It's Deja-Vu, All Over Again

So, now in our third house, we've started working to finish the yard. Didn't we just do this like two years ago? I am so sick of dirt. My windows are filthy from the blowing dirt, my tile floor is always sandy, especially by the back door, and I can't get Breyden's socks white anymore.
I Need Grass!! (Only 2 of the kids shown are mine)

Anyhow, the cement pad ws poured in the back corner, and we rounded up a few neighbors to help assemble and install the fancy basketball hoop. Now we are waiting for fence. After fence, curbing, sprinklers, and by the end of May, grass. Halleluja!!

The other night I noticed two little boys in the empty field behind our house playing "Army" in the big dirt hills back there. They were lying on the dirt and pretending to hide in their fox holes, using their sticks as rifles and I thought, "Man, are those moms going to be mad when they see how dirty you are." Then the boys started walking over to my yard, and I realized, "That's my Boy!" Yes, the greatest thing about dirt hills is you can play army, and the hills come loaded with grenades (dirt clods). Dirt hills also serve as great bike ramps. The kids were thoroughly disappointed when we moved the dirt pile. This weekend my brother-in-law brought over his little front-loader tractor for us to move the big piles of dirt from the back yard to the front. It was much easier than doing it one wheel-barrow-full at a time.

People often ask me where I moved to, and when I tell them, "Down the hill, about 12 houses away," they think I'm crazy. After doing this again, I'M starting to think I'm crazy too. I'll keep you updated on the progress. What with all the additional rock-work we got to do back there, I'm pretty sure the only planting done this year will be the grass. But hey, it's a start!

I actually washed my window once, and it fell through - it was being held together by the dirt.

~Edie Falco

I Truly Am Becoming a Soccer Mom

So, our Saturday mornings are now occupied at the soccer fields of Pleasant View, UT. Breyden seems to have early games (8:30 am) and Madi's games are at 11:30. Either that, or one is at 11:30, and the other at 11:45. I tell you, we can't win! But, as I sat there watching the games this week, I thought back to only last year when we would drive by and see the sidelines full of moms in folding chairs, wrapped up in blankets. I always thought, "Man, am I glad I'm not them." And now I am one of them!! My father-in-law stated that with the love Breyden has for sports, this is my life for the next 6 years. Then I reminded him that Alyssa isn't even one year yet, this is my life for the next 12 years. Yikes!!

Breyden is the little star of his team. He's so competative that he's mad if the other team scores. Right now, we're working with him on sharing the ball and passing to his team mates. We don't want it to just be "The Breyden Show".

This being only Madison's third game, she's doing pretty good. We've discovered that she can run really fast, if she wants to. Now, we just need to teach her to be aggressive. Unfortunately, I think that is something inherent in kids, not learned. So, as long as she has fun out there, it's worth the cold, rainy, drizzly mornings!

Our First Post

Alright, I've caved in. Here is the first post to our blog. Not much to report on right now. We're gearing up for soccer starting this weekend, and T-Ball/Softball starts the first week of May. Somewhere in there we have to find time for homework! Homework?!?! We don't have time for homework! Plus we have Kindergarten round-up in about 2 weeks.

Anyhow, right now we've been in our house for about 7 months, and we're just starting the process of putting in the yard. It's like Deja-Vu all over again. Didn't we just do this two years ago? Well, as this project progresses, I'll make sure to post pictures showing the transformation from dirt and weeds, to grass and flowerbeds. At this point, all we have in the yard is the in-ground trampoline, but it is the hit of the neighborhood. I have to say that I'm glad we put out the extra money for the really good tramploline. When I returned home from my walk last night, we had eight kids on the tramp, and Brandon! They were all trying to "crack" him, like an egg; shockingly it didn't work. The funny thing was listening to them all chant his name, "Brandon, Brandon!", encouraging him to keep jumping with them. He's like a big kid out there with the kids, jumping on the tramp, playing soccer. It's a good thing my kids have such a great, fun dad!

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.

~ Saint Thomas Aquinas