Our (Not So) Fabulous Backyard Project

Cory and I have been talking about putting a patio in our backyard for about 2 years now. Our driveway is a fairly decent sized hill, and our street is really busy. I have major issues with letting the girls play out front on their bikes and trikes because of this. Now that I'm watching even more kids at our house on a fairly regular basis, I feel like now is the time to get this done. So, we got a couple of bids and took the plunge to finally get this patio project done.

We're having a party here next weekend for Cory's graduation (yay Cory!), and I really wanted to find a contractor that could promise me that they'd get it done by then. This perfect contractor came by and gave us a fabulous bid. He was recommended by a nestie so I thought this would be perfect. Boy was I wrong! This has been a serious nightmare.

I cannot even begin to go into what a joke this whole thing has been, but I'll try to give the shortened version. The crew finally shows almost 2 weeks after they were originally supposed to start and after countless phone calls that the "head honcho" managed to dodge from me. He says they'll try really hard to get it done last Friday. The crew finally rolls in around 10:30 Friday morning, they work off and on for 5 hours and get all of our old landscaping torn out. I was told this would take "maybe 30 minutes" to get this portion done. At 3:30 they called it a day and said they'd be back on Saturday to bring in dirt. Who wouldn't love to work a 5 hour day? Guess what? They never showed up Saturday.

Today they show up bright and early at 8:30, and I'm thinking, "OMG they might actually get this done today." After 3 hours they finally haul all of the dirt into the backyard, and it starts raining. They immediately pack up and head out. It rains for all of 20 minutes, but they never came back. I called "head honcho" because by now, I am absolutely furious. I've remained pretty calm and nice throughout this ordeal, but not anymore! He basically tells me that they really thought it would rain more and they took a gamble by not continuing to work, but that obviously their gamble didn't pay off. Seriously?? When you're working construction this time of year in Nebraska you have to know that weather can be a factor. "Head honcho" and I discussed this fact 3 weeks ago, and he assured me that they'd get it done well before my deadline so that weather wouldn't be a factor. Well, here we are 4 days before our party and our backyard is a mess. "Head honcho" is also well aware of the fact that we have more work to do back there after his guys are finished and before our party.

This is so not getting done by Saturday, and I am furious. So here's what our backyard looks like today.

This is the "tarp" that's covering only a small
portion of the dirt to avoid getting it wet. Oh, and
the broken water spicket that they will be replacing.

They have completely torn apart our yard, and
I'm having a hard time believing they will
be getting it looking nice like they claim they will.

They had to bring in A LOT of dirt. This has been
a much bigger project than the contractor realized.
He thought they'd need "2 buckets full". Haha!
2 dump trucks full so far, and they don't have enough yet.

Here's the disaster they've made in the side yard.
And the bushes that I'm sure they'll end up killing.

So, is anyone optimistic that this is all going to end well? Can my yard possibly look halfway decent before we have 30+ people in our backyard on Saturday? Especially after we get the rain we're supposed to get in the next couple of days. Please give me some encouragement!

It's Summer Vacation & It's Finally Warm Out!

The school year has come to an end. The last day of school was filled with bounce houses, dancing, sno-cones, and saying goodbye to friends. Madison had such a great year, and our difficult decision on whether or not to send her to every day preschool this year has definitely proved to be a good one. She loves school and has learned so much over the last 9 months. I'm sure by the end of these next 10 or so weeks I'll be ready to send her back, but for now I'm excited to have Madison home with us during the day so that we can do some fun things.

Madison and her teacher, Mrs. Leigh
on the last day of school

Even though many times over the last 3 or 4 days I have complained about the hot and humid weather, I totally love this stuff. This is my time of year. I love to spend our days hanging by the pool and watching the kids have a blast. This is how we've spent the last few days:

This is our newest backyard addition!
Found at a garage sale last week.

More summer fun pictures to come, I am sure!

March for Babies

I'm pretty sure anyone who actually reads this blog already knows about this, but I am trying to get the word out via any avenue possible. So here it goes.

As I'm sure everyone knows our 2 girls were both born prematurely (Madison at 32 weeks and Macy at 35 weeks). The March of Dimes organization is a fantastic organization that holds a special place in our family's hearts. Cory and I have decided to do something to try to give back to what this organization has done for us and for so many other families that have had sick babies. We started a team (Team 2 Preemie Girls) of people to walk together and raise money for the March of Dimes March for Babies event. I am asking you to join our fund raising efforts today by sponsoring my walk.

Our walk is this Sunday at Mahoney State Park. Cory and I decided to set a team goal to raise $1000. As of today, we are still quite a ways from hitting our goal, but I'm confident that with the support of our family and friends, we can achieve this. We have 31 of our friends and family that will be joining us on our walk on Sunday. If you'd like to join us, please let me know right away. We even had t-shirts made with our team logo on them! Very cute (thanks Michelle!)

Contributing online to our fund raising efforts is fast, easy, and secure. You can donate directly from my personal web page with a credit card or PayPal. If you prefer, I can also accept cash or check. Just click the appropriate box on my web page.

