Let's go OUT!

This is what it looked like in our front yard Monday afternoon.

That is moving water, which created a literal river running down the side of our house and into the street. Fantastic for my newly planted flowerbeds. (This is sarcastic. It was not fantastic.)

The rest of the week was gorgeous though, with highs in the low 70's and sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. I think we went a little crazy with it. Here's a quick rundown.
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Matt: was supposed to be gone this entire week at a field training exercise, but the military has been sending him to classes lately to learn how to be a UMO (Units Movement Officer) which means he will be in charge of getting all the equipment from America to Iraq, and back again. So because of these courses, he didn't have to go to the field. Yay! And what's even better, his last day of class was Monday, so he basically got the rest of week off. Double yay! And, if I may brag a bit, Matt graduated these courses at the top of his class, with 100% on the finals. What a little smartie I married!

Anyway, whenever Matt has nothing to do he is very busy, so much was accomplished (and much was spent) on various outdoor projects this week. Here are just a few.

This is the shed mentioned last week, but completed this week. Matt built it to blend in with the fence so you can't really tell it's there. Pretty cool. And because it holds all the lawn stuff the garage has suddenly opened up quite a bit. We may even be able to get a car in there now.

This was another one of Matt's day projects. He didn't like the fact that our BBQ was under the porch, so I came home one day and found him mixing concrete in our back yard. Only Matthew. Now the BBQ has a little place all to itself.

We got to put our hands in the cement before it dried, which is something I have always dreamed of doing! Bennett had a little difficulty keeping his fingers straight though. I believe that whoever lives here after us will think two adults and their dog did this.

Matt also spent a lot of time planting our vegetable gardens (we now have two), mowing the lawns, cleaning out the garage, and going on a camp out with the scouts this weekend.
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Haley: has a small child attached to her hip at all times. Therefore, much of what falls under Bennett's section also falls under my section. I did, however, host the Tuesday Dinner Party we have with some of our friends once a week, babysit as usual, finish reading my book for Book Club, go walking almost every morning, take a bike ride with Matt and Bennett (and fall into a creek with style), attend the Relief Society Birthday Party, and make friends with several new neighbors on our street. A very productive week, I think. Of course, there are no pictures of me doing any of these things, so you will just have to take my word for it.

I do have a little video of me vacuuming, well--of my feet vacuuming, really (because I know that is sooo exciting)--but Bennett makes it entertaining. This is his latest thing. He will throw himself in front of the vacuum and then do the worm. It is way funnier in real life because he wasn't much into performing for the camera.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bennett: has been very bipolar. The days were great, the nights were horrible. Apparently he is growing a few molars right now, and it is NO fun. Around 5:00 every night this week Bennett would get a fever of 102.* It would be gone by 4:00 in the morning, but between those times he was miserable. Therefore, I will chose to focus on the fun days instead of the nights from...well, you know where.

We spent the majority of our days outside, which is where I believe Bennett would live if I let him. The back door is constantly open now and he is pretty much always a mess, but he is a happy boy. Here are some pictures of Bennett's activities.

It finally got nice enough to move the swing from the garage to the back porch, and we love it! Bennett will sit in that thing for hours and just watch the world go by. And the best part is, he has no idea he is actually being restrained so we can get a few things done without a little boy underfoot.

On our morning walks, the walking usually runs out before the talking does, so we will sometimes let our kids play in the driveway while we finish our conversation. This is Bennett and his buddy Trae. (Apparently there was some discrepancy on the weather this day. Look at the wardrobe differences between these two. Haha!)

On Mondays and Thursdays Bennett and I (and Jace, and Caden, and whoever else I happen to have for the day) go to the library for Story Time. They have little crafts set up to do at the beginning, but usually Bennett just eats whatever's closest. I have to say I have developed a love of the library lately. It is one of our favorite places to go.

And speaking of going places, here is Bennett in his big car seat. This was actually supposed to be his birthday present, but we gave it to him a little early. That little car seat was just so dang tiny, I felt bad squishing the poor guy into it. We are all much happier this way.

And this is just a picture I like, so what the heck, lets throw it in.