The start of summer

When it rains, it pours.  

We have had our hands full, as of late.  I, myself, have been ill the past week with a horrible case of strep throat, which all of the kids also have, but I was able to get them tested and medicated early.  So, it never got too bad.  But despite all of this, we keep moving on with our summer schedule.

The kids are now in "summer school", doing assignments three times a week.  They're good sports about it.  We did just take several weeks off to play and visit family.  Time to get back to the books.

So just a minute ago, I spouted off on here (with the help of a few choice words) about my feelings on home ownership. But with the help of my palm pad mouse thing (which I usually turn off) I somehow erased all of it.  But it was probably a good thing.  Try to keep things positive, right?

Right.

Moving on, I went to put some clothes away in the girls' closet and I was very startled to find this:  

So keep the antibiotics pumping, the newly reseeded grass a growin' (as is our water bill from all the $#!% sprinklers we're having to use), the home inspections a comin', and the new septic tank a stirrin'.  yippee.

What's left of my yard

A week ago, we wrote a big check to have four guys come tear up our yard.  They did a thorough job, by the way.  But no longer do I open my door to the smell of septic.  Gone.  Zilch, and it's lovely (the smell being gone, not my yard).

The back yard.  

Yes, my patio is perched four feet above the rest of my yard

My side yard when they were almost done 

(they had already dug and recovered three trenches by this point)

The after picture; all ready for the weeds that will inevitably grow.

But in my front yard, my hydrangeas finally blossomed after years of nothing.  When I planted them, the blossoms were blue and now they're pink - my favorite flower color!

                           

Now Ryan and I are busily trying to reseed the yard and do anything to make it look better.  It's going to be a long process.  At least we don't have as much mowing to do!  Count your blessings, right?

Just to sum up

We have been back from vacation for a few days now and I have been asked a couple of times how our trip went.  Well, we did a lot of things and had a lot of fun.  How do you put it all into words so that people won't lose interest?  So I just decided to post a few of my pictures, showing all who might be interested a sprinkling of what we did over nearly two weeks. 

We did a little of this: 

Archery with bows and arrows my talented Dad made

And of course some evening fishing

 And a new adventure, stand-up paddle boarding.  So, so fun.  My first time out was on a very windy day; the waves were very large, making it hard to stand up.  I didn't go down, but my mom and brother took a backwards somersault off the back on the board into the water.  There was a lot of laughing this round.

 Ryan's first attempt: took place on a much calmer lake.  It was so easy to maneuver this lake after the previous attempt.  We had three boards, so we all took turns going out together; it was awesome.

Lots of swimming and games

And some relaxing at the farm

And a mountain bike ride, complete with one injury

More swimming in the lake; this island was a hit with the kids

Cousins trying out the board.  There was room to paddle with one to two kids on board.  They took turns coming out with an adult.

More tractor fun

Uncle Dan knew endless water games for the kids to play

We had a wonderful time.  A special part was the kids getting to meet their new baby cousin (maybe pictures later, after I get mom's permission).  We spent time in East Texas, out at the farm, in Dallas at my brother's loft, seeing the sights and sounds of their new place, more time out at the farm and lastly, a long weekend camping with the whole crew in Arkansas.  Good times!!