garden progress

After last weekend's tilling, we were motivated to keep working on our backyard (photo from last weekend).

Yesterday, we invited my parents over to help (we're so nice, huh?) & they were up for the challenge. They were watching the Ruddick boys (while Josh & Gretchen were in Sun River on a High School Church Retreat) & our boys loved having their cousins over to play.

We were able to get so much done with their help. We laid weed cloth underneath the pavers & garden boxes & even filled two of the beds with soil.


Lots of trips from the truck to the beds with the wheelbarrow (we borrowed Kenton's parent's truck again - thanks guys!).


Mom smoothed out the soil while Kenton & my dad dumped it in.


Looking good!

Proof that I worked a bit, too.
I'm usually the one behind the camera, of course...but I'm doing some work too! :)

Kenton got a second truck load of soil & a few more pavers. We were able to lay down the rest of the pavers & fill the last two beds after my parents left & before it got dark!! Good thing Cedar is such a good sport...&that Finn was happy to watch a movie while we finished up. We were so exhausted after working from 8 am to 5 pm! And today, I'm definitely feeling sore! But it feels so good to see are garden taking shape.

We still plan on finishing the perimeter of the garden with something...maybe wood chips?? That's on the agenda for next weekend...maybe. :)

Almost time to plant some lettuce!

carolyn's birthday

On Thursday, February 25th, we celebrated Carolyn's 29th birthday at Papa's Pizza. Finn was SO excited - he was talking about it ALL day & telling me how happy he was that we were going to Papa's Pizza. :)

Carolyn made her own, yummy, caramel cake! It was very tasty...

In honor of her last year before turning 30, Carolyn started a new blog. Click here to check it out! :P

Happy Birthday, Carolyn! Thanks for the fun evening! We love you. :)

weekend project

This weekend, we rented a rototiller to help us clear out the garden beds & prepare the vegetable garden area.

We mainly just wanted to clear the grass out of there, since we're planning to fill the raised beds with nice soil for growing vegetables. So there was still a lot of digging to do & it went pretty fast with Brian's help. Thanks Brian!!

It was such a nice, sunny day & the kids were able to play outside while the guys worked. Finn had a LOT of fun running & jumping onto his upside down tent. :P Cedar spent a lot of time crawling after this blue ball. He's getting used to crawling in the grass. :)

We stacked the raised beds while the garden area was being tilled. It made a good cage for Cedar...we let him out as soon as he started complaining. :)

Can't wait to share some after pictures...but there's still a lot of work to do. Plus, we have a couple loads of cut up grass to take to Lane Forest Products & we want to pick up a couple loads of bark mulch for my new flower beds. Time to start planning what I want to plant over there. Where's Samantha when I need her?? :(

sweet little brother

Yesterday, Finn fell asleep while watching a movie. This is the very first time I've ever seen him do this! Usually, he is just too busy moving around to relax & fall asleep. Anyway, after Cedar woke up from his nap, I brought him in to try to wake up Finn.

Cedar screeched at his big brother & I tried to wake him by talking to him & nudging him. No luck - he was out! I finally picked him up & tried to sit him up in my lap, which still didn't work. He finally opened his eyes when I told him that there was a neighbor boy outside playing basketball! He perked up a bit & asked me to show him. Cedar thought it was pretty strange to see his big brother asleep on the couch... :)

productive weekend

In between all of our activities, out & about, we managed to get some things done around the house. But not until we enjoyed some donuts to celebrate President's Day! :)

No donuts for Cedar. He had a rice cracker & a banana for his special treat. :) It won't be long, Cedar! You'll be enjoying lazy, morning donuts before we know it!

Finn helped Kenton mow the lawn for the first time this year.

Then they "worked together" to build our raised beds for my first vegetable garden. You can see that we are working on ripping out the grass that has grown all the way to the fence. That area will be flower beds. We're still deciding what to surround the raised beds with. We'll rip out/cover the grass so that we don't have to mow around them. Maybe with wood chips or pavers?? Still deciding. Any suggestions?

Another view. I can't wait to see how this area is transformed in the coming months!

I've already started growing baby broccoli from seed in our garage. :) So fun!

first haircut

After lunch at my parent's house, I asked my mom to give Cedar his first haircut. His hair was getting a little shaggy around the ears. :)

And a little long in the back...

My mom put a little dress on Cedar, inside out, to protect him from itchy hairs. He doesn't look too pleased. :)

A purple straw kept him distracted.

Snip snip...

...almost done...

All done! So handsome.

"Now get me out of here!"

valentine's day

We aren't very patient...so Finn got to open his Valentine from Mama on Sunday morning: a Bakugan & some chocolates. :)

I gave Kenton some Xbox points...I know, so romantic. He was excited though. Cedar looks excited too! :P

After church, we gathered at my parent's house for lunch. My mom had all the kids (except Cedar, who was napping) sit youngest to oldest on the couch, while she gave them each a Valentine's day gift. In this photo, they were all saying "Hi, Aunt Katie" in unison (even Finn). Pretty cute! :)

Finn's cool, polar bear shirt!

date night

On Saturday, February 13th, my parents offered to watch our kids so we could go on a date. (They watched the Ruddicks kids too!) For Valentine's Day, Kenton took me shopping to pick out a dress, too! So I was ready for an evening without kids! :)

We went to Belly for dinner. We tried to get there right when it opens, since it's a newer, popular restaurant & it's pretty small. But we got there about 15 minutes after it opened & there was an hour wait. So we walked around the 5th Street Public Market & ended up sitting in Marche Provisions for awhile, enjoying a cookie. :)

The food at Belly was so tasty, but the highlight for me was the dessert: Bacon Maple Pots de Creme with a shortbread cookie! So good!

A close-up. A whole stick of glazed bacon! :)

Thanks for watching the boys, Memaw & Papa! Finn had a great time making pizza & eating cookies. And Cedar had a good time too! :) It was so nice to have a relaxed evening & a quiet meal!

new tricks

Cedar pulled up to standing for the first time about a week ago. Now he's doing it every chance he gets. One of his favorite ways to practice his new trick is while playing with this toy. He was really excited when I got the camera out - I think he was proud of himself! He knows he has figured out how to do something cool! :)

Art work by Finn.
We got the easel & watercolors out a couple of days ago. I was pleased with the amount of control Finn had when he painted. He didn't just cover the paper with paint. He made intentional brush strokes. Proud Mama!

Playing together. It's so great to see moments like this. Finn LOVES Cedar...but is very out of control with him lately. He just wants to squish Cedar...can't really blame him, we all want to squish him! But he's working very hard to keep himself under control while cuddling. So calm moments are praised! (The theme at our house seems to be self-control!) :P

Lately I've been coming into Cedar's room to find him standing in his crib. I'm amazed at how much he has grown up in the last few days/weeks. I guess I didn't really see it coming, since Cedar is only army crawling at this point. I didn't realize he was ready to stand on his own... ;)

I have a similar picture of Finley like this one, with his painted letters above his head. I need to print them & frame them, or something. :)

A little heavy on the Cedar photos today. He was just so happy & interested in the camera...gotta take advantage of those moments when they happen.