Whew!

It's been a looooong day!! The kids have been outside literally ALLLL day, they were filthy, covered in dirt from head to toe and back again!

I have to say, having a fenced in backyard is the most wonderful thing when you have kiddos this age. It has been a God-sent! We are lucky enough to have gotten a little swing set for free from Craig's List, a big huge trampoline from Grampa and Mima, a cube climber from FreeCycle, and a mini climber just the right size for Liliya from TeTe (Pauline).

We don't have much grass at all yet. The backyard had become a jungle/dog run from all the years of neglect and doggie love. We've put a lot of work into it so far and there's still so much to be done! But, it'll get there. There is no doubt in my mind that by next summer, it'll be a wonderfully green and delightful place for the kids to play (and they won't be able to get quite as dirty once we have a yard full of grass rather than dirt!!).

Next spring Grampa and Mima are buying the kids a wonderful and huge wooden swing set!!! I am sooo excited, I have big plans. I want to put the swingset sideways along the 'line' from the inside edge of the garage to the back fence, put a small border around it, and fill it with mulch or pebbles, I haven't decided yet. It'll be like a real playground! The swingset we picked out is sooo awesome, it has several swings, a big slide, a 'rock-climbing' wall, a picnic table, a fort, and a sandbox area!! It's great, I am soooo excited for it, even though it's a year away!

Rayce went with Gramma tonight to a softball game. The girls and I went to pick Holden and Dante up, then we swang by McDonald's for some ice cream. They played outside for a little while more and then I threw all of them in the bathtub.

Our bathtub has never seen so much dirt!! After the water drained, the bottom was still *covered* in a layer or dirt, it was sooo gross!! I mean, I know that bathtubs are for cleaning people off... but WOW!!

THAT is how much the kids have been enjoying the backyard and this (finally) *beautiful* weather!!

Tomorrow is supposed to be just as beautiful, we're going to fill up the kiddie pool and let the kiddos create a mudpuddle with it (that's just what they do, dump buckets of dirt into the pool to make mud!).

Man these kids love dirt!

Thank heaven for running water and baby wash!!!

Gonne be a busy day tomorrow, my 3, my 2 stepkids, and my 2 nephews... 7 kids all under the age 5!!! Wish me luck!!