First to give credit where it is due, I got the original idea for this super awesome thing which works for us here.
It was a day of joy and gladness when I discovered it, thanks again :)
And here are my adaptations:
First instead of colouring the tips, we got coloured craft sticks and let each kid pick a colour. 'Cos they are pretty. And I'm very practical like that. Actually it does make it easier to spot when you add in the allowance earning sticks (which you will learn about later- patience, grasshopper). Can you guess which jar belongs to the princess?
We painted one end with a white tip. We wrote everything I ever nag them about on a daily basis on a separate stick. For my four year old, I drew a little picture too.
(The red sticks in the older boys' jars are for things which are not daily requirements or voluntary things that they wanted regular reminders on-like writing in their journals and updating their cute little blog).
SO: every day we start with all the sticks white-side down. When I hear the first stirrings of a fight each morning I say faux-brightly, (in that irritating way moms do when they are about to make their children suffer), "has everyone done their sticks?". And then they groan, and shoot dagger "now look what you've gone and done" expressions at the sibling they were about to fight with, and go and do them.
It's great!
Before we go out each day to do something fun, all the sticks must be white-side up (within reason). I no longer have to tell people to do their hair, or brush their teeth, or make their beds, or do their chore of the day or practice their instruments. It is all neatly encompassed under one cheerful and easily spoken nag "have you done your sticks yet?" It has really made the kids a lot more self-sufficient and has the added blessing of everyone experiencing less exposure to my lecturey voice. Our chore wheel has remained in use, since one of the sticks instructs, "do your chore on the wheel". The first person to get there each day gets to be Vanna White and spin the wheel.
And then there is the ever debated, agonized over allowance issue. Ok here are my basic stipulations regarding allowance:
1. I want it to be a reasonable facsimile of how real life works. You do work, you get paid. You don't do work, you do not get paid. You choose. If you do a lot of work, you get paid more (in a perfect world eh?), if you do a little work, not so much.
2. I do not want to pay my children for things that they need to do for the privilege of living in this house. Being part of a family means you don't get paid for making your bed. Fah gosh sakes.
3. I want the work=money connection to be easily apparent to them.
4. I want to pay them for stuff that we actually need done. I want their work to truly be of value.
So this is what we've come up with. We have a stick jar devoted entirely to money-earning type jobs. It is creatively named: $Job Jar$
On each stick there is a job description and a monetary value attached to the job.
They can select the job they want to do (or don't want to as the case may be, but hey, money talks). Once the job is done they take the stick and put it white side up in their individual jar.
We take the stick(s) out of their jar, and replace it with the payment. The job stick then goes back into the job jar. We keep it white side up if the job is not required (don't want two people sweeping the deck within minutes of each other) and turn it white side down once we need that particular job done again.
I also love that I don't have to come up with a job on the spot when they decide they need some cash to support their Webkinz habit, and I can also add jobs as I see the need for them which fulfills that whole "work of value" requirement.
Our kids then take the money deposited in their jars, and deposit it into their money banks (which have separate boxes for tithing, savings, spending etc. And it's really theirs to handle from there on out.) I have a friend who keeps her kids money separated in jars where they can see it grow and how it is distributed, which I think is a nice incentive-nothing like seeing your nest egg grow.
One thing my accountant dad did when I was growing up, which I thought was quite brilliant was to give each kid a little ledger book. We had to account for every penny of our pocket money each month (keeping a running balance) before we got paid again. We could spend it how we liked, we just had to be able to account for it. It was rather stressful for the math impaired but it was a very valuable exercise. My older two boys are old enough now for us to institute this I think. I love this as a teaching tool because the number one rule of successful money management is knowing where your money is going. (Or so all the books tell me).
Over my near decade of parenting I have come to the conclusion that nothing works forever. No matter how brilliantly it may at first. You really do have to switch things up fairly regularly it seems. Really, the stick concept it just a graduation from the story-board concept we were using before:
with an easy way to keep track and no stickers or star charts or things to check off.
But sticks..sticks are what are working for us right now. Hope this helps someone. What works for you?
Of sticks, jars, money and many things..
Growing pains
. 
He is still the marrying kind. He informed me the other day that his engagement to one of my young women (17 years old and about 5'7) was off because in his words, "when I am 6, she will just be...tall. So I fink I will mawwy you again instead mommy". (Apparently, I will never be tall, and that is the only obstacle standing in the way of our matrimony. Well that and daddy.)
I also love 6..I have a pretty much identical picture of her doing this when she was 5. Also at 4. And I am sure she was the exact same size and has not grown a bit.Right?!
And I love 7 (almost 8)
Especially with the sticking up eyebrow to match the hair here.
And 9 (almost 10!) loving him too, with blue lips to match the towel.
I love that they are riding in birth order here.
And as if the trauma of my growing children is not harrowing enough, my dearly beloved friend Julie.........
Her departure will be hard on us all..
And speaking of insanity...
My tough friend Lisa, kindly made me aware of this.
Since I tend to have a compulsive need to take on challenges in this form, I am oh so very grateful to her. (not)
A few of us are trying it. I can think of few things more physically improbable then me doing 100 push-ups in a row. Despite being built like an East-European Olympic shot-putter, my upper body is comparatively weak to my lower body. I can leg press more then twice my body weight with only moderate effort, but make me do 15 push-ups in a row and I glimpse death.
Who wants to join us in the insanity? I have to say push-ups do have immediate buffing effects..and it is arm baring season after all. I am going for the manly-man type but I have silly wrists so I am modifying by doing them on my knuckles. I am also trying to make half of them tricep push-ups (with your elbows very close to your body and your hands close together under you-they are killer but very effective for dealing with the bat-wing effect). We'll see how long that lasts.
Wish me, my bat-wings and my poor knuckles luck.
There are various modifications you can do to suit your body and its issues. Go check it out!
So? So? Any takers?
Today's incentive to exercise...
You think your belly fat makes you crazy now?
A potbelly in middle age more than triples the risk of senility decades later, according to a large study that pinpoints a new link between obesity and dementia.
The good news? Lose weight, and you may be able to reduce the increased risk, she said.
Fireworks and such...
We have sort of fallen into a tradition of hosting 4th of July parties. Ironic. I am not sure why this is. I told Aaron I think it is my way of making my peace with you people. Let this serve as my restitution for any dissing and trash talk re: your country vs mine unintentional and otherwise over the rest of the year. We cool?
I also tend to make this dessert, or a variation thereof every year. I can't help myself. I don't know why this is either. Aside from the obvious this is the most American dessert you can find. It has jello AND cool whip within. Gracie and I painstakingly used a real flag as our pattern for the blueberries only for Aaron to later point out that it was a defective flag and we were off by about 20 blueberries. Oh well, it still looks way better then I do in this photo.
I bought a cheap badminton set at the grocery store, "just in case" Thank goodness for that genius move. We had 14 kids aged from 12-3 and it filled the need for some competitive activity well (boys tend to shrivel up and die if they spend too long away from being competitive) . I think they would have resorted to soccer if it had not been for the badminton and our grass and plants would not have fared so well.
The grass has taken well, apart from the "seams" which we hope will recover with time.
We had a great mellow party. We had about 30 people and it is surprising how much fewer that seems when you can go outside. Keller here was the only casualty of the badminton racquet which was a miracle. He was quite stoic after the initial trauma.
Then, as tradition dictates we made our way over to the university to watch the fireworks. My schfancin' new camera has a fireworks mode, of this I am sure, but I did not bother to find it prior to the show, so you have technically disastrous photos but still...ooooohhh...pretttttty...
In spite of my fierce allegiance to South Africa, I do so love the 4th of July. I think it is probably since it is the only big holiday where the weather is good. I'm so deep. Thanks for the good times America! And to your further credit, you are the motherland to 5 of my favourite people. I will raise my tub of cool whip to that!
And the winner is.....
On Friday evening by random selection, lucky #12 was selected. #12 turned out to be Jennifer who has been walking many a speedy mile this week. Yay Jenn! Yay Jenn!
Jennifer will be receiving her suggested prize of an iTunes gift card so that she can stop listening to talk radio. She was going to receive a pair of these. As joyfully reviewed here. But music trumps socks, even these socks, I must agree. Priorities. She will get a little something extra in there too.
