Our (productive) Weekend

We got a ton of work done this weekend!! Even though, it really is just the tip of the iceberg... we have a million projects that need to happen, are happening and need to be finished...
Saturday morning I watched the boys while Ryan cut up lilacs, and hauled away 6 loads of brush and yard waste to the dump.  Ryan made amazing progress on our yard! I was pretty shocked when I got home with J and S.  He still has to dig out all of the lilac stumps and roots and then pull out the stone edging, fill it in with dirt and plant grass.  In other words... just the tip of the iceberg!
I took the boys walking.  We needed to get out of the house but they couldn't play in the yard with all the work going on.  We walked to my parents where Jinette and Ryan were staying for the weekend.  My brother Ryan helped John fill the bird feeders and followed him around the yard while Jinette and I got to have some time to chat- I haven't seen her since their wedding!!!  We drank coffee and played with SJ too. :)
Lunch time crept up on us and my mom had her own yard work to finish so we walked home.  I fed the boys lunch.  When Ryan got home from his 6th dump run, I went to get my hair cut/colored... it had been way, way too long!  Ryan put the boys down for their naps.  When John woke up Ryan had the hair-cut itch so he buzzed all of John's hair off.  John likes the feel of it, but the poor boy- bald! ;) JK, I am just giving Ryan a hard time.  It got a lot shorter then he had intended... and felt pretty bad about it.  No worries- hair grows back!!
We went to Nana and Bompa's house for dinner of steak and potatoes.  John sure had missed Nana!  It was nice to catch up with each other-  Ryan and Steve watched a baseball game and Jana and I chatted.  Steve and John painted a picture and then both boys cleared out most of the kitchen cupboards on to the floor.  :)  Sooo much exploring to do!  We had ice cream for dessert and then went home to bed. 

On Sunday, it was date morning!!  Ryan and I had big plans! haha- sarcastic! We had breakfast, dropped the boys off at my parents and headed to church.  After church we raced the clock to see how much we could get done before our 1pm pick-up time.  We started in the garage- first we tore out this old metal bench thing that was totally worthless- none of the drawers worked and it was taking up a ton of room!  We un-nailed it from the wall and put it in the alley for the junk collectors to take!  Same with our broken snow blower, TV, DVD player, and a trestle.  (It was all "collected" within a couple hours...YAY!) We put the winter stuff away (shovels, sleds, ice scrappers, salt etc. up in the rafters and got down the summer stuff (sprinklers, sand toys, trikes, pools, and put the sensory table in the backyard.)
Next, we headed inside.... we went to the basement and re-organized a bunch of stuff.  Made a pile of things I have been collecting to garage sale and another pile of trash.  (Note to self: never move when pregnant!!  I was super preggers and sick when we moved here.  My mom and MIL packed up our apartment.  (Thank you!!) But, when you don't pack yourself, everything just isn't where you would have put it and you don't de-junk while packing....) Anyways, this is what we were desperately doing.  We have everything in the basement in plastic bins now- got rid of 10 cardboard boxes! Yay!!  Then, carried garage sale stuff to the garage, and loaded the bed of Ryan's truck with trash. 
I collected all of our winter gear (jackets, snow pants, boots, mittens, hats...) washed them all and packed it away for next year.  I got all of there summer clothes out!  Switching out the seasons of clothes is one of my least favorite jobs... it always starts out as a "small" project...and quickly turns into a mess!  It is done now-- Bring on the sunshine!! :D  I filled the hats and mittens bins upstairs with sunscreen, swimsuits, sandals and sunhats. We are ready~
Then Ryan and I went upstairs- we got more garage sale stuff out of SJ's closet I had been collecting up their and brought that to the garage.  We went through all of our first aid stuff- assessed what we needed, was expired, had to much of....  We went through our files too, de-junked them- shred baby, shred! :D 
It was quickly 12:30... so we took all the trash we had collected and threw it away and headed to my parents to get the boys. 
They were out walking!  SJ was sleeping in the stroller and my mom was trying to keep John from jumping in every puddle he could find. haha  We headed to Target to get more plastic bins and do our grocery shopping... $350 later we headed home.  Not a good week for our budget.... and I even had $37 in coupons!! I guess I need to watch more of the show, Extreme Couponing!   It was nap time for the boys.  So, Ryan and I split up duties.  He worked outside more and I put the boys to bed and finished organizing inside.  By dinner time we were so tired!! 
Great grandma Kreuser was in town at the History Center with my parents, so they stopped by on their way to dinner to see the boys.  We all looked terrible- in our work clothes, dirty, tired and hungry.  She didn't seem to mind- she raised 10 kids on a farm!! haha- she knows what real dirt is! ;D
Dinner of spaghetti, salad and rolls.  Then, all Ryan wanted to do was have an hour (yes, just even an hour) of simply family time.  We hardly ever get this-  all 4 of us together with nothing else to do.  We went out on the porch with a big blanket and read books and played.  They little boys even wrestled a little! Our hour quickly ran up and it was bedtime. 
Goodnight!