The big dig and gunite

Last week after a deluge of big Texas spring storms, we had a huge excavator show up at 6:30 in the morning. Because of the huge amount of rain Houston has just received, the bobcat earth mover thing sat parked in the backyard until the project manager could find a dump sit that would accept our fill dirt. Finally at 10am the workers got started. 13 truckloads of dirt later and our yard has been transformed. Within two days, we had crews out to rebar the interior of the pool and another crew out to spray the gunite shell.

The guys did an impeccable job with everything but it hasn't been perfect. For one thing...the pool isn't deep enough. Seriously? I'm over 6 feet tall and I wanted the pool to be 6 1/2 feet deep. It's only 6 feet deep. The pool company offered to dig it deeper but it was after the rebar was laid and on the same morning that the gunite guys were starting arrive. Le sigh. I could have thrown a fit and stalled construction but I decided to let it go. I decided that if that was my big problem in life, then I don't have a problem. I also have an ulterior motive...I want the pool done by June 6th for a last day of school party!

Now we wait. I have to water the gunite a few times per day but they will be starting on tile and coping soon. I can't wait to see all my choices come together.

Diggy diggy hole!

After weeks of impatiently waiting for the HOA to approve our pool, we finally got our letter in the mail yesterday! The big dig is scheduled for Thursday May 2nd! :) Here is our "before" picture. Can I get a woot woot?

Summertime is near!

I am a sun worshipping girl from the desert. Born and raised in Arizona for the first 23 years of my life until Jeff's job took our little family to Illinois. I made a soul sister type friend, and gave birth to a beautiful blonde boy but other than that? It sucked ass. I don't like cold weather and being in a tiny farming town in the middle of nowhere was very strange. I honestly remember thinking, "I can't wait until my life isn't on pause anymore!"

Thankfully Jeff took me seriously when I told him to get me outbid that God forsaken town. He found a job in South Texas and I was thrilled! Hot weather! Desert plants! Mountains! Good Mexican food! Okay I was a little disappointed because as my plane was taking its final descent, the landscape was disturbingly green. There were no mountains. I guess i was confusing south Texas fir west Texas. oopsie! The weather was temperate though and I went through a Mexican food drive thru that wasn't Taco Bell. Muy bueno!

We bought a great lil house in the best neighborhood. It came with built in friends for me. My little babies grew up and we added baby Griffin. Well all those babies keep growing and now we have a 10 year old, 8 year old and a 3 year old. Suddenly it feels like we are busting at the seams.

There is no room for shoes (average 3 pairs of shoes for 5 people...that's 15 pairs or 30 damn individual shoes scattered around at any particular moment. I need a mudroom. Well I did the best I could and hung some hooks in the dining room. No office to file bills or tax forms, no room for a desk for the kids to do homework. The list goes on and on.

We house hunted for awhile and we saw some amazing beautiful big and brilliantly laid out homes that I could see myself in. However, my friends don't live next to those houses. These houses had pools and outdoor kitchens for entertaining during the long hot summer. But my kids wouldn't have friends knocking at 9:00am on a summer morning. We decided to stay. Make this house work. We have no family here and my friends are the only people who care about me and my family. That's priceless.

The point of this post is that we are staying in this house...but WE ARE BUILDING A POOL! Holy crap I'm giddy! It's not financially smart because we will never get a return on our investment but I don't care! I'm going to have a pool! In the house that I've outgrown, but on a street that I love! Ack!

HOA approval is on Tuesday and then the excavator comes! I will be tracking progress and obsessing over every detail. Stay tuned!

Btw, the pic is an Instagram pic of my daughter protesting us chopping down her tree. I'll give more details later. :)

Notes

Two notes I recieved today pretty much ripped out my heart. The first was from my sweet Kimmy-girl. She's not so little anymore...10 years old with 10 year old girly problems. There is a girl in her class that has been squeezing her out of her 'group' of friends. She yells at her, tells her to mind her own business, tells her there isn't room for anyone else to play etc. My normally sturdy girl...big sister to two wild boys...wouldn't take any flack. But for some reason this girl has gotten under her skin and it really bothers Kim that she can't play with girls she was really close with at the beginning of 5th grade. We had a bed time heart to heart last night on how she could handle herself. She could stick up for herself. She could ask the girl what her problem was. She could steal her boyfriend (i kid, i kid!). She could cut her losses and focus on a really fun new group of girls. She was happy when I kissed her goodnight.

I went into her room to straighten up after the kids were all at school and she had left a note for me on her nightstand that said,

                                "For Mommy Only. (dont be mad at me)".

I wish that i would just fit in this world. Maybe there are other dimensions in the world. The world is a very strange place for me. Mean girl doesn't like me. I dont want her to be so mean to me anymore. I am a really nice girl. I dont know why she does this to me. She has put a spell on all my old friends. I'm happy she has not found my new BFF's. I don't want her to take over my life. Next time I will ignore her. 

 Jesus! Heavy stuff for a 10 year old. I totally cried when I read it. Freaks me out with her alluding to not fitting in...not just the school but in this world? I totally cried. I wanted to throat punch another 10 year old girl. How could someone be so mean to my child. I know I'm biased but she is seriously so fun.

I went and met her at school today for lunch and told her I read the letter. We talked about it and she pointed out who was who in her old group of friends. I also saw the new group of girls she was playing with. They were all talking, laughing, having fun, clamoring for Kim's attention etc. I honestly don't know how bad this is. She did write it at like 10pm and things always seem worse in the middle of the night. Nothing like the sunrise of a new day to brighten your perspective. For now I'm just going to meet with the school counselor to get advice on the best course of action. To mean girls credit...she seems like just another normal little kid. I dont think she is the debil, but maybe she doesn't know how she is affecting others with her actions. I would hope that if she knew she was keeping a person up crying at night, that she would feel bad and change. Although...not everyone is rainbows and sunshine. I'll pray for her. >;)

The second note was from my 3 year old's preschool teacher. She sent him to the directors office because he was being such a little shit-ass. My interpretation of her saying he was inconsolable and crying in the hallway. He is such a hard and naughty little boy. I'm having flash forwards of more principal visits and exasperated teachers. Why o why did I get the most difficult child on the face of the planet? Oh how can I describe my little tyrant? He is independant, very driven, smart as hell, determined, alpha, pissy, sassy, etc. Basically he is a 35lb version of my husband that is stuck with a primitive 3 year old brain. Here is an example of how a normally good quality in a human being goes wrong when you are 3:

Independant: He wipes his own ass, but since he's 3 and primitive he unrolls one long piece, wipes, then rolls the tp back up.

I just dont even know what to add to that. I dont know what to tell his teacher. How about, "Yeah, I know he's a pain in the ass. Good luck with that." I have decided though that he has been extra bad after winter break. I am doing what is referred to as, "tomato staking". He has to be glued to my hip 24/7 because I cant trust him to behave on his own. If I stake my tomatoes properly when they are young, they will grow into tall strong plants that will yield great bounties. Dear God please let that boy grow up right.

Speaking of tall and strong...Kennen is tall, strong and beautiful. My simple child of the day. Thanks you for that buddy. :D