April 1, 2012

April 1, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a busy week for us.  We are adjusting to M’ new schedule at work, and trying to settle into the new routine.  Monday was a fairly normal day.  We had FHE without M since he was working.

Tuesday was a quiet day.  On the days that M works he jumps right in to help get B-man ready for school in the morning and then plays with the little boys before he has to leave for work.  The mornings go quickly, but it’s nice to have him home even for a little bit. 

Wednesday was a very busy day.  We had mulch that needed to be laid, and we knew that the Scouts would be delivering more mulch that night.  We really wanted to know if we needed more mulch before M helped them.  So we got up and going very early.  By 8:00 in the morning we were out working.  J and RM definitely did not help with our productivity levels, but somehow we made it work.  We first weeded all the beds, and laid the mulch in the areas that we could.  Then I spray painted on the grass where we were going to put in some flower beds on the sides of the house.   Then M went to go get a sod cutter so that we could easily get the grass up and ready.  He went and got it; it was SUPER heavy and brought it back.  I helped him unload it, and we had to use a ramp, because there was NO WAY I was going to be lifting it out of the trunk.  We rolled it over, M started it up, and although it did a lot of shaking and made a lot of noise, the blade was not engaging and no sod was being cut.  We spent about an hour trying to figure it out, in any way we could and finally gave up and took it back.  We were so frustrated.  While M was returning the machine I started lifting the grass by hand.  I had done a little bit of work because I had planted a few bushes, and I just decided to start working.  When M got home we both got to work with our shovels.  It was hard work, but we were able to finish taking out the grass for one of the flower beds.  The flower bed runs the length of our house; it was probably about 150 square feet of sod.  We also finished planting the bushes that we had for that side of the house, and we laid the mulch.  A thunderstorm blew in while we were working, but we just kept working through the rain.  The boys were messy, but loved it.  At one point we paid B-man to entertain RM in our van.  Then by the end of the day RM was sitting under a down spout covered in water and mulch and collecting water in a cup and pouring it into a little planter.  We were just happy to get the work done.  Since we hadn’t spent money on a sod cutter we went and got pizza from Costco for dinner.  (We finished about 4:00)  Then after dinner M got to go move bags of mulch again.  I also had a presidency meeting with the primary.  So M had the kids for half of the mulch activity.  It was a very, very busy day.

Thursday was another busy day, although slightly better.  We started in early again and worked on the other side of the house.  The boys were harder to entertain.  It was a lot colder and it probably had something to do with it.  I did at one point get some popcorn out for them to eat, and that helped for about ten minutes…  I was less helpful because I kept trying to help the boys.  M worked hard though, and thankfully the boys took a better nap, so we were able to finish much earlier.  We took out all the sod, planted six bushes, and then laid the mulch.  I also planted peonies, dahlias, and columbines.  I am hoping that those come up and actually blossom.  We had just enough time to get sort of cleaned up before B-man came home from school.  M worked very hard, we pulled out some ENORMOUS boulders during the planting session.  For some reason there were many more rocks on the north side of the house.  That night we took B-man to his first flag football practice.  He was so excited.  M left halfway through so that he could go to dance practice for mutual. 

Reading a book together.

RM decided to tackle J.

J decided to return the favor.  Notice how RM is loving it.

Friday M was back at work.  Since we had pizza on Wednesday we skipped it and had taco salad.  Then we watched a video for our family party.  B-man was a little sad that M was missing out on our family party.

Saturday was a great day.  We ran a bunch of errands in the morning and then went straight to B-man’s football practice.  M was working, and sometimes it was a little tricky watching the boys without him.  The practice is right next to a slightly busy road, and the boys sometimes like to go in different directions.   After practice we then went home to get ready for conference.  I fed the boys, and then put them to bed.  B-man and I had a great first session.  In between sessions we played and ran one errand before heading back home.  The afternoon session was also great, but with all the boys up it was slightly harder to pay attention.  I fixed dinner and we ate as soon as possible after the last session.

Sunday M was home.  We were so happy to have him home.  We had a fantastic breakfast, and then a relaxing morning. We went on a walk and then we had a friendly chat with a fellow who bikes a lot while wearing about fifty American flags.  He gave each of the boys one and then we continued on our walk.  Then just as we were almost home there was a garage open with a sign that said “free.”  We hesitated for a few minutes and then knocked to make sure it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke.  Then we started gathering what we could use.  We were quite a parade on our way home.  B-man was helping to carry stuff, I had the stroller with things on top, and M had a wheelbarrow full of things precariously balanced.  Thanks to the nap schedule, we had a great morning session.  Then afternoon session was much crazier, but we made it through and then ate immediately after the last session.  Conference was wonderful!  The talks were amazing, and M and I are both anxious to read/listen to lots of them again without interruption. 

We love you all!

The C Crew