Thirty is not the new Twenty...at least not to my back!

We broke our backs this weekend!
Over six hours of tearing up our front yard and then waking up to finish the last four square feet (that we just couldn't finish!), raking and leveling, and finishing up with planting seed.
It all started with a little broken sprinkler head...

Just getting started.

Our patchy grass with weeds

Helping Daddy with the first otter pops of the day

I might have started predicting "Only one more hour" right about now...I was so wrong.

Oh no! Did we just break the sprinkler pipes??

Luckily no...we just discovered an old set still in there.

Okay, I am so done right here. This is about five hours in...

Dirt inside my shoes, even.

My fingers hurt...But only one more hour, right?!

How Sam got through the last couple hours of work.

We gave up on this last rock hard section. Watered it and tackled it in the morning.

What we tore out of our yard.

After turning dirt and raking flat

Seeding...hope it grows!

Picture of the tree with all the rocks around it. We are debating taking some of the rocks in our backyard to fill this up some more.

...But I would like a wheel barrel first. This skateboard and bucket did not get the job done while trying to finish clearing the bricks from the front yard.

Another day...

 Sam scraped this fireplace some more on Saturday...will this ever be done?

I will take a picture when we get the first grass sprout!

Another Month ALREADY?

I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. Sam and I discussed today how we have been in our new house for a half a year and we still have so many unfinished projects. I don't think we are feeling upset about it, but just realizing that if we are not deliberate about getting these things done, that pretty soon we will have been in our home for years and still not have an upstairs shower.

Because my hands were giving me some trouble, I abandoned the scraping of the fireplace for a little while. I think I am finally up for it again. So I will have to tackle some more of that this weekend (along with taking the hot tub and deck and old closet doors etc to the dumps...yes, we still need to do that too).

I have to include the picture from our beach day. Besides doing all the house stuff and life, we have to fit in some fun family time too. So it's not all work and no play over here.

 And just because she is so cute, I have to put Rachel's morning potty picture up. Poor girl...but she is sooo cute!

Last week Sam bought a pressure washer and he and the boys spent last weekend fixing it. 

Sam took them to a neat hardware store. There was a lot of interesting things for the boys to see.

Rachel sat so sweetly in the stroller while I worked in the front yard.

I pulled all the weeds and scraped the moss off the bricks in the front. All the bricks will eventually come up and the sand under them will be scooped away...

Then we moved all the rocks from that side area and put them down by the tree by the street.  It looks much better...I forgot to take a picture of it completed.

Sam even mended the fence in the back. About five boards were falling down, to the dismay of our neighbor in back of us. And after having pleasantries with her, I was glad that Sam was able to amend the situation. 

And Rachel thought she needed to come help...

Anyway, this weekend Sam is going to pick up the bullnose tiles for the upstairs bathroom so we know what tiles to order and what board to put up. Then we will order the tiles and start on that project.