Operation: Wood Chipping

Ahhhhhhhh!  Finally a chance to put my Crocs up.  Today was a busy day.  The day we've all been waiting for.  The Chipping Party!  Yes, you heard me.  We had a wood chipping party.  And boy oh boy did we get a lot done! 

 Remember this pile?

 Well it and three of its best friends are now tiny little scraps of wood, thanks to the chipper we rented.  Do you also remember that I told you we have been saving up for this day?  In that pile (which by the way went back about 30 feet) were all three of the Christmas trees that have graced this house along with every branch and piece of bark that we have come across since we unpacked in December of 2009.  Believe me when I tell you that this should maybe be a once a year activity from now on.

The kids have been excited about our party for weeks now and they were eager to help out.  At first we were letting them help with the chipper.  And then I saw this:

 I seriously can't get that picture out of my head.  So they moved on to less life threatening, but equally important, jobs.  Abby was in charge of filling her bucket with sticks and little pieces of wood and bark.

 And Ben took it upon himself to bring bark from the other corner of the yard.

 After some hard work, it was time for a lunch break.

 Ben and Abby weren't our only helpers today.  Robbie's parents came for the party too.  Which was especially nice since it was his mom's birthday.  Or maybe it was nice of us to throw her a Chipping Party.  Whatever the case, we are so thankful they were here because you couldn't ask for two better helpers.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!

 After lunch, the kids got back to hauling bark.  We had Abby vacate her bucket job because Ben was way back in the woods by himself.  And we couldn't hear because of the chipper.  And six days ago there was a bear spotted less than a mile from our house.  And I figured that two small people are always better than one.  Especially if you're going to encounter a bear.  And besides, when they are together they are pretty crazy and pretty loud and a smart bear would just steer clear.  They both made it out alive, so mission accomplished.  But their load was so big they had to use team work!

 And they weren't the only ones using team work today...

 After FIVE HOURS of straight chipping, we had three big mountains of chips, each almost as tall as me.  (Stop laughing.  I know I'm not that tall but that is a lot of wood chips!)

 What are we going to do with all those?  Well I thought you'd never ask.  One pile I have already spread out in front of the play house.  Usually, the weeds around there get so tall that we can't even make it to the front porch.  Will this solve that problem?  Who knows but it sure looks pretty!

 We also put some out around the few plants that we do have, these bushy things in front of the house

 and our Papa Pete tree that we got to remember Robbie's dad.  (Yes, that is a golf club holding the tree up.  Papa Pete wouldn't have had it any other way.)

 The best part of the day was when I saw this:

 The ground where the big heap of branches used to be.  It's a Chipping Party miracle!!

Next up, the wood shed.  A little bad news about that.  Yesterday Robbie told me that it would be done by the end of August.  What!??  I was kind of thinking next weekend.