Watch for the next challenge coming soon and keep it moving, you are an inspiration!
Desperation Casserole
The theme for this week's WFMW is easy meals with 5 ingredients or less. So this is my answer to that.
I got the recipe for this casserole of the back of a green bean can when I was newly married. Fancy! It was romantically named, "Midnight Garden Casserole". I soon dubbed it Desperation Casserole because it is so simple and uses what most people have on hand all the time.
It is the casserole I turn to whenever I am out of time and ingredients and am asked to take a meal in to someone who is sick or has a new baby. And they always rave about it. Even my gourmet cooking friends can't resist it and think it is more elaborate then it is for some reason. It's the classic simple casserole-true comfort food.
(Serve it with a salad because those aren't the most nutritious of veges in there but hey, better then nuthin.)
Ok so there are 7 ingredients not 5 but I figure the milk hardly counts and neither does the mushroom soup for heavens sake. Everyone has cream of mushroom soup. It's un-American not to.
- 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced (we use the George Foreman grill)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can green beans
- 1 can sweet corn
- 2 cups cooked rice (we use brown)
- 1 can French Fried Onions
- 1/2 cup of milk
- Mix the soup with the milk
- Add to the chicken, rice, corn and beans
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
- Remove and add French Fried Onions to top it
- Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until they look crispy and brown enough.
Click here for Lemonade Cookies, my summer standby - also super easy (and quick) to make with ingredients you are likely to have on hand.
10 reasons to exercise today
1. It is the first day of the month. You could have a perfect month of exercise, starting today! Cool. Imagine that nice red x on July 1st when you are done. Even if you don't exercise every day this month, you started the month off right and that is always a good feeling. (And if you are only reading this post tomorrow, same-same all in the first week eh? It totally counts).
2.You will feel oh so virtuous after. Whatever you indulge in post-workout, be it a snack, a bit of TV watching or net-surfing, or just going to bed, will feel well deserved and be that much more enjoyable. I also guarantee that if you are anxious about something, you will be less anxious about it when you have finished exercising.
3. You will feel more confident tomorrow. No matter what you are wearing.
4.Your children are watching you. "A parent's active lifestyle is a powerful stimulus for a child," says Edward Laskowski, M.D., a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation and co-director of the Sports Medicine Center at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. "Set a good example for your children by making physical activity a priority." You don't want your kid to be fit and healthy?
5.You will buy yourself more time on this planet. And if that seems like an abstract concept, go and check out Randy Pausch's website. Every extra minute is a priceless gift to him. You will also improve the quality of your time here, both now and later.
Apart from fewer broken hips, it's also one of the most effective things you can do toward lowering your risk of Alzheimers
6.Your skin will look better, it will also be better.
Clearer firmer skin and a firmer bottom. Need I say more?
7.You will be more likely to get your recommended water intake in. And the water will taste great.
8.You will sleep better. You will wake up feeling better.
9. You will have more energy to do what you want to do, and even some of the stuff you don't want to do will seem like less of a drag. You will also be more alert and patient. Basically exercising makes you more fun to be around, which will make the people around you happier and nicer too. The Exercise Ripple Effect-changing the world one squat at a time!
10. If you exercise today and you post a comment under this post about what you did, I will enter you in my random drawing to win a PRIZE. A prize I say, a super lovely prize! I will send you this prize even if you live in South Africa. South Africa I say! Or Iowa. Whichever.
Men in black suits with briefcases will come to my house on Friday evening to make sure that I am doing my random drawing in an ethical manner. And if you were the only person to comment, boy that gives you some good odds! Once the men in the black suits leave, I will let you know if you won the prize. So go! Get sweaty! Then come back and tell me about it. You don't even have to shower first, because I'm cool like that.
*I'm extending your chance to post until Friday, 10pm Est. The more you exercise, the better your odds will be. So exercise and report in every day! I'm super impressed by the comments so far :)
Pestilence!!
A few days ago Gabe walked by with a look of consternation on his face. He is a child who suffers many things in silence so I quickly asked him if everything was okay. He replied with the words that every mother dreads with every fiber of her being, "my head itches!"
