Valentine's Day Love Letter

Don't leave, just because it says love letter. I am not known for being all mushy mushy, as the kids might call it.  I'll keep the writing short and in honor of my love, my husband, the pictures a coming.

We are coming up on our four year anniversary of living in this house. While you might not find that remarkable, prior to this mile stone, 3.5yrs was the longest we lived in the same house or apartment, and 46 months in the same location.  This is a milestone for us!  Since we moved in, we have dreamed and agreed to disagree on home projects. We have done minor and major projects.  This year, I couldn't stand it any long and as a Valentine's Gift for my husband, for us, I tackled a project in our backyard.

My dear husband; (who is too busy and stressed and travels WAY TOO MUCH with work), 
            the last thing you have time for or want is a "weekend" project.  *Currently, his weekends are holed up studying for his space class, a class he needs for his master's degree, which he needs for any hope of a future promotion or future career.*  So in support of all you do, and my level of annoyance through the roof, I decided to just go for it and surprise you.

The problem:

 The gravel, also known as our backyard, is all over the sidewalk, making it messy and unpleasant to walk on.

 Step 1: Dig a trench and clear the rock. It already looks 100 times better!

Step 2: Order and beg and plead and insist that needed supplies get delivered

Even if it is in a freak snow storm and plans to do the project on that Saturday have to be delayed.
 
By the way, I have four kids running around and one still nurses. Taking all of this, mostly a cute bundle of joy:

I asked a young man who was counting the days down to leaving for his mission but wanting to fill those days, to help with the project. He cheerfully accepted. He is a hard worker and has experience in this area which meant when kids called, or the baby needed nursing, kinders picked up from school, or CJ taken to gymnastics, I knew he would continue to work hard on his own. He dug the trench and moved the gravel. Getting him on board was actually step 1.

In general, my busiest days are Tuesdays. This particular Tuesday in which he could come after the delay of snow, was Sweetness's birthday with a party already planned at the park during lunch time, since Kindergarten is half day. I said yes, but felt guilty of how much I would be in and out or just plain gone. So I worked hard before he came.

 But not by myself, I had lots of help.

Even with a double ear infections Kman and Sweetness did what they could

Step 3: prep work

 Thankful we could borrow a wheel barrow from our dear neighbors, I moved sand and blocks

 I prepped the first row of blocks by chiseling the lip off. Sweetness got in on this action.

 She was in charge of returning the empty cart.

Panther did her job, inspecting the blocks prepped for placement.
Then, Monday afternoon, just before 3pm, this occurred:

Yes, we got another 3 or more inches of snow.  Wet, mixed with some rain, cold yucky snow. That put a halt to me hauling any more blocks from the driveway to the side yard.

As a side note, this snow, which continued until after 9pm, put some stress into the idea of a birthday party at the park the next day. Just between you and me, I'm a bit surprised I actually got out of bed on Tuesday with all that was going on.

 With jack frost nipping at our noses, we began work Tuesday morning.

Step 4: Get the first row, the foundation in solid, and level.

Still plenty of snow, everywhere, it is surprising to see how little this picture shows based on how much snow we got and still had.  It took a couple of hours, okay all day, to get the first row in. The first row is the key to the entire wall, get it right and smooth sailing the rest of the day. We ran out of daylight half way through row four.
Wednesday I got going as early as I could, finishing the last 2.5 rows of the wall. 

Step 5: back filling, which included moving rock from the pile originally moved from the side, back to the side.

Isn't it looking nice? CJ has nothing going on after school on Wednesdays, so she got to help dig in!

Step 6: Soil
After all 45 cubic feet of soil and manure was moved into place, it became glaringly obvious how severely I underestimated how much I would need.  It looks like 150 cubic feet would have been closer.

My skills in math are not anything I brag about, however I do have basic skills. I had calculated 342 blocks would be needed. I ordered 350 to cover for any possible broken blocks or extras we might have needed. I had 4 of those blocks cut in half, although I was pretty sure I would need only 3.  I may have goofed on the soil, but I ended with only 5.5 blocks left. (YAY go me!)

Step 7: Plant.

Now, for the final reveal:

imagine rich soil all the way to the back,

and lots of flowers and produce growing strong.

Blue Hyacinths and yellow daffodils to get the color started.

So my dear husband, what do you think of your gift?

Love,

~Me~