Grass Update!

This was taken with my phone camera, so the quality is terrible, but we've had some complaints that I haven't posted about our grass progress.  This is the view from our front door.  LOVE IT!!!!!

Naturally!

When thinking about dinner the other night, I knew I wanted to make something special for Randy.  So, I threw some stuff in the crock pot and began cleaning the house.  I was able to finish the laundry, sanitize all of the bathrooms, vacuum all of the floors, and was all ready to mop the floor.  The last half hour of cook time for dinner asked for cream cheese which I thought I had, but didn't.  So, I called around to some friends  and finally found some.  I threw it in and began mopping the floor.  Things were working out according to my ultimate design.  My timing would put me finishing the mopping about 10 minutes before Randy got home, giving me enough time to put dinner on the table as he was walking in.  Enter Randy!  He grabbed the crock pot as I was grabbing a ladle; with everyone sitting down ready to eat.  The aroma was Wonderful, the house was Spotless, and (for just that moment) there was no arguing.  And then the crock pot slipped from Randy's grasp and spilled all of the special dinner all over the newly mopped floor.  And the perfect day ended right there!  As well as my happy mood!

Poor

I had some friends over today for the first time.  Since the first day of school I've been cleaning like a mad woman to get my house deep cleaned from the neglect of summer.  So my house was pretty clean by the time they got here.  When the little guy walked in he said, "Wow.  Are you guys poor?"  I was taken aback and asked why he thought that.  "Because you guys don't have a lot of stuff!"  I was laughing pretty good by the time his mom walked in.  Apparently, what I thought was clean actually makes us look like paupers! 

Also

Brennon said he was not feeling well and would like to take a nap.  He's never a problem when going to nap, but asking for it is out of the norm for him.  So, I put him to bed and fixed Ty his lunch.  After a few minutes I told him to hurry, that it was nap time. 
"Mom, is it naptime for Brennon also?"
Also?  How grown up of him.  I'm sad to think my baby isn't going to be a baby forever.  One day I'll have silence during "naptime" because I won't have babies down for their nap.  Sad!  However, maybe I'll make it my naptime.  Then I'll be happy for the silence:)

Amn't

I'm in love with Tyson's new phrase.  Amn't. 
"Ty, stop playing with that." 
"I amn't!"

School

Randy can't figure out what is wrong with my computer, so I've had spotty service for a few days.  I know, I know, you've missed me.  I'm typing on my iPad, which I hate, so this won't be too long.  I need actual keys instead of a screen.  Anyway, the first day of school was on Tuesday.  Caden started Middle School (*Tear*) and was actually put on lockdown 2 minutes after he got into the building.  There was a hostage situation at the Super 8 a half mile down the road, so they put them on lockdown.  Better than my friend Kimberly whose daughter had to miss her first day of Kindergarten all together!  He's so excited to be in Middle School.  He's got his own school-issued Macbook, which Randy is so jealous of.  Me, too, as luck would have it.  Keilie started 4th grade.  Caden had her teacher when he was in fourth grade, so we're pretty excited.  She's most excited that her two besties are in her class.  We thought that one was going to transfer to another school since she lives on the mountain, but since it's school of choice with buses going to each school, she's returned to us.  On that same note, with the buses going to each school, Caden has the option of riding the bus.  However, he would have to catch the bus on the corner at SIX NINETEEN in the morning if he wanted to make it to school by SEVEN FIFTY!  No thanks, I'll drive the 20 minute drive so he doesn't have to sleep with his backpack on!  Shelby started Kindergarten.  I think it really helped her (although I never anticipated a problem) to have already spent a year at the school in preschool.  She wasn't even worried.  In fact, she didn't even really wave to me!  Brennon is itching to get back into his preschool.  He'll start on Wednesday.  We're all ready for him to stop asking, "Mom, is it preschool today?" and seeing his crestfallen face when it's not.  Soon the answer will be "YES!"  Ty gets to have me for 2.5 hours each day.  All. Alone!  Man, how weird it will be to have to only buckle one kid into the car.  Looks like he's the lucky one that will get to run all the errands.  I'm not sure which is better, school or errands.  And after back-to-school shopping with all five, let me just say, it's a miracle I'm here to write this post.  It was touch-and-go on Monday!  Not doing that again!!!!

Coming Soon!

I don't like playing in the snow.  Plain and simple.  However, this cute little winter hat has me excited to see more just like it.  I'll like it even more from inside the warm house while watching my kids play out in the freezing snow:)

Needed this little gem today!

Reminded me of this true-life gem a few years back.

Caden:  Why is mommy laying on the couch?
Randy:  Because she's tired.  Sometimes it's hard being a mommy!
Caden:  Sometimes it's hard being a daddy, too.  You have to spank hard!

Hydroseed

 Fence to our backyard

 Our stepping stones are actually a burnt red when they're not covered in hydroseed!  They'll look so good contrasted with green grass.  I can't wait!

 Almost done.  Did you know that the green coloring is paper?

I'm SO happy to have it done.  It will only be complete when there is actual grass, but for now, it's perfect!

Got Rocks?