The March of Dimes champions the needs of moms and babies in our community and across the nation. The money we raise for March for Babies will support lifesaving research, services, education and advocacy that help babies get a healthy start. Please help us help babies!

We need your help. Visit my personal web page and sponsor me! http://www.marchforbabies.org/madisonandmacy

This is why we're walking!

Madison born at 32 weeks

Macy born at 35 weeks

Easter Fun

Madison colored eggs at grandma's house the day before Easter. On Sunday we had a fun Easter at great-grandma Speicher's house. This year there were only 4 kids to hunt eggs, but we still had a good time.

Madison after dying her eggs

Macy playing with her eggs and candy

Daddy helping Macy find her eggs

"Look, it says Madison!"

Not sure what to think of that bunny

Pretty Macy!

Pictures with grandma

The 4 egg hunters (none of them too happy
about having to take pictures)
Chase, Anna, Macy, Madison

This is what happens when you leave a 1-year-old for 3 days...

She starts walking! Macy had been taking several steps for awhile, and I told Cory that by the time we got back from Vegas she'd probably be almost running. Sure enough, this is what we returned home to:





Speaking of Vegas, we had an awesome time. We didn't do much gambling at all, but it was such a fun and relaxing trip. It was almost warm enough to swim so we were able to lay out by the pool and get a little sunburned. Lisa and I spent a day shopping at the outlet mall, and we all had an awesome night at Coyote Ugly. We stayed at Planet Hollywood Tower and had a fabulous suite. We ate at a lot of really yummy restaurants while we were there too.

A fun video

Cory and I were in Macy's room the other night looking for something when we heard a crash, followed by this hilarious laugh over and over and over again. We peeked into the living room to see what these crazy girls were up to, and here's what we found. Be sure to have your speakers on and turned loud.

OUCH!

It's been a long winter of snow packed sidewalks, which has caused me to give up running for the last several months. I know it's not the best excuse to not exercise because I totally could still run indoors somewhere, but I just don't like to. So I've taken a 6 month hiatus from running. My gall bladder surgery also somewhat contributed to this in the beginning. I was all signed up in November to do a boot camp at a local community center, but then my gall bladder flared up and my subsequent surgery canceled my plans.

My friend, Kirsten, has done the last 2 sessions of this boot camp and has been harassing me to get signed back up for this next session. She has told me how grueling it is, but how many inches she's lost from all over her body. I've debated it back and forth, partly because I'm already so busy and like to have mornings free and partly because I was just plain scared. Well after my jeans have been fitting me a little tighter over the last month or so, I decided to take the plunge. I signed up for boot camp!

This session runs every Monday and Wednesday morning 9:00-10:00am for 6 weeks. What's fabulous about this is that they offer super cheap childcare to go along with it. I realized I really had no excuse to not do this.

I arrived at boot camp on Monday morning in my shorts and t-shirt, expecting to sweat profusely. After dropping the girls off in the daycare and heading into the gym to meet my fellow boot campers, the instructor informed us that the first thing we'd be doing is running a mile outside in the 38 degree weather! Excuse me? A mile outside to start things off? I totally was not dressed for this, and am not prepared to run a mile from the get go. Most of the other girls had long sleeves, pants, hats, and gloves. They were obviously far more prepared for this than I was. Didn't I sign up for a boot camp that is for all fitness levels? I don't think just anyone can run a mile outside on the first day.

Oh well, enough complaining and off I went. A lot of other girls had participated in the boot camp for the previous 2 sessions so they finished well in front of me on the mile. My final time was 12:09. I couldn't run the entire thing (the hills were a little tough), but I wasn't too disappointed in time considering I hadn't run a foot in 6 months, let alone a mile. After finishing the run, we headed inside to test on several different areas including sit-ups, push-ups, wall squats, etc. The instructor wanted to have a baseline for where we started so that we can see our progress in 6 weeks. She also took measurements of our arms, thighs, hips, and waist. On Tuesday morning I was extremely sore, mostly from the wall squats, but I was feeling pretty good about how things had gone and was looking forward to yesterday.

Yesterday was brutal! Our normal instructor, Jess, is out of town for 2 weeks so a guy named Brandon has stepped in to take her place and torture us. He is the devil reincarnated. After what he put us through in the first 10 minutes of class yesterday, I thought I was going to die. Running, jump roping, jumping jacks... all in the first 10 minutes! I have kind of blocked out everything that we did in that horribly long hour yesterday, but I do know that it was by far the hardest work-out I have ever endured. By the end, I was dripping with sweat and ached all over, but somehow I felt fantastic! I was in pain, but I knew I had completed it without dying or passing out, and that as hard as it was, I was going to do this for the next 6 weeks and get my lazy butt in shape. I had forgotten what an adrenaline rush it is to complete such a grueling work-out.

Today I am extremely sore, but I am looking forward to next Monday and the next 6 weeks. After this is over, I plan to get back to running outside on a regular basis (I'm sure it won't be snowing in 6 weeks, will it?). I am shooting for running a couple of 5Ks again this summer and may even shoot for something bigger. We'll see where my body and ambitions lead me!