A Labor of Love

It's grass! Not weed free and full quite yet, but it's coming along!The back patio table and grill.

The retaining wall, trees and flowers.

A view from the other side.

The teeter totter in its final resting spot in the backyard.

Our old (new again after a year and a half absence) trampoline.

Our OLD swingset. It can mostly only be used by toddlers. We were going to get a new one, but there seems to be a swing set shortage in Boise. The tether ball we had built for Cooper for his 8th b-day and the stone walk way.

Our backyard has been Mark's "baby" for the past year and a half. From the beginning, he really wanted to do EVERYTHING himself. I was all for paying the money and hiring out the work so it would get done more quickly, but he'd have none of it. Our backyard was an unleveled (kind of shaped like a bowl) plot of dirt and weeds. Mark began by building the fence the first fall we were here with the help of family and friends and then began the daunting task of leveling the backyard w/ nothing but a shovel and his muscles. That's when he built the little stone retaining wall, which I couldn't get the vision of at first, but turned out very nice I think. I think he next moved onto digging the lines for the sprinkler system and laying the pipe (with some more help from a wonderful neighbor) and that's when the backyard looked the worst, it was a dug up mess! After the sprinkler lines were covered it looked much better, although still dirt (which the kids tracked into the house constantly). I think, at that point, we bought the perma bark for the retaining wall and the stones to build the little walkway from the front side of the house to the back yard. We were then ready to plant some grass seed, rather than laying sod, to save some money. It was fall again by this time, making one full year that we'd lived here. This Spring we had a little grass come up, but have had to reseed several times already. It's actually starting to look like a lawn now. We still have a ways to go though. Then a while ago we bought these non producing cherry trees from CostCo and planted them and for a FHE recently we all planted flowers along the back fence. With the grass well under way, and just in time for summer break, Mark decided it was okay to put some of the backyard toys on the lawn. So we put back together our old trampoline, Mark built the airplane teeter totter I posted about previously, we put the tether ball where the kids could actually play with it and also put out our small old rickety swing set where it could get more use. With all of that behind us we were able to give the patio a good cleaning and set up the umbrella for our patio table. Add a pot of flowers and wala - it looks like a nice place to be along w/ being a full functioning backyard for our whole family! We even used our grill for the very first time and made some hamburgers for ourselves last weekend! Unfortunately, our garden didn't make it in this Spring. I guess everything takes time. That's on our list for sure for next Spring and we've yet to seal our fence. There are lots of other projects we'd love to do one day which include: planting more shrubbery, extending the patio (it's quite small), building a patio cover, etc., but for now we're very happy w/ our backyard and the progress we've made. Mark has really had a vision from the beginning, and has done a really great job! Thank you from all of us! I actually enjoy opening the blinds on the back side of the house now! Saying that the kids have also enjoyed the backyard is an understatement. They have practically lived out there the last week or so and so have the neighbor kids. It's far from fancy, but they seem to be having fun w/ what we've got. Here are some pictures. Sorry if they're too many, it's for my journaling purposes also.

Chalkboard Paint

I'm a little behind the times, and have just recently started to hear about chalkboard paint. Ladies in my ward have painted walls in their homes w/ it and their kids love it. My sister-in-law, Janice, has used it in her son's room too. So, last week I got ants in my pants and decided that my kids would love it also (they all like to draw). I went to Walmart and bought all of the supplies and decided which wall I was willing to give up and this weekend Mark went to town on the project for me. What a great hubby I have, don't you think?! It turned out great, we did do a primer coat and three additional coats, but thankfully it is a half wall. I decided on the wall off of my landing coming up the stairs by all of the kids bedrooms. It's kind of hidden, which is perfect. After the drying (all day Sunday) and I think they call it conditioning (this morning) they were finally able to draw on it today. We had a good time! Hopefully it's just the beginning of hours of fun for them. John has been gone on a trip to Yellowstone w/ Grandparents Bishop for a few days and comes home tonight, so we decided to first decorate it w/ a Welcome Home John message from the kids. I'll be sure to post any negative aspects that come about, if any, just FYI. Or maybe you all already have done this?? We did buy some throw rugs to put against the wall that can be thrown in the wash to try and avoid ruining the carpet too badly w/ colored chalk dust. We'll have to see. Here are some pictures of the finished project and the happy chalkboard artists!

Show your pearly whites Seth!

Yesterday we took Seth to the dentist. It is actually the second time he's been. All of the kids went a month or so ago for a cleaning, and that was Seth's first experience w/ the dentist. He did fairly well, but was very unsure. Seth has never had enamel on one of his front teeth. I guess it's something that occurred in the womb when his teeth buds were forming. It wasn't really noticeable at first , but as he's gotten older it's become easier to see and a little bothersome (mostly to me!) When we'd go in to get pictures taken I'd get comments like, "Oh, don't choose that one, look he's got food on his tooth." It was also softening and starting to decay, so it was important it be taken care of anyway. So, yesterday was the big day and I'm happy to report that Seth did really well! He sat very still while they put a little white filling over the area and followed every request that was made of him such as; turn your head this way just a little, open wide like an alligator, etc. He was very trusting (much more so than his first visit) and held the dentist's wrist the whole time. It was quite cute to watch. When it was done, the dentist and the assistant commented that 3 year olds don't generally respond as well as Seth did, so I was happy with our little Sethy! They handed him a mirror to look at his new tooth, but he wasn't too interested and kindly pushed the mirror away. He was more interested in getting his little treat bag they had prepared for him. Here is a before and after picture and one that was just too cute not to share.

