Chad fishes. . . all by himself!
The kids and I make breakfast. Then we tube and wakeboard.
Father's Day is usually one of our favorite days of the year, because being on the water is our favorite thing to do as a family.
Not this year! This year momma is not quite ready to climb back into the camper! And the yard is not quite ready enough for us to take a weekend away.
The yard. Ugh! One of the reasons I did not want to build a home was the yard! I do not enjoy starting a yard. Once grass is established and flower beds are in place, I really like yard work - but the establishing part is NOT my favorite!
In fact, I dreaded yard work SO much that in April when it briefly warmed up, I was sad! This never, ever happens! I am not a winter lover. I typically c-rave spring. This year when the snow started to melt, I was not happy. Snow melting meant yard work, and I was not ready for work! I was actually thrilled when the HUGE spring snow fell. I was even (sort of) happy when the entire spring was cool and rainy. Crummy weather meant it was not possible to work in the yard - happy sigh!
Before we left for Ethiopia, I asked Chad if we could, pretty please, hire someone to do our landscaping. After all, I did agree to do a ton of labor ourselves on the house already. I also suffered through living in a camper for months - while working 2 jobs, caring for 5 kids, and laboring on a house. I was quite convinced that I had earned professional landscaping. (Yep! I was milking it!) The idea of hiring someone to grade the lot, haul black dirt, install sprinklers, edging, rock, and seeding the lawn was soooooo tempting. Add in a few trees, an elaborate firepit, some pretty boulders, a couple of bushes, and a few potted flowers and my summer would be complete relaxation. I could totally envision myself reading on the back patio.
Chad had another idea. It was far cheaper. It was also far less popular. It was called "family labor" aka "sweat equity."
I will be honest. I hated this idea. I spent a lot of time scoping out the neighborhood,
noticing the perfect landscaping at "all" the other homes. I knew "everyone" hired it out - and "everyone" skipped seed and went straight to sod.
Returning from Ethiopia, I have been very thankful that we did not decide to hire this work done. Coming home with eyes freshly reopened to the deep needs of the world makes me try to value every cent I have that much more. If I rake and shovel and haul and plant, rather than hiring someone else to do it, I can use that same money to serve a purpose much more valuable. It is hard to drive around and see how much money is "wasted" in America. Almost every conversation contains a reference to things that we do/have/need/wish for that are totally unnecessary. When the memory of houses smaller than my daughter's closet are so very vivid, listening to people talk about vacation planning, hot tubs to install, braces my children "need," TV shows to rush home to, etc. . . makes me want to scream sometimes. I want to shout how selfish we all are. I want to yell and scream and cry that if we chose to use that money on true needs, the world would be a better place. And then I go to the store and buy ice cream and a new pair of shoes (when I have 10 pairs at home) and we choose which rock we will edge our house with, and then I want to scream at myself. It is an ugly cycle.
Sometimes I hate having so much.
I will be totally honest here.
Other times I wish to be "everyone." I get tired of working hard. I get tired of being patient. I just want someone to do it for me. I want to be selfish and spend my money on me, using it with no regard for anyone but me.
BUT I married this guy who says, "If we are capable of doing something, we should do it."
UGH! (small smile)
I really love my husband!
So we speant Father's Day like this -
Chad dumped dirt. Jay, Brenna, and I raked it flat, level, and smooth.
My construction advice for Jamison was, "If you ever have an opportunity to run equipment - do it! Learning to run machines makes sure you spend less time running rakes and shovels!"
Luckily, Chad loves to run equipment. This part of the project was fun . . . for him anyway!
After we had it sort of level, Sierra took over.
Sierra LOVES to drive. She spent the first part of the afternoon mowing - aka driving the tiny tractor. Then she drove the Rhino with this ancient drag behind it leveling the black dirt. She worked hard and smiled almost the whole time.
After about 5 hours of labor, the yard looked like this.
The before picture was way to ugly to post! We had nearly waist high weeds in what is not dirt. First we mowed, then ran the drag over the area. Soon Chad will get the black dirt hauled in so we can plant grass.
This is my happy spot - for now.
We have a 1.6 acre lot. The vast majority was torn up for construction. This one corner of the lot remains grassy! Silly - but this small area of grass gives me hope! I promised the kids I would order a volleyball net and a tire swing to put in this area, so that we have a place to play.
The front yard is nearly ready for grass seed. Chad needs to haul a couple more loads of black dirt. We also need to purchase and install the edging and rock around the perimeter of the house. So. . . another long day of labor and it will be ready.
Then the wait for the grass to grow officially begins.
We had a large branch break off one of our trees this spring. Sierra and Chad cut it up a week or two ago. A big pile of wood meant that it was high time we had a fire!
So, after supper we ran to town for a fire ring.
(Chad had big plans for a permanent fire pit in the not so distant future. But we were all ready for some outdoor fun and relaxation, so we bought this one to use while we wait for the master piece.)
I love a campfire. I was really looking forward to a peaceful evening by the fire.
Brenna and Joshua had s'mores and then headed into bed.
I figured once the littles were in bed, the fire would get quiet and cozy.
However, this little "angel"
and this tall son had other plans!
They were wild and crazy. They laughed and joked and burned everything they could think of. Then they laughed and joked some more. There was nothing peaceful about this fire - but it was memorable!
As I sat at the wild, crazy, and very noisy fire between my husband and my own father - I thought about how lucky I am. I have been loved and mentored by these two hard-working, God-honoring men all of my life. I have the intense joy of watching them encourage, discipline, and guide my children daily. Because of the example that these men set, my kids will more than likely never struggle to understand the deep love that God our Father has for them. They have been well loved by their earthly father and grandfather, making loving and being loved by God so natural.
We are truly blessed.
