More Arboretum Fun!

A friend I grew up with always thought the Dallas Arboretum was such a cool place to visit, and I never understood that - until now! We had another fabulous fun-filled day with lots of wide-open spaces...



This was the best pumpkin picture I could get. They were all so excited to climb and be surrounded by pumpkins there was no stillness - not even Emily!Annie just finished peeking at Baby Claire - no touching!
Daddy loves John Denver, so this is just for him!
This is Ben's cowboy outfit that has now finished its second week. This shirt is going to wear out VERY quickly with all the washing it has had!
My sweet Emmer-pooh! She's just happy to be outside when it's not 100 degrees!

This was the miniature corn maze that Ben and Annie LOVED climbing on!
How much better can life get when you are 2 years old?

The Beginning of the End

So, Andy had a great idea to put in a sprinkler system ourselves. It really was a great idea - except for the fact that the weekend after we started (Labor Day) has been the busiest time he's seen at work yet! Therefore, we have just recently finally finished the pipes and continue to work on filling in the holes. I'm honestly quite shocked that none of our neighbors have turned us into the city with complaints because we've had the most white trash yard for over a month with weeds growing well above the 12 inch regulations. However, it's going to be great when it's all completed! Last weekend we did one side of bricks in front of the house for the flower beds, and they do look great, if I say so myself. And I do, because I got to shape the bricks with the little wedge-thing and the hammer! Then Ben took over because hammers are his FAVORITE tools! (as evidenced in the big hole in his wall where he tried to fix the water leak - that obviously wasn't there. Andy did just laugh about this as his only son was emulating his recent work in the laundry room where there WAS an actual water leak.) I'm telling you - these kids don't miss a thing!
So this project was totally a family, friends, and neighborhood event! We had wonderful free help from friends, home teachers, neighbors, family, and a National Junior Honor Society member who needed service hours. We also had a ton of paid help from those hardworking young men from church! Of course - Andy did the planning and was the mastermind behind the whole project! What a babe! I love him and his big ideas and how he constantly desires to learn new things! Even if the completion dates are a bit beyond what was first projected... :)