My Saturday Project

I haven't been very motivated to blog lately. Sorry about that. Today though, I started--and finished!--a project that I am pretty proud of, so I thought I'd brag a little bit. By way of explanation, my little Dallin loves to be outside. Even more, he loves to "work in the dirt." I think he saw his daddy digging holes last summer and decided that was a cool thing to do. So Dallin digs in my front flower bed. This has not been a huge problem, since there are no flowers in it at the moment. However, it gets Dallin very dirty and tends to get dirt and sometimes mud tracked in my house. It's also in the front yard where I have a hard time keeping an eye on him unless I am outside with him, which I just can't be as much as he wants to be out there. Last Saturday he rode his big wheel all the way down our street and into the busier cross street. A neighbor's daughter-in-law stopped her car and, not knowing who he belonged to, brought him back to the neighbor's house. In the meantime, I had gone looking for him up at the park east of our house--the opposite direction from where he had gone. Not finding him there, I started to panic. I was very relieved to find him in my neighbor's arms in my front yard when I got back. I wasn't so relieved to hear he'd been found in the middle of the street, but my prayers for his safety were answered, and I didn't have to panic for too long.

Okay, so that was the long explanation for why I spent most of today building a sandbox. I'm hoping to trade dirt for sand, and to entice him to stay in the backyard where I can fence him in and keep an eye on him out the kitchen windows.


I bought the sand at a local landscaping company--six 5 gallon buckets full for $5. Then we trekked to Home Depot where I actually had an employee ask if I needed help. Then he actually helped me--unusually good customer service for that store, in my experience. I got treated 2x6 boards, cut into four foot lengths, and weed-blocker fabric. Then we went home and got to work. Adam sanded the ends of the boards. Then we all got our painting clothes on and painted them the same color as the trim on our house. While the paint was drying, we dug out some sod by the back fence under the maple tree and covered the area with the weed-blocker fabric. Then I screwed the boards together and put them in place. My only regret is that I got 2x6 boards instead of 2x8's. It would have been better if it was a little deeper. Except for the painting, Dallin was not excited about this whole process. But when we started dumping the sand in, he was all over it. I think he played out there for close to two hours--until I carried him kicking and screaming into the house for dinner. Success! We'll see if it keeps him out of my flower bed though.

Here are a few more pictures of my project and my boys:








And, just for fun, a picture of Jared in the middle of his haircut tonight. If his hair weren't so curly he would have wanted to keep the mohawk. Glad I didn't have to fight that fight!

Learning about our heritage

In fourth grade this year, Adam has been studying Utah history--from the dinosaurs to the Indians, to the pioneers, to the railroad. Last week all the fourth graders dressed up as Indians, pioneers, trappers, or railroad workers and presented a program about all they've learned. I was impressed with how much they have learned, and with how well they sang and performed. And I was really grateful for good schools and good teachers that are dedicated to helping my kids learn.

Adam got to blow the train whistle on one of the train songs.
Adam's fourth grade teacher (who is also our neighbor and Ryan's Primary teacher) recently expressed her frustration to me about all the fun Utah history field trips they had to cut this year because the school district limited field trips due to the economy. One of the field trips they normally take is to This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. I'd never been their either, so last Saturday Grandma and Grandpa took us there for the afternoon. It was their opening weekend for the season, featuring a Mountain Man Rendezvous. The weather was beautiful and the kids had fun--Adam especially I think, since so much of what we saw related to what he had studied. He even knew who all statues were.

Dallin playing on the rocking horse in Brigham Young's home. I was surprised the guide let him touch it, let alone ride it.


Adam and Ryan and Jared got their faces painted.

A Mother's Day Gift from the Heart

My kids were cute about Mother's Day today. Ryan made me a recipe card holder at Cub Scouts, and a personalized plastic mug at school. Jared gave me a small plant from preschool. They all had made various homemade cards for me too. Jared was the cutest though. Earlier in the week he had mentioned to me that he had a Mother's Day present for me in a shoe. I assumed it was something he was doing at preschool and encouraged him not to spoil the surprise. He agreed, but seemed pretty excited about it. So today I started opening up the gifts and cards and he says, "Mom, where's the shoe?" I said, "Jared, I don't know. You never gave me the shoe." He immediately took off looking for it, and came back a couple minutes later and gave me one of his shoes, which I think had been in the basement. I said, "Is there something in your shoe for me?" When he said, "Yes," I reached in and pulled out a little gray zipper thing that he's been keeping coins in. I think it says Freedent on it and it velcros around your wrist. He told me, very sweetly, "I didn't need it any more, so I gave it to you." (At some point he had gotten it from one of his older brothers who also "didn't need it anymore.") He was so cute about it. It was a great gift given straight from his sweet, five-year-old heart. I thanked him and gave him a big hug, and he seemed pretty pleased. But here's the funny part. About a minute later two-year-old Dallin comes to me with one of his Winnie the Pooh shoes. I took it and said, "Are you giving me a present in your shoe too Dallin?" He said, "Yes," so I reached in and there was nothing there. I said, "Dallin, it's empty. Is there supposed to be something in your shoe for me?" He immediately picked up the little zipper thing Jared had just given me and started stuffing it in his shoe. So I helped him put it in, then I pulled it out and told him thank you too. By this time Jeff's parents and I could hardly keep from laughing. I told my mom about it on the phone tonight too, and she said I should write it down. So I just did.

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom, to Jeff's wonderful mom, and to all the other moms I am proud to call friends and loved ones!