It Was a Beautiful Day

And I had every intention of posting these pictures at the end of it, until I fell asleep putting Sean-Peter to bed -- late -- because a little yard work will do that to you...(This photo brought to you by Conner.)

(This one, too.) (He sure knows how to bring out the best in them, doesn't he?)

Olivia was trying her hand at some tricks on the rings. You don't get the full effect here, because my camera has, like, a five-year delay, but she really can do some scary dangerous amazing things on those rings. Comes from a few months of gymnastics, I suppose. Not to be out-done by his sister, Sean-Peter decided to have a go.This was about five seconds before our latest trip to the emergency room.Just kidding. But I was holding my breath. What does that say about me? That I hold my breath while I continue to hold the camera? Hmmm...The number of house projects we have on our to-do list is staggering. And that's just in the house. The yard is almost an afterthought.

The latest is trying to fill up some of these holes in our rain-washed yard. The kids actually had fun helping out with this one. Imagine, being told to dig in the dirt. After sprinkling on some grass seed, the idea is to turn our rickety yard back into a lawn before those holes turn into full-fledged erosion. Time will tell. Might be that more rain simply washes away the seeds before they can take hold...

I am procrastinating, like, a thousand things on my to-do list right now. And that's after about a million interruptions since I started this post some four hours ago. Including ten minutes I just took to finally unpack from our trip we got back from over a week ago. Sheesh. I guess I can't complain anymore when John takes three months to unpack from a TDY.

Oh, wait. Yes I can.

But I thought it was time I unpacked since I'll be packing again in just a few days. You know, fresh start and all that. Although packing is definitely taking a back-burner for the time being to getting this house ready for guests, projects and all. Since I finally got a hold of the guy who said he could help us get our microwave installed above our stove, and he said he could make time in his busy schedule this Wednesday -- the same day my sister and her family arrive. You don't mind if my kitchen is in complete disarray, do you, Cheri?

Because I hate to put the guy off, considering our options for experienced help are so limited, here in this still-new-to-us town. Especially since our only other contact blew us off completely. "Good help is hard to find" and all that.

Is it just me, or does this summer already seem to be preparing for its departure? Here we are, mid-July, and I have no idea where June went. Or the last two weeks, for that matter. Okay -- I know it partially went to school still getting out and to scout camp and on a road trip to Kansas. Oh, and a teeny-tiny surgery ... but seriously. My sisters and parents and I have been anticipating this trip up to Michigan together for months now, and now it's here, and I just feel tired.

I tell myself that once the preparations are done, once we're in the car and on the road ready to go to our destination, that it will be fun and light and airy and it will be worth it for all of us to get together, at a lake with a beach and boysboysboys (and one little girl) running around making memories. And it will be. And I guess I better stop procrastinating now to do my part to make that possible.