Dirt, Grass, and Tea Parties

Sean and I are funny, we decided we wanted to go ahead with grass and then we rushed to get it done. Part of the hurry was the labor day weekend would be a good time to do the bulk of the work. On Friday night we had the top soil delivered. It was cool to watch the truck dump out all the dirt. We got 15 cubic yards, which is a lot!! The driveway was covered. 

The Saffrons slept over on Friday night which was fun. We got to play some fun games and eat yummy pizza and cinnamon rolls. On Saturday morning at 7AM, Tracy (a trencher I found on KSL) came to do some grading and trench the yard for us. He charged us $240 which was a big chunk, but so so worth it! His machine made quick work of our super rocky solid yard and we didn't have to rent a trencher and transport it and run it. He was done super quick, I didn't actually look at the clock but it was a max of 45 min. 

Sean did some hand trenching to avoid killing our already struggling tomato that we transplanted. 

 All our kids and the neighbor kids were so excited to play in all the dirt! Alana and Brett must have heard the neighbors outside that morning because they came down nice and early ready to play. Alana ran outside in her nightgown and stayed in it for most of the day!

 My dad arrived and Sean and Dad got right to work. The Saffrons were going to a retreat and had asked us a long time ago to babysit their kiddos. We decided it would all be fine with all the work =) Sometimes we are just nuts! I was so grateful that Papa and Mimi wanted to come out and help too! They watched all five of the kids! I helped and worked with the kids too, but got to do some yard work as well which was really fun to be a part of! Our neighbors were also awesome and played with our kids a ton too.

 Brett and Alana wanted to help! Papa was wonderful at helping them fill up the wheel barrow and then truck it to the backyard. I started helping with that job and found that shoveling was easier than moving the wheel barrow. As we were working at a snails pace, I was getting concerned about how we were going to get the dirt out of our driveway-there was so much! I looked at what it might cost to rent a machine to help us move the dirt but it was pricey and I didn't really know how it worked. Sean was confident we could take the pile down no problem!

 Sean and Dad worked steadily with only one trip to the Home Depot if you don't count the quick stop Mom and Dad P made as they were out doing some errands to pick up some sort of threaded elbow thing! My cousin Andy's oldest daughter got married on Saturday so my Dad used our shower and my mom brought him out his dress clothes. We pumped him with some motrin and sent them off to the ceremony. The sprinklers were all in and had been tested and it seemed like everything was as it should be. Sean and I took showers and then we went to dinner at noodles and company with Mom and Dad P. Brett in particular was falling apart, it was a long day with no attention from mom and dad. The idea was to eat at the restaurant and then head off to the reception after. Papa suggested that they take the kids back to our house while we went to the reception. The kids were thrilled with that idea, especially because I told them I would bring them wedding treats if I could. We drove up to This is the Place and really enjoyed seeing so much family. It was a really beautiful venue and the bride was gorgeous, as were her sister bridesmaids. We brought home treats to the kids and got them to bed. I think that Sunday was the first in our new ward. At stake conference recently they realigned all the wards in our stake and with that change they cut us off from a huge chunk and added us to another chunk. We have really liked it so far, everyone seems friendly and nice. We didn't know people well enough in the ward to be too sad, I know there will be more changes and I know they will be more difficult for us in the future. Our kids actually did really well in their new classes. Brett was so anxious during Sacrament meeting that we ended up sitting in the lobby for most of that hour, but he was fine once he saw a few familiar faces in primary. Lizzie has loved nursery which is a wonderful change and Alana was super super nervous but ended up really liking her teacher.
On Monday we woke up nice and early and I hired a few boys from our ward to come help move some dirt. They worked for about an hour and made a little dent. Sean and I worked on raking and evening out dirt while they did that. After the boys left, Sean and I started shoveling a ton. I would fill up a wheel barrow and he would take it back while I filled another one. Our kids were over playing at the neighbors and their dad Nick came and helped us shovel and move wheel barrows. It took us till 11:30 or so to get all that blasted dirt moved. A neighbor from across the street came and helped for about 20 minutes too which was like a breath from heaven since he brought his fresh muscles and energy. After we got all the dirt moved, we got showered and packed a lunch to eat in the car on our way to swimming. Alana has been working to stay in her bed and she earned a swimming outing. We went to the Herriman rec center and had a really fun time. Brett and I had lots of races, Alana was super brave and Lizzie is unstoppable in the water with her puddle jumper on!

After swimming we came home and the kids watched shows while Sean did some more trenching and sprinkler stuff on the side of the house and I ran to the grocery store. We had Mom and Dad Z and Mom and Dad P over for some Labor Day hamburgers. Sean and my dad also checked all the heads and ended up having to fix one that needed a drain and another one that never got glued (they both blame each other of course) They got everything working great and told us to water the dirt to get it to settle. Sean watered it Tuesday morning and it got really drenched. Sean had to work the night clinic evening shift that night so he wasn't going to be home to help with more moving of dirt and leveling it out for grass. I went out to try and work and it was all mud! I was getting nervous that it wouldn't dry in time for the sod to come! Since Sean worked the night clinic on Tuesday he had Wednesday morning off. After we got Brett and Alana to school, we started working on the yard, it was still pretty wet but we were hoping that if we shoveled more top soil over the top it would help it dry out. We spread a ton more out (that we had piled in our neighbors yard) and Sean raised a few heads to get them where they needed to be. I was actually really proud of how smooth and level we got it.  Lizzie was an awesome helper through the entire process. She mostly just walked around pressing the soil flat and using a little yellow shovel to help us move dirt every now and then.

