My plea for help was not ignored. We had several shovel-wielding friends and their kids arrive this morning to rip up 560sqft of sod on clay. It took us about 3 hours to complete the job. And now...*heavenly sigh*...I have a gaping hole in my grass just the right size for my dream garden. The Jacks, the Bundys, the Evanses, the Allisons, and my own dear husband have made my dreams come true, one shovelful at a time. What a joy! I am recharging my camera battery at this moment, so pictures will have to wait yet again.
The kids had fun in the dirt and drinking from the hose. Kids drinking from the hose is another one of those "all is right in the world" activities...except for the unsettling notion of lead exposure. Our living room carpet seems to have suffered the brunt of today's activities. Let's see what magic my vacuum can perform :)
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Alice's Birthday Recap
Wednesday was Alice's birthday and we had a quiet family party (Bobby shared a snippet of it in a previous post). I was so busy that day hiring professionals to work on our house and yard (oops) that we barely had started MAKING dinner when the Evanses arrived for cake and ice cream at 6:00 PM. *sigh* I'm glad the Evanses were such good sports about it and decided to join us for dinner :) It turned into a lovely evening.
Thursday was Alice's "friend" party. Her original plan, weeks ago, was to invite a friend to play at a local gymnastics center. Then she planned a party big enough to fill every room of our house. Then she reconsidered the gymnastics play time idea. The poor girl was having trouble deciding. I would not do both.
TA DA! The week before her birthday, she finally chose to play at the gymnastics center with one friend (it's kinda pricey and I can't hold many kids in my car). I invited the friend quickly so there was no turning back. Whew! They played and played and played, then we went home for an outdoor picnic in the backyard. The family of Alice's friend joined us for lunch, too, and it was a regular feast of food and good company. I could really use more birthday parties like that one :)
Thursday was actually a surprisingly magical day. After the gymnastics center and the picnic, we had quiet time. We all came out of quiet time in a grumpy mood. Terrible, in fact. I was teetering on the edge of doing something drastic* to break the crunchy antagonism when the phone rang. It was the Jarvi family asking if they could stop by and deliver a present for Alice's birthday. That was just the ticket. Alice was thrilled, I got some chat time with a good friend, and all the kids walked a few laps around the cul-de-sac for fun. It came time to pick up Bobby from work, so we said good bye to the Jarvies just as the Allisons walked up to deliver a present to Alice, too. The presents were both for Alice, but I was also feeling the love. These kids/families were thinking about Alice on her birthday even without a big friend party. They brought her gifts and handmade cards because they wanted to, not because it was expected as part of a party. That meant everything to me.
I wish I had taken at least one picture of the day. Let's see if I can charge the camera battery before Robert turns 2 :)
*"drastic" in this case means something completely spontaneous and 100% guaranteed to throw off any plans or schedules for the rest of the day: unscheduled trip to the store/library/park, walk or bike ride around the neighborhood, Skype call to some unsuspecting family member, bubble bath for the kids, etc. It's freakishly inconvenient and yet perfectly effective.
Thursday was Alice's "friend" party. Her original plan, weeks ago, was to invite a friend to play at a local gymnastics center. Then she planned a party big enough to fill every room of our house. Then she reconsidered the gymnastics play time idea. The poor girl was having trouble deciding. I would not do both.
TA DA! The week before her birthday, she finally chose to play at the gymnastics center with one friend (it's kinda pricey and I can't hold many kids in my car). I invited the friend quickly so there was no turning back. Whew! They played and played and played, then we went home for an outdoor picnic in the backyard. The family of Alice's friend joined us for lunch, too, and it was a regular feast of food and good company. I could really use more birthday parties like that one :)
Thursday was actually a surprisingly magical day. After the gymnastics center and the picnic, we had quiet time. We all came out of quiet time in a grumpy mood. Terrible, in fact. I was teetering on the edge of doing something drastic* to break the crunchy antagonism when the phone rang. It was the Jarvi family asking if they could stop by and deliver a present for Alice's birthday. That was just the ticket. Alice was thrilled, I got some chat time with a good friend, and all the kids walked a few laps around the cul-de-sac for fun. It came time to pick up Bobby from work, so we said good bye to the Jarvies just as the Allisons walked up to deliver a present to Alice, too. The presents were both for Alice, but I was also feeling the love. These kids/families were thinking about Alice on her birthday even without a big friend party. They brought her gifts and handmade cards because they wanted to, not because it was expected as part of a party. That meant everything to me.