Forcing myself to remain calm I casually told him to come over so I could have a look. I have read enough about the dreaded scourge of lice to know that you should check behind the ears and at the nape of the neck for the tell-tale signs of a parasite having set up its happy home on your child's head. So that is where I went. And, oh..horror of horrors, my heart failed me, the little shiny dots glistened in the sunlight. Just like you read about! I'm not going to lie, it was like an out of body experience. Scenes from my life flashed before my eyes.
You know, you wake up one day and it is just like any other day, life is happy, you have pleasant plans for lunch, all is well in your world. And then, in one moment, one cursory head-check, everything is changed forever. What you have actively feared and dreaded since you were a young child has actually come to pass. It has happened to you. What previously only happened to other pitiable people. It has happened to you. You are one of those poor saps who will now have to shuffle into the pharmacy wearing a cheap disguise, hoping nobody is around as you search for a suitably deadly pesticide to spray on your child's tender head. I still don't think it has sunk in that I am a survivor of such an experience.
If you don't know me and have not frequented my blog regularly, you may have missed that I am a tad OCD and am quite, shall we say ungracious towards other people when their children are sick. As in, "get your sick kid away from mine woman! I don't know what makes you think we were ever even friends!". Ok well not quite as bad as that, but close. Prior to events where I suspect a sick child may be in attendance, my children are carefully instructed to steer clear of said snotty child, and have been known to enter a house where we are being graciously hosted, with hand outstretched in warning before them, stridently proclaiming, "stay away from me with your cold!" I have already started a therapy fund for the damage I have inflicted on my children's collective psyche, you must give me credit for that at least.
My friends I must say, are incredibly kind and long-suffering to put up with my open hostility in the face of germs with such good grace. I don't like myself for being this way, and I really have tried very hard to chill a little more each year, it is just that along with the OCD issues, I am quite attached to sleep and my remaining shreds of sanity and such. The problem is that my kids rarely come down with stuff at the same time. They make it a 4 week long relay, at the end of which, their mother is a wild eyed shell of a woman. Also, I am unstable. I make no secret of this.
Anyway. so because I am such a persnickity cow over everyone else's children's germs I did get the instant miserably resigned sense that this was poetic justice, or karma, coming back to bite me in the...scalp, if you will. The mother of all gross infestations and afflictions. The louse. Had come upon my house.
Ironically my neighbour Tiffany called just at the moment of my discovery. My children had, as luck would have it, been at her house just the night before for her son's birthday party. I broke the news to her. She remained calm and friendly which further humbled me since I'm pretty sure the same would not have been true had the roles been reversed. (I believe she will heartily attest to this).
What surprised me most was that after the initial horror and flashbacks which were accompanied with the soundtrack from the shower scene in Psycho, an eerie calm came upon me. What I had feared so profoundly for so long was happening and I had to deal with it. Because I Am The Mommy. I could not lie on the floor helplessly convulsing with revulsion, because I have at least one child who is desperately afraid of bugs and I had to break it to her that the bugs were now a thriving community on her very head. When I did tell her, the inevitable twitching and the howling commenced, (I'm thinking my unusually calm and measured tones were freaking her out even more then the idea that she was at one with the bugs) but she too regained her composure surprisingly quickly.
Then I put in a call to my friend Kathleen. Many years ago I made this page for her as a tribute to her unflappable handling of any type of grossness. And oh ho ho, it was just such a funny joke. (She really does have a great sense of humour, obviously, as we remain friends).
But today the joke became my life-line. I knew I needed Nit-Girl and I needed her now! I called out to her but she did not hear me. Apparently even super-heroines can't hear you from Canada. So I called Nit-girl using the modern wonder of the telephone. She was not there and there were no indications as to when she would return. I turned to my long-time internet playgroup community. In 8+ years they have never failed me. They all heaped sympathy and commiseration upon me and equipped me with the knowledge I would need to commence my blitz until such a time as my husband could come home from work armed with the necessary weapons of war.
