yard work.....

This morning we are mowing the lawn for the first time.  Hopefully cutting down all the tall weeds will help the grass grow... and hopefully Corinne City will get the water working again, so it doesn't fry all up.
The city water pump went down around 2 weeks ago - so our sprinklers don't work.  We have left the weeds with hopes that they might be providing the grass with some shade from the scorching sun..... I am afraid we'll be reseeding the entire yard again after all this mess :(

anyway, here are a few pic of how nice it was looking before the sprinklers quit. and my great weeding too.

backyard

the weeds looked like a big sea monster heading toward the house to swallow it up

ah, there.  now you can see how it's supposed to look LOL  my marigolds are growing in nicely!

the weeds are completely hiding all the large rocks that I had collected and used to outline the mound

dontcha just love those huge orange things sticking out? 

rediculous...

I have no idea when they will get around to coming to take care of that....

I am still working on this corner mound.  I paid 2 neighbor boys to find and bring me more big rocks - I thought 25cents per big rock was a good price, I should have said 10 cents, cuz I ended up paying them about $16 and I could really still use a lot more rocks, or I could have spent that on mulch.  Oh well, they were really happy for some cash, and I was happy that I didn't have to drag those rocks over here.     I put down weed barrier under the rocks! so I won't have to deal with weeding there anymore except around the plants.    I think the poor bush is dead... the sprinklers didn't even reach it.  The tree is doing ok, for now, but it actually gets some water.  Several of the bushes in the mound in front of the house, are also dying cuz the sprinklers can't reach them.   Next year, I will probably have to dig them up, and replace them. What a waste.  Kinda like the lawn. I know there are spots that have no grass growing.  We will have to have that redone too.

I am very unhappy with the "landscaping" company that NNHC hired to put in our sprinkler system.  They said that no one in the Smithfiled group had any complaints with them, but all 6 of us here have been very upset with them. So if you need a "landscaper" none of us would recommend Lindsey Landscaping.

Anyway. The boys are happy that they get to be on the grass now.  Sometimes they forget that it's allowed - Grayson was running across the lawn, and Thomas told him to get off the grass (the neighbor boy did the same thing) .  Or Thomas will ask me if it's ok to go in the backyard.  I knew that would happen.  I am sure it will only take a few more weeks before they forget all about it.

We have several more projects to get done outside.  I love doing work in my very own yard (I just wish it wasn't 100 degrees outside).   We need to get the swingset reassembled.  We need to make a nice sandbox (I think getting sand to fill it with will be the tough part).  And I want my patio swing set up too. 

We still haven't gotten a "vision" of how we'd like our patio area yet.  I am kinda happy about that LOL - cuz I don't feel the pressure to make it just right, RIGHT NOW.  We have time to plan that out, and time to get a little more money to do it (eventually).

Well, it's time to get out and work out there, before it gets too hot.

last week of july

July has been a very fun filled month (well, except for the week I had strep throat, and when Tyson hurt his foot at work)
We have lots of birthday celebrations in July.
First was Zoee's 2nd birthday, then was Jaxton's 1st birthday, and this past weekend was Keithan's 4th birthday.
It was also Pioneer Day.  So we watched the fireworks display they do at willow park from Chris and Sara's front lawn :)

no pictures

my camera broke.  I have no idea what happened, it just shut off and gives me an error message. >:(
It bothers me to do stuff, and not get pics of it.

Yesterday we went to the pool again.  Grayson still hated it, and clung to me with a death grip.  Thomas had a blast and wore himself out - which as you all should know is a nearly impossible task.  He even slept in this morning.

4th of July weekend fun

Saturday
Chris and Sara were kind enough to watch the boys so that Tyson and I could go out and see a movie  IN THE THEATER that we thought we couldn't wait to see.  The Last Airbender turned out to be pretty poorly made, but the fun of actually going out on a date together was still worth it.
Then we stayed at Chris and Sara's and they fed us burgers from the grill and brownies!!  The kiddy pool was filled up, and Thomas and the boys played and had so much fun!

Sunday
Since we were out late sat night, the boys didn't get their baths or anything that night in prep for church sunday.  But we still managed to get them all bathed and fed and we got all ready and made it to church ON TIME! 
- we have to be early to church here, or we don't get a seat - there are just too many people in our ward, and the building is just too small.  So we got there with time to spare and there still weren't seats left.  They had to set up chairs between the pews and the over flow area (in the walking asile).  Turns out that there was 4 baby blessings - so it was even more crowded than usual.  Although I swear we have had 2-4 baby blessings every month here since we moved in, so maybe we should just expect it.
After church we just had a nice relaxing day at home - we made bbq ribs and corn on the cob on the grill (have I mentioned yet how much we LOVE grilling???)

Monday
We went to Newton "Lake".  (We are all trying to get out of the habit of calling it "The Dam" cuz we don't want the kids saying Dam ).
Dad had the kyaks and the canoe and lifejackets of every size.  Everyone made it up to splash around and have lunch.  It was a really great outing!  And everyone of us enjoyed it so much, we talked about doing it again next weekend :) 
We were a little ill-prepared since it was our first outing of the summer.  It's funny how it takes a little "getting into the swing of things" sometimes, to get it all right.  I remember getting the car packed up, and thinking that there was something in the garage that I needed to bring.  It wasn't until we got up there that I realized it was our camping chairs.  We also could have brought up an extra table for the lunch spread - as more people came the more food came too :)

After the fun at the "lake", we drove home, and the kids fell asleep!  We were counting on that.  We had to make a quick stop to get milk at the store, and I made Tyson drop me off and keep driving to keep them asleep. They needed the nap so they could stay awake for fireworks.
We came home ate some dinner and then just before 9pm we went to Brigham City.  The sun went down, but it didn't get dark til 10.  I kept thinking how crazy it was that I was keeping the kids up so late.  But once the fireworks started, it was worth it.
The only setback was that our usual spot we watch the fireworks from - on the side lawn at Box Elder High School - decided to run their sprinklers at 10:15 about halfway thru the fireworks show.  We all ran to the sidewalk to finish watching the show.  No harm done, just a bit of an annoyance.  I didn't get any pictures of the rest of the night, because I had taken so many at the dam, the card was full - and then the battery died as I was trying to look thru the pics to delete  a few.  Oh well.  It was memorable without pics :)

my poor baby

we had to go to the Dr. again yesterday.

He was showing the same signs as last month when he got a double ear infection and pnemonia. 

So this time I took him in as soon as I could (without the ER visit).

This time it's "just" bronchitis.

The Dr. gave us a nebulizer this time.  We won't have to return it.  We sure could have used the one we had "rented" last month , but we gave it back last week.    The Dr. warned that he could be developing asthma, so now he can get relief anytime he is showing signs.  I am sure that this is all triggered by allergies of some kind.  All of us are pretty choked up right now from something.

he is such a good little boy to just leave it on. 

 I think he can tell that it helps him feel better.