Wednesday, August 24, 2011

All Good Things Come to an End....



I don't really believe that title, but we were having a REALLY GOOD summer and now it's over!
Today I sent my three girls to school--all of them--all day.
This photo captures all the feelings of the first day, no?

So, it's just me and little Bud at home now. He was pretty weirded out from being abandoned by his little mothers. We filled the day by cleaning his room, going to the library, reading all the books we brought home, and painting with watercolors on giant poster paper. It was only 1 pm and as if on cue, some neighborhood friends showed up to play. It's a great life, I know.

So just to wrap up the summer, here are a few of the other things that have happened.

Kate's team won with 7 goals on their first soccer game. Kate scored 3 of them! She looks so much bigger this season out there on the soccer field. I don't usually yell so much at games but it was so exciting! Coach Dad was pretty proud too.

Dad ran a 5K. He hates running but he makes it look easy. He can just not run ever-- and then show up at a race and take 5th or 6th?? It just reaffirms to people like me (who run faithful as death every other day) that life is not fair.
While we're on the subject, my running partner is out of commission (pregnant.) So, I had to find some new running friends and lucky me-- I found the perfect ones (literally, they're about as close to perfect as you can get)--President Monson, Dieter F. Uchtdorf --the whole gang! They do all the talking and I just listen but that's okay because they have a LOT of gems to share.
It actually makes me excited to get up in the morning and get out there because I can't wait to hear what they have to say! I even find myself running a little longer just so I can finish a talk. Yes, thank goodness for iPods, arm bands, and LDS General Conference downloads.

That spiritual boost had proved perfect timing, because little did I know how much PUTTING in YARD WOULD BE SUCH A TRIAL AND TRIBULATION!! Trying to install a sprinker system has certainly not brought out the best in me.
It takes:
  • patience (uncheck)
  • diligence (uncheck)
  • brawn ( uncheck)
  • brains-- esp. the kind that can look at crude diagrams and figure out what they mean (uncheck)
  • high frustration tolerance (double uncheck)
We tried phase one of sprinkler system for date night and it didn't go well at all!
Thankfully, "NeighborMan"came to the rescue. What I lack in the above character traits was hopefully made up for in GRATITUDE to have someone who knew what they were doing help us out. He had all the above qualities plus a passion for "installing sprinkling systems" (too weird to even make up) PLUS a boundless supply of energy which kept him working and working with Brandon...until midnight. He didn't stop with the sprinklers, he also filled in the trenches and set the timers. My job was the sprinkler heads:) Our whole yard was finished in record time--it's SOD-READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't be more excited and grateful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It will be the best birthday ever when the truckload of fresh sod arrives...so come and party barefoot in our backyard!


4 comments:

Megz said...

How come your husband doesn't know how to do the sprinkler stuff? At least he can run 5ks without practice....love ya, BD!
Awesome job to Kate! I told Ethan he gets a candybar if he scores a goal so I'm hoping he's not as skilled as Kate on the field.

stephanie said...

you aren't doing home school anymore?
good job Brandon on the 5k. Not fair how some people can run well with no training.

LC said...

Yes, it's true Steph!
Homeschool was fun while it lasted.
We all felt, this year that it was time to try the real school experience. So far so good.

Sherie Christensen said...

Wow, what a great neighbor! I liked the picture of the girls and I only have Dan half day and I am not sure how we'll keep busy -- but I really must make him turn off the Wii now. Way to go B.D. Running is NoT my thing.