Gardening Weekend

So much blogging... so little time. I'll try to pop off a few blog posts before bed tonight. I hope I can get seven hours. We'll see.

Anyway, here's how we spent our weekend. Saturday, we all attacked the front garden, and pulled out some old dead trees and a bush that had grown so big, it was blocking the sidewalk. I did nothing with our yard this spring/summer. I've very, very slowly settled into this house over the past year. We still need to hang pictures. Weird, I know, but I've just had a brain block about it. There are so many old photos, and really outdated frames. I almost want to chuck everything and start over with new pics. But that's another project... The view of the front of the house looks much better now. Now, if I can just get some tulip bulbs in the ground, before it permanently freezes, I'll be very satisfied. Here are all the cutie pies helping:

The Before picture. Go team! This project has been on the agenda for several months, as part of Gilean's Scout Family Membership badge. Now that's done, too!

All three kids hard at work, yanking those stubborn trees out of the ground. I had a serious whiner (you know who you are) who was dragged kicking and screaming through the whole project. The neighbors got an earful that day, I tell you what. Drama Queens... whatever. Zen, who graciously stopped packing for his hunting trip (blog post in progress) to help us, repeated to the kids something that was told a lot to him when he was a kid and kept wishing the work was over, "Wishing is fun, but doing gets done." Love those oldie, but goodie, snippets of wisdom.

Isn't he so cute in his "manly" apron from Home Depot and holding his whacking sticks? After the first attempt at getting a pine tree out of the ground, Gil decided that the little branches had to be whacked off, so he could get a good grip on the trunk. Connor wanted to whack things, just like his big brother!

Connor and Gil - "I can whack stuff, too!"

Connor loved sitting and digging in the holes left when we pulled out the little dead pine trees.

Oh, if only kids could hold on to their enthusiasm for work as they get older...

The finished product! Just makes me want to go plant fifty million things! Tulip bulbs now, rose bushes in the spring, and then who knows! Yes, that's silly Dani hamming it up in the background.