got grass?

If you read my blog, you know that we began an addition on our house about 19 months ago. Well it is now complete, minus a few....ok several, finishing details. One such small detail is our yard. In the process of it all, we tore up the grass in our backyard....not that we ever had nice grass anyways since we live on beach sand.

Well, no time like the present to move the playset and garden to a better location, and install the underground sprinkling we have been talking about for several years now.

4 kids plus 1 dog and a few random extras playing in dirt all summer long makes for a ridiculous amount of cleaning and laundry.

I am pleased to say that after many Saturdays of preparing, we FINALLY got the lawn in! It is the most beautiful sight you have ever seen! I did the happy dance when i watched that truck pull up to spray that beautiful turquoise green goodness everywhere.

when you live out in our parts, the best way to start grading a lawn is to flip over the old teal hot tub that used to have a home on the deck that doesn't exist anymore, and attach it to the bag of the bobcat. works like a charm!

Austin caught a case of "pokemon fever" this summer, and consequently has become obsessed with finding pop cans and saving his money to buy more of those precious cards. Well, we realized we really needed to crack down and do a much better, consistent job of giving the kids allowance, and teaching them the value of money. They now have separate little envelopes for spending, saving and God, and the system is working very well.

Well, on one particular Saturday, Tim told the kids they had an opportunity to earn some extra cash- he would give them 1 penny for every rock they picked out of the dirt. Oh the joy of picking up rocks when you would rather play with your friends! Well, hours later when Austin finally reached his goal of 1000 rocks, he retired and graciously accepted his ten bucks after a hard days work. That night we went out for dinner and made a quick trip to Target so the kids could buy something with their money.

Ha Ha, the next Saturday they had to pick up rocks just b/c they are a part of this family... the productivity slowed down a bit :)

The new task at hand...keeping 4 kids, 1 dog, and the few randoms that still show up off of the lawn. A bit trickier :)