 Russ and I took more than three hours laying this black fabric in the hottest part of the day.  20 minutes before the above picture was taken we had a freak storm hit.  A dust devil swooped down and took it all flying.  One side of our trailer flew across the road barely missing a jeep.  A 50 pound bag was thrown across the street as if it were a bag of feathers.  And this...

 Some of the fabric was flown almost a quarter of a mile across the street!

 And of course, we only had another 20 minutes before the rock was scheduled to be delivered.  Talk about taking a 3 hour job and rushing to get it done in 20 minutes.  We did have more helpers the second time around, though.  Then the real fun began!

Not working as well as we would have liked:)

 So we pulled out the big guns.

 

 And tested our balance skills:)

Our audience for the whole shebang.  Grandpa-great Kimber, Tyson, Grandma Burrell, Austen, and Bells.  Notice my twisty tree.  Don'tcha love it?  I sure do!

Cottonwoods

 We got some cottonwood trees at such a good price, we had Russ put them in the backyard for us.  Again, our ground was the worst!  The work was probably more fun with such a cute assistant!

Shrubs

 There's the sledgehammer and stake!

And we have shrubs:)

Sprinklers

And we have sprinklers!!!

Russ got it done in only 2 days.  He'd talked to a guy down in Texas that has a crew of 4-5 guys that can sometimes get a job done in only one day, most of the time two.  Russ did it alone!  Next comes the edging and shrubs.

Trees

 Our home 2009

 View from the front porch out to the road

 Since our ground is packed clay and blown sand it took us a whole day to dig and bury 5 trees.  Randy did most of the hard labor, but I did help as much as I could.  It took a 6' stake, sledgehammer, pick ax, water, and shovels to get the job done. 

I was so giddy to see the trees in.  Little did I know that my joy could increase so much as the rest of the yard came together!

Outdoor Lamp

 I have always wanted a light in my front yard.  I simply mentioned it to Randy and so it was done!  He is so good to me!

 He had to add a breaker and drill through our house, but as you know, he's the best and did it perfectly!

 As usual, he put his all in and made it perfect- no uneven cement for our lamp!  Nothing but the best for me! Hence, my Sealing to Randy Dirks.

 And, of course, it had to rain the second we were done.  Like our house in Casper, we had to cover it with tarp.

 I had to have the kids' handprints, so I lifted the tarp and held it while Randy helped the kids.  Notice Brennon's left hand.  Love it:)

Perfection!!!  

Oh, and don't mind the freaky glowing dog eyes by the front porch:)

Extremes

It's come to this!

Stainless

What a difference Stainless Steel makes in our kitchen!  I LOVE the look!

Summer (not so) lovin'!

When finally sitting down to my computer for some blog time, I couldn't wait to get the pictures downloaded from my camera to show you the landscaping adventures- and a whole lot more.  We're getting our sprinkling system installed on Wednesday and will be getting more stuff done to the front.  I am simply excited for it all to be coming together.  However, when I went to put the cord in to connect the camera to the computer, I found the SD card missing.  Our kids (I truly don't know which child this particular crime) took that card that has so many pictures... and lost it.  It's been a hard summer.  Bleach cleaner spilled on a spot of carpet in a room.  FREE HD TV broken at a simple touch... of discarded PVC bashed into it.  The SD card stolen and lost.  A car door scratched horribly (more on this in another post.  Still too ticked to talk much about it).  It's been a hard summer!!!  For now, I'll leave on a good note.  In less than 12 hours, my sister and her family will be traveling up to spend 12 days with us.  Now that makes this crappy summer a whole lot better!

Investments

If any of you know Randy, you know that he's always looking for an investment.  Always!  Well, we found one.  Or two, however you want to look at it.  We found a condo in Utah that we were hoping to rent to the ultimate renter.  My sister and her little girl!  During the house hunt, we came across a complex that had a few for sale.  One of which was a HUD.  So, we bought one for her to live in now while we fix up the HUD for her to ultimately live in.  This is the one she lives in now, and the blueprint for what we want the HUD to look like.  Only with nicer everything:)

 Bathroom.

 The carpeted room that you see is the Front Room.  The wood floor you see is what it called the Breezeway.  It's the addition that was added onto the back of each of the buildings.  Ours still has the brick wall that was once the back, so we're, at this very moment, having it replaced with real walls:)  Love demolition!  And reconstruction!!

 View from the back of the Breezeway.

 Front Room with peek at Kitchen.  And door to the bathroom.

 Kitchen.  

The cabinets are still the original cabinets from 1964- when these were built.  We've gutted the entire place in the HUD, so we'll have better cupboards and countertops.  Can you say Cherry Wood, anyone?!  We also wanted a dishwasher.  Who lives without one of those anymore?  Not me, that's for sure!

 We moved the fridge to the other wall so that we could have a water line to the fridge.  I can't live without ice and water at my fingertips.  We didn't want Danielle and Payton to suffer!

 Master bedroom.

Second bedroom.

We have a little over a month to get it all put together for her to move in.  Then we'll get renters for this one and Randy will have his investments.  He'll probably then get the itch again to start looking for his next project.  He never quits!  And never will!!  Such is life at the Dirks' house!