Deck project pictures

Jesse and Daddy were literally hacking through rock every time they had to dig...

Which was often!

Scanning the plans.

The last step.

Sorry about this, the pictures uploaded onto the Blog in whatever order they please! This was supposed to be the first picture! Also, I can only fit five pictures per post so we will have more pics of the pool and deck in use, ASAP!

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

It's HOT!!

It is now eleven o'clock and 84 degrees outside! Jesse and Daddy are roasting outside as they build the deck for the pool. They hope to finish this afternoon, but it has been taking longer then they thought. Daddy found the plan on the internet and it claimed that you could "Build on Saturday, enjoy on Sunday". Of course, things changed a bit when it was discovered that to make a level deck in our back yard they would have to smash through the hill which is made of a foot of dirt and a mound of solid rock! No, really it's going very well and we are taking plenty of pictures to post when it's done!

Sixteen and seven, pictures at last!

A pile of gifts!

Happy Birthday!!

A big Lego boat!

Nathan's rocket cake. Keeping with tradition, he made it himself!

The Cakes!!

Cheers! No, it's just soda!!

Nathan building his rocket cake

Jesse is sixteen! He is driving!
The boy's birthday was great and we finally get the pictures up (the birthday was the 19th)! For dinner they had Bratwurst and macroni and cheese!

B-day pictures coming

Quick note: We will have pictures from Jesse and Nathans B-day soon. There are a large number and it will take us a while to get them ready. Sorry they're so late!!

Finally pictures!!!!

Here are the pictures of hamster Hooey's funeral.

Flowers for the grave

The tomb

Samuel builds the tomb

The tombstone



Here are the pictures of Piano Awards Night

Jesse, Samuel and Chris with their teacher, Donna Shugart

Awards included lots of treats and metals

Samuel being awarded one of his metals

Samuel was a winner!!

First week of Summer

Well, we have been busy this week with several projects around the yard.
Mama is enlarging her fish pond and really doing a garden makover, moving bushes and ferns around. She is using the dirt from the excavation to build a flower bed up against the fence in the sun. The finished garden will look beautiful. We are taking 'before and after' pictures of the work, but we will wait until we are done before posting them.
The other project is cleaning out the pool. Last fall we experimented with leaving the pool up all winter. It was soon filled up with rain, leaves, algea and we-don't-want-to-know-what-that-is! So yesterday we started cleaning it out, draining the water and washing the pool and cover with bleach-water. This morning it is sparkling clean and filling up!
Another big thing is that last night was Awards Night. This is the party that the boys' piano teacher has each year where she gives out the awards that each students earned last year. Jesse and Samuel were Captains again (the children with the most daily practice time). And the boys all came home with bags of candy, treats, medals, cups and certificates.
The only other news is that yesterday Samuel's pet hamster Hooey died in his cage. He was three years old, a good age for a hamster. We buried him in a box in the woods.
We have pictures of all this on the camera, but I (Abigail) will need to find someone with the know-how to get the pictures off the camera and on to the computer!!!

Birthday Bash!

Well today is the big birthday bash: Jesse and Nathans' birthday!
OK, really their birthday was yesterday, but Daddy had to attend graduation at Samford that night so we are having the party tonight. We will post pictures when there are pictures to post!
Last night we took Tex, the Papillon, back home. We miss him, but we are glad that he is home.
After that, we went to a book discussion about the book Out of the Silent Planet, which is the the first in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy(the book is, not the discussion).
We are enjoying school being over, the last day was Thursday because we always finish the day before the Birthday.

Million dollar question: Jesse and Nathan were born on the same day nine years apart. Is there a name for this kind of twin?