Back Breaking Labor of Love

Now that today is over, it was a GLORIOUS day! During the day, however, it wasn't so glorious.

A couple of weeks ago our neighbor said to me, "Your daughters are going to be very upset, but we are getting rid of our swing set."

This is the swing set that the girls go and play on pretty much every day that the sun is shining- which happens to be a lot in Colorado.

"Oh. What are you going to do with it?" I asked.

"Do you want it?"

"Yes."

I ecstatically called Ben- "The neighbors are giving us their swing set!!!!!" I offered to buy it from them, but they said no- that if we moved it, they didn't want any money.

All I heard was, "a swing set in our backyard!!!!" All Ben heard was, "We have to move it ourselves."

We decided to hire some help- I'm SOOOO glad we did! Plus, Ben's dad helped which was HUGE- we definitely needed all four of us (even if my main job was the "gopher girl"- i.e, making trips to Home Depot to get random odds and ends that we needed). We made a pretty good team, though, I must say.

Everything was lined up and ready to go- and today was the big move!

The first thing we did was take down the fence between our two yards. 

 Then we slid it over- it was SO heavy (not surprisingly!). Thankfully, though, we didn't have to completely tear it apart- we put it in two very large pieces and slid it over very carefully.I was not much help at this point.

 Here is our audience. Considering they needed to entertain themselves for several hours while we worked outside, they did incredibly awesome. For much of the time they just sat there staring at us- it was super cute:

 The neighbors said we could have anything we wanted because they are getting rid of all of it. At first we thought we might just put the swingset on the grass and leave it, but then we thought it would be safer to move over the gravel. We knew it would be a back breaking job (and it was!) but it was well worth it! They had some railroad ties and we were able to section off most of our back yard for the play ground. We brought over about 20 wheelbarrow loads of rocks, and we still barely touched the amount of gravel that the neighbors have. It was unbelievable how much rock they have!

 The kids enjoying their "new" playhouse! You would think they had never played on it before, they are so excited. And, so am I! For sure this is something we will enjoy for about 8-10 years! I LOVE it!

Isn't it beautiful?

This was  A LOT of work- but I know it will be well worth it in the end! It turned out better than we could have hoped- it is simply perfect!

I feel like such a nerd because I'm so excited about a swing set....

Waterton

The girls and I went on a hike to Waterton today. It's one of our favorite places and we go here often. Claire loves it because she loves being in the mountains. It's a really easy hike and I can take the stroller with Camille and the girls can walk or ride their bikes. It was nice to get out in nature and see the beauty of our world- it is such a beautiful hike, as you will see from the million and one pictures that I took today:

Tree Climbing

We had a play date with some of our best friends today. The girls found some trees and magically turned into monkeys. It was pretty cute:

Winter Or Spring?

The weather has been quite bi-polar as of late, which is typical for Colorado. Last Thursday we had beautiful 68 degree weather, then on Saturday it snowed. It has truly confused poor Audra, who is trying to learn seasons and simply can't figure out what is going on.

Today was chilly, but because it's now Spring Break we decided to head to the pool. We met some friends there, and ended up staying for three hours- the girls had a blast. I think they should sleep very well tonight- as will I. I'm so tired!

Here are Claire and Audra with their friend, A. We are all ready for some nice weather to stick around so we can go swimming on a more frequent basis!

Poor Mama!

It's been a rough week.

We thought we were done with sicknesses.

We were wrong.

Camille's illness came back with a vengeance. We finally took her to a doctor on Saturday. She had a sinus infection that was giving her a little bit of an eye infection. We got some antibiotics to give her. For ten days. Twice a day. (this becomes relevant later on)

Let me tell you, Camille is NOT fun when she is sick! When both Audra and Claire were Camille's age and got sick, they both loved to snuggle and would just snuggle with me all day long- lethargic, helpless, and snuggly.

Not Camille. She thinks that being sick gives her full cause to be a PAIN. IN. THE. REAR. It has been awful! First of all, she wants nothing to do with me- absolutely nothing. She only wants Ben. So when Ben goes to work (which he tends to do on a pretty regular basis), Camille cries, whines, and hits and pushes me. She doesn't want me to hold her, so she falls on the floor and throws her head back and bangs the floor quite hard. I am amazed she hasn't given herself a concussion yet. I may need to get her a helmet.

Once Ben gets home she clings to him as if I have tormented her all day. But if Ben has to go to the bathroom? Tantrums start again.

Oh, and she refuses to take her medicine. Unless it is mixed with ice-cream with chocolate chips put on top.

She is going to be our fat child. But at this point, I don't even care.

Yesterday, though, one cute thing did happen. The girls were all downstairs playing (which is where I often banish the children so I can clean the main level), and Audra and Claire came up yelling happily, "Mom! We dressed Camille up as a witch!"

Despite the first picture below (which was too cute not to share), Camille actually liked being dressed up as a witch. She just didn't like mom coming near her with a camera.

Sickos

It finally happened. Though we had avoided it all winter, our family finally succumbed to the dreaded flu/cold bug- the one that everybody else has gotten, and once you get it, it stays FOREVER.

It started last week. Ben and Camille seem to be suffering the worst. Claire has held strong, but is now starting to exhibit some signs of sickness. It starts as a cough that never ends, then has head congestion, chest congestion, and nausea- along with a sore throat. I have only had a slight sore throat- hopefully it doesn't get worse.

Here's my not-so-stoic sickos:

Hopefully we are at the tail end of the sickness. We are pretty sick of being sick!

Lollipop Park

We were invited by some friends to go to Lollipop Park. We hadn't been for awhile, so I took Audra and Claire while Ben stayed home with a sick little baby. We had a great time! It was a cold, snowy day, so it was perfect to go today.

(As you look at the pictures of Claire, I want you to think of something a friend once told me: "When I see a child who has obviously dressed themselves, I know they have an awesome mom who let's them use their creativity." So as you look at Claire, you will know that I am an AWESOME mom!)

 This picture was right after Claire got a fat and bloody lip on the teacups- she was pretty upset and wanted to go home, but she calmed down after we cleaned her up, even though she is still pretty sad in this picture:

 They had these cool toy things where you propel yourself just by steering. Claire LOVED these little cars, and she showed some really great race car skills.

 Claire really got the hang of it. Here's some video of her showing off her skills:

We really did have such a fun day! As a bonus, the girls should sleep super well tonight!

I LOVE This Girl!

The other day Claire said, "Take my picture!" How could I not?

She is such a sassy, FUN, girl! I sure do LOVE LOVE LOVE her!

Chores

In our household the girls are expected to do chores.

I have yet to perfect this, but so far we're doing OK with getting the girls to help around the house. They have daily chores like making their beds and helping to clean up after dinner, and they also have some weekly chores. I even have them scrubbing toilets.

A couple of weeks ago I told Ben that I wanted to buy a small vacuum. Audra overheard me say that and yelled, "No! I don't want you to get a small vacuum because then we will  have more work!"

Ah, she knows me too well.

I found somebody who was selling a small hand vac for $10. I figured I couldn't go wrong!

Now the girls have another chore on their weekly list: Vacuuming the stairs. I LOVE it! Believe me, it doesn't matter how good of a job they do, it is way better than what our poor stairs were getting previously. And, the girls actually really enjoy having their own vacuum- so far, so good!