THE YARD

I love working in the yard.  Seriously love it.

Our yard was picture perfect when we moved in, but I only have so many hours in my day and they tend to be filled up with kids and domesticity.  Plus Tim's rarely around these days because of school, which means I'm stretched thinner than usual.  And one little W can't just play on their own while I weed, prune, or mow.

Needless to say, our yard has been neglected.

A few days ago, though, I realized that something needed to change.  I'm always happier when I get to spend time outside and the yard needed some attention.  It wasn't horrid, but there was definitely work to be done.  So I decided that I'd do yard work during naps each day, unless there were other things that simply had to be done during that time.

It's only been three days, but it's been great!  I've edged the much of the lawn, moved a few plants around, dug out a gazillion dandelions, mowed the front lawn, cleaned up some beds, and tried to stop the aggressive spread of a mystery plant that wants to take over our property.

There's still more edging to be done, the back needs to be mowed after Sunday's egg hunt, some trees need pruning, and our fence is collapsing on all sides ... but I'm making progress!  The fence will wait until Tim's employed, but the rest of the work will be done within a few days.

Not only have I been able to work on the yard itself, but I've been able to hang laundry outside a lot lately.  I love standing in a quiet yard, in the sunshine, while listening to and watching all the birds flying in and out of our trees.  I mean, if you have to do laundry, then that's the way to do it!

Then today I opened the garage door .... wait.  Let me tell you about the garage.  It's a disaster, a constant source of stress and irritation for me the entire time we've lived here.  I know it's ridiculous, but I get so grumpy every time I look in there.  Ack.

Anyway, Teebs woke up from naps right as I was finishing one section of the yard.  So Devon got him out of bed, set up a pack 'n play outside, and put Teebs in it.  I'm so thankful for the way he jumps in and takes care of stuff like that without being asked!

By that time I was done with the yard job I was working on, but didn't want to go inside.  So I opened the garage door and started organizing, supervised and entertained by the Mighty Teebs.  The sun shines right into the garage during that time of day, so we had fresh air and sunshine, even though we had a roof over our heads.

There is still plenty of work to be done in the garage, but I can now walk from one end to the other without climbing over stuff, I have a pile started of things to get rid of, and I have a tentative plan in place for how to finish the job. So happy about that!

I love the fact that I was outside for six hours today.  I love that my time outside was so productive.  I love our yard.