Family Work Day (6 May 2017)

 We know we've neglected the area, but we have been busy and because we had a plan for this area (which involved yanking everything except the bushes up), there was little point in keeping up with it until we were ready to tackle the entire project.

This side especially was improved. 

We have a small border of drainage rocks between the mulch and the house all along the front bed to keep vegetation away from there. The pest control guy suggested a 6" gap between house and organic matter to keep bugs away. Anything that detracts bugs is something we'll try.

We worked hard to get from overgrown and messy to this state of curb appeal!

Although the work is not always fun, I enjoy getting things done all together as a family.

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." 

-The Family: A Proclamation to the World

We weeded and "de-grassed" the right bed.

Alee was assigned to keep up with water requests, keeping everyone hydrated.

Seth found a new yard interest. (Rob's still hoping that bush by the garage dies, but in the meantime, Seth is assigned as the new bush trimmer.)

The twins helped to transplant the grass growing in the front right corner of the bed to under the trampoline. We're hoping it will help the grass to start growing there again when we relocate the trampoline.

 We had to remove the old border (which was half buried and broken). Removing the old landscaping fabric (while not part of the original plan) was the easiest way to remove all the weeds in one big pull. We had new landscaping fabric purchased anyways.

Some were done earlier than others...

We allowed the 3 youngest to go after a certain point, but Natalie stuck it out to the end. She's been very diligent and hard working lately (and mature in other ways also). I'm impressed with how she's growing up.

 The smell of the mulch reminded us of the zoo...particularly the elephant com-poost part!

Hard work deserves some hard play!

(Slip 'n' Slide video - if it works):

Later that day, we took Kaitlyn and Seth shopping. Seth needed a new suit and white shirt for church. Kaitlyn "needed" a new swimsuit. (Everyone else except her got one last year because she had several that still fit. I promised she would get one from that same store the next year. She can still fit in 1 or 2 hand-me-down swimsuits, but they don't fit her well this year, so she probably did need a new one that fit her comfortably.)

Swimsuit is from Justice. (She loves the shimmer rainbow design, and I love that it's 2-piece for easy bathroom trips!)

We went out to dinner Saturday night with Rob's parents to celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary, and the kids (along with their cousin) had a relaxing night too.

It was a good day.