Springtime...and other matters

It's finally springtime here, and we have been spending a lot of time working outside. Not that you can tell....Living here has certainly made me question whether I want a big yard of my own someday. Of course, there are always so many projects going on here it's hard to feel like you ever make a dent in the overall, so maybe if I could have a big yard, but make everything very simple, (or have enough money to pay someone else to do the work :)) then I could feel like it's manageable, right??

Anyway, I figure that I'll just do as much as I can and make it a priority to be outside working every day, and that will have to be enough. Today I spent a couple of hours just pulling out all the grass that had grown up in the flowerbed under the Russian Olive tree in the back yard. Who knew that grass could be so stinking stubborn! Good thing I'm stubborner.

And...enough rambling. On to the pictures.

Chris has been working super hard on the chicken coop, and it is now completed enough to have the chickens out there. YAY! The boys absolutely loved being able to hang out with their Daddy while he worked on the coop. You can definitely tell they are boys. They both wanted to use the REAL tools. None of those toys for them!

William, drilling a hole in the dirt

Issac, being handy with some pliers

Chris and William doing some work on the big front yard project.

And of course, Isaac has to run around and play in the dirt as well. It wouldn't do for him to be any less dirty than William by the time the day is over. I have a feeling I am going to be doing A LOT of laundry this summer.

Other matters:

I hardly ever (read never) blog about Chris's fishing trips, probably because I usually have several blog posts in mind about stuff I am doing or the kids, and since I hardly ever get to those, Chris's fishing trips never get commented on. However, I saw this picture as I was looking through pictures today and I thought I would share. Isn't it a great picture? The fish looks pretty good too! :)
In case you didn't know, Chris is an AWESOME fisherman. I wish I got to go fishing with him more than I do, but I guess that's just one of the sacrifices you make when you have kids. Hopefully we will all get to go do some fun fishing this summer! Chris has a fishing blog he recently started, so if you are interested you should check it out.

In other randomness, I thought since I asked for non-fiction book recommendations earlier, I should share a non-fiction book that I recommend to everyone.

Probably most of you have heard of Dave Ramsey, but if you haven't you should! Chris and I read this book together a while ago, and recently got to take a Financial Peace University course, and it has really made us change the way we think about money. Although we have always been pretty responsible with our money (and also very blessed) we never had goals that we sat down and decided on together, or really made a plan for our money. Now we decide what we are going to do with our money before we get it, and we are more united on money matters than we have ever been. So read this book! Take the course if there is one offered near you. As Dave would say, it'll rock your world!