"Shedding" Responsibilities

Our backyard had come to a standstill.
Our motivation was lacking.
Then, Will took Monday off of work...I know, can you believe it? He took a day off of work and spent the WHOLE day putting together this beast. I just want to let you know that if you ever decide that you need a shed in your backyard and buy one from Home Depot or Lowe's, get ready to spend a few days putting that guy together. We've been working on it for a few days, hours at a time but Monday, it was finished. I can't figure out if he took the day off because he was tired of me nagging about "finishing the backyard" or if he just felt motivated and decided to actually get it done. Whatever made him do it, thanks babe! Here's the finished product!But before I get too excited, here's the rest of the project...so much left to do. Maybe one day my kids (hopefully, not my grandkids) can run around in the finished yard and say, "mommy, I LOVE my backyard!" That's the goal, anyway.So you can't think that the kids were inside, behaving themselves while I helped Will with the shed, can you? Unfortunately, once I set Lynnea down on the ground, I realized, from her reaction, that she doesn't get out much, with the exception of sitting in grocery carts and shopping carts. Look at this face-and she's only this excited because of dirt! No, she's not just happy to be outside-she's altogether out of control with excitement! I guess we haven't gotten out much (due to the hideousness of our backyard) and I feel so ashamed. I grew up in the outdoors, going outside as much as I could to play in the dirt and run around. All that to say, I'll be going outside more often so that Lynnea's face won't look like she won the lottery when she touches dirt. My son tried to be a little helper while we were working. He just gets in the way most of the time and he's having a hard time with the word, "listen" but we're working on it. I love the time I spend with him during the day. He's 100% boy and I'm loving watching him figure things out, play with his sister, and develop his own likes and dislikes.

Nope, she's still not excited...what is wrong with my little one? Why can't she ever be happy about anything? Seriously, this child is so happy, most of the time. You'd think, in this picture, that she was 5 and on a ride at Disneyland. Ah, the joys of childhood. I wish I could be that happy when I got behind the steering wheel of my car. Her smiles are contagious, however, and I can't help but laugh when I see her laughing.

And my oldest. She still has a little "kindergarten attitude" and even informed me that she likes school better than being home (I'm still trying to get over that one. It hit my self-esteem a little hard this week) but I have to understand that she's growing up, becoming an individual and that is a good thing.

I love my kids!!