Driveway remake, part 1

This was my driveway this morning. It hasn't always looked like this. But, long story short, our driveway kind of fell into a trench dug by the neighbor.
This is the giant crack and step that leads from our "mud room porch" to the parking pit. It has taken all summer to dig this out. Why? Well....



This is the culprit. See that funky brown blob in the middle of this photo? That is our water main. It resides in the middle of our driveway. We don't know why. But, it makes it impossible to use heavy equipment to dig out the driveway. So, we dug by hand. Well, with shovels, anyway. The whole thing. Loaded into 5 gallon buckets. Then loaded into the back of a pickup truck. Then unloaded the same way. It took a long time. It was very labor intensive. But we had the 1st payoff today.

This showed up. He couldn't dump down the driveway because of our little friend the water main. So he left this:

Guess how we move this? Yep. Shovels. Good thing we have practice, huh?

Next step...concrete. Hopefully soon. I'm tired of the mud room being covered in mud.

What we've been doing....crafts!

I don't get to log on to the home computer much anymore. Earl is working 60+ hours a week, usually out of town. (And sometimes out of state.) *Not complaining, just explaining. We're very grateful for a job and overtime pay!*

Between being a single parent Monday thru Friday, working full time, and trying (but not always succeeding) to keep the house somewhat tidy, there isn't a lot of time to update the blog. But... there is ALWAYS time for some crafting around this house! Here are some of the goodies the kids and I have been making in between homework, practicing instruments, scouts, church, work, and sleeping.

My first attempt at a quilt. It's not finished; cutting all those squares of denim takes some time. My own personal triumph...the seams actually line up on the back! The front won't matter because of the fraying that will hide the seams.

Stacie wanted to paint and found this penguin sign holder sitting in my craft stash. Googly eyes make everything better!

More Stacie painting. Scrap lumber and craft paints make a girl happy.

Another project made with scrap lumber and craft paints. Lookin' good!

Stacie was bored one Sunday. This is what she came up with. It took her a couple of days to finish up her Frankenstein, because she had to go buy giant googly eyes and thick pipe cleaner. Total out of pocket expense for this boredom buster...less than $2.

The 3rd grade hosted a "family fun night". This is Porter's lantern. Easy-peasy to make! Supplies: 1 empty jar, tissue paper, glue, paint brush. Brush jar with glue (thinned with water), place on tissue paper. Let dry. Put in a tea light candle (we used LED). Light and enjoy.

Photo/card holders. We are going to be making these for Fantastic Friday. I also used this idea for girls' camp crafts. However, we called them Mormonad holders and supplied each girl with a packet of 8 Mormonads to put in the holder.

Googly-eyed card holder. In this case, a recipe card.

A Christmas-y version of the card holder.

A girly version of the photo holder.

*A tad ironic, since my girls aren't totally girly-girls and 2 out of 3 of them HATE pink.*

Bath salts. This was my first attempt. The stripes are cool, huh?

Again, a Fantastic Friday project. Can you guess who is charge of the craft projects again this year?

Nathan needed a cake for pack meeting for a cake walk. He wanted "Angry Birds". This is what we came up with. Jessica did most of the "finish" work. The pigs and birds are cake balls dipped in colored candy melts. The piggy fortress is graham crackers and pretzels. The sling shot is pretzels and a melted tootsie roll. The surface is covered with crushed Nilla wafers and colored coconut to simulate dirt and grass. Even the beaks are edible--lemon tootsie rolls. A little messy looking, but identifiable and cute!

These are just a few of the projects we've made. I've made a few other crafts for Fantastic Friday. Of course, the kids had to carve and paint pumpkins (which they then take out to the shooting range to "murder" with a small caliber rifle). And, they've been digging a massive hole in my front yard. Massive. As in, big enough to park a large, white, somewhat dented people-mover in. Hopefully, someday soon we will be able to fill said hole with gravel and then top it with concrete and call it a driveway. Someday.

What we've been doing...

We've been doing home repairs.



But that means making holes in the wall.




And patching holes in other walls.



But, we've been doing other stuff, too.

Like taking the kids to see some Monster Trucks.


El Matador was a favorite.

Shock Therapy totally crushed the competition (and some mini vans) during freestyle.
It's not all work around here.

*A special note: We don't usually attend events at our local events center because ticket prices aren't exactly "family friendly." However, there is a back story here. During Montana Fair, Earl decided to treat the kids (minus Jessica, who had to work), to the demolition derby. We were excited to see a "combine derby" that was advertised as part of the "crash em', bash 'em" action. But...the promoter couldn't get any combines to join the fun. So, all demo derby ticket holders were told to hold their tickets until Monster Trucks were advertised. We would be given free general admission tickets to monster trucks because they couldn't deliver as advertised. So...we bought a $15 ticket for Jessica and enjoyed a fun, rowdy, loud evening as a family.

Ch-Ching!

Coming Soon!

a new update will be arriving just as soon as i locate batteries for the camera. check back often!