Under Construction - To Be Continued

I have a dream.....those words make Billy sick to his stomach. Why? Because he knows what they really mean...W-O-R-K!! In the late summer of 2006 I decided I wanted a grand flagstone patio. I talked my dad into letting me borrow his tractor and I got to work clearing the way. Keep in mind I was pregnant at the time, though it was early in the pregnancy.

I leveled and leveled until I had so much dirt I didn't know what to do with it! Thankfully Billy found use for it around his new shop building (built March '06). Madisyn and Ty came for a visit and were able to "help" in the construction process.
Afterwards we went out for ice cream. Can you believe this is a picture of Griffin?!?! My how he has changed!

A few months passed and our rock was delivered. We had a few hands helping to unload it and lay it on the ground. Looking back, we may have had too many hands as there was no order, rhyme, or reason to the process. When we finished unloading all the rock we filled in the cracks (some of them rather large!) with donafil (spelling??). We had been told it was a very fine dirt/sand mix, but what we received was a very coarse small rock mixture. By this time in the "project", I was around 7 months pregnant and not really into moving heavy rocks around. :)

And that is where the work ended... an "unfinished project" on my "to do" list. After Raegen was born in Feb '07 work definitely came to a halt. Dad's always teased me not to teach Raegen to walk on the patio because it would be a lost cause! It's terribly uneven and dangerous for anyone, much less an infant. After nearly two years my lovely husband has finally give in and decided to help me complete my dream of a grand patio. We started our "re-construction" work on Friday afternoon just before we left for the Witcher Hayride. We thought it would be easiest if we removed all the rock first and just started from scratch. What a back breaking chore!

Piles, upon piles, of rock!

Raegen found use for the unearthed ground...

On Saturday we started anew...THANKFULLY my parents came to my rescue and showed up ready to get their hands dirty. It seems they weren't the only ones ready to get dirty...

I had anticipated as such and dressed him appropriately. :) Raegen had a great time playing in the mud and dirt all day (in between naps, of course!).

And THANKFULLY my wonderful husband asked a few of the guys to lend a hand too. Gerson and Daniel proved to be good at laying rock AND playing with Raegen!

Dad was our foreman for the day. I think if we stick to his plan, I'll have the patio of my dreams!

Regardless of whether it comes out perfect or not, at least we LOOK like we know what we're doing this time around!! ha!

Mammie and Raegen take a break from all the hard work and enjoy some swinging.

The weather was perfect for a day of work on Saturday so we worked 'til the "foreman" called it quits...just after our hired help had to leave!! :) I didn't anticipate that we would finish the job in one day, but we made a great dent in the project. I think two weeks is a likely timetable if we can stay focused and work a bit each day. My motivation is that more than likely we will host the Bader-Stain Thanksgiving dinner this year and it would be nice to have the additional "outdoor living space". We've survived the past two years without the patio at Thanksgiving, but this year we've added a few family members to the table...Annelise, Sean, and soon baby Ashlyn.

I'll keep you all posted on the work!