a half put in today. I moved rocks, and pulled old, metal edging out, pulled roots out, and cleaned the cement drain thing. Here's a picture of some of the progress:

This evening, I went to my friend Jenny's house for a ladies evening. It was so nice. I worked on my crochet and spent an evening noshing and chatting with some great ladies. It was fabulous. All in all - I would call it a successful Friday!

New Landscaping Project

Ugh - the new project is a big one, but it has to be done. I have to get rid of two bushes that want to take over the yard, prune the tree, reclaim part of the yard, lay the landscaping brick, get rid of the remains of the big stump, move the rocks, and put the sand box out! I got a bunch done today, but there is so much left to do. I'm almost too tired to breathe.....
Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

I still have a lot to do, but it was a good start I think. And, of course, I pulled a bunch of dandelions - or Devil's Weed as we refer to the in our house!

Ray's graduation

I can't believe my baby is going into the first grade! Tonight was his kindergarten graduation. He was so proud. It was a nice ceremony and very short. They sang some songs they'd learned and recited a poem, and then they got their diplomas. Afterward we had cake. I'm still in denial though.

New Growth

The seed mulch that we laid down is growing grass!!! I'm very excited about that. We've tried to grow new grass by seed a couple of times, but it just hasn't worked, so this year we tried the mulch - SUCCESS!


The seeds are sprouting in the garden.


Here's the first zucchini plant!

I put in two new rose bushes in the front.

This is Fred. We got Fred for Halloween, and we liked him so much we left him out!



This spring we were trying to figure out why we had this circle in the front yard where grass wouldn't grow. I put down some mulch there to see if we could get grass to grow. It's growing, but we remembered what was there last year that killed the grass; we have a fairy ring (you can't see it too well in the picture, but there are mushrooms growing!). Last year we thought it was pretty cool, but this year we're trying to sell the house! Any green thumbs out there know what to do about this:

Last but not least - here is my arch nemesis!!! It's a small pile today, but my hands are just too darn sore to keep going.

First Sprinkler Day

Unfortunately, I can't find the camera battery charger, so I can't post any new pictures, but we hooked up the sprinkler, the kids got in their bathing suits, and played! Sprinklers are too much fun.

I think my war on the dandelions has taken a turn for me! I am over halfway done with the yard. I pulled up two and a half garbage bags full. I have decided that dandelions are the work of the devil.

Here's some cute pictures: