Turf and Serf!

We haven't had a finished back garden since we bought this house, which was 8 years ago! We landscaped half of it, using gravel and bark and I planted lots of perennials, and drought tolerant plants. I wanted to try and create an English type garden here in Colorado, and some of my neighbors laughed at me! But I have persevered, and now it's all coming together. The garden has willows along the rear fence, which provide wonderful shade for the hot afternoons. I have Lilac and Russian Sage, which the hummingbirds love. I have Shasta Daisies, Asters and Dogwood, which all provide color and texture throughout the year. We have a designated area for the birds, with feeders and a bird bath, and small wind chimes which sound lovely on a breezy evening, but not so nice when the wind blows up a storm, as it often does here in Monument. The initial plan was to continue with xeriscaping, completing the entire garden and adding in a water feature and a patio, but we had twin boys instead! Our plans were shelved so we could raise our sons, money became more sparse and the garden was half gravel and plants and half weed. Boys, gravel and dirt don't really mix! Well, of course they do, and they love it, but me and my wood floors do not!

Last week we noticed one of the sod farms near here had free delivery, so we ordered 1000 square foot of sod (our garden is HUGE and we needed that much sod just to cover half of the garden). We prepared ourselves for some hard work. And it was hard work, back breaking work. Preparing the ground was much, much harder than either of us had realised. We rented a tiller and a roller, we pulled weeds, and plowed the weeds, removed rocks and stones and plastic spades, added soil enrichers and worked until the sun disappeared over the mountains behind us!

The sod arrived on Friday morning, just before the boys went to preschool, and they loved watching the pallets being lifted off the truck. I was excited to get started although daunted by the task in front of us. But I changed my clothes and began work. First of all, I could barely lift a roll of sod, it's SO heavy. But I managed to get 3 in the wheel barrow (I can hear you all laughing) and then just about tipped the barrow over trying to move it! Chuck became the serf part of my title, he moved all the sod to wherever I needed it, while I rolled it all out, staggered it in the correct fashion and fitted it all together like a jigsaw - I have always loved jigsaws!

By the time I went to fetch the boys from school at noon, almost half of the sod was laid, and realising we could actually do this in one day if we pushed ourselves, we went for it. I was SO tired, and aching and hurting but we kept on, and by 5.30pm last night, we had laid all the sod! Our garden looks wonderful, really wonderful. I am so excited to finally have the lawn and can't wait for the boys to be able to lie on it and look at the clouds, to play in the paddling pool and kick balls about in the summer. All they want to do right now though, is make snowmen, it's all they talk about! And while I keep telling them it's not the right time for snow and they understand that it's not yet winter, they still want it to snow!

My son can scream louder than a train whistle!

We had our yard sale on Friday and Saturday, and although each day seemed to be very slow, with people arriving in fits and starts, we did very well. And each day the clouds and rain rolled in just as we were packing things away. So it was all good!

On Sunday we decided to move the living room around. Our living room, dining area and kitchen are all one 'great' room - although not SO great by some American standards. A few years ago we bought a nice china cabinet at auction, moved the bakers rack to the basement and replaced it with the china cabinet so we could store more of our 'stuff'. After looking at things though, we decided we could easily fit the china cabinet in the living room area and reinstate the bakers rack, which we did. But of course, prior to doing that we cleaned the wooden floors, washed baseboards and generally scrubbed the place clean. I found three plastic spoons, two toy cars, and some pretend money underneath the sofa cushions, along with enough Cheerios to keep our dog going for a week! When the twins we just starting to crawl and walk we put the area rug in our bedroom and replaced it with a cheap off cut, then I didn't get upset that juice, milk, food, throw up and pee got onto it. But we decided it was time for a change and brought the carpet back downstairs, and the first child that throws up on it, will spend a year on his own in the basement! HA!

On Monday we decided to take a day off, and took the boys up to Cripple Creek to ride on the narrow gauge railway. It was a lovely drive through the mountains, although we really should have waited a week or two to see the fall colors. The boys were excited for the train to arrive although neither of them like loud noises, so I was really wondering how they would cope. But they were eager to climb into the carriage and chose the open one so we could all enjoy the scenery and sunshine. It seemed all the other passengers felt the same as no-one sat in the covered carriage, which may have been a big mistake.

The train set off, and the first thing the driver did was sound the whistle, and Oliver screamed and cried, he was very upset. Everyone turned to look at him - I told them all he didn't like loud noises and I could see them all thinking, "Then why did you bring him?" Chuck had the great idea of telling Oliver to scream as loud as he could when the whistle sounded and then he wouldn't be scared, and he did, and he CAN scream louder than a train whistle! All the passengers turned to look at us and when the noise died down I explained what he was doing and they all laughed. After that, everyone looked to Oliver when the whistle went and some even took his photo! Jamie spent the entire journey with his hand over his nose as he didn't like the smell of the smoke!

And sitting in the open carriage, why was that a bad idea? Because we all got covered in soot and had to spend the rest of the day walking around looking like we had just climbed out of a chimney!

The terrible twosome start preschool!

What a wonderful day! I should be cleaning or doing laundry, but instead I am enjoying the absolute silence and calm. I had no idea how much noise two 3 year old boys could make, it's incredible, and towards the end of the day, instead of things getting quieter, they just ramp it up and make even more noise. My nerves are shredded by the time my husband gets home, so this is a blissful day!

Before I married, which was late in life, I lived on my own for about 20 years. I had a house in the UK and it backed to fields and farmland so was very quiet. Occasionally I would go to North Wales and stay with my sister and her family, three children, dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, hens and even a chinchilla or two. The level of noise was so high it was a shock when I would first arrive. The children were wonderful, so full of life and so active and I was exhausted just to watch them. And then I would go home, and the silence was so all consuming it was really hard to deal with, although now I have children of my own I sometimes think wistfully about that silence. But I wouldn't swap my solitary life for the one I have now, no matter how tough it may get or the ups and downs it presents me with. Having my sons was the best thing I ever did in my life, and I really hope that I can raise them to be the best that they can.

