After days (and days) of seemingly unending rain, we finally had a decent day and we were able to accomplish much work.

With the boys in school, Jeff and I managed to get the gate fixed much to the dogs dismay.  (I do believe Boots is thankful to be off the chain but both seemed quite perturbed that their escape route had been altered and is no longer usable {they had been going through, please pray neither decides to start jumping it}.)

After we finished the gate, we moved on to the deck.  Once Nick got home Jeff enlisted his help while I went after the two younger boys.  Once I got them home, all hands were put to deck building with the quote, "If you want to eat, then you better work!"

By six o'clock we had the deck complete, the chairs, tables and grill moved on to it.  We then ventured inside for showers and dinner (hot dogs, homemade french fries, and baked beans) and movie night.  The boys are tucked in and Jeff is relaxing by watching a ball game while I update the blog.

I can't wait to enjoy my new deck this summer.  Hopefully, we get the front deck finished soon as well.  (Our initial plan was to enlarge it, but with the nice new {huge} back deck, I think we'll just finish it off.)  We still need to stain and seal both decks, but for now they'll do.

Our day started off with Baseball (first game of the season).  We had a blustery day but thankfully the sun was shining and all had a good time.

Zachary on 1st base, Nick in right field.

Mitchell running up to assist Tanner.

Once home from the game we quickly moved to the project at hand -- Deck Building and laying the decking.  (Sorry no in progress shots today, but the pictures will let you see how much we got done between 3:30p and 5:00p.)

We plan to start the second half on Monday, say a little prayer we have sunshine again.  We also plan on getting some chain link so we can repair the gate and hopefully that will keep the dogs inside the yard.   (I ended up having to chain Boots to a tree today in order to keep them inside the fence.  Max doesn't leave unless Boots does.)

Today we (Jeff mainly) finished nailing up the stringers and started screwing in the decking.  We couldn't start working on it until the afternoon thanks again to the rain and had to stop early due to Soccer and Jeff working.

Here's the pictures I got today.

Zachary and Nick attempting to hand screw the screws into the decking.  (Nick kept complaining it was too hard, but it kept him busy!)  Mitchell is holding the bucket of screws and handing them to Jeff who is using the electric drill to install them.

Eleven decking boards got installed before we had to quit for the night. 

Thanks to the hard work of the boys the lumber was stacked neatly in the backyard.  Now for Day Two of our adventure.  Here's a before shot of the back door area of the house.

Installing the beam that attaches to the house.  I helped get one end up and then had Jeff hold the other end up so I could get a picture of the "work in progress."

Hard at work while wife takes pictures.

24' installed!  Alright! (Please ignore the mud on the house, Max (our Golden Retriever likes to jump up and let us know when he wants in).

Sawing the posts.

Digging the post holes.

Once the boys got home they started helping me put the stringers in place.  (Decking is just sitting on the stringers so we can get in and out of the back door.)  We worked from 10:30a until about 5:00pm (it started raining).  I think Jeff and I are still sore from our adventure.  I've got a few bruises (Nick pulled a drop and pull a few times dropping stringers onto my feet).  Zachary got a few bruises too thanks to me dropping a board which I thought I had high enough up that it would miss the one he was holding but didn't, poor baby.  He survived and forgave me.

In May 2000 we moved into our home bringing with us our newborn (well he was born in February and came home in March) son, our 6 almost 7 year old son.  Jeff and I added a partial front deck (the idea was always to expand it; however, we never got around to or had the finances when other things weren't of higher priority), paver sidewalks and cinder block steps for the back.  Over the years we have added a building to store the lawn equipment, Christmas items, bikes, etc. and a couple of flower beds.  To the backyard we've had it fenced (to keep the boys and now the two dogs hopefully confined), and added a swing set, a playhouse, a garden and a basket ball hoop.

This year we are (thanks to the stimulus package) adding a deck!  Our deck will be 24' x 12' (so we'll probably just finish off the front deck leaving it 8' x 10').

To start with we made a trip to Home Depot and to Lowe's to price the deck supplies.  Turned out we could get what we needed and get it delivered for a lot less going with Home Depot, so they got our business.

