An absolute mess.

We have made an absolute mess.

It's our own fault 

& it has taken up all of our time

& made everything dirty!

This is a great first picture...

Brockie with 'dirty' socks.  

I realized quickly that we needed

to equip our kids with the 

'junkiest play clothes'

& socks.

Then it was time to set them free in 

our new yard of mud & material.

Our new ritual has been to strip our socks & pants

at the door before coming in for nap time, bed time & meal time.

(Hence Brock's pj bottoms we throw on him for nap time!)

We are always full of dirt and busy working outside,

which makes it hard to stop to make meals,

change diapers, or go inside to do anything.

p.s. he's always harassing Olivia.

It all started because Luke saw a 'deal' on craigslist for retaining block.

And it was a deal, so I agreed it should be bought.

But if you've ever made retaining walls 

& done other landscaping

the block is the cheapest part of the whole ordeal!

I would have NEVER thought the amount of 

rock, sand, dirt, and help that would 

be needed to complete our vision.

The Grandpas came a couple weeks ago

& helped us start this whole process.

And of course Grandpa Wayne's bobcat was needed.

We've been waiting and waiting

(since we first moved here)

to make trails through our woods.

Luke & I always had places to run around 

and areas to explore growing up on a farm

and we thought this would be perfect for our kids

to get outside & get in to trouble!

When our dads were here they also helped pick up some

retaining block and unload it and start digging out the back yard.

Our yard was completely ripped up during their visit!

AHHHHHH.

The boys think that dad should not even get time to change clothes

after work because they want him outside 

so they can 'help' him!

Then some more block was delivered.

What a neighborhood production!

In the meantime, the boys and I have spent lots of time

at city-wide garage sales all around us!

Here's the latest great find....

a FREE bucket loader!

They pedal this thing all over.

Moving more block to the back yard.

p.s. look at our yard where grass once was....

there is now dirt trails!

Here's the 'before' picture of one of the retaining walls.

More materials & more excitement

from daddy & the boys!

Every night is also bath night

& time to check for woodticks

(which are found almost every night!).

The boys enjoying all the playtime on the crushed concrete.

With all of us being occupied outside

bedtime keeps getting pushed back more and more.

Not a good idea....

but hopefully we'll get things back to 'normal' 

once this is all complete.

As you know the weather has NOT been good the past couple weekends.

Making for several inside breaks 

as it downpours on the dirt (making more mud!).

This particular break was my favorite.

Luke & the boys watching one of the best movies...

Sounds of Music!

Here's a few pictures of our backyard!

YIKES...I know.

Here's a 'after' picture of one of the several retaining walls.

Here's another wall going up with built in stairs.

Can you see it?

Our lovely VERY large wood burning pile.

This one might require a permit or two!

And hopefully we don't start the wetlands on fire!

Here's the start to our new trails.  

We hope that someday they will be nice grassy trails...

but until then, they will be our muddy, weeding trails!

This past weekend Luke's parents stopped by and 

they helped re-landscape our whole front yard.

There was some existing plants that were oddly placed

& I just bought some new shrubs & plants.

So they plotted a vision, asked what I thought

and literally starting digging.

We so greatly appreciated their help!

And in the meantime Hanson came over to help Luke

get a retaining wall finished.

p.s. this ALL occurred in the rain too.

How lovely.

More loader driving time.

And some cozy coupe time.

Look at that BIG cheesy smile!

Gosh he's the sweetest.

One thing that every kid needs.

Muck boots as termed by the country kids

or so called rain boots for the city kids!

Now time to get back to work.