And They Said It Couldn't Be Done

Before, just weeds & dirt.

I am here to prove that you can, at least for one season out of the year, have soft, emerald green grass in the state of Texas.  We took our dry, barren and hard-packed dirt in the front yard and created a soft carpet of green.  Granted, there are some spots in the greenery that need filled in (I don't have a professional seed spreader) but it's green!  And once the seeds get a firm hold on the ground, they don't need watered much!

First planting's results.

The entire process took quite a bit of effort on everyone's part.  I dug up the yard; the kids removed rocks and debris.  Then, we chopped down the dirt clods and raked it smooth.  Once we had a more level surface, we spread starter fertilizer and grass seed with our gloved hands.  Some spots didn't get as much seed, so we've had to go back through and reseed some spots.

This is a perennial rye grass that survives through the cooler months of autumn, winter, and then sleeps all summer long.  It should come back next fall as the summer grass is dying off.  The plan right now is to plant some different grass seed in the Spring when the temperature increases.  But we're happy with the yard.  Much happier than when we first moved in!

Second planting and starting of third.

I'm still working on spreading some of the grass throughout the existing Bermuda grass (horrible stuff that spreads and leaves pockets of dirt underneath that when cut and raked away, leave massive spaces in the yard).  And I'm working on putting grass on the other side of the driveway as well.  Let's pray for some rain too!  I get tired of moving a hose all day long...but it's worth it to see such a beautiful color of green!

Our Firepit

We found a pit in the backyard and Shawn immediately had an awesome dream/vision of what we could put in it.  Sure, we could fill it in and put grass on top; but that's mundane.  Everyone's done that.  How 'bout we put a ring of rocks around it and put a fire in it?  Say!  That's an idea!

Remember those stepping stones from the front yard?  Well, they had to move from there when I decided to put some grass in the dirt.  Then, they had to move from their temporary home by the side of the patio when I expanded that.  So, why not ring the pit?

Sounds like a plan.  So, after a couple of days of hauling sand to make it "a bit" more level (it still dips and rises in places), we had our very own firepit.  We've cleared out dry brush that was just sitting at the side of our house begging for a stray spark or something to catch it on fire.  And then we chopped down a bunch of fallen trees that were leaning against the fence.  Three different fires; hot dogs; marshmallows; and that all equals some happy kids and parents.

Happy Veteran's Day

John wanted to send this picture to all of the veterans, or at least one of them, in our family.  I thought the easiest way to share and keep a bit of the memory for ourselves, is to post the picture on our blog for all to see.  Hope you don't mind.  John's really trying to understand, and yet celebrate all of the wonderful things our veterans do for our country and our family.  Thanks so much for all you do to ensure our freedoms!

Happy Trunk or Treat

Halloween saw a busy time this year for us.  We were working on projects around our new house and seeing Daddy off to work at night.  So, we missed Daddy during the annual collection of candy. But I got some pictures to send to you and so he could see the kids in their costumes.

We actually had a ward trunk or treat at the church parking lot the Saturday before Halloween.  The kids enjoyed playing some games like cake-walk, pumpkin bowling, and eating donuts from a string.  Joe's candy pouch was filled with powdered doughnut remnants because he was more than willing to pick up the donuts that had fallen and consume them with relish.  Several of the youth that were helping man the games were concerned with his desire to clean up but it was a bit challenging for me to watch four kids and keep him from eating fallen food at the same time.  Ah well.  A little old-fashioned dirt never hurt anyone.

Jack loved being the cowboy for Halloween.  Everyone smiled when Jack said, "Howdy, partner." and then shot them with his six-shooters.  But we walked the neighborhood looking for houses with candy.  Unfortunately, we found loads of houses but our area doesn't have many kids in it.  We decided to end the evening after Joe fell into a patch of grass that was filled with stickers (everything in Texas has sharp edges to it...thorns everywhere and stickers too!).  But we had plenty of candy.  And the kids will still pass houses and declare,


"That's where we went Trick-or-treating!"

Happy Home Depot Bear

The last project we did before moving, Jack submitted his name into the local Home Depot's Build-a-bear drawing.  And he won!  You can't tell from the picture, but he's really very excited!  He named the bear Polah Bear.  I wasn't about to argue with him that Polar Bears are white.  It was enough just to get him to look at the camera.

Can you believe it?!  He's loved that bear ever since.  Just thought I'd share his good fortune and let you smile at his frown.