We were all so excited for this morning to come, Jamie even had a tantrum yesterday as he wanted to go to school, but they aren't going on a Monday. I tried to explain it to him but he was mad as hell and whined and cried for almost an hour. Oliver's main concern has been in regards to the school computer, he wants to use it, and as soon as he can. They both love using the computer, and I am amazed to see their little hands stretched across the mouse, maneuvering around the screen to play the matching games we select for them. As soon as we arrived at their preschool Jamie took off his hoodie and threw it on the floor! So much for my training! I brought him back to pick it up and showed both boys where their coat hooks are and told them to put their hoodies there. They were so delighted to see their names on the hooks! Oliver immediately asked his teacher where the computer was and another parent laughed to see how keen he was to use it. Although I didn't cry when I left them, I felt a little sad and immensely proud, because my boys are growing up. They are embracing what life has to offer them and I am proud of myself for having created this confidence in them. Maybe being a stay at home mum has it rewards, although sometimes it is hard to see that, but today I am proud of my achievements with them!

Exercise and Motherhood

Exercise and taking care of twins is really, really tough. I don't seem to have any time to myself, and when I do, which is when my husband gets home from work, I am too exhausted to do anything remotely resembling exercise! By the time I have cooked dinner, fed the terrible twosome, cleared up their mess and stopped their fighting, I am too tired to care about how I may look! For a while there I was motivated to go running each evening that Chuck got home from work on time, but too many nights it was easier to sit down to a family dinner, and try to watch Jeopardy (a secret favorite of mine) than to go out running.

I watched an item on the news this morning, about J-Lo and how she's entering a triathlon for charity. She had twins just six months ago and is super fit and incredibly slim. I had my twins 31/2 years ago and am not super fit nor incredibly slim! It seems so unfair! I have a mountain bike, bought it just before I got pregnant and have rarely ridden it since. I feel so uncomfortable on it, so unsafe and never know when to switch gears. There are 17 gears and although I tried to think of using them as I would use a manual gear in a car, I just never seemed to get it right.

So I got to thinking about the bike I had when I was a kid, what we in the UK call a 'sit up and beg' bike. Something old fashioned, without gears, maybe with a basket on the front. I had visions of myself riding around the local town, becoming extraordinarily fit with little effort, and looking great while doing it! The idea took hold and I began to surf the net looking for a suitable bike. And that's how I found Beach Cruisers! How wonderful they are, such beautiful colors and just made for tootling around the town - we don't have beaches in Colorado! But at what cost? They are pretty expensive and worst of all, hard to find in a size 24" wheel. Now I am not a midget, I am 5' 2'' but can't manage a 26" wheel or the larger frame size that goes with that bike. I visited lots of local stores - it's good to spend locally - but was told they don't stock 24" wheels, they don't sell. But when I went online, I found ALL that size were sold out. There's something wrong here I think!

My husband told me I was trying to buy a bike at the wrong time of year, it seems a perfect time to me, I just want to get some gentle cycling in before the winter and the snow hits us. The boys start preschool tomorrow, so I figured I could exercise while they are starting their education.

It took over a week to find a bike, it took many emails and phone calls to online companies and what I discovered is that few of them update their websites when they are out of stock of an item. One company even accepted our payment and didn't even have the courtesy to let us know the bike we had ordered was out of stock, I only found out when I called to confirm the order and check on delivery. But we persevered and I hope to have my bike by the end of this week. It isn't a glorious colorful extravaganza, it's black with chrome fenders, but it does have a basket on the front, although not the wicker one I had imagined! I am so looking forward to riding it, I may never (make that WILL never) enter a triathlon and be as fit and slim as J-Lo, but I will enjoy my rides on the trail and into the town, so I am looking forward to it immensely!

It's raining, is this really Colorado?

It's August and it's pouring down. It has been for years, well perhaps it's only days, but it seems longer when you are stuck in the house with two 3 year old boys!


We have had so much rain recently that our back garden, which doesn't yet have a lawn, has turned into the perfect spot for a bit of mud wrestling! Every time the boys go out, and they don't stay in the rain for long, they come back in soaked and muddy and covered in sand, which is what passes for soil in this part of the world! My wood floors need brushing constantly because of all the dirt that is tracked in. Bring back the sunshine - I don't want anymore rain!

My twins start pre-school next Tuesday, they will go 4 mornings a week, giving me a total of 12 hours of peace and quiet, I can hardly wait! We haven't been separated since the day they were born, and while I love them very much, I need some time away from them now. But instead of sitting at home enjoying the silence, I have taken a part time job. I will work out of the house for two mornings and from home two mornings. It's great to be looking forward to doing something other than clean, prepare snacks, referee fights, make drinks, referee fights, play games, referee fights.........

This morning we managed to do some work in the back garden, in between the rain showers and a trip to King Soopers! We are preparing the ground for a lawn which we plan to put in soon. I will be very pleased to get some of the soil covered over and for the garden to look the way I envisage (like something out of Better Home and Gardens) but am daunted by the amount of work it will take. In addition we are holding a yard sale this coming weekend, and my home office is covered in boys clothes, shoes and toys that we want to sell. Of course the twins keep finding long lost treasures they do not want to part with, so most of the toys that I plan to sell are stashed in the spare bathroom where they can't see them! They will be in school the first morning of the sale, so I have told Chuck to ensure all their toys are gone by the time they come home for lunch!!