DIYing

Busy, busy, busy. We’re knee-deep in our yard work right now (SOOOO much to do… one of the joys of building) and I’ve been wanting to do a little update on what’s been happening so far. You know, because yard work is pretty much the most exciting topic anyone could ever read about.

The very first thing we had to do was build a flower bed in front of our porch. We’ve been working on our landscaping plans with one of Kevin’s friends who is a landscape architect major and he suggested a raised flower bed in the front. Here’s where the DIY part comes in. Kevin and I are cheap. I’m not the least bit afraid to admit it. If we can save a buck (or a few hundred of them) somewhere, we’re all for it. That’s one of the many reasons I love that husband of mine – he’s so like me in that way! Paying someone to build that raised bed for us would have cost us big bucks. But the more I researched the idea, the more I really, really wanted it. So how do we compromise? Why, by doing it ourselves, of course! So off to Home Depot (or “Homie Depot” as Sadie calls it) we went to buy paver stones. Lots of them. And then we scoured YouTube. And started laying stones, only to realize we were going about it all wrong. And then we went BACK to YouTube (honestly, what in the world did home owners do before the days of Google and YouTube?!) and figured out what we were doing wrong. One full day, lots and lots of paver stones, and two very dirty kids – and parents – later, here's the finished product:

I pretty much love it. Yes, we could have paid someone to do this for us and saved ourselves a lot of sweat and a bit of frustration. But I helped build this baby. I get a little satisfied smile on my face every time I look at it.

We actually finished this over a month ago and since then, you can see the current DIY project that’s going on right now – SPRINKLERS! Yay! (That’s what the dug-up dirt, trenches, cluttered porch, and little flags are all about). The credit for that one all goes to Kevin, his dad, and his brother. They’ve been laboring away like crazy out there. Love them.

Also, we planted flowers in that flower bed, which you can also kind of see. We were a little overeager and couldn’t wait until we had sprinklers and grass. I’m like a little kid every time I see another flower open up and bloom. This is so FUN, people! And speaking of grass, that’s next on the list. Grass! I’m going to have grass! No more dirt! I can hardly wait! (And yes, that sentence required every single one of those exclamation points.)

Okay. One last thing that I have to be excited about. Before the yard craziness really began, Kevin and I tackled another furniture refinish project. We needed a little table of some kind in the corner of the living room that had a place to drop our keys and junk when we came in the door. We found an old nightstand at the D.I. for $20 and, whabam!

Presenting my totally awesome green table. I didn’t even ask Kevin his opinion about the paint (because I knew he’d try to talk me into black), I just bought some green spray paint and started spraying that baby down. Now that it’s all finished, even he has to admit it looks pretty good sitting in our corner over there.

And as for the kids, here’s a good example of what they’ve been doing this past month or two:

It’s all just a big, dirty sandbox to them!