Memorial Day 2008

First off, I wanted to thank you all again for your prayers in our behalf and your nice comments to us in response to our last post. It really touched us and we feel so thankful for supportive and loving family and friends.

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend and hope you guys did too! We left Friday evening for an overnight camping trip w/ 3 other families from our ward. We went to a campsite in Garden Valley called Hot Springs. I really didn't want to go on this camp out at first, but am so glad that I did. Mark was very sweet and tried to make it as comfortable for me as possible. We had fun getting to know some friends from our ward a little better. All of the kids had a great time together also. Right across the street and near the river was a little hot spring that the kids loved getting in. That, and hiking the tall hill behind the campsite, provided most of the entertainment for the kids. We came home a dirty mess, and I hear that's the sign of a successful camping experience. Unfortunately, we only took a few pictures of the kids in the hot spring.

Ella got eaten alive on her forehead and scalp by mosquitoes (and possibly a spider) and has had some swelling in her face the past couple of days. On Sunday her eyes were almost swollen shut. She still has some swelling, but I think it's gone down a bit. Whenever she gets any kind of bite, she seems to get this way, it's just never been in her face before. I guess she's really allergic.

On Sunday evening Seth started throwing up and Mark and I didn't feel that good either. He spent the night throwing up and on Monday seemed a bit better, no throwing up, just low in energy and no appetite. Mark worked on the lawn on Monday and I spent the day trying to get caught up on laundry from camping and a throwing up toddler. Mark also managed to finish putting together this airplane teeter totter we got for the kids a while back at CostCo. They loved it and I'm hoping it'll provide some outdoor entertainment for the kids this summer. Mark is getting our backyard in tip top shape and he has set up our old trampoline for the kids too. Thanks dear!

Memorial day evening we went to the cemetery to Bob's grave to take some flowers. It is always so beautiful and peaceful there. They really do a nice job at keeping it nice year round, but this time of year is especially beautiful! We were glad to be able to go. This Wednesday would have been Bob's 37th birthday, so there's always two reasons we go at Memorial Day. It was a nice long weekend and we always enjoy having Mark around for an extra day too! Once again, we didn't take any pictures. I'll post the few we have from the weekend though.

Blessings

I feel so blessed to report that all checked out well in our ultrasound this morning. I couldn't help but get teary eyed during my appointment, I felt so grateful and so much comfort. The cyst the baby had was gone, like they thought and we hoped it would be. The ultrasound tech was a lady I never have had before and she was another answer to my prayers. She was so nice and thorough and explained as she went and was very reassuring, just the type of lady I needed doing the scan. I'm always so anxious, so she was great for me and put up w/ all of my worries and questions very well. They re-checked lots of different parts of the baby and things seemed to look as they should. He's still a boy, that was good to hear, and it was fun to watch his movements and to see his facial features again. Thanks for your prayers in our behalf, we appreciate it and I know I can feel the difference.

Mother's Day 2008

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there. I hope your day was special, mine sure was. Church was great, as usual, and I got to spend the day w/ Mark and the kids. What more could I ask for?! Maybe to see my mom(s) since it was Mother's Day, well I got to do that too! My mom and grandma came over for a roast dinner, which Mark did ALL of the work for. It was super yummy and it was good to spend a little time with them. We went over to Gunnersons' house in the evening for pie and visited w/ the brothers and sisters there and also celebrated Dorothy Gunnerson's b-day. It's alway nice to be in their home. We saw Mom Bishop on Saturday evening and gave her a little remembrance. It's very hard to fit in seeing 4 moms in one day! RaNae Parker was out of town so I didn't get to see her, or talk to her even, so that made me sad. I tried calling on the run and both Mark's and my cell phones were dead. I hope she had a good day though! I love all of the mothers in my life and am so thankful for each of them. They are each so wonderful and I learn a lot from their examples. I'm not sure how I got so lucky. I'm also very grateful for the chance I have to be a mother. It is what I have always wished for, and I'm blessed to have the wish come true. The fact that my kids are awesome makes it that much sweeter. I really do love each of our children tons, they keep teaching me while I try to teach them. Mark made the day very special for me. He's always so thoughtful, my favorite are his heartfelt cards. I love the things he writes to me. Anyway, here are a few quick pictures. We have a tradition to take pictures before church of the kids and I on Mother's Day. Last year we didn't, and I really missed it. So here are this year's pictures and one of me and my mother from two years ago.

Look what happens when you switch up the photos. Seth still resembles Mark more by 4%, that was no surprise! Good thing Mark's a cutie!

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Ancestory - Family photos