Tuesday, May 13, the lumber was delivered.  Thankfully, it wasn't raining.  Unfortunately, it had rained on Monday and Jeff wasn't able to get the yard mowed as planned so building would have to wait until the yard was mowed (with all the rain we've had, Jeff has to mow when he's off and the sun is shining).

Once the yard was mowed it was time to start our deck, but first the lumber needed moved to the backyard (inside the fence).  I was off gathering needed household supplies at our local Walmart  (isn't that where all good wives get their household supplies?).  Jeff knew he couldn't get the lumber over the fence (long story, short version -- gate is currently unusable so anything going in or out of the backyard goes over the fence or through the house) and where it needed to be alone.  What's a man to do?  He thinks and decides, why not use the labor God provided!  Boys!  Let's get this lumber moved.  Jeff hands it over the fence the boys working together move it to the designated location.  Now according to Jeff there was much moaning and groaning over this task.   I can't say positively as once I got home and pulled out the camera (as the following pictures will show) the boys cheerfully hauled lumber.

Now before anyone complains to the labor board about violations of child labor laws, here's a few that show that Jeff helped move the lumber too!

My hard workers!

The following says it so much better than I can.  A little over 14 years ago in 1993, I became a mother for the very first time.  I repeated that miraculous event again in 2000 and yet again, in 2002.

Each time I would say I just want a healthy baby.  Truth is, like this article says, Mothers lie, we really want the perfect baby and when you don't get that perfection, that dream, sometimes you do go through a period of sadness, of why me?  But then you stop and you see, you got a wonderful gift in the baby you did get. 

We might not always agree that God made the right choice when he gave us the baby we received, but, like my Dad once told me, God sees the big picture and we can rest confident in the plan He has chosen for us.

God even tells us, in His word, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

I hope you enjoy the following Mother's Day essay.

Happy Mother's Day
By Lori Borgman

Expectant mothers waiting for a newborn's arrival say they don't care what sex the baby is. They just want to have ten fingers and ten toes.

Mothers lie.

Every mother wants so much more. She wants a perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin. She wants a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat-out ugly.

She wants a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule. Every mother wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions. She wants a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class. Call it greed if you want, but a mother wants what a mother wants. Some mothers get babies with something more.

Maybe you're one who got a baby with a condition you couldn't pronounce, a spine that didn't fuse, a missing chromosome or a palate that didn't close. The doctor's words took your breath away. It was just like the time at recess in the fourth grade when you didn't see the kick ball coming, and it knocked the wind right out of you.

Some of you left the hospital with a healthy bundle, then, months, even years later, took him in for a routine visit, or scheduled him for a checkup, and crashed head first into a brick wall as you bore the brunt of devastating news. It didn't seem possible. That didn't run in your family. Could this really be happening in your lifetime?

There's no such thing as a perfect body. Everybody will bear something at some time or another. Maybe the affliction will be apparent to curious eyes, or maybe it will be unseen, quietly treated with trips to the doctor, therapy or surgery. Mothers of children with disabilities live the limitations with them.
Frankly, I don't know how you do it. Sometimes you mothers scare me.

How you lift that kid in and out of the wheelchair twenty times a day. How you monitor tests, track medications, and serve as the gatekeeper to a hundred specialists yammering in your ear.
I wonder how you endure the clichés and the platitudes, the well-intentioned souls explaining how God is at work when you've occasionally questioned if God is on strike. I even wonder how you endure schmaltzy columns like this one-saluting you, painting you as hero and saint, when you know you're ordinary.

You snap, you bark, you bite. You didn't volunteer for this, you didn't jump up and down in the motherhood line yelling, "Choose me, God. Choose me! I've got what it takes."

You're a woman who doesn't have time to step back and put things in perspective, so let me do it for you. From where I sit, you're way ahead of the pack. You've developed the strength of the draft horse while holding onto the delicacy of a daffodil. You have a heart that melts like chocolate in a glove box in July, counter-balanced against the stubbornness of an Ozark mule. You are the mother, advocate and protector of a child with a disability.
You're a neighbor, a friend, a woman I pass at church and my sister-in-law. You're a wonder.

Lori Borgman is a syndicated columnist and author of All Stressed Up and No Place To Go, her latest humor book now available wherever books are sold.

What scripture is really ministering to your heart right now, and why?

I've thought about this since the suggestion was made to blog about this topic.  Today I received a Proverbs 31 Ministry Devotion email that spoke volumes to me.   The scripture verse referenced in devotional was:

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."

Proverbs 31:28 (NIV)

I think one reason it spoke so much to me is we (my husband and I) are dealing with some issues revolving (we thought) around our oldest son.  These issues led us to reach out for help from a Positive Behavioral Support Team. 

In the course of our dealings thus far, I think we are both coming to the conclusion that the problem isn't just with our oldest son.  (Isn't that the way it really is in life?  Just when you think you know what causes all your grief and heartache you discover it really is you not the other guy?)  Anyhow, one problem has popped up, I don't have the confidence I need in my mothering to be a good great mother to my sons.    My sons sense this and have been attempting to take over (at least when I'm in charge) more and more. 

I want so much to be this mother and wife that I seriously ache thinking I can't do it.  (Which leads me to something I've been telling my boys for years...."There is no such thing as "can't"; either you don't know how or you won't.  If you don't know how, you can learn.  If you won't, just admit it and save us all a good bit of time."  In theory I know how; in practice however, I don't know how and need to learn and I do believe I am learning.

I'm currently keeping ABC charts on Nick's inappropriate behaviors.  (I may do the same for the little ones.)  Starting this week, I'm making a conscientious effort to notice when they do good.  I'm making a conscientious effort to smile more (especially at my boys).  My goal is to raise mature, responsible, caring and emphatic adult men.  To do that I need to train them in acceptable behaviors and ways to communicate their needs, wants and desires while training them to accept that our world isn't always fair and sometimes even the good guys get hurt.

If you think about it, say a little prayer for us.  This adventure is priceless and I won't be able to take it back if I mess up so hopefully, Lord willing I will succeed in my endeavor.

Where is your cell phone?  On the base recharging.

Your significant other?  My husband, my lover, my best friend, my protector and my confidant.  I wonder how I managed so long without him in my life.

Your hair?  Strawberry to light auburn, just past shoulder length, slightly curly.

Your mother?  My Dad always said she was a SAHM that was never home, between volunteer work (that involved the children) to her golfing and everything in between.

Your father?  My Hero.

Your favorite thing? Alone time with my husband.

Your dream last night?  Sorry, don't remember it, but what I do remember it was strange.

Your favorite drink?  Ice tea.

Your dream/goal?  I'm living it.

The room you are in? Living Room.

Your fear?  Losing my loved ones and being alone.

Where do you want to be in 6 years?  Haven't thought about it.

Where were you last night?  Took the boys to soccer then came home and watched CSI & Without a Trace.

What you are not?  A man.

Muffins? Yes, please.  Blueberry or Banana Nut preferably.

One of your wish list items?  A little girl of my own.

Where you grew up?  North Carolina and West Virginia

The last thing you did?  Read a message board I frequent.

What are you wearing?  Jeans & pajama top.

Your TV?  Jeff is watching DVR'd Criminal Minds supposedly, I think he is asleep though (worked last night) as I hear snoring.  Me, I'm in the other room.

Your computer?  HP Desktop, other one is a Dell Desktop.

Your life? Very busy, very full, and slightly stressful.

Your mood? Tired and cranky (I think I'll get Jeff and go climb back into bed for a few hours).

Missing someone?  Not at the moment.

Your car?  Toyota Camry (Thanks Grandma!)

Something you are not wearing?  an unmentionable

Favorite store?  A bookstore -- I love to read.

Your summer?   No plans.

Your favorite color? Blues.

When is the last time you laughed?  This morning, even when the boys drive me nuts they can still make me laugh.

Last time you cried?   Wanted to last night, but managed not to, need to figure out how to get more control over Nick.

Who will repost this? YOU! I tag YOU! If you play along, let me know in the comments, and I'll come visit you. (I like the way she worded that!)