Before and After...Sorta

It's been a long time coming. And this post will not do it justice, but I thought it was time I try to show the progress we have made.

Before

I know it's not a true "after" photo because it's not from the same angle. But you get it.

Before

After (just planted today!)

Before

After

Before

And Before

After

And what Sam has been working on...redirecting plumbing and gas from this tiny laundry room to...

The Garage! Now I get a pantry! Thanks Baby.

All about the Backyard

This was the state of our backyard before we left for vacation. We finished tearing out the old grass, turned soil and rolled it flat. We spread seed and left our lawn to be watered daily by my loving sister. (Thanks sister!)
Our garden was also looking a little small when we left. (Below is a picture of our garden as well as the new water spout Sam placed.)

When we returned we were pleasantly surprised that everything was green and growing! (Did I say thank you, sister???)








Check out how nice it is looking now..

Today we also got some help from my parents to get the last gross tree (the one that also happens to be planted and growing right next to the house) cut down.
Okay, so maybe we just all cheered Sam on while he did it. But it was very helpful to have some advice and help knowing where to make the cuts. (Thanks Dad for the chainsaw too!)

So much better!

Crabgrass, garden, sprinkler system

Welcome to our entryway. The roses are blooming and the tulips are bright and colorful! I missed taking the pictures when our daffodils came in - but they were beautiful as well.

We have been working on the yards this past month. A good (bad bad bad horrible) lesson we learned was that crabgrass gets spread easily by using the lawnmower. So the vicious weed from our backyard that we had been mowing got transferred to our front lawn. I spent exactly three weeks pulling out all the patches that sprung up in our front yard and then an additional two weeks digging out the entire back lawn. I still have a small patch in the backyard to dig out before we can level it and plant seed. Oh my.

The garden that Sam built is beautiful. We have been working hard at finding the right formula to get our garden going - soil pH, watering, pests eradication etc. I am just excited to see things actually growing! Yay! It is exciting. I am hopeful that we will get plenty of fresh veggies in a few more weeks to months.

Today, in the amazing heat wave that just hit us, Sam is hard at work putting in a new sprinkler system for our backyard. The area that the current sprinkler system is set up is really awkward and ugly. We have pvc pipe just running across some of the cement. So Sam is going to reroute it under an area that used to be filled with dirt and rocks. 

All the rocks he relocated!

All the dirt he removed.

The start of the new piping.

Backyard Garden

Planters and a backyard garden

Our friend came to visit and we put him to work. This was him as he claimed innocence when Sam accused him for all that was going wrong. Nice friends we are.

 Our son enjoying riding his bike while Sam worked. He is singing and having a glorious time.

Other son "helping".

A more recent day. Time to take out that unsightly bush/tree.

How far I have gotten with pulling out the crabgrass from the backyard.

 Rachel found a safe place to hang out while the rest of us work.

 Teaching him how it's done.

 Digging the root out.

 The friendly worm.

 Three planters in! On to the path!

Finished the year off with an Auger

We rang in the new year with a patched roof and a toilet and shower that was NOT over flowing with sewage! I'd say two very good things.

Hiatt Roofing to the Rescue

My uncle come over and assessed our roof leak over the garage (did you know our roof was leaking? well, it is). He patched up what he could, but the truth is, the roof just needs to be replaced. But at least now we have the roof measured and can get a better idea of how much that will cost. Thanks again, Don!

Happy Auger

About an hour before we left for church on the last Saturday service of the year, one wrong flush changed the course of the evening. Not only did the toilet start to flood, but the shower started to fill up as well. Yuck.  We had noticed that our water pressure in the toilet had been decreasing, but did not realize how severe the problem was. 

After using the snake we had, with the toilet in place, and no luck in getting everything draining again, we had to take the toilet off (I use "we" very lightly...I was at church with the kids...the hubby was doing all this). Later in the evening when we were actually a we again, I inserted the more heavy duty snake that had been purchased, while the hubby crawled under the house and followed the plumbing line. Again, nothing was moving. The bathroom was flooded, wet vacs were filled and filled again. Yuck. Really, REALLY yuck.

About an hour before the rental place closed, we finally decided we needed to bring in the big guns...an automatic auger, that is. 

One simple run with this thing and everything was returned to normalcy. Hooray! Of course there was still the matter of cleaning everything. Yuck.

yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.yuck.

Of course we had more adventures when trying to place the toilet back on its rightful place. Nothing went right. But that's just how it goes - as we have learned in almost one year of home ownership. 

Wow. One year. Craziness. Yes, that is how I would describe it.

Merry Christmas

Our first impulse is not always to laugh when our toddler pees on the unpainted bathroom door. Nor do we cheer when we find crayon or nail polish all over the newly painted walls. We don't smile and wink at our spouse when we realize our wedding ring just scratched the stainless steel fridge. We don't high five when we find a leak in our roof.
But all these experiences make our life more colorful. We get wiser, learn the hard way, and have good stories to share around the table when we get together with family and friends.
We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas this year. We pray you find time to ponder the seriousness of the holiday as well as celebrate the best way you know how. May your families be brought closer together. May your idea of the perfect holiday be thrown out the window and may you just roll with it. May you find assurance that Spray'n Wash will get the stains out of your kids' holiday sweaters/dresses. May the sugar high result in a sugar crash right as you tuck your little ones into bed.
Merry Christmas!

Small project, Big impact

I have not been good at keeping up to date with the small projects that continue to go on in the house.

Here, Sam is continuing the never ending project that is our fireplace.

Sam also dug a trench and placed a plastic barrier between the grass line and the plants. We also added mulch. It looks so good now. The picture below is right after we did this (the big dirt patch is where we had to raise the level of the land since we kept getting a pond forming). It looks so nice now. I just need to get out there and get a picture.

Here's my muddy sneakers. Just to prove that I actually helped!

After dumping most of the concrete from the slab we had out there, Sam got to work building a raised planter. We hope to have a garden there some day!

 Sam up in the attic again. Thank you for fixing all the duct work before the cold weather came!

 Just one of the many things he had to fix up there.

 I've painted two doors. Two more to go. Not sure if it is our paint or what, but this is not an easy process! Takes so many coats and still the streaks! Oh well.

And finally - Christmas has come!

I didn't get a picture of the font door or the yard, but they are decorated too.

Rachel managed to get in both photos:)