A New Backyard in the Making

You know how you look at something everyday, but hardly ever truly "see" it?  That happens to me a lot.  One day as I was driving away from the house I saw our fence.  It was in bad shape.  I wondered what it would look like if we tore it down.  I sent Brady a text to see what he thought.  He agreed that our yard would look better without it than with it.  Of course, it would take several months for this project to begin.  With three children, two working parents, school, karate, guitar, and everything in between, it's extremely difficult to work on anything around the house.

Here's a picture I pulled from 2008 when our fence was still in fairly good shape. 

The next few pictures are from this year and show some of the wear and tear.

The fence wasn't in great shape when we moved into our house and has deteriorated rapidly.  Any storm with strong winds would blow the panels down, Brady would nail them back, and the cycle would repeat.  

One evening a couple of weeks ago, Brady began tearing the fence down and here is our fence now.

Well, that was the easy part.  A jungle, as the kids call it, existed behind the fence.  A multitude of small trees, vines, and weeds covered the area.  Behind the trampoline and the play set you can see the thick brush.

The next few pictures show how much Brady has cleared so far!

It looks like a completely different backyard!  

Brady has many plans for our backyard, and I have no doubt he will make them happen.  :)

No perfect attendance awards

Not even good attendance awards.  My girls got something better!!  Emma and Abby got "A" Honor Roll awards!!!  Yep!!  All "A's" all year long on their report cards!!  They also met their reading goals!!  Abby even got a Physical Fitness Award!  Way to go girls!!

What do you get when you mix a 6 yr, an 8 yr. old, and 2 squishy caterpillars???

Fun times and one cracked up nanny!  :)

Her first duty as a HPES Ambassador

This coming Tuesday will be Emma's first duty as an ambassador.  The second graders (upcoming 2011-2012 third graders) from Northport Elementary will be coming to HPES for a tour of the school.  Emma will help show them around and talk about what they can expect when they become third graders.  How fun!

Emma was excitedly telling me about her first duty as an ambassador.  She said all of the ambassadors are to wear something blue, then she said very seriously, "but blue just isn't my color".  So funny!

You are looking at.......................

a new Student Ambassador at Huntington Place Elementary School for the 2011-2012 school year!  

We are so proud of Emma!  To be selected Emma had to submit an application that included questions about herself and how she could help others by exhibiting leadership qualities.

Way to go Emma!!  We are so proud of you!!

Lake Days

Happy Birthday Lawson!!

We love you!!

Uncle Brady, Aunt Kim, Emma, Abby and John Brady