Then I put a call in to my friend Julie. She has recently been a long distance hand-holder to her sister who had endured this with her own children. Serendipitously, she was IMing said sister at the very moment of my call, and received valuable input to pass onto me. Julie is loyal, willing and calm in times of crisis. I gave her a shopping list of what I needed which she agreed to procure with great haste.
A short time later, Julie was on my doorstep, unloading the following:
- 2 Large bottles of Mayonnaise
- 1 package of Nit picking combs
- 1 can of Kill All Hateful Things That May Possibly Be Lurking On Your Furniture Stuff
- 6 shower caps in varying cheerful patterns
- 1 Large box of chocolates. (I didn't order these, she just sensed the need.)
As she beat her hasty retreat Benjamin (9) walked into the kitchen shaking his head in wonder and said, "you know, Julie is incredible". Indeed, I say. Indeed. (I too am in denial regarding her imminent departure)
It was at this point that Kathleen called to talk me through what I was to do with the mayonnaise, shower caps, combs and chocolate. Nit Girl did not fail me.
I think I will save the exact method of eradication for a WFMW post as it is good stuff. The collective gathering of much been there done that wisdom and compassion went into the process. Suffice to say, we made for a strange looking and some would say,(louder then others) unpleasant smelling group, and I spent at least 13 straight hours that day nit-picking.
The one thing that can be comforting to the friends of an OCD with a lice infestation, is that you can be sure the threat will be contained. No fear that she will rest until it is. Our louse does not leave our house.
Happily only Gabe and blessedly, Gracie (aka Repunzel) to a much lesser extent, were afflicted. But we all took the same precautionary measures. And each individual living here has submitted themselves to hourly checks since the Horrifying Discovery.
Here is a photo of our sorry selves on Friday afternoon, just for my mother, who having instilled the lifelong phobia of lice in my young and impressionable mind, could do nothing but laugh hysterically when I regaled her with the vision of the Shower-cap Family.
Speaking of out of body experiences, I am finding it somewhat surreal to think that I am about to share with the world at large, a photo of myself slathered in mayonnaise, sans makeup, in a shower cap and my special hair dying robe. (This is where former boyfriends weep at the one that got away). You will also note that whilst the couch slipcovers were being boiled and sanitized, along with every other object in the house, the former glory of our sofas was revealed. I have no more secrets people. (Carolyn, I believe that is your blog I am reading there to ease my pain).
I apologize there should have been a warning before you were able to open this post but I'm not that high tech.
There is a possibility that I will be single after my husband sees this picture. I could also see him losing his job over it. I should not post when I'm all hopped up on chocolate. You always regret it in the morning. Here's my lousy family. Loving how Aaron and Benj are rallying and how the others are so expressive with their genuine emotions.
Murder most foul!
We went on a little trip to the Home Depot this evening. We had murder on our minds. Fifty-eight dollars and a very stinky yard later those mosquitoes had better be dead and going home to Satan or I am going to go on some sort of rampage. Although I suppose the activities of this evening could be considered a rampage so I'm not sure what I will do if it didn't work.
My kids cannot walk outside, even dripping in icky, scary DEET, without becoming immediately polka-dotted and as I may have mentioned before, I am sporting an attractive look too. Today I saw warnings of West Nile Disease on the news and how we should not be cavalier about the mosquitoes. After tonight, no-one can call us cavalier about the mosquitoes. Seriously people, I am from South Africa! I have taken my share of anti-malarial medicine (which is seriously the grossest stuff you can ingest) but I can never remember dealing with mosquitoes in such diabolical legions as we have this month. I am getting quite cross.
Is there life after the gym?
Recently I ended my gym membership because while it was helping me to be lean it was doing the same to my bank account with as Junie B. Jones would say, stupid smelly old fee increases. This presented some upheaval in my little life, because up until this point I had exercised at the gym while my kids were in the gym childcare. This worked so well particularly in the Summer. I had a break from my kids, they had a break from me, and I got my exercise in. I really enjoy running outside when weather permits, but that means doing it in the evening when Aaron is home to watch the kids, and frequently our evenings are jammed with other activities so it is not as consistent as it needs to be. The other thing that made me fear for my fitness was that my kids were a major motivator for me to get to the gym because they liked to go too, (and is there any greater motivator then a whining child? Particularly when you know that by giving in to the whining you will be rid of that child for an hour? )
So there I was, no gym, four young kids home alllll the live-long day, no daycare and wanting/needing to keep exercising, mostly to keep me from becoming homicidal.
