Spring Projects - a retrospective

I think I've made many references in the past that Mr. Crackers is a "doer". He never sits still, he's always doing something. Every Spring brings with it not only the promise blooming flowers and the greening of grass - it also brings a new project for Mr. Crackers.

These are normally not small projects like planting a couple of flowers or cleaning out the shed. No, Mr. Crackers thinks on a grand scale. His endeavors almost always involve Quickcrete and large amounts of either wood or stone (they have on occasion also necessitated new shocks on the vehicle used to haul these weighty materials). He inherited this penchant for large construction projects from his paternal Grandfather who built his own home. Yes you read that correctly, the man built his 2 story brick home himself (Just as an FYI, he was a firefighter not a home builder by trade). He must have done a good job, because I have seen the house and it is still standing. Mr. Crackers' father also inherited this family trait and put his skills to good use by working in the construction business for more than 35 years.

Mr. Crackers (thankfully) has never felt the need to build our family a home, nor did he choose to enter the construction field like his father. He is a recreational builder. By day he works on web based marketing programs for a large corporation but on Spring and Summer weekends he gives in to his biological imperative to build something. Other than a good game of Lego Star Wars on the Wii, nothing is more fun to Mr. Crackers than planning and building something in our yard.

These large enterprises have been a part of my life ever since I said "I do" almost 12 years ago. Our first projects together started when we moved into our home in suburban Atlanta. We had a sizable lot in a very wooded area that needed some serious TLC. We didn't have kids then so we had the time to get the aging landscape back under control. We spent the 5 Spring seasons we lived in that house taking on jobs like constructing a 6 foot high privacy fence, building 5 retaining walls around the perimeter of the house and putting in a brick patio.

Here are 2 of the 5 retaining walls we built. They happen to be the 2 smallest - yikes!

I'm sure Mr. Crackers had more grand plans for that house, but our son C was born and then 16 months later we moved back to Ohio. So the rest of his ideas for that home were never realized.

We moved in the early summer of 2004 and had a relatively calm year as we settled into our new home & concentrated on painting and making the house truly ours. But then, spring came once again and the urge to build could no longer be contained.

Project 2005 - The playset

Mr. Crackers decided that we needed a playset for C (K was still baking in the oven at that point). No kit would do for Mr. Crackers. Nope, the man had a vision. He knew exactly what he wanted and he built the set entirely from his own design. He even did almost all of the work himself (with a tiny bit of help from a pregnant Mrs. Crackers & from the 10 year old boy who lived next door to us.) He built it right outside the kitchen window so I could keep an eye on the kids while I was cooking & he built it close to the house so I wouldn't have far to go if someone hurt themselves. Cool, huh?

Project 2006 - Baby K

Mr. Crackers is a very intelligent man & knows it's never a good idea to take on a giant construction project with a small baby in the house.

Project 2007 - The Landscaping Job
We replaced most of the landscaping in the front of the house
(no pictures here....you've seen bushes before, right?)

Project 2008 - The Patio

Mr. Crackers decided in January of 2008 that he HATED the red deck that was attached to the house. Not only was it a maintenance issue since the dogs were constantly destroying the painted wood with their nails, but the railings blocked his view of the yard. He told me one night at dinner, "I'm thinking of building a patio. What do you think?" I thought it was a fine idea. If the deck irritated him that much & if he was willing to do the work (which he always is), I was happy with whatever idea he came up with.

It took some time and some of help from both of our Fathers...

and a little help from C.

But mostly it was a lot of muscle and sweat equity from Mr. Crackers himself.

He is a do-it-yourselfer, no doubt about it.


Finally, after a month of weekends (and a month of tired muscles) Mr. Crackers finished it and it was beautiful. I was really proud of him - he did a terrific job. We've lived with our new patio for almost a year & I'm really glad he did it. He was right, it's a big improvement over the big red deck that once stood in its place.

The Cracker Family & patio - Easter 2009

So you might now be thinking to yourself, "Hey Mrs. Crackers it's Spring again. Does Mr. Crackers have a project on tap for this year?"

Yes, my friend, he does and it's already begun....