Saturday, May 10, 2008

We'll rest when we get to Heaven

My husband believes when the Lord said "Six days shall ye labor...", he was speaking literally. So Saturdays are spent laboring (meanwhile, according to my 16yo daughter, everyone else is either at the Mall, the movies, or the beach.) Thus our family motto, "We'll rest when we get to Heaven" (and not a nano-second before then, it seems!)

For awhile we were trying to limit Saturday chores to just the morning hours, but since buying our "as is" house in the city, it's really hard to ignore all that needs to be done around here. The inside work, at least the crucial projects...the ones that affect quality of life (like ceilings and flushing toilets and non-flooding basements), are completed. And there are curtains on every window, and pictures hanging on the walls. It truly feels like home and we all love it! I hope to post some interior pics next week for your viewing enjoyment.

But today, I offer proof of our family work ethic in the photos below. We are certainly a force to be reckoned with .... when it involves a party. We are having a pool party for our two 16yo's next week, so we tackled the outside today and I Can Not Believe how much the Baker's Dozen Crew got done. We even had to quit early today so we could all clean up and head to Molly's dance recital (pictures of that coming soon, too - - -right, Hunter?)






This is 9yo Daniel, with a hula-hoe (may not be the technical name...but that's what the boys call it) prepping the ground for some new flowers. He hates weeding, so this is not his normal weeding-face. That particular face is really not blog-worthy.






This bed was mostly in by recital-time thanks to Daniel and Dad and Winston. Mom (not pictured because I control the camera), does not like to get her hands dirty, but she is the Garden Designer and she also doesn't mind going to the plant nursery to point at plants for her boys to load in the cart. It's a family affair, you know.





Here's Winston attaching new steps to the ladder (all done underwater, but it was a little too cold for him to put his full body in...) He's at that age where if we tell him we think a job may be too hard for him....He's on it! They usually figure out this secret strategy sometime before they get married. Too bad.




Even a broken wrist and shoulder bone do not get you a reprieve from work around here. Turns out Justin (recovering from a skateboard injury) is an ambidextrous plant-waterer....and weeder....and driveway blower. We were going easy on him until we saw him play the Game Cube with his left hand. And win.




Mary-Faith and Winston worked together to get this wonderful arbor up that I got from Target. Our house sort of wraps around a corner, so there are two entrances...One through a carport and the other through our front door (which leads to a ginormous foyer). I'm hoping the arbor, placed at the beginning of the brick walkway to the front door, will encourage people to come that way.




I'll have to take another picture of this when the grape vines start growing up it. I love before and after pictures!

I'll "see" you tomorrow, Blog Buddies :)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the arbor! :D
I think that our family must have the same motto as you all. ;)

Meg in Tally said...

All I hear is.."but Moooommmm [said in very whiny voice]..it's Saatttuuurrrddaaayyy" We've always been weekend play-ers. Maybe we should change our schedules and play on Monday's!

Anonymous said...

Looks great! We planted some marigold seeds in our window boxes and in pots for the steps, but I'm afraid that's as much improvement as we are wanting to put in this house for now! But the arbor is lovely...

lea said...

notice that your REAL friend (who likes to drop by unannounced) uses that front door just like you would want her to do, even without an arbor to guide her steps...

Anonymous said...

Dan is so funny. It's fitting that you mention the dance performance above his photo, since he looks like he's on point or something. I like the one of Winston in the pool, too.