Then my friend and neighbour, Tiffany gave me an idea brilliant in its simplicity. A now why didn't I think of that? idea. She walks on the outdoor track at the elementary school while her kids play on the school playground! I decided to copy her idea and to my delight it works so well! At first I was a worried about how boring running 24 laps on the track just to do 5K would be, until I realized that running on the treadmill is somewhat less scenic. (I actually find it makes my workouts go quite quickly to break it down into laps rather then miles and it reminds me of running races when I was in elementary school.)
These are some of the other things I love about it:
1. I can see the kids, the kids can see me, but they are far enough away (ie: not in the same small living room feeling the need to have full bodily contact with me at all times,) that they seem to realize that I am unavailable, particularly since I have my iPod on and pretend not to see them when their mouth is moving in a whiny way. I have also explained to them that the effort of trying to call back to them whilst running will cause mommy to spontaneously combust which would be messy. After a couple of incidents we all know our roles-(I run, I no talk. You play, you no talk to me) and things are going smoothly.
2. My kids are outside being active! It used to bother me that while I was getting all fit and healthy my kids were atrophying in a small unventilated room with scads of other snotty kids, watching TV. Sure they liked it, it suited them just fine but it really wasn't the best use of their time and I had some guilt. Now they are in fresh air, moving their muscles and re-claiming the brain-cells that were withering away from TV exposure, and they enjoy it even more.
3.This counts as a trip to the park/playground! Whohooo! Oh how virtuous you will feel as you walk home glazed in sweat, knowing that you have done your work-out and provided your kids with a healthy field trip. Multi-tasking is always a source of pride and joy, and to be honest, I find standing saying, "Oh wow that's so cool!" every time one of my kids climbs a jungle gym/swings on a monkey bar/slides down a slide, a tad monotonous at times. At the end of my run I do go over and spend some time with them so they can show me their newest tricks and (shhh..multi-tasking again) I also use the playground equipment to stretch, do step-up exercises and chin-ups etc. Playground equipment is awesome for working out (you can actually find workout routines that use only playground equipment. Like this one. )
4.My kids usually join me for a few laps. I love this! I love that they are seeing my commitment to exercise up close and personal and how sometimes it is fun but sometimes it is not so much fun and as yucky as it appears to be on some days, I do still keep going, survive to tell the tale and I think they can sense the extra triumph I feel on those days. I love that we are sharing an activity which is great for bonding. I also love that they are incorporating exercise into their lives in a natural, enjoyable way so young. Benjamin (my 9 year old) has been running a mile with me some days and his time is getting really good! Pretty soon he is going to leave me in the dust. Many studies have shown that kids tend to emulate their parents' attitude and habits toward fitness and so once again, I get to feel virtuous. Ah the glow.
5.We live 1/4 mile from the school which is the perfect distance for a warm-up and cool down. I am prone to skipping the warm-up and cool-down when I am alone (which makes me also prone to injuries) but since I have to walk beside my littlest on his bike, I am forced to slow down which is a good thing.
Some other things I do to involve my kids in my fitness efforts when we can't get outside are yoga DVD's and stuff like Tae Bo. Did you know that kids over age 9 can (and benefit from) lifting light weights? My kids love to show me how strong they are when I lift hand-weights and give them a quick turn. They also sometimes grab a bottle of water in each hand and join me in my routines, it distracts me from the suffering and makes me more prone to show off and do more. I hope this helps someone else out. And hey, thanks Tiffany!
So, what works for you?
Project: Space to be a kid
We inherited a very lovely, well landscaped backyard when we bought this house. It was our favourite thing about the house in fact. I grew up with an avid gardener as a mother and I hated yards that were nothing but lawns, I wanted magical little spaces for my children to play in as I had and so this was my dream come true. As our kids grew and had the unusual penchant for running around we realized it was not working out for us quite as well as I had hoped it would, and I started to fantasize about yards with nothing but big expanses of green running space. My first idea of moving was shot down by Aaron (kill-joy) so I had to move onto Plan B. Our property is not exactly large but I figured we could create at least a little more running space without sacrificing too much charm, and so we embarked upon this sweaty project.
