Projects, Projects, Projects

We were pretty busy today! Phil and Josh were busy digging a trench for the rock retaining wall they are going to build. It was a hot day, and I was really glad I was busy inside and did not have to help. This is our property line and we are quite a bit higher than the property beside us, so we decided to build a retaining wall and then put up a fence on top of it for privacy. It will maximize our property area, and it will look a lot nicer.

These are some of the rocks for the rock wall. They will be building 117 feet of rock wall. Yikes! I am glad Phil's nephew Josh is here to help out!
This is Josh. He lives in Utah, but for the next month he will be living with us. It is fun to have him here. Jessie really loves him, and Phil really enjoys the company while he is working.
Jessie kept herself busy playing in the sand pile with Josh and daddy worked. She loves to play hard and get good and dirty.

This is what I did while they were outside working...I think they turned out pretty well. I made the Hawaiian print ones...and bought the sheer ones at Ross.

I have to admit, they are a bit Hawaii vacation rental like, but I really liked the print and it matches our paint really well.
This was the big project a couple of weekends ago. I realize it is a little late to be putting in a garden, but that is one of the great things about living in Hawaii...the growing season is year round! This year we went down to the macadamia nut factory and got a couple truck loads of husks to mix in with our dirt. Our soil here is naturally very hydrophobic, so the added husks really helped retain water. I do not think they will help much with nutrients this year, but once they decompose a little, it will be great for the garden. we also spent a lot of time getting rocks out of the garden. Phil rented a jack hammer for a few really large ones. He also renting a rototiller which turned up a ton of rocks. I swear we have more rocks in our garden than a gravel pit. I guess that is what we get for building on a volcano! :)
These little guys found their way into the garden, but could not find their way out. Jessie really likes to run after them and chase them out of the yard or garden. It is pretty cute!

Jessie's Discovery

This is a picture of Jessie that was taken at the beach by my father in law and then painted onto canvas by my mother in law. I LOVE IT! I wish I were as talented as my mother-in-law. I am not an art critic, but I think it captured Jessie perfectly. It even tells of her personality a little. Jessie saw this picture on the computer and pointed and said, Jessie...got it! Thank you so much mom for sending this to us, it is perfect! :)

Busy Day

First, I weeded our herb garden which was much needed and I planted a couple extra herbs to fill in the gap. While I was doing this,

Phil was making this toddler bed for Jessie. Jessie really enjoyed helping daddy!

Then after lunch , Jessie had a nap and Phil dug some holes so I could plant these pretty hibiscus, that will eventually grow into a hedge.

Then while Phil was working on building cabinets, I started to paint the toddler bed. I am not a very fast painter, but I think that it turned out pretty darn cute!

JEssie really loves it and just wants to play with it. She is pretty excited to sleep in it tonight...we will see how she does, since she can get in and out herself. At least she has not figured out how to open doors yet, but if she does, we put the lock on the outside of her room to keep her in there.

Oh yes and while i was painting, and Phil and Jessie planted some mint.