Ni-Night

Most kids go to bed with a favorite blanket or a favorite stuffed animal. Some need a pacifier or perhaps a certain article of clothing.

Tonight I tucked William into bed with a

paint roller
wrench
yellow tube "for the wrench to fix"
Mr. and Mrs. King
police car

Go figure.

And to top it all off . . .

Don't get me wrong, I like cats. They go really well with country gravy. But the goal here is to keep them out of the 6ft x 6ft giant litter box. I really haven't ever seen a cat in our neighborhood, let alone our backyard. But due to the implications of the possibility, I decided a proactive over reactive solution would be best. So I put on a lid.

Emmanuel Nobel, inventor of plywood, for some reason decided that our world was built in 4ft x 8ft increments. However, this is no good-o for the 6x6 sandbox. So, I had to cut and join two sheets together.

Two sheets of plywood, framed and braced.


Now stained to withstand the humid, tropical Utah environment

Ta Da!

Now it's just missing two things, William and Marie. 11 days and counting!

It don't matter if your black or white . . .

I'm back and ready to post again. It's been a whirlwind of a week. As evidenced above, project number two is complete . . . almost. I need to build a lid to keep the kids from playing in the sandbox (the sand looks so good all smooth like it is).

It feels good to see some labor fruits. This has pretty much took control of every available minute after work. However, I did find time to help cheer the Jazz to a come-from-behind, down-to-the-wire, game-winning-shot, okay-enough-of-this, victory. My throat still aches and my ears are still ringing from that insanely loud ESA crowd.

I believe I left off last time just clearing the ground for the sandbox. Here are a few pics since then.

***WARNING***
The following may be rather dull. Heck, I was bored out of my mind just posting it. Mostly this is for my sweet remotely distanced wife.

Ground now cleared for garden and sandbox

Box built for sandbox

Sections complete for garden

Sandbox in place with weed fabric. I don't know if plants can grow through 8 inches of sand, but just in case

The top soil and sand has arrived. I considered stopping here. I don't think William would have minded one bit having to dig in this pile. However, none of our vehicles have 4-wheel drive, so garage access would be difficult.

Garden box now in place and found some time to put a little sand in before the Jazz game.

Sandbox now full of sand.

Garden now full of dirt.

Garden still full of dirt, as seen from the deck.

Jammin'

I cannot buy strawberries from a grocery store. Every once in a while I think that they look pretty good and smell alright so I buy a box and I am always dissappointed and the box doesn't get eaten. A strawberry that hasn't been freshly picked hardly even tastes like a strawberry.

Which explains my utter excitement about visiting the fam during strawberry season. We've had strawberries on our salads (spinach, chicken, bacon bits, strawberries, with your favorite vinagrerette .. delish!), strawberry lemonade (made from lemons off my parent's tree .. yes, I am bragging, is that OK?), strawberries and cream, strawberry smoothies, and of course,

STRAWBERRY JAM!

Kirsten (Kirsten and my mom? Think Anne Shirley and Diana Barry) promises that strawberry jam is a food group in and of itself and I would like to think that when made in good company the calories don't count. It was a reassuring thought, at least, as I added lots and lots and lots of sugar to the strawberries.

While William was content to steer clear of the kitchen and my Dad was relieved that the blessed jam-making event happened while he was at work, Marie couldn't stay away. A true girl, even at such a young age.

We've already gone through a jar.

Strawberries will always be in season in heaven, I am sure of it.

Notes to Self:

1. Next time you go to the beach, don't wait until you've been there for three hours to take a picture. Smiles will not happen.

2. You need a tan.

Holding down the fort

Well, as many of you may know, Bethany is on a sabbatical to the Great [Bankrupted] State of California. I, Brandon, have been commissioned to provide you, her regular viewing audience, with the updates to the projects that are currently in the works. The pay is not great, but the benefits are pretty good, so I've decided to take the accept the blog assignment.

PROJECT #1: DECK SLIDE
STATUS: COMPLETED

Decks these days are just way to safe. Take ours for example. The space between railing boards is a mere 4 inches. That's not even big enough for William before he learned to chew (or in other words, before the age of 2 and 1/2) to fit in between. So to compensate, we decided to removed three railing boards. We then installed a slide that slows down the acceleration due to gravity down to 9.7 m/s^2 from the normal 9.8 m/s^2. It's a very fast slide. William loves it, but it is a little too fast for Marie. We anticipate Marie enjoying it later this Summer.

William and Marie having fun with the box it came in

PROJECT #2: SANDBOX/GARDEN
STATUS: *PUFF, PUFF* . . . IN PROCESS

While my neighbors spent last Saturday sprucing up there lawns, I spent a good amount of calories tearing out my lawn. Clearing out 108 sq ft of sod is quickly becoming my new exercise program.

Like many young lads, William loves trucks, tractors, etc. He loves to drive and dig these items in the one inch of dirt that we so graciously provided him in his wagon. However, understandably this has become quite dull. The boy needs a sandbox and Mommy needs William and Marie to play in the backyard for a portion of the day.

We are also putting in the garden so we can eat homegrown foods that Bethany enjoys, Brandon tolerates, William gags on, and Marie eats because they are carbon based.

Sprinkler pipe moved

Pressure treated lumber purchased

Ground cleared for sandbox; garden is next on the agenda

Look at me. Look at me.

It was recently brought to my attention that some people consider blogs as being self-centered. I never really thought about blogs as being self-centered. I mean, if it is a personal blog, what else are you going to write about besides yourself and your family? Especially when long distance grandparents are in the picture and they yearn to see their sweet grandkids each day, but can't; I don't think they would appreciate anything but posts about our comings and goings. If I think this way, does that mean that I am self-centered?

I only bring this up because now I am self-conscious about putting up a picture of me and my new hair color. I mean, really, what is more self-centered than that? "Everybody look at me and my new hair!" Huh. Whatever.

Self-centered or not, I am sharing the fact that I am no longer blonde. Thank goodness. Being blonde is totally overrated. Um, except when you are my husband. In that case, it is perfect.