We had several commitments this week so as I mentioned before, much of this work was done in the dark. I will now document the before and after of this undertaking in painstaking detail especially for my mother and anyone else who had to listen to all the obsessing regarding my poor tragic grass deprived children prior to the event.
The BEFORE view from our deck. In the foreground on the right is a big bed of weeds that we used to use as a vegetable patch. Believe it or not it was completely cleared of weeds just the week before and all that grew in while we waited for the sod to arrive. Stuff grows well in this swamp. (We moved the veges to the side of the house which wasn't being used for anything this season and they are doing quite well.)
Here was what the lawn comprised of before. As you can can tell there was very little space for the kids to play.
So we decided to incorporate the lilac bush, the bed to the right of the lilac bush and the previous vegetable garden into the lawn. Which involved cutting down the lilac bush (which actually had not been performing well in the last few years so it was not toooo painful. That branch right there is much heavier then it looks btw.
Gracie clears the sticks and branches away. She is so tough. Little hiked up skirt not withstanding.
Finny sort of helped too.
So here is the area sans lilac bush. You can get a better view of how little the lawn was. Really no space to play other then on the swingset.
Back in that area between the slide and the gazebo, we cleared out part of the flower beds so that the grass could expand into that area too. I transplanted some of those plants along the edge of the gazebo to cover an ugly exposed bit of the foundation. This pleased me. Once we had cleared out many big rocks, a brick border, all the random toys we found under the foilage and all manner of weeds, we transplanted some plants and "leveled" the area.
Then we laid grass over allllllll of that (and let me tell you, when I say "we laid grass" I mean Aaron laid grass as I stood by slapping mosquitoes and telling him that he missed a spot. "Laying grass is not nearly as straight forward as it sounds in this case as you can tell he was working with some rather curvy, uneven terrain. In short it was rather an ordeal. He also replaced some of the patches under the swingset that had been destroyed by little swinging feet. The replacement parts currently look a bit like a bad toupe, or a furry green animal pelt.
Then in a stroke of genius. Ie: D'uh why did we not do this from the beginning? We moved the swing-set to be along the back of the yard.
This was the back corner of the yard. I believe this shot was actually taken after some massive clearing out had already occurred. It was just a big mess of ornamental grasses, weeds, with some nice flowers. It was a jungle
After quite a bit more clearing
We split up that ornamental grass bush that was just sitting right in the middle of everything and put it against the fence which provides nice coverage there. Then we laid grass in the cleared jungle area. Here is Gracie testing it out. This is where the slide part of the swing-set would end up being.
This all created lots more space for this ( love their faces in this shot so you should click on this photo). Really, you should. Can't you just hear the soundtrack as they run in slow motion: BooooooRRRRRN FREEEEEEE. As free as the wind blows...as free as the GRAAAAASSSS grows......
And this. Of course.
On the other side of the garden, we cut a cute little grass path into the big flower bed in an area that was very prone to weeds, transplanted some of the plants there along the path and into other more needy areas and made that part of the bed into cute little shaded grassy area for reading or having a picnic. I may consider putting a sandbox here. But the grass is so lush and nice it would be sad to kill it right away. Here is one side of the area previously inhabited by another jungly type combination.
Here's the other side of the little alcove. Which used to look like this. And required lots doing what they are doing:
And after: Ahhhhh...Doesn't that look like a nice quiet place to chill? Sooo much nicer then having to pick through plants to weed that back patch. This whole area is sort of hidden away. I believe in having hidey holes for kids in gardens, I think they are so magical. I am thrilled that now we have a nice combination of some running space and some cloistered spots.
I am so excited. It was so satisfying to see what I had imagined in my head come to fruition. Our next challenge is to find a way to eradicate the swarms of mosquitoes which also find the new set-up tres attractive. I swear I felt my feet leave the ground today as they descended upon me. I fear that I am going to need a blood transfusion pretty soon.
