The Swing-set Saga, Part 1

So, I suppose calling it a 'saga' isn't entirely accurate, because getting this bad boy together really hasn't been so bad. It certainly hasn't been as awful as all of you "oh, hire someone to do it for you" people told us. ;)

We picked up all the pieces on Monday night. Tuesday night, Kenn and Caleb sorted all of the hardware pieces and then Kenn and I counted them all after the boys were in bed. LOTS of hardware, but we had everything except for 1 C-ring. Not too shabby. :)

Then we had to sort through all the wood pieces and make sure we had all those. I ended up doing that on Thursday during naptime. It actually didn't take as long as I thought it would.

So Friday night, to start things off, we did Step 1, which is putting together this cute little picnic table.



Saturday morning was when we really got to work. Our good friend Rob came over to help Kenn get this bad boy together (he also helped us get it home from Costco, because HE owns a truck and WE do not). They got the main frame together on the driveway, and then carried it over their heads into the backyard.

12:15 pm-->



These frames for the roof were a pill, because the wood was super thin and kept stripping when they were trying to get the screws in, but they did it. And Kenn was even still happy. They also built the ladder and put the roof supports onto the main frame.

3:18 pm--->


Hi Rob! Thanks again for helping, you are fantastic!



Still getting those roof-frames up.

3:45 pm-->


The roof is on! Looks good, huh? Also, a bunch of edge pieces and framing pieces were added on.

5:27 pm-->


The super-cute bay window

5:27 pm-->

The fan decoration and the hole for the bubble window.

5:27 pm-->


Where Kenn is sitting will stay the opening for the ladder, next to it is where the tic-tac-toe things will go.

5:28 pm-->


Beckett and Caleb did great yesterday, all things considered. It was a long day for everyone, as I was trying to help Kenn and Rob by getting pieces together for each step so they were ready to keep moving. The boys enjoyed sitting at the picnic table, though. And Caleb was SOOOOOOO excited about the swing-set, especially once we allowed him to actually climb on it. For some reason, I didn't get any pictures of him on it yet. Enjoy these instead.

5:55 pm-->



Basically together! The beam that the swings attach to is together, but sitting on the lawn waiting to be attached. The rock wall is also together, and in the garage. There are some dormer pieces that will be attached to the roof to make it prettier, but we're missing some of those pieces so they'll have to wait.

What do you think?? :)

done about 6:30 pm-->

I have ESP. or something.

I totally knew that the carrots were about to come up, and THAT is why I took a picture the day before. Cause the next morning... there they were! Carrots! Good thing, too, cause I planted those things almost 3 weeks ago and hadn't seen a thing.



These are the spinach plants, and they look so good! They just keep pluggin' away and getting bigger.


And the peas! Can you see how many there are?? See if you can spot all 9. :)



And finally, my babies. My sweet little seedlings that I grew from scratch. Not much longer, team, and we can move you all outside, into the lovely compost/peat moss/vermiculite garden beds that are waiting for you.

Day 26!!!--->

Swingset! Garden! Plants!

So off we go...


This is our garage after getting all the pieces for the new swingset sorted out. Yes, our cars have been parked in the driveway. For the time being, we are true Texans.



See, it IS a pea plant! Not a worm! :) And there's more coming up, so exciting!



And for some reason, I decided to take a picture of where there should be carrots. Nice soil, eh??

caleb's first snowball fight...and other snow-related stuff

,

Greetings from Texas...

...where it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, only Christmas in OTHER places, like Wisconsin, and Canada.

Yup. It's snowing. Right now, as I type this. I'll take another picture once it stops so we can see how much accumulated.

our front walk

this is ONE flake that I caught on Caleb's glove, they are fat! (the flakes, not the gloves)

good thing I covered my garden beds

Caleb even got to be cliché this morning, and he woke me up by running into my room saying "Mommy, it's snowing! It's snowing outside!"

See, we still have everything here in the South that ya'll do up North. ;)

Merry Christmas.

Onward and Upward

Day 22!-->

Lookin' good, eh?

This here is the magnificent squash plant! I love it, I admit. I never knew I could love a plant so much.

My "artsy" shot, for all my photography-lovin' peeps.


Oooh, ooh, and look! That wormy lookin' thing sticking up in the middle there is, I'm pretty sure, a PEA plant! Finally! Either that, or it's a worm.

I vote pea plant.

(and I gotta thank Dani B. for the inspiration on my title--i love that phrase)

Saturday is a special day...

It's the day we go crazy and work in the yard. At least, it is in OUR house.

We went a little crazy over the weekend. We built trellises for one of the garden beds.


Kenn started to dismantle the swing set so he could measure pieces and make it more sturdy, and then realized that it was a piece of crap and wasn't worth rebuilding. So, we went and did some window-shopping that night (date night! woo-hoo!) and the new swing set is to come! Caleb is going to FLIP. :)

And this is both where the old one WAS, and also where the new one will be.


Oh, and I pulled up a TON of weeds out of the yard, but nobody really wants a picture of that. Trust me.

