We have GRASS!!

We finished September with a bang!!! After all the prep and work over the past month, we were finally ready to put down the sod on our yard!

The sod truck delivered about 15 pallets of sod the afternoon of the 30th. That's a lot of sod!



That evening, we hosted a sod party! We invited anyone who was available to come and help us lay down the sod and in return they got pizza and drinks! We had a great turnout (family, friends, neighbors, church members) and by 5:30, they were already going on the front yard.

I was in charge of making sure there were cold drinks, available pizza and keeping the kids out of the way. There was a whole "gaggle" (as Clay calls them) of girls that would show up to check on the progress. The kids had fun watching them work and eating pizza!









They made quick work of the front and side yards and before we knew it, the back was almost done! I think it took them about two hours from start to finish and that was a lot of grass! It looks fantastic! It felt so great to stand out on our porch and look out at grass instead of dirt! It even makes it feel cooler out there!






Here is the final product the morning after! Looking soooooo good!!!


Thanks to everyone who came to help us!!! We really appreciate it!

YARD!!!

The main reason we'd been so busy during the months of August and September was because we were really trying to get our yard finished up before the weather got cold.

We decided to do it ourselves to try and save some money. It will be nice to have that money in the end but it sure was a lot of work (mainly for Clay and those that were helping him). We are so lucky to have such great neighbors and family who were willing to help us.

We started out with a yard full of weeds!!! Weeds that were taller than Will in some places! We got those cleared out so we could get started on the sprinklers.


We got the yard trenched and then Clay got started laying down the sprinklers over labor day weekend. This was quite the process and even with help from the neighbors and family, it took a few weeks to get them finished up. Will loved being outside with them and digging in the dirt while they worked.







Once the sprinklers were finished up, we started leveling out the dirt and clearing out all the garbage and such so we could bring in the top soil. After a few days and lots of top soil, the yard was finally prepped for sod!!!!!!



Stay tuned for the finished product!

Children's Museum

We went to Discovery Gateway Children's Museum with some of our friends at the end of September. This was Will's first time and he was a little shy at first but once he got warmed up, he had a blast. Addie was off playing with her friends most of the time- I rarely saw her (thank goodness for our friends!)! It's such a fun place to go...we can't wait to go back!


A rare moment- all three looking AND smiling?! Yay! Such cute kids!









Will even wanted to sit on the horse! He didn't want to get down!

He doesn't like to wear hats but he sure liked wearing this one.

We were there in the late afternoon till closing. Addie kept getting anxious and asking to leave but Will was having fun so I was letting him take his time. I couldn't figure out why she wanted to leave so bad. By the time we were getting in the elevator to leave, Addie was crying hysterically. We finally determined that she was so anxious to leave and so upset because she thought we were going to get locked in!

Videos

A couple fun videos of the kids for you...

One day, Will just started trying to do somersaults all on his own. He was mostly just going off to the side but then he figured out how to do an actual somersault! I caught one on video!

Addie is taking a dance class and they are learning a routine for their recital in December. One day, she performed it for us (the music is wrong- she's actually dancing to Jackson 5, I Want You Back). She's not the most graceful or coordinated dancer but I love watching her try so hard. Can't wait to see what it looks like in December!

So Sweet

This is one of the best things about being a mom. I love seeing my kids enjoy being together.

Elephant Parade

The circus came to town this year and on opening day, they do a little parade through Gateway with some of the circus performers and animals. I have been wanting to take the kids to it for a few years but always forget!

This year, I remembered and we were able to go down and see the parade. We got there early to get a good spot and meet up with some friends. The kids did great waiting and they even got some signs, stickers and clown noses!





The parade was short but fun! The best part was the elephant train at the end! Will loves elephants but he wasn't quite sure if he liked them that close up! I had to hold him while they went by!







Maybe next time we'll go see the circus!