Backyard Beautifying!

So here is the cleared rock area with the Hydrangea from the front. It will get some sun, in the

morning and a little in the evening and have shade during the hottest part of the day. It looks

really small there right now, but when it's full size it'll be perfect!

Also if you look at the last picture of this area and then at this one you might see something else we did. Tuesday after we planted the Hydrangea, we decided the stepping stones needed some attention! So dug up every one of them, laid them on the pavement and after leveling the ground a bit, we replaced the stones, using only the best looking ones. We didn't use all that we dug up because we dug some up where there didn't need to be stones anymore. So now we have very visible steps from the stairs of the deck down to the backyard! (and it looks so much better!) Now, what to do with the extras???

Dance picture 2007

I also thought I'd share this sweet picture!!
Elizabeth is in Tap Dance and on photo day I took my camera. When the photographer was posing her and getting his cameral getting I took my own shots.
I just love this picture!! Isn't it the SWEETEST!!
This is the outfit they are wearing for their recital too. They look like little Daisy Dukes!

2007 Prom

Thought I'd take a break from all the yardwork pictures and share a picture of the kids.
Douglas and Jacquie went to the Junior/Senior Prom this year.

This is Douglas and his girlfriend Kayla (left side) and Jacquie and her date & friend Jae.


Don't the girls look gorgeous and those boys are sure handsome!!

Unplanned Beautifing +

To start here is the final birdhouse project. AKA 'The Bird Hotel' Life for Birds. With the directional signs to where we have family. It'll look really nice once we have the new bush browing in front of it.

So this is the unplanned project. Today we decided after looking at one of our new Hydrangeas that it needs to be moved. It's sitting in the direct sun with no shade and the leaves look like they are getting burned. So before it dies we went looking for a new spot to replant it.

Well we found the spot, but it needed cleaned up!! We dug allll those rocks out from pretty much the same place they are in now. This spot looked like [way] back in the day that it had been landscaped similar to what we have done to it today. Thats why we went with this. We'll plant the 'sick' Hydrangea in the middle of the rock circle . Then on the lower area were the dirt is we are going to regrass.

We also decided that above this area under the deck we are going to put up lattice to close off the space.

It looks soooo nice in that spot already!!

Handmade Beauty!

For this update, it's all about the accents!
I had this idea that I wanted to line the front porch with planters full of flowers. I talked to my dad about it. I spent the day with him one day last week and he helped me make these planters.
Yes, with my dads help, I made these! I LOVE them! They turned out awesome! Now I can't wait to get some flowers in them!!
We also Thompson water sealed the porch. It's a little bit darker now then it used to be, but we like how it turned out.

While at my dads Elizabeth wanted to make something too. She was going to make a birdhouse until dad remembered he had one already done. So he gave it to her. She was sooooo excited! I then remembered that we had two at home put away somewhere. So while I was painting my planters, the girls painted the three birdhouses. They are very bright and summery!
Then we thought, the birds needed somewhere to eat too. I called my dad again! Ha ha ha We went over Tuesday and I built the feeder that's on the top of the post. (with dads help of course- he works the big saws, not me!)
We have a couple things still not done that will be added here. After getting everything painted and hung, we are now Open for Business!! Welcome to the" 'Bird Motel' , Where birds come to Live!" (Elizabeth's name and quote! We'll put that up there somewhere.)


Remember from before I said right in the spot that the house is in, there will be planted a flowering shrub/bush of some kind.
So the birds will have the trees for hiding and sitting in when not using the houses and feeding!


We've also spread grass seed all over the ground we took all the rock out of and in the grass to help thicken it up.
The yard is already looking better!

More Beautifing.......

Sunday, we bought another hydrangea and 2 butterfly bushes. Yesterday we went out and planted them. The first photo is the butterfly bushes. The one closest will produce fuschia colored flowers and the other one will be yellow colored. Can't wait to see them bloomed!!

This is where we planted the hydrangea. The one closest is the new one and it's supposed to have the blueish colored flowers. The yellow one in the middle should have pink flowers and the green one farthest away will be a red pink. Lots of color just in that row!

We also did this yesterday. This was a project started by the houses previous owner - my Father-in-law. We took the railroad ties from the front yard and finished this part of his project. (the stacked RR ties on the backside) How's it look Don??

See all the rock on the ground? Thats what we've pulled out of the front yard. This area we are making our 'pit'. We will use some of the large rocks and make a fire ring and have seