Yard work

Alright, I've got the pictures up from the first stage of 'Operation New Lawn'! Daddy talked with our next door neighbor (who happens to be a landscaper) before starting the project. He said that the first thing to do was to rototill the whole yard and add a layer of topsoil before laying the sod. Daddy tried out three rototillers before finding one that would work on the packed soil (our front yard doubles as a football field); he had to use the biggest one in the hardware store before he could turn up this dirt!

Harder than it looks!

Note to northern friends and family: check out the color of the dirt! Our neighbor was delighted to see "So much brown in it"! No good, black dirt here!

Nothin' like strolling along in the yard on a hot day with your iPod and rototiller!

Now, after a few minor incidents not worth mentioning (such as hitting the gas line!) the yard is being raked and leveled for the sod! Our neighbor told us that the dirt was so great that we wouldn't even have to add the topsoil! Whoo-hoo!

Break time! Our Spring Break is over, the kids have to go back to school and Daddy to work, but this Friday we lay the sod!

Trip to the Gardens

Spring has arrived right on time! Yesterday (Wednesday) was the first day of Spring, and we went to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. All the flowers are beginning to bloom. Here are pictures...









I might get more pictures of the gardens later. Hope Spring has come or is coming soon for everyone out there!

Daddy's birthday! (party)

OK, it's not really Daddy's birthday today, but it's the day he chose to celebrate it! We're just having a family party here at home, with Daddy's favorite meal: Grilled chicken with white sauce, butter beans, potato salad, baked beans and garlic bread with banana pudding, apple pie and ice cream for dessert!
Hopefully, we'll also be able to get started today on our Spring Break project: re-sodding the lawn. No, it won't be the first time we have done it, but hopefully this time will be more permanent! With six kids and two dogs tramping over the back lawn and football games going on in the front lawn, grass has to be pretty tough to live at our house! We'll try to get some pictures up of the whole proceeding!

New Driver!!

Yesterday, Abigail got her driver's permit! Several delays caused her to get a month after her birthday, but she is excited. If you have to drive around Birmingham, look out!! Here she comes!

(PS: Everyone has probably heard of the tornadoes that came through Alabama yesterday. For those worried about us, most of them were south of us, and so we were spared from damage.)