Dead or Alive?

I never thought I'd be asking myself this question about my lawn, after having a new sprinkling system installed last month. We were sure that after years of messing around with a manual set of sprinklers our problems would be solved with the help of an automated system. Here's the problem: it doesn't get the coverage we need to keep the lawn healthy and green. We've tried to fix the spray on the heads and it seems to be getting worse. I know that it's getting warmer and we need to have realistic expectations for what the lawn will look like - still, when almost 1/3 of your lawn is moderately brown - how low should your expectations be?

In spite of the problems with the lawn, the best new addition to the backyard is the drinking fountain we had installed with the sprinklers. Kennedy absolutely loves showing her friends how to get a drink. It's still a little too tall for her, but with the help of a well placed stump, it's water time! Anyone want a drink?

Stay at Home Dad

Since Tara is recovering well I feel it's a good time to discuss several things I have learned during my week as a stay at home dad.

#1 Kids do not like to take naps. At least my kids do not like naps. Kennedy and I had a three hour battle of wills on Tuesday. Generally, it went like this:

Kennedy, it's time to take a nap.

No. I don't want to take a nap.

Kennedy, You need to take a nap.

No, I'm not tired.

After the battle had ended and the dust had cleared, Kennedy had prevailed and Dad had to pick himself up off the mat.

#2 Alex eats everything. Kennedy eats nothing. So far this week Alex has eaten a jar of pears, four waffles, a slice of pizza, a bag of peas, and a cookie. Kennedy only eats pizza.

#3 You can get by on a lot less sleep than you expect. I haven't slept at all this week. From the all night marathon surgery to kids getting up throughout the night I've only gotten a few hours of sleep. The worst part is, if I do get the kids to take a nap, I'm no longer sleepy and there are things to do.

#4 Tara really runs the show around here. I haven't gotten anything accomplished this week. Tara manages to take care of the kids, fix meals (I haven't made dinner once this week thanks to meals coming in), do laundry, work on the yard/garden, and clean the house. I've made sure the kids have clothes on every day. That's it.

#5 Everyone loves Mom. Everyone tolerates Dad. As much time and attention as I've given this week and every time I turn around I hear the same thing: Where's Mom?

ER

As soon as I left the bedroom I knew that yesterday was going to be a long one. Tara was doubled over on the couch, complaining that she was having some pretty serious pain in her abdomen. It was to the point that she couldn't sit up or stand. We made a few calls to cover the kids and work and headed off to the emergency room at St. Mark's Hospital. On the way Tara said that the pain was beginning to level off and that she probably didn't need to go inside, but we thought we'd check out what was happening just to be safe. About five hours later, the results came back - Tara's appendix appeared to be inflamed and she was going to need surgery.

The surgeon said that the operating room was backed up and that it would be a while before they could work Tara in. So, we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, around 11:30 pm they came and got Tara for surgery prep. Two hours later the surgeon came up to tell me that he had removed Tara's appendix, as well as some pretty major scar tissue (endomitriosis) on her ovaries. In fact, he said that the reason Tara was in such pain earlier in the day was probably due to a ruptured ovarian cyst and not as much with her appendix. Still, he felt that everything was fine and that recovery would be complete and fairly quick. The marathon day ended with Tara being wheeled back to her room around 2:30 am, groggy and tired, but grateful that we were able to catch things early.

Demolition Man

About a month ago Tara decided we should take out the "dog run" in our backyard and put in a swing set for Alex and DeDe.

"No Problem," I thought. I didn't realize what kind of a job this would end up being. Apparently this was a dog run built for the next millennium - galvanized steel pipes for the framework, and an 18 inch cement footing around the entire foundation. So, I started out using a sledgehammer - that didn't go very far. Next, I used a chipping hammer - that would have taken forever. Finally, I moved to the heavy equipment - a jackhammer, complete with a diesel powered compressor. Now we're talking! It took a few days, and some pretty serious pounding on my body, but in the end the dog run came down. I still have to take the remnants to the dump, but we're getting a lot closer to a playground!

Munchkin on the Move

The little guy has started crawling and life has changed for both Kennedy and me. Alex is into everything, especially anything Kennedy is doing. She hasn't quite adjusted to Alex being mobile and still freaks out from time to time when he touches her or her toys.


As you can see from the picture, Alex is a human vacuum and eats anything he can find on the floor. This isn't all bad-it might help me keep the house a little cleaner.

It's fun to see Alex growing up. I can't believe he will be 1 in less than 2 months. He is as cute as ever and a little mischievous at times. He likes to pull hair (especially Kennedy's) and when we tell him no, he just giggles at us. That probably won't change much anytime soon, if he is anything like his big sister!

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