In progress

As usual, my photos loaded out of order, so feel free to mentally shuffle them. This is our small shed, which houses extra wood, our gardening Stuff, the tractor, assorted wasps, carpenter bees, and mice. It's needed a new roof for awhile, and while it may take us awhile to figure out how to install the metal roofing we have waiting to go on it, we had to take care of the old stuff. First things first. 

The bucket on the tractor works well for yeeting all the old shingles into, plus serves as a handy ladder to the first level of roof. I mean, uh, no, Mother, we weren't climbing up and down the tractor. What's that over there? Butterfly!

Generally, our back to school days lead to crazy weather. Extreme heat, high heat indexes, storms, fog, you name it. It's holding true this year, too; public school, which was slated to begin today, declared they'd wait until next Monday to start because we were/are to have around 6 days of 90+ degrees and most of the buildings don't have air conditioning. Due to safety concerns, they are unable to air the buildings out overnight, therefore the start date gets pushed back into more reasonable weather of 80's. We hope.

So we work on the shed roof. Haha! We took plenty of breaks in the shade and had our water and gatorade. The main aim was to remove the old shingles, replace whatever plywood needed replaced, and then get the watertight seal paper over it all. Dada and Liam finished that yesterday, and good thing, because around 3:45 this morning Honey let us know it was storming!

Everyone enjoys sweating like a pig and being covered in plywood dust, right? 

The garden doesn't look quite so bad from this angle, haha. Pay no attention to our strawberry patch in the foreground which has been completely usurped by weeds and small trees. It hasn't produced well for the last few years; we gave up on it completely this time around. We plan to clear it out and start over with fresh plants. The cherry tree in the far right also isn't doing well, but continues to hang in there. Two of our apple trees also look absolutely dreadful. Everything has its season, but it hurts my Hobbit/Wood Elf heart to see trees failing.

Li-am in the skyyyyy with shiiiiiingles... oh well. I tried.

Fun to have a different perspective. Still not enough to turn me into a fan of the high dive, haha.

Too many hexagons

 I feel like this is already the fifty bajillionth time I've done a wintry post. I know those of you who don't usually see snow have already experienced your own this winter. As much as I wish it would just go snow on the polar bears who really want the stuff, it appears that's not going to happen. So I'm trying to find the beauty in the winter wonderland. 

And then the storm showed up. Those are car headlights, approaching from the east.

 Aftermath. First thing, gotta clear a path so the dogs aren't tracking all the hexagons inside.

Uh oh. It's not gonna be great if there are already drifts inside the garage...

Impossible to tell how much we actually got thanks to our wind. One of our cars was next to naked while the one beside it looked sculpted. You can see the dunes and drifts. This is standing just outside the garage door and looking north-ish. You can see where the wind has almost scoured it clear only to deposit it all a foot away.

                                                   

                       Both Dada AND the mailbox down...

We shoveled a bunch by hand because we needed the exercise and because it was sunny, but we were thrilled when the tractor was warmed up enough to do the majority of it. I don't know that we've ever had icebergs to the height that we have now. While we shoveled, the drifts kept calving so I was making snarky remarks about glaciers not disappearing, merely relocating. If you're looking for them, head to Ohio. And feel free to take them back where they belong at the end of your field trip.

I'd say we got maybe two more inches today, so I'm starting to feel like Forrest Gump as he relates towards the end of his story, "and I met the President of the United States... again." Someday the snow will stop and maybe our piles will disappear around April Fool's Day. Now I'm hearing Aragorn swearing, "but that is not this day." 

Be safe out there. Hang in there, Texas. Just hang in there.

Is it naptime now?

Whew, I don't know where this month year has gone, but today is Monday already, again. This weekend was busy. 

We took the kids to karate on Friday night and then they stayed for Nerf Night while Dada and I had a date. Grandmama has been here for the weekend, so we had extra hands and eyes to help corral kids, get early homework out of the way, hang out clothes, etc. She's headed home today and will visit Nana en route.

Saturday was the homework, put away laundry, run around with the toads and frogs after the rain, resweep the deck because the rain brought down tons of leaves, kind of day. 

                            We're still doing this:

I remembered to take the camera with me to the bus stop since I wanted a mid-month picture of the kids each month to see changes over time. These were Friday morning:

And Friday after school looked like this:

However, Monday morning looks like this:

Well, as I mentioned, it is Monday. I guess I should cut them some slack.

At least there's this:

Anyway, Sunday we did church and I snuggled babies in the nursery and then we tried to find somewhere to buy tires for Pepe (because it's about that time) and all the tire shops were closed because it was Sunday. Oh well. So we got out the tractor, watched mice in the shed, mowed and picked up apples and sticks and walnuts and buckeyes, ate leftovers and got school clothes out and read books and enjoyed Grandmama being here...

Now our sheets are blowing in the breeze on the clotheslines, the poor dog has been brushed and de-matted half to death, and the kids are all at school. 

It's time for important stuff. Like, where are the bon bons?