the new toy.

We have lived in our current house for 4 1/2 years now. For 3 out of 4 seasons of every year, Cody is out mowing the grass. In the summer it is usually 2 days a week that he is out there in the hot sun pushing around the 15 year old, on-its-way-out lawn mower. It is supposed to be self-propelled, but is only sporadically, when it feels like it. It is hard, hot, dirty work, and my husband does it (mostly) without complaint. I feel for him, I really do.

But I made a promise to him. It was before we were even married, and living in Layton. The promise was this: I have never, nor do I plan to ever, use a push mower. If & when we get a riding lawn mower - that is when I will cut the grass. And I am a woman of my word.

See, I grew up on an acre and we had our good ol' John Deer 111. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to cut the grass on that thing. The novelty wore off eventually, but I knew my way around that thing, and cutting the lawn was just another one of my chores.

Well today, Cody finally got his shiny, new, red toy. A new Toro tractor. And to my surprise he cut half of the front lawn and then let me cut the other half - what a nice guy. I know that just because we have obtained the beautiful tractor, doesn't mean that it is going to instantly be my job to cut the grass. Quite the opposite. Now Cody wants to cut the grass, of course! Who wouldn't with the new, shiny toy? It even has a cup holder for his beer. What could be better?

Even though I haven't cut a lawn in over 15 years, I was still able to give him a few pointers (like do the perimeter going clockwise, and the rest counter-clockwise, thanks Dad!). And I think I did a damn fine job on my half if I do say so myself.

So I guess now we might be fighting over who gets to mow the lawn. Naw, it is his baby. I'll just wait until the novelty wears off!

this month in pictures

so I haven't posted in over a month. So what. that way you know there was either nothing going on... or so much I didn't have time to write anything! It was actually the latter.

This month we had Finn's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, my parents in to visit, went up to Montana for a fabulous weekend for Laci & Ryan's wedding, we drove through Yellowstone National Park on the way home, saw some geysers (not Old Faithful, we took the short route since we wanted to get home faster), lots of elk and big & baby buffalo.We had the last day of school and the subsequent school program, got the garden in, went for a hike with the kids and got a kiddie pool which the kids absolutely love and want to be in constantly and I went fishing with Finn at the trout farm.
But it's all been leading up to this... see the next post. (ok, here's a hint:)

Finn is four!

Today was Finn's birthday. It was a pretty quiet birthday. Thanks to everyone who called to wish him happy day!

This morning we had a play date at our house which was fun for Finn (and distracted him for a few moments from asking if he could open presents!) Afterward, Burgundy took a nap and then we went to the store to grab a few things and got an ice cream cake. We picked up daddy and stopped to get Little Caeser's (Finn's birthday dinner of choice), then we opened presents and had cake. Grandma Paula called all the way from Dublin to talk to Finn and when they get home next week we will be having another party at Chuck E Cheese's. Finn is very much looking forward to that.

For his birthday he got a ton of Thomas Train stuff (a windmill, Cranky the crane, a mountain track, etc) and he also got a guitar which he is excited about! He always wants to play daddy's so now they can play together. Pretty soon we will have a family band!

Also this past weekend we went over to Jeff & Kelly's for a BBQ which was, as always, fun to hang out with friends we don't see as much as we'd like! Here's a few pictures from that as well.Thanks to Uncle Hodge for these awesome pictures!