T.B.Y. Saga Continues....

Very few things in this life actually make me want to swear. Not because I don't find lots of things to be infuriating or frustrating (really bad drivers, really stubborn knots when you are in a hurry, adding pictures to my blog, ice cubes down your shirt, Rush Limbaugh...) but because I am just not very good at it. Mostly, I can't decide which expletive to use in the heat of the moment so my word comes out in some crazy combination that sounds more like an exotic type of mushroom...you know, like shitake but..different. I haven't even been successful in flipping someone off. The one time I tried, after a car full of guys almost hit me when I was running, I ended out making the peace sign at them. But I had my angry face on so I know they must of gotten the point. That's why they were all laughing.....

Anyway, I think I am much better at it after last weekend because I got lots of practice. What could be the source of so much angst you ask? That would be...our back yard. If you were a reader of this blog last year, you may remember the saga of The. Back. Yard. from last summer. We have basically had to tear out and re-do our entire back yard, and we have done it all ourselves because landscapers can be pricey! I wish I had taken "before and after" pictures (well, I guess I can take some "after" pictures but I want to wait until it is all entirely finished) because it has been a piece of work. We have battle scars and all kinds of stories. Our favorite still being the treasures we found in one corner of the yard that included a toliet bowl, some barrel cactus, plastic aquarium plants and a menagerie of toys and balls lost over the wall that fell prey to the abyss of our yard.

Anyway, we have felt pressure to get the next phase of work done on our yard because we are leaving for Hawaii for 2 weeks (YAY!) at the end of this month, and we wanted to get the yard to a point that we could leave it without everything dying while we were gone and undoing all the work we have done to this point. So, this week we rented a disposal trailer, a huge rototiller and a sod cutter and went to work. Well, Jevan really went to work. By the time we move from this house, I think he will be able to open his own landscaping business because he will have a working knowledge of every piece of large landscaping equipment known to man. It was blood, sweat and even tears, shed by me when I hit my breaking point. BUT, now we have lots of pretty green grass and a nice little landscape strip along the back of the yard that just needs a few small trees and a shrubery or two.....ones that look nice...and not too expensive. :) The happiest part of all? I have a GARDEN plot! A nice little garden plot all ready to be planted. I'm so excited. I have always wanted a garden. Now I just have to learn how to do it. Anyone have good advice for me? Maybe a good gardening book recommendation? I definitely need help. But to me, it made all the work worth it.

So, that is what has sucked the life out of us the past couple weeks. I'm not really sure why I had to blog about it. Honestly, who blogs about yard work? Sadly, me.

On a happier note, here are some of my favorite pictures taken over the past month that just make me smile. The first set is of Jane's first dance class. She LOVES it! She is emphatic about everything and shouts out all her answers. Mostly, the teacher has them dance around like different animals. In the last class, when the teacher asked what animal the class should dance like next, Jane yelled out, "A pink cow!" The teacher didn't know what to say to that but, "Okay. Pink cows everyone. Go!" For one of the classes I also tried my hand at putting her hair into a little bun to make her look more like a little dancer. Please understand that I have been a tomboy pretty much all my life and to suddenly have this little girl with blonde curls and to be expected to do her hair all cute is so far beyond me. So I am usually pretty proud when her hair ever comes out looking cute and, of course, had to take a picture. She is a pretty good little dancer too - nothing like her mom. When my mom put me in dance class, the teacher pulled her aside after the first year and said, "Maybe you should try her in ....soccer?" Every class I would just full-out run around the gym - no dancing, no twirling, just running, knocking kids out of the way as I went. Complete and total lack of grace. Jane, though...she might be different.....

Jane the dancin' fool:

Zoo adventures with friends: One day with my friend Paige and her two boys (here Jane is trying to hold his hand. She ain't shy....

And one day with my highschool playgroup friends: Jane and her friend Eliza. Allison is crazy about the water globe.And one happy day at the park.