Righteous!!! Righteous!!!

Talking to Plants

Hello plants, how are you? I am well. Thank you for growing. You make me happy. :)

Day 20!-->

Marigolds, you're looking good! I like the layered look on you. ;)

A Thousand Words

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a photo montage!

50 points to whoever can invent the best captions for the whole story.
51 points to whoever comes closest to the real thing. :)

They're multiplying like rabbits! Or numbers!

Or leaves! At any rate, they're multiplying. And I mean the leaves, of course. See, I one-upped myself (i hope that's a word) and put this here nightstand in the tub. Because my friend Sara, who is basically a ninja when it comes to gardening and growing things (not to mention canning and preserving, etc. etc.) suggested that the reason the lettuce and broccoli and cauliflower got so tall and lanky (to the point of falling over) is because they really just needed to be closer to a light source. They were growing tall, and not growing any other way, to get more sunlight. So now they're as close as I can get them without actually putting them outside, and oh, what a difference a day in the sun makes! Look at that squash plant in the corner, it's huge!

I think I'm most excited that things are starting to grow secondary sets of leaves now. They're starting to really look different from one another. Here it is!


day 19!!!--->

(and don't you love the light in this picture? That's for you, Em. :)

That there is lettuce, look close
and you can see the multiple
leaves on there!---->

Even the marigolds are
getting in on this!-->

Lessons Learned

Dear January 2011 Amy,

Hi, how are ya? I just wanted to remind you of a few things before we begin our garden this year, important things.

The main one? You need to remember 2 words when you're thinking about your seed-starting—

BATH.
ROOM.

Planting tiny helpless seeds in pots and leaving them on your kitchen counter never did anyone any good, especially your plants. The master bathroom is, to quote Beck, WHERE it's AT. Open the curtains, put the spare nightstand in the tub, and let the sunshine and humidity of the water closet do it's business, so to speak. Magic will happen!

Also, invest in a BB gun. The good kind, the kind that can take an eye out, so when you eventually catch those blasted cats digging in your garden beds you can shoot their tails off. Don't worry, they deserve it. And you'll be a much happier person afterward.

Third, STAGGER YOUR PLANTING. Why you did that with peas and carrots and NOTHING else, I will never understand, but by the time you're reading this you should have nice, painful memories of being inundated with spinach. FOUR SQUARE FEET of it, to be exact. And lettuce, too. Probably ate more lettuce in a 2 week period than you thought possible, right? DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE.

Last, and this might be the most important, try not to stress about plants growing or not growing. It's physically impossible for you to control EVERY SINGLE VARIABLE in growing a garden. So relax, enjoy the experience, and be grateful you have the yard space to do it at all, as so many others do not.

We can do this, and we can make it better than last year. We can make it better than ever! Ha HA!

Sorry, I got carried away. I do that when I talk to myself.

Keep it real,
amy

Popeye would be so proud...

WE HAVE SPINACH!!!

I didn't get a chance to take a picture tonight because we had a friend over, but there are little tiny spinach plants coming up in the garden outside!

Hooray!!!

I got this photo here:
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/food/images/spinach.jpg

oooooh, aaaaah

Awww, squash plant, you got so tall and pretty in just 2 days. :*)

And yes, cantaloupe, you look good, too. Very nice.

(but the squash looks better! hehe!)

Problem Solving

So, I finally had an epiphany and realized that I'm an idiot for keeping these seeds/seedlings on the island in the kitchen. The downstairs of my house is always a few degrees colder than upstairs (as most homes are), and it's been extra cold here the last few weeks, and I think these poor plants jut needed to be warmer. They also needed more sunlight, which they were NOT getting at all. So I wised up and moved them to the bathtub in the master bathroom. It's warm, and humid, and the sun shines brighter through the bathtub window than anywhere else in the house. It's already helped, too. I got a yellow squash plant. :)

Day 15!-->



See? Right there
in the corner------->

Valentine's Day!

Where do I even start??? This is probably the best Valentine's Day EVER.
So many fun things!

#1--I got presents. :)

#2-- We got to have pink, heart-shaped pancakes for dinner.

#3-- We had some AMAZING and CALEB-SAFE chocolate fondue with the Hayden family. Yum-O. :)

(yes, Caleb got a huge glob of chocolate on his nose, on his first bite, no less.)

Nice, Garrett. Nice. :)

What else was wonderful? I got to make cards for Kenn and Caleb and I bought Kenn a CD he's been wanting, and I got cute Valentine stuffed animals for the boys (a frog for Caleb, and a giraffe for Beckett) and I got to leave all these presents and things on nightstands for them to be seen upon waking, just like my mom did for us when I we were little. :)

Kenn even put the flowers on my nightstand before I woke up.
I love my husband. :)

What a happy day, to be able to tell those we love just how MUCH we love them, and to get to say it and show it as much as we want.

AND, as if that wasn't enough, it's my MAMA'S BIRTHDAY! So, a BIG

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

to her.

Love You Mom!!!