Mom's little helper

I forget sometimes how much Daniel is learning every day. So much is still new to him!
This weekend I decided to tackle the side yard. Our new house is great, but I think no one so much as mowed for the last two years. Certainly no weeding or cutting back has been done. And since our neighborhood has basically been carved out of a forest, there are a lot of trees and underbrush that need to be constantly monitored, lest they creep over the house itself! So far I have reclaimed the front yard, planting the things I want and getting rid of a number of other things. The side yard was a bigger challenge; the space between my and my neighbor's property had been taken over by vines, ivy, and a number of large bushes - "volunteers," if you will.
So I got what I could with the mower, then started pulling and hauling by hand. And here comes Daniel. "I want to carry sticks," he announced, holding out his arms. "Okay," I picked up the dead shoots I'd been pulling, avoiding the ones with thorns, and loaded him up. While they weigh less than paper, most of the shoots were taller than I am! But he dragged them out to the curb, added them to the pile I had going, and came back for more. Five or six trips later, we were done! So my little helper got a long ride on the tire swing as a reward, I learned I might have a gardener on my hands.
--Misty