Big Helper

Sometimes when Farmer Brown and I are working on projects all day, and kind of just let Jders "sail along" during the day (you know, like not really giving her any specific attention, just making sure she is safe), I feel like a bad Mom. But, to tell you the truth, she LOVES to be helping us do things that are out of the ordinary. I guess, most of the time I just don't realize she is enjoying herself, because I am busy myself.

The last two Saturdays, we have been working on major projects in the backyard. UGH!!! Both weekends, I have just wanted to die at about noon. We decided to take out this concrete pad that was basically in the middle of our yard. I guess there used to be a deck and a hot tub, and this was the pad that had the hot tub on it. We started the project two Saturdays ago, and thought it would be hard, but done within half a day. WRONG! We rented a cement saw at first, and Farmer Brown was trying to use it. It wasn't working correctly, and it was a SAW. He started getting frustrated with it, and it's the Brown curse to start throwing things around when they get frustrated. Yep, he was throwing an electric SAW around, one that keeps turning at Mach 10 even when it has slipped out of the crack!! I was standing on the opposite side of the yard, with Jders in my arms, just praying that he wouldn't lose a limb. I kept telling him, it wasn't worth it, and let's just leave it, but he had his heart set on getting that thing out. After coming close to losing a limb three or four times, he decided to go get a jack hammer instead. AAAAH! Much better. No risk of losing a limb with a jack hammer. Just the risk of a REALLY bad headache. We thought that it would only be two or three inches thick. Wrong again. It was almost a FOOT thick!!! Good thing he went and got the jack hammer, that saw was only cutting three inches down at the most. He broke it into chunks, and then Jders and I hauled the smaller chunks in the wheelbarrow to the truck. She was in hog heaven. She put on some work gloves, and was throwing rocks into the wheelbarrow, and then would help me push the wheelbarrow to the truck, and then threw the rocks into the truck. 

The cement pad is now out, and filled in with dirt, and hopefully grass will grow on it soon.  

We dug a hole on the side of the house, that is supposed to avert the water away from flooding the basement - yes, this happened this spring - and we filled the hole from the cement pad in with that dirt.

We dug a hole in the corner of the yard, and put in a new sand box for Jders.

We had to put in a new porch when we moved in OVER a cement one, because of a crooked step, for the insurance. But, we didn't paint it very well, and so Jders kept getting slivers on it. So, we rented a sander and sanded it, and primed it and the sandbox, and now I need to paint the porch.

We planted the garden.

We took out this brick patio that was next to our back porch, thinking that we could get it to lay a little flatter. Once again, wrong!! I'm trying to put it back in, but what a pain in the butt to get it to lay flat! So that project still needs to be done.

We still have a few projects that need to be done, but sheesh, who would have thought owning a home would require so much work!!!

Regardless, Jders loves it when we are out doing things. She was so stoked when we put in that new sandbox. When we were planting the garden, she was very determined to open all the packages and dump them in the planter, or as Farmer Brown would call it-the digger. I just love the look on her face when she feels like she is doing something important, and the walk she gets when she is walking with a purpose.