Playground Chips

I didn't get a picture of the pile of playground chips on the driveway this morning.

I wondered if there would be enough.

It is hard to picture a cubic yard of anything in my head.

I ended up with way too much, but that's okay

because too many playground chips is better than too few!

Weed Block

I spent today digging and leveling under the swingset.

Then I laid and stapled this commercial grade (whatever that means) weed block fabric.

The certified (whatever that means) playground chips come tomorrow.

Gate Latch

The company that did the back yard rebuilt the gate on the side of the house.

But...instead of using the old handle, they bought a cheap one and tied a string to it.

I got to go buy and install a new handle today.

Much better!

Forklift Store

Made another trip to The Forklift Store 

(The Home Depot)

and bought supplies for a couple more projects.

Stay tuned!

Trimming, Supporting, and Killing!

 My yard is a ton of work, but I really love how it is turning out.

Today I trimmed a couple of bushes,

created some support for these plants that have a habit of falling over when they bloom 

out of some of the leftover guinea pig cage material,

put out snail bait, and killed HUNDREDS of snails!

I'm delegating (and even paying for) the dead snail collection job!

How mulch more?

Between last night and today I have purchased, transported,

and spread TWENTY 2 cu.ft. bags of black mulch in the back yard.

It's a lot of work, but I think it looks awesome!
I really love working in the yard,
I just need to get the housekeeper to come do the inside of the house.
Oh wait, I still don't have a housekeeper.
I still need to work on that!

Ground Cover

More yard work today.

I got a sweet deal on ground cover through a friend last week.

I planted it all today.

The 12-year-old and his friend did the moss between the rocks in the front yard.

And I planted the yellow ice plant in all of the rock walls in the back yard.

The before is above and a tiny part of the after is below.

Oh, I also made stepping stones out of some rocks that were under the deck

that the previous owner had their hot tub sitting on.

The little flowers are another ground cover, but I don't know what it is called.

I can't wait for it to spread and bloom!

Free Perennials!

We went to visit a friend today.

As we were having lunch in her back yard,

she told me that she is having two HUGE flower beds removed.

And she told me that I could take any of the flowers that I wanted!

Woohoo!
Thanks, Diane!

I got them all planted tonight.

Shasta daisies, black-eyed Susans, daffodil bulbs, and peonies!

Perennial Garden

My goal with my yard is to have perennials everywhere.

So I don't ever have to buy flowers again!

Since all that I had got ripped out with the yard makeover

(we salvaged a few),

I got started planting perennials today.

Can't wait until next year when they're twice as big 

and I can move parts of them around

 to cover more space!

Game Time

The husband's sister is moving to New York soon.

She lives across the street right now.

All of her kids are grown so she passed on a whole bunch of games to us.

(We also got a stack of SAT, ACT, and AP review books.)

With help from the 10-year-old, the games got put away.

We also moved our games into this closet so they'd be easier to get to.

Their favorite game so far is "Who wants to be a millionaire?"

Thanks, Aunt Jana!

Teenage Hangout Cont.

With help from the 15-year-old, we got the T.V. moved from the family room

(I'm hoping for a smaller T.V. for this room.)

to the basement.

We also re-installed the blinds that have been down for two-and-a-half years.

He wants to invite a few friends over tonight.

My plan in still working!

My 5 Week Project

This is the reveal of my project that was supposed to be 5 days.

With the rainy weather and a typical contractor,

it took 5 weeks!

 The only bad part about my new back yard

is all those empty flower beds.

30 pounds

I am helping a friend of mine buy and prepare food for a 

youth Pioneer Trek.

Today, I got to cook 30 pounds of hamburger in the 80 degree heat.

It took me longer than I thought it would so I'm counting it as today's project.

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden...

...So That's What I Did!

Do you remember that primary song?

The prophet said to plant a garden, so that’s what we’ll do.
For God has given rich brown soil, the rain and sunshine too.
And if we plant the seeds just right and tend them carefully,
Before we know, good things will grow to feed our family.

Before...

 After...

Our new back yard is mostly complete so now the work begins!

Fire Pit Fun

I got the husband a portable fire pit for our anniversary.

It was actually for the family 

and I got the one I like with the stars cut out of the side,

but it was still his present.

He doesn't look at this blog so I'm not worried about confessing that!

I put it together tonight.

The 15-year-old is busy using it right now with a bunch of his friends.

That was the whole point of getting couches in the basement

and a fire pit outside so I'm thrilled that my plan is working already!

D.I. Stop

I've had this

in the back of the car for the D.I. for a while now.

I finally dropped it off to day so I could fill it up with strollers and coolers

and umbrellas for a soccer tournament this weekend.

Two boys are playing.

We won two games and tied one.

And we'll do it all again tomorrow!

Deck Dirt

The back yard is mostly done including sod.

After cleaning the carpet yesterday, I mopped today, but the dirt kept coming in.

I don't have a great before picture, but here is part of the deck with the disassembled swing set on it.

It got put back up yesterday.

There was a picnic table, gloves, plants, tools, toys chairs, and about two gallons of dirt!

I finished clearing off the deck and gave it a good spray down.

Hopefully, there won't be as much coming inside now.

Cleaner Carpet

After weeks of having mud in the back yard,

my family room carpet was pretty bad.

I asked the 7-year-old to take a before and after picture (he loves to use the camera).

This is what I got...

Looks like I got one before and several after pictures.

(He actually took twice this many.)