Friday, June 28, 2013

Backyard Improvement Part 2

Finally, after almost 5 years in our house, we have a fence!!  And having a fence is better than we ever imagined.  :)  We would have guessed that the fence would make our yard seem/feel smaller (it's not very big to begin with), but we have actually found that it feels bigger.  And it feels so homey and safe.  I LOVE that I can let Ava go outside and she can't fall in any window wells OR get to the street (or the empty lot full of dirt and weeds).  Wonderful!

I am SO thankful to have a handy husband.  A husband who can do things like build a fence in a weekend.  He never ceases to amaze me.  And we are SO thankful for his dad (Grandpa) and Tina (Gigi) who helped out so much.  It is very convenient that Grandpa has access to useful machinery.  :)  It always helps to have connections.

Tim and Grandpa set the posts on the first day:


Mr. Bobcat really made things easier!


The girls were big helpers . . . playing in their sand table.
Ava was representing in her Bobcat hat!

"What's all that racket?"



"My big sister is so cool!"

At the end of the day Ava got to take a ride in the
 Bobcat with Daddy.

She didn't like it.

Just a girl and her parasol!
On day two Tim and Grandpa pretty much got the fence finished!  Gigi came up, too, and she was a big help both with the girls and hauling pickets all around so that they were easy for the guys to get to:

Starting to take shape!

Ava spent most of the morning in her pool.



Good work, men!
Tim spent one more Saturday finishing things up and building the gate, and then it was done!  Hurray!  Ava is finally corralled.  All that is left is to stain it one of these days.  I would say he did a pretty good job myself:




The guy can just build a gate.  Just like that.







The gate from the front side.


And that's that!  I know pictures of fences are not that exciting . . . but we just like our fence a lot.  :)

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Biggest Girl

As Ava gets closer and closer to her 3rd birthday (just under 3 weeks away!) we are in with the "big girl" and out with the "baby"!  Tim and I decided that it was time to do away with the mullet and schedule Ava for her first real haircut.  So this morning I took Ava to see Kari, the hairdresser that I have been going to for several years now.  She has recently renovated the basement of her home a little to have a studio/salon in her home.  It was very nice and comfortable, especially for Ava's first salon visit!  My little wiggle-worm did SO well, believe it or not!  She sat more still than I have ever seen her sit before while Kari cut off those wispy little waves.  It took only a couple minutes of actual cutting, and the results are pretty darn cute!

Watching cartoons before we leave.

Although still cute most of the time, it was a bit of a mullet.  

At the "beauty parlor"!

Cute stuff!

"Please stop taking my picture, Mom!"

Snuck up on her while she was playing.

"For the love of God, Mom . . . "

Ha ha.  This girl hates having her picture taken, in case you couldn't tell.  And it's impossible to get a smile from her other than a cheesy, scary, toothy, clown grin.  Anyway, there it is!  Her first real haircut!  Sometimes I hardly even recognize her because she has gotten so big; there's very little baby left anymore.