I wish I had taken at least one picture of the day. Let's see if I can charge the camera battery before Robert turns 2 :)
*"drastic" in this case means something completely spontaneous and 100% guaranteed to throw off any plans or schedules for the rest of the day: unscheduled trip to the store/library/park, walk or bike ride around the neighborhood, Skype call to some unsuspecting family member, bubble bath for the kids, etc. It's freakishly inconvenient and yet perfectly effective.
A call for shovel-wielding friends
I'll be ripping up some sod from my backyard this Saturday (tomorrow, March 17th) to put in a new garden bed. A lot of it has to be done by hand because of buried utilities. If you are willing and able, I could REALLY use some help 8:30-11:00 AM and 3:00-5:00 PM. Kids welcome. If you have a shovel, please bring it. You can email/call me if you have further questions. Thanks!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Busy, busy, busy day
Yes, it's still Alice's birthday. Bobby posted the video of her blowing out her candles, and I'm dying to process this whole day (it's been a doozy), but it's too late to start a "processing" blog post. I do want to share, however, that actual progress is being made in, on, and around the house in very tangible ways that makes this more of our home than ever. And it's being done by professionals, so we know it'll be done well and in a timely manner ;)
1) Removal of a half-dead blue spruce tree in the front yard. It's ugly and it's killing our front lawn. I don't particularly care for grass, but just plain dirt is a terrible runoff hazard. I haven't spent any energy figuring out options for that shady, wet, acidic space, but I've got a neighbor who's dying to expand his wildflower garden into my front yard. We'll see.
2) Attic and crawlspace insulation. This house was built with only 4-5 inches of fiberglass batting in the attic. That's nowhere close to what we should have in this Illinois climate. Our first heating bill proved that, and this was a MILD winter. The crawlspace is not insulated either. We'll be adding 10 inches of blown in cellulose insulation in the attic and a couple inches to the crawlspace walls. Our power company will foot a good portion of the bill and early estimates show we could make back the cost in energy savings in just a few years.
3) Backyard fence. Something short and simple to keep the kids in. We found the property markers today and I was surprised yet again by how big the backyard truly is. I feel like we have acres. The two neighbors sharing this new fence have wholeheartedly agreed to split the cost with us, which is generous. They are happy empty nesters, and I think they like the idea of containing our kids ;)
That reminds me. With the nice weather, the kids were playing outside barefoot. Have I ever told you of the thrill in my heart when I see my kids running outside barefoot? It's a feeling of completion...that things are right. Robert was running full speed from one end of the yard to the other. His head down low, his chubby legs and diapered hips almost managing a mature run. Alice and Robert both climbed on some stumps and cheered. Robert was surprised and proud of himself at the same time. I couldn't be happier.
1) Removal of a half-dead blue spruce tree in the front yard. It's ugly and it's killing our front lawn. I don't particularly care for grass, but just plain dirt is a terrible runoff hazard. I haven't spent any energy figuring out options for that shady, wet, acidic space, but I've got a neighbor who's dying to expand his wildflower garden into my front yard. We'll see.
2) Attic and crawlspace insulation. This house was built with only 4-5 inches of fiberglass batting in the attic. That's nowhere close to what we should have in this Illinois climate. Our first heating bill proved that, and this was a MILD winter. The crawlspace is not insulated either. We'll be adding 10 inches of blown in cellulose insulation in the attic and a couple inches to the crawlspace walls. Our power company will foot a good portion of the bill and early estimates show we could make back the cost in energy savings in just a few years.
3) Backyard fence. Something short and simple to keep the kids in. We found the property markers today and I was surprised yet again by how big the backyard truly is. I feel like we have acres. The two neighbors sharing this new fence have wholeheartedly agreed to split the cost with us, which is generous. They are happy empty nesters, and I think they like the idea of containing our kids ;)
That reminds me. With the nice weather, the kids were playing outside barefoot. Have I ever told you of the thrill in my heart when I see my kids running outside barefoot? It's a feeling of completion...that things are right. Robert was running full speed from one end of the yard to the other. His head down low, his chubby legs and diapered hips almost managing a mature run. Alice and Robert both climbed on some stumps and cheered. Robert was surprised and proud of himself at the same time. I couldn't be happier.
Happy Birthday Video
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