Lily Turns SIX

Lily,

You are a true joy to know and mother. You have an excitement for life that is contagious! You also have a very clear view of right and wrong and almost always want to do what is right. That makes me so proud. You like things spelled out and defined in a clear way. You thrive on rules, routine and structure and "sticking to the plan." 

You strive to help with a happy heart when asked to do a task or help one of your sisters. You are doing so well at hiding God's Word in your heart.  Daddy and I are so proud that you finished your first SPARKS book for AWANA this year, plus your review! You continue to amaze us with your understanding of scripture and how stuff works. It's been determined that you have a mind like your daddy--logical, practical and efficient--though you're veeeerrrryy slow at brushing your teeth and getting ready for bed lately! 

You haven't lost any teeth yet, but your two bottom teeth are growing in already and starting to make the baby teeth in front slightly loose.  Hopefully the dentist will have some ideas moving forward!

You did a wonderful job in your first year of school as a kindergartner. Though distance learning wasn't our favorite, you made the best of it and we enjoyed having you home with us for the last part of the school year.

LIKES: special time with just mommy or daddy, play dates with friends, Monkey and Nala, gymnastics, Adventures in Odyssey, coloring, taking pictures (being the photographer), swimming and swinging, playing in the culdesac with the Murphys, riding bikes, roller skating, helping in the kitchen, watching shows like Molly of Denali or Finding Stuff Out, eating spam musubis, anything related to bread (french toast, waffles, pancakes, garlic bread, etc.), bacon, corn dogs, Costco pizza, dry cereal and chips.  

DISLIKES: brushing hair, brushing teeth, cleaning the van, cleaning the playroom, putting on sunscreen, being rushed to eat breakfast, talking on FaceTime when you're not in the mood, Emma telling you what to do, Cary pushing you out of the shower outside, and sisters using your stuff without asking. 

You turned six last Tuesday, and we had a fun filled week of celebration despite the Coronavirus.  The day started with our sweet girl birthday girl coming down the stairs to your gifts from the family wrapped and on the dining room table.

Once the gifts were opened, we had our traditional birthday tea party breakfast of hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. Daddy was able to go into work late to celebrate with us on the morning of your actual birthday!

After breakfast and presents, we packed up and headed to the beach! You wanted to go to Zablan in Nanakuli so you could jump off the rock. The swell was a little too big to jump from the rock on the backside, but you and all your friends had a blast in the surf! We took a picnic lunch and cupcakes to share :)

On Saturday, June 6th, we had a little pool party in the backyard for a few close family friends. You requested that the theme be "The Sound of Music."

I wasn't exactly sure how to incorporate this theme besides playing the sound track all day, but you helped me get creative!

You and Em helped me "sprinkle" the cupcakes and add the Oreos on top!

We did a chalk by word art on the wall... Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do

It was such a beautiful morning getting set up for the party.

We told you kids that you couldn't come in the back yard while we were setting up.

The table cloth and flowers are supposed to be Sound of Music-y :)

Fun musical cookies for the guests!

Yum!

Cary and Brady admitted to messing up my sign.
I guess that's what 2 year olds (and 4 year old boys) do...

We had unbreakable water balloons, and a water slide.

Our friends supplied the tents and tables once again.

Love this view...

Cary mean muggin' the fun.

Action shots.

Sister slide...

Apparently, we put the slip n slide away slightly wet last time, so there was mold.
Ewwww. Dad and Uncle Alex to the rescue!

Let the chalk art commence!

My Birthday Girl :)

Fun on the swing set!

Fun in the pool!

ALL the kiddos :)

Kiddie pool fun!

Fun in the sun!

Fun in the warm shower!

Birthday Cupcakes :)

The super stoked lawn boy -- Mr. Pikey!

It was a fabulous day and a fabulous party. So excited we could celebrate YOU! I look forward to the many new and exciting events you'll experience as you grow. God is telling a BIG, gigantic story. I'm excited to see what role you'll play in his grand plan to redeem and call people to Himself. Love you bunches :)

 <3 MOMMY

Backyard Planter

Though the progress has been subtle, all I can say in regard to this picture is that our backyard planter has come a long way since 2013!

The pictures above were taken during our first walk-thru of the house sometime around May of 2012. The focus is the upper planter, so let's remember all that was there. 

In the center, there was a giant Christmas Berry tree that may have been lovely in its prime. We never knew or got to enjoy that day.  

There were also six palms that grew too big for the area in which they were planted. Lastly... there were SO MANY ROCKS! Not only was the entire planter covered in gravel, but there were giant rocks everywhere. Mike used a few to rebuild a section of the wall, some were given to friends, and the rest were listed for free on FB marketplace. People came real quick for those, haha!

We took the Christmas Berry tree out first.  That helped open things up quite a bit.  Still, there was a Bird of Paradise up there and 6 separate palm trees with huge root balls, and still SO MANY ROCKS, haha. Over time, we took those out. Below is a pic I found of the dirt still there, but trees out... then one of the rocks that were taken from the back to the front yard for pick up.

We also had that stint of having a fire pit up there, but that didn't work out so well. The smoke blew straight up and over the wall into the neighbors' yard and we felt bad. So we didn't use it very often.

Fast forward to January 2019.  Mike decided to take out a portion of the wall to put in (what will eventually be) stairs coming down from a new gate. So, more digging commenced. Then after backbreaking hours of digging, he re-built the corner portion of the wall. He was excited to try his hand at a new project.  Building a rock wall is not something he had attempted before, but his masonry skills aren't too shabby if you ask me :) I'm always so proud of his accomplishments!

He built his own form, and even poured the top concrete layer himself.

The pictures below were taken sometime around the end of 2019, maybe Octoberish.  Then, in December Mike had one of the youth boys from church help him dig out roots to place pavers in the far side of the planter.  They dug and dug and dug... then placed gravel and rented a tamper, then added the pavers and grout.

Just getting to this point in the process was huge.  We enjoyed the flat ground for a while with the ghetto paint job and rainbow faded foam tiles so the kids didn't hurt their feet on the rocks!

Next came prepping the rest of the area for grass.  In order for this to happen, we had to move a lot of stinkin' gravel. We didn't want to get rid of all of it in case we need it in the future for another concrete project and the stairs.  But below are the pictures of the ground being prepped for sod.

Flattening it out with the weighted water roller

Adding the top soil

Rolling out the sod

Just after laying the sod

In use :)

It may not look like much to the random visitor to our backyard, but there have been many hours toiling over this area to get it where it is today.  We're not completely there yet (the stairs and landing still haven't happened), but we are enjoying where we are and remembering how much work it took to get to this place.  It makes us appreciate the space so much more knowing we did it ourselves.

Owning your own house definitely has its perks, but it comes with a lot of responsibility too, we've discovered. There's always a project to be done or something that needs upgrading or attention. 

Here's the before and after to enjoy one last time! 

BEFORE (2012)

AFTER (2020)