Ready for sod Wednesday night!

On Wednesday we had an emergency surgery for poor bear! His neck developed a large hole and needed some stiches, he is all recovered now and is back to his normal activities.

These girls melt my heart!

The sod arrived just after six.

The kids all jumped up on top and played king of the world for a few minutes until my dad told them to hop down =)

They posed for some pictures for me =)

Dad and Sean started laying the sod with the help of our neighbor Eric. Many more men started trickling in and the job was done so quickly!

Alana and Lizzie had helped me pick some donuts and cupcakes for all our helpers. They were excellent taste testers and enjoyed eating donuts on our new grass.

The yard was a lot of work and there is no way we could have done it without help from both sets of parents especially Dad Z's sprinkler expertise, as well as neighbors and ward members. In total we spent about $1800 on the grass and sprinklers which was a super happy savings of $1200 that we would have spent if we hired it out.
This area is going to have a sandbox and some mulch or perhaps a flower box, don't know for sure yet.

We were invited to attend Lexi's birthday on Friday night. Sean couldn't make it since Fridays are his walk in day so he is really busy AND he was on call. He ended up only getting one call the whole night, but when you are on call you are responsible to go into night clinic/urgent care if they get too many patients. Lexi's party was at Coconut Cove which is a favorite place for us. It was actually quite empty so it was so nice. They had a little room for us to use and we had pizza and cupcakes. The theme was Alice in Wonderland and Rebecca did painting the roses red for the cupcakes. 

On Saturday morning, Brett had his first soccer game. Sean is the coach and our team is really funny. Some like Brett have played before and are really into it, others have no interest or are just kind of oblivious. There is another game tomorrow which should be fun!

After the soccer game I went to help clean the church and Sean came home to bake a cake for my moms birthday. He made a doctored up white cake with marshmallow frosting which was delicious!

I made lasagna and garlic bread and we had grapes. Uncle Steve and Aunt Linda came and brought a yummy salad. I bought some table cloths to make it more fancy and it turned out to be a really pleasant evening.

On Monday after dinner, we went to the park and it was just so pleasant. We haven't gone in a while because of the heat, so it was extra fun!

The kids have gotten interested in stars again and Sean has a cool app that tells you the name of the star and shows pics of the constellations. They weren't huge fans of me taking this picture with the flash.

On Tuesday after tumbling, we met our friends Afton, Brianna, and Rowen at a park in Sandy called Big Bear Park. It was a lot of fun!

Alana has really been struggling lately and I have been really worried about her. Brett has gotten so into legos and Alana has felt left out. She is confused why the neighbor girl can't live here to play all the time and is confused why they don't always want to play with a girl two years younger. She doesn't really enjoy any of her toys other than the stuffed animals, but even those she is so picky about. On Wednesday morning we had a chat while on our way to preschool and I was feeling like Alana needs her own special space or station. Brett has his bedroom but there isn't much space in the girls room. While she was at school I ended up going and buying her a desk to go in the loft so she can have an art space aside from the table. She was so excited about it! I also bought her a red ninja lego set because she loves the ninjas and wants to be able to play with Brett and she wants to be the red ninja for Halloween. As I thought through her toys and the gifts we have given her over the last few years I was realizing she doesn't really play with any of it. She isn't really into dolls and has a hard time with that kind of imaginary play. She is interested in art and likes cool stuff like ninjas instead of princesses and dolls. It is hard for me to understand because I was so into imaginary play with whatever doll I could find. We went to Target on Wednesday night because Brett wanted to buy some more legos with his money. I was walking up and down the aisles and loving all the "girl" toys. I pointed out the Lego Friends to Alana which she thought were cool, but she just likes the ninjas better. Lizzie and I enjoyed playing with the babies and admiring the cute accessories. Lizzie chose some new baby bottles=) Alana chose to buy a Ninja boat with her money and I am so happy she found something she likes. I don't care what she plays with, I just want her to feel happy and to feel like she can be herself. She is also struggling with friends right now. Most girls her age are into dress-ups, dolls, princesses, and house. Alana likes those things as long as she can be the pet Eagle or Tiger. She also is used to getting her own way right now and wants playtime to be whatever she dictates, she has a hard time trying new things. We had a new friend over for a tea party play date today and had fun, but Alana wasn't really sure how to make friends with her. I helped explain that you have to find a way to play together because no two people have exactly the same interests. The girls ended up having fun, but Alana told me its too hard to make new friends. Poor girl! I'm praying for her to find good friends that support her in her interests and that she can learn to support them too! I also want her to feel like she can be anything she wants, she doesn't have to have the same interests as all those around her or her mom.