And we have a NEW patio! Can I get an Amen?!?

We'll start with the before.....and I mean really before when it still looked nice.
This is a picture we took the weekend we decided to buy the house. Over time the bricks became uneven, water pooled up on top of them when it rained and overall it was a GIANT mess.

After years of talking that we needed a new patio we finally got it in the works...We took the bricks up in the middle of March to start the process. It's going to be nice now that the dog, kid and husband won't be tracking tons of sand in the house everytime they go outside. It was a delayed process because it rained so much in Corpus. It NEVER rains in Corpus....I am so excited this is finally done!

Sand box of fun! Yes the dog got to run through this everytime he went out. Imagine how fun it was the day we got 1.5 inches of rain. He took the long way out that day.

Re-bar is down! Getting closer

Fill 'er up!

Reese loved watching them fill the motorized wheel barrow with concrete...then she would watch as they drove up the driveway and dumped it onto the patio.

Super wet

Steps down to the main area. We added color to our concrete so that it would be brown...thought it was a nice change to boring grey.

Patio...yes it's still messy because the concrete was still wet when I took this picture

Finished sidewalk. I will add some more pictures when it's dry enough for me to walk on.

Poor Poor Cinderella, she never even saw it coming. Thurman LOVES toys, esp. nice plastic toys that Reese (despite my constant reminders) leaves on the floor. Let this serve as a warning to her. I guess Cinderella will have to waltz one armed with the Prince. Sleeping Beauty just got her hands severed off...At least Cinderella has a few fingers left on the one hand.

My dog has also amazed me this week in two ways. First I let him out the other day and the back gate must not have been latched. He was free....but he came right to the front door, barking and pawing to come in. He loves us. Second...Ryan had to put him in our bedroom today and close the door while he had the backdoor open as they were pouring concrete. While Thurman was in there he jumped and pawed at the door handle and managed to lock the door...so Ryan had to pick the lock to get him out.

Dancing the Chicken Dance

We babysat for our good friend and neighbor Syndey a couple weeks ago. Reese was so excited to have a friend over. They took a bath together and had a great time. Reese was sad when I took Sydney home to go to bed. These girls really do like each other and we're so lucky to have such wonderful friends right around the corner. I can't wait to see these girls when they grow up...and dare I say get on the bus to school together...just like Kathy Mannion and I did ooohhhhh so many years ago.

Her pals

The look of awe as Mickey and Minnie came on the ice. She was screaming to them "Hi Mickey, it's Reesie (that is what she calls herself)" and was waving 90 mph. We're planning a trip to Disney next year and I can't wait to see how excited she will be.

Disney on Ice....so happy to see Cinderella. Pardon my poor photography skills. It was a hard to get a good shot in the small amount of room they had set up to see the Princesses.

Working at her desk!