Work Crew

I took the day off of work on Friday so that Amber and I could spend the entire day working on the front yard. We kept very busy and planted 33 plants, bushes, and shrubs. We redid some edging and created a flower bed around the flagpole. One thing that we did not get completed was putting bark in all of the newly planted beds.

On Saturday, Amber had an all day relief society retreat. She left at 6:30 a.m. I was left at home to watch all of the kids.

My goal was to get all of the bark spread out in all the beds by the time that Amber had gotten home. I enlisted each one of the kids in the process.



Aylee was my spreader. I would dump the bark in a pile and she would spread it out in the bed being careful not to cover up the plants that we had just planted yesterday.



Aliece and Johnathan and Alayna worked in the pickup truck. Their job was to push the bark to the rear of the truck so that I could easily put into the wheelbarrow. They were very efficient and did a terrific job.



Jace crawled around and played in the dirt. He occasionally sampled different varieties of dirt and rocks. He kept very busy and was extremely tired by the time we got done -- which was about 1 p.m.

I was really proud with the attitude that the kids had with being put to work all morning long. We had a good time working together -- it was just a lot of fun.

Once we got done with the yard, the kids started to clean their rooms. Jace was really tired so I put him to bed. While they were cleaning their rooms, I left them to go to the store to pick up Aylee's bike from the shop. I was so proud of the kids with their hard work that I stopped by the grocery store and bought lots of chocolates and candies and a half a gallon of ice cream.



Once they had finished their rooms, I brought them downstairs and we had an ice cream bar party. They loved it! About the time we were finishing up our ice cream party, Amber showed up and caught us in the act.

I was really surprised that everybody had a good attitude and a happy disposition throughout the day. They all had late nights -- Aylee had a sleepover, and Johnathan had a late birthday party for a friend. Despite their lack of sleep they were all able to enjoy the day together.

It was one of those perfect days.