All Work and No Play

Well Spring Break is officially over. Right now John is reading to the older kids and we are crossing our fingers that they actually fall asleep before 10:00 tonight. It's always so tough getting back into a school routine. Especially for me. I've had John home ALL week and now I'm on my own again. It's a rough life being married to a school teacher, I tell ya. (I know... can I whine any more?)
John on the other hand, is glad to be going back to school.   He hasn't said that in so many words, but I'm pretty sure he is thinking it.   Nine hours of teaching is going to seem like a walk in the park compared to what he's done this week here at home.

We tackled our yard in a Big way this week. Very few people have been in our back yard so it would be difficult for others to really appreciate all that went on.   Perhaps our nearby neighbors could testify.  They were no doubt woken early and kept up late from the melodic hum of chainsaws and power tools over the past 6 days. 

Here is a before picture.

This is pretty much what our back yard looked like right before spring Break.

Between then and now we have:

* Removed all of the lilac bushes.

* Cut down all three trees (John has an addiction to his chainsaw)

* Removed all of the railway ties and random cement from the garden and yard

* Built a deck

* Dug up the 4 feet tall weeds, hauled rocks away and rototilled our entire strip of alley behind our fence (hopefully to cut down on weeds)

* Fixed the gate on our fence so that the kids can be confined now. (the neighbors will rejoice)

* John built a NEW deck

* I power raked our lawns and hauled away a dozen bags of dead grass

* We designed a landscape plan for our front yard and prepped it for future planting

* We hauled a LOT to the dump.

* Tilled a spot for our Raspberry Bushes

* Tilled a spot for tomatoes

* Got Very VERY dirty in the process.

We were so glad to have John's Dad help us on Monday as this proved to be a list of projects that literally consumed our hours every.single.day this week.  At times I would sit down in a clump of dirt and cry and explain that "maybe ...perhaps...we had bitten off more then we could chew."     But John.    Steady John- kept working.  Through thick and thin,  and rain, and snow and ice.    Okay, I might be exaggerating a little. 

But not really.  

By 10:00pm on Saturday night we were rushing to clean up the disaster area that was once known as our garage.  It felt a little extreme makeover-ish to me, as we tried to wrap every last project up before the "holiday" (I use that term loosely) came to an end and the sabbath began.

I snapped this photo before church to show all that had been accomplished. 

We still have much to do and much to plant, and I've been pouring over books of perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees all weekend.  I am really excited about the gardening potential here and most importantly about the future time that John and I will get to spend together doing what we love doing. 

John and I make a good team.  For several reasons I think we are perfectly matched.    So many times I think up a plan and without ever really considering the logistics - I simply ask John to make it happen.  And you know what?  HE DOES!   

During one of my many random "backroad excursions" a country song came on the radio called,  

 The House that Built Me by Miranda Lambert.   It has quickly become a current favorite of mine, specifically because of this one paragraph.

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years

From Better Homes and Gardens magazine

Plans were drawn and concrete poured

Nail by nail and board by board

Daddy gave life to mama’s dream

Every time I hear that song now I think of John, and how he "gives life" to every idea and scheme or plan I dream up.  Every home we have ever lived in has been made better by his hard work and skill.   

I often tell my kids that "Daddy can do ANYTHING!"

I've smiled to myself at times, as I've over heard Sam and Abby repeat, with absolute confidence that same thing to their friends.   My kids are still young enough that they believe whatever I tell them.   

But John hasn't made a liar out of me yet.