Lovin' the Life

Lovin' the Life

Thursday, August 7, 2008

How I spent my summer vacation!

I have had a lot more fun this summer than I expected. Not that I dreaded it or anything. I was leaving my friends and going somewhere that I was not as established. Sooooo, I got the girls into Mother's Day Out 2 days a week and that was good for all of us. Joshua got to take piano lessons (thank you Wendy!) and we had a weekly playdate there. The library was a lot of fun with their summer reading program and all 3 older kids love to read. They get to read till 8:30 after they go to bed and as soon as I say its time to get ready (usually around 7pm), Joshua immediately puts on his jammies and grabs a few books and goes to bed! How awesome is that?!! Even cuter is seeing Marian perched on his bed beside him as he reads to her. Melts my heart.

One of the best things about this summer is that I got to see a garden at work. The number of cucumbers that were harvested was insane. Probably 10 of the darn things every morning! And they kept coming! I learned to can sweet pickles, bread & butter pickles, dill pickles and pickle relish. I also learned what to do with tomatoes- Salsa! Plus I made spagetti sauce and tomato sauce. I feel so domestic!! Lets see... the beans were plentiful as well. We froze a lot and had Jonathan's fabulous garlic beans for dinner at least twice a week.

And guess what I did today? I closed on a house. We purchased a little rental home and it closed this morning. As soon as we had the keys, we headed over to it and put in a little sweat equity as well. It was pretty stinking hot too. Joshua asked me if I'd had an accident because my pants were all wet. Nope, just sweat, and more sweat!


Here you can see the house as we bought it. The inside is great. It looks good. The outside... well, it was a wee bit unsightly! There were enormous bushes in front of it and the previous owner hacked them down and realized they needed to come out- thus the bare spot in front.


The girls were at preschool, so Joshua was my helper. He was so funny trying to unload these bags of soil. We made a very cute flowerbed over the naked dirt spot.


And here is is, all done in front. Much cuter. Like the shutters? Dad made them and I painted 'em. I picked the paint out myself and everything! Okay, so Mom did the screwing them in part, but I held them up!


The backyard was yucky. So many trees make for great shade and a big mess. We raked up what we could and bagged it. Here is a sweaty Joshua in front of the truckload of trash. And there is still more to go. We were too hot and tired and hungry though. We felt pretty darn good and called it a day.

It was the girls last day of preschool (okay, I call it preschool. Technically it is Mother's Day Out.) and they have enjoyed it a lot. This is our last weekend here. As a wonderful side note, Miranda is coming for the weekend! We love Miranda! And then we leave on Monday to drive the 1000 miles to DC and our new place and to Dan! He moved in our stuff last week. I'm going to be sad to leave here. I like my parents and the friends I have here.

6 comments:

kirsten said...

drew sent this reply, but i wasn't sure it would get to you - i thought i had your email address, but i can't find it - you can contact me at kirjote@hotmail.com

Hi Rebecca,

We used a wireless device called a router to distribute a signal to our 4 computers throughout the house. We recommend you go with a router, like we did. The equipment is fairly cheap (less than $50). Currently, there’s only one cable that comes into the house and that’s the big white cable that’s in the blue room. Cox cable can install more cables if you like you just need to work that with the cable company.

How’s the house coming along?

Kir and Drew

Mikal said...

I hope you are very happy in DC. It will be great being near the temple and no need to make appointments is fabulous. I loved seeing the pictures you have posted. Our ward misses you and the girls (YW) talk about you often.

Becky Workman said...

Good job on getting a rental...you guys are brave, we always want to get one. The shutters did add a lot, great job. Too funny on the sweat comment....Arkansas can be sweaty, I do remember that!!

Beau & Lenette said...

what at great summer! The house is really cute, you did a great job. Good luck on your trip home to your hubby!

Anonymous said...

You will have fun in DC. Fun always follows you around. I was hoping they would change your duty station to Oki but I was wrong. The kids are changing so much. Love and Miss ya

Just the 2 of us said...

Madison and I already miss you!!! She really misses her friends and "foxy" a.k.a your Dad.