Dressers

This dresser was given to us over 15 years ago by friends in Nathan's hometown after we were married.  It has served us well but it was time to let it go.  The drawers have been fixed several times but were hopeless and causing it to be difficult for the boys to keep them shut.  If you can't keep your drawers shut it is hard to want to keep your clothes in the dresser.   I found two second hand dressers last week that were cheap and will do till Nathan can make some nicer ones.   Josiah and Sadie got the "new"ones.  

Elijah has been wanting an orange dresser (not quite sure why) so I thought I would accommodate him anyway.  Jarom also decided he wanted his orange.  It was the most frustrating to find the correct orange color.  I picked two different shades and both were more of a pink color.  GRRR!  I gave up and convinced them they needed red instead (especially since I had that color).  Nothing like repainting dressers a billion times over.    This dresser went from green to black to orange to red within a two day span.  

The other dresser in the background went from white to teal to orange to red in the last two weeks.  

I am happy with the red and black choice.  If only we have done it this way the first time I wouldn't have two quart size pink-orange colors added to our paint collection.  I am in hopes that having functioning dressers will help keep this room clean.  

AND this gets me caught up on posts for the last two weeks.  

Selfies

Sadie won't like this post but i sure like her pictures and she takes lots of them.  She is a beautiful girl inside and out.

Young women basketball

This is what happens when you ask this 10 year old to take pictures.  At least it is easy to flip the pictures around.  Basketball is in full swing with our young women.  Sadie was so excited to be able to play with them this year.  They practice on Tuesdays and have a games on Thursdays.  We have a young group of all beehives and one laural. 

Pack meeting

We had pack meeting at a members home.  The cub scouts helped retire four flags that came from a submarine that our cub master is stationed on.   I have never experienced a flag retirement.  We live a neat country and there is no doubt that God had a hand in its making.  There was neat spirit that I felt  while saying The Pledge Allegiance four times before the flags were burned.  

While pack meeting was happening these two were a major distraction.  This is Audrey.  She attends the other ward (congregation) that meets in our church building.  These two have become good friends the last year while attending middle school.  They both are great girls. 

Soccer season

We have only one child playing soccer for the club we have been with for the last five years.  It is a good thing since we have had trouble getting him to practice on time.  It started mid-August and the games are so fun to watch.  

I thought this was cute of a few of the players.  Of all the places to sit they chose the long long grass.  Jarom is the one hiding his face.

It is a rare site when his tongue isn't assisting with his playing ability. 

Lawn drainage fix

Just warning you now that this will be a boring post to anyone but us so read at your own risk.  It was a much needed project that got done in the last couple of weeks. 

See that mountain of sod past the sidewalk.  It has caused some problems the last few years when it rains hard.   The below picture is what happens when it rains hard.  It is a fun mud puddle for the kids to play in but not so fun when it overflows to the bottom of the stairs drain.   The dirt area under our cedar trees have been loosing soil since it drains down to this part of the lawn as the rain falls.  It is like a mini mud slide that has built up with time.

It is fine to have water run down the drain as long as cedar fronds or mud aren't causing a blockage.

To remedy it the last few years we have dug a mini ditch so the water will go away from the house.  It works if the rain fall is minimal or if we are on the premises if there is heavy rainfall.  A couple of weeks ago we had a near miss of some house flooding.  It was a blessing that webelos scouts were cancelled that afternoon.  I happened to be home when it was pouring so the kids and I scurried around digging out the little ditch area then got the drain area cleaned out for a few minutes at a time.   Nathan would have come home to a flooded basement otherwise.   We decided it was time to do the dreaded job.  

Nathan rented the sod cutter and went to town the next evening.  Elijah was such a big helper and loves to hang out with his dad.

The sod rolled up

Elijah loved following Nathan around while he was finishing up with the sod cutter. 

Taking the machine back to the rental place.

Once the sod was off we had to dig out 4 inches of dirt.  

The sod back in but not enough to cover it all so we planted seed in the bare spots.

And where did we dump all of the dirt we dug out?  Here under our cedar trees of course.  We are hoping to get grass growing here too.  We cleared out a bunch of branches from the trees so more sun can come through.  We will see what happens.

The dirt all smoothed out and seed planted.

This is what the bare spot looks like in the lawn today.  Grass is growing good.  Now I hope I will see some growing under the trees.  

Bird Sitting

A couple of Sadie's friends have birds as pets.  She has been begging for one and so have the boys.  She got her opportunity to see what it was like to have two in her bedroom for a few days.  I wasn't crazy about the idea of having them in my house at all.  I do not like indoor pets.  It must have gone well because I have noticed that there isn't any more begging going on since the minute the birds left.   Josiah is working on me to get a snake.  Not a CHANCE!

Cute pictures of the kids with the bird.  I am not sure any of us really liked having them on our shoulders or head.