Week in Review

(updated 4.16.2007)

(a picture of Sammy, for good measure)

Okay, since I was not-so-great about keeping the blog updated this week, how about a little "week in review" action...

last Sunday: Easter!! I gave a recap of this two posts ago, but in general, we were very thankful to have some "Gainesville family" from church invite it to share Easter lunch with them. We rejoice in God's provision in faithfulness in even the small things, like Easter lunch, but most especially for Jesus!

Monday: I also posted about last Monday two posts ago. The kids did a great job of jumping back into the swing of things, and the week was off to a good start (although we had such a great spring break, we were wishing for more).

Tuesday-Thursday: I can't think of anything particularly outstanding about the middle of the week, honestly. :) We went to work, we did our jobs, we came home to the sweet Samantha... very "lather, rinse, repeat" kind of days. But, we are thankful for the work that fills them and the home we come home to--with each other (and Sammy). :) In short, I got some field trip details lined up, sent home report cards, passed out class and spring individual pictures, finished up (almost) our animal unit, began 4th grade math. :) The week started off chilly, but by the end of the week I could finally wear some of my fun, new spring clothes (acquired over spring break at the outlets, etc.), hooray!

Friday: The weekend!!! Hooray! We were reallllly ready for it after being spoiled with spring break (Matt said spring break was so good, he felt like we were on our honeymoon again). I left ASAP after school--I promised myself I would. :) I enjoyed some time relaxing, and then I ran some errands (just a few). I also stopped at an estate sale down the street, but nothing caught my eye. Matt came home, we had our traditional Friday night dinner (we've moved from pizza to Publix brand lasagna (like Stouffers)--we eat 1/2 on Friday for dinner and 1/2 on Saturday for lunch). I think we mostly relaxed after that. I fell asleep on the couch (big surprise), and Matt woke me up to drag me to bed a little while later. :)

Saturday: Yard day! We had a lot of fun working in the yard, even though it became quite warm! I think the high was pushing 90 on Saturday. As Matt has dug up roots and other assorted items in the back yard (with Sammy's help at times... she has unearthed some unusual things like a ceramic rooster head), he came across many, MANY rocks! We (he) ended up piling them in the back yard. Our front yard also had assorted rocks scattered about the "natural area." We've been trying to decide what to do with the "natural area." Basically, there are two theories on its origin (according to neighbors). Theory One: the dirt in our yard became "spoiled" during construction and has therefore become largely inhospitable to grass. Theory Two: We have a LOT of shade from all our wonderful trees, and St. Augustine grass prefers more sun than our trees allow. Whichever theory is correct, we've been brainstorming low-cost ways to tidy up the front yard and make the natural area look more intentional. I asked Matt if we could place rocks as a border around the natural area. He did this to a bed around our kumquat tree, and I really liked the effect. He wasn't so sure about it, but we gave it a go. We lugged rock after rock after rock to the perimeter of the natural area. It took several hours of carrying heavy rocks (and Matt even tossed some once we used all the ones already in the front yard.... it was the fastest way to move them from the back to the front), but we really like the finished product. It is a VAST improvement, if you ask me! Here are some pictures below:




After placing the rocks around the front, we still had more rocks left! So, we lined the garden-y sides of the back yard as well with rock borders. Now we are contemplating adding some green accents along the sidewalk in the front. We are thinking about using this:


Eventually, we want to take out the bushes to the right of the front door (if you're looking at the front), and plant Japanese boxwoods along there (same as the low hedges on the left end of the front side of the house). I also hope to find two big planters at the end of the season (which is admittedly a LONG way off down here), so I can have some pretty flowers on each side of the doorway next year (we might keep the current ones, or possibly find something different).

After all our yard work Saturday, we cleaned up and ran some errands. Then we went out to celebrate our 1.5 year anniversary! It wasn't really until Sunday, but we have small group Sunday nights. We used a gift card and had dinner at Chili's (mmmm, chips & salsa), and then we puttered around Lowe's. We made a lot of all the things we'd really like to do to the house, and then priced all of them. :) Now we can make a master plan. I was particularly THRILLED to find out white interior doors are only $25 each! After dreaming at Lowe's, we stopped at Sonic and used another gift card to grab some dessert. Matt chose a lemonberry slush and I had a chocolate cream pie shake. Yum! It was a great evening together are a morning of hard work together. :)

Sunday: We went to church, followed by a thrilling lunch at home of left overs from the night before. :) I worked on some lesson plans, we played with Samantha, I vacuumed.... really exciting stuff. :) Then we stopped to get a birthday cake for small group; one of the guys had a birthday last Thursday. Unfortunately, he and his wife didn't make it to the group that night, so we had cake without him!

Monday: Today! Back to work we went. :) We both had good, productive days. I am all caught up on grading and ready to tidy up some places in my room that are starting to bother me (I just want to streamline a little). On a side note, Aqua is still amazingly alive! Even after spring break! The kids still love to go look at him, watch him swim, and watch him blow bubbles. :) He's been fun to have around, even if I do hold my breath most mornings to see if he's still alive. So far, so good (thanks, Lord!).

I guess that's about all for us for now. We hope your week is off to a good start! We praise the Lord for you! :)

Love,
Becca