Many Hands Make Really Heavy Work

We had some wonderful workers yesterday. An entire family showed up to help us get our alley way landscaped. The weather was perfect to allow us to work outside for five straight hours! I don't know how we could have done it without our manual labor assistance from Phoenix.

I had breakfast ready when they arrived. One must keep the troops fed and happy if a lot is expected of them. Soon we all headed outside to get to work. The girls weeded like there was no tomorrow, and it looks so much better! Weeds had to be removed before the boys could lay down the Weed Stop, which is a protective barrier that allows water and air to pass, but not weeds. Rocks had to be siphoned through John's homemade sifter before being placed on top of the Weed Stop. Since lots of gravel had to be moved before the Weed Stop could be placed, the first three hours of work were spent prepping the area.

We had some hard workers on our hands. We all grew up knowing how to work, and it was such a treat to combine forces to make such a difference at our house.

Did I mention this would have taken us a month without the help we received today?

Once the weeds were gone from the alley, the girls got to work pulling weeds by the root in the rest of the yard to prepare it for boys to scoop the gravel onto the Weed Stop. One of the girls needed a nap, and her mom took her inside to put her down. Then her mommy stayed inside to do all the breakfast dishes! Can it get any better?! The boys spent the last few hours separating dirt from gravel and then pouring it on top of the Weed Stop. We got all the corners held down before deciding we were all tuckered out for the day.

We ended with a delicious meal at Cafe Rio, one of my favorite places to grab a burrito.

Since they prefer to stay anonymous, many pictures are missing because our manual laborers appeared. It's difficult not giving them credit for all their hard work, but I am a respecter of privacy! It didn't mean I didn't ask a few hundred times if I could post the photos for all to enjoy.