Family yard work day

Well, we had Papa Red come over today just in time to hear Carter say "Papa" for the first time and to help us keep an eye on our little typhoon while we actually got some yard work done. We didn't actually get as much done as we thought we would.....I suppose we were being optimistic. However, we tackled one of the stupid Crape Myrtle trees (one more to go), one Crape Myrtle bush and our little Buddha garden in the back. I know. Absolutely fascinating information. I should write a book. Shut up.
We only have 75 feet of undergrowth to attack and then lay down the weed mat....only 75 feet. god.
I was just glad to be out in the yard working and doing something. No one ever told me that being a mom meant watching your husband do yard work while you hold crazy youngster and secretly wish you could switch places. I soooo miss being outside and doing stuff. Carter is impossible to deal with when we try to do it as a family. Yeah! for Papa Red (who recently said he would prefer the name Booger Red....hmmm, No)

I must say it was fun to watch our little man be an adventurous toddler in the great outdoors sans the usual 9,000 red ants. I will never ever learn to co-exist with red ants. I've been attacked too many times while working in the field and in my mind they are a threat to my baby. I spent a portion of every day last summer drowning them with the hose and cackling, evilly.

Carter helped by moving around all of the pine straw I meticulously laid out and by dragging dead sticks and limbs around the yard. He was awesome.

I really miss Michigan when I watch him play outside. I miss sidewalks and soft grass you can run barefoot in (without the fear of ants). I miss all the flora and fauna that I grew up with .....the safe stuff like frogs & toads, butterflies, garter snakes and leaf piles. I'm so homesick. Even more so when I imagine seeing these things again through the eyes of my child. I want to take him to the lake and to all the beautiful parks. I want to watch his face at the zoo when I show him the polar bears swimming over our heads or the elephants when they trumpet really loud. The museum. The science center. Camping in Canada. Sand dunes. Mackinac island. My aunts farm house up-north. Catching lightening bugs. Picnics in the grass. I guess I could just go on and on...

I miss my family and friends very much, as well. I'm one depressing person.

Oh well. I'll deal with it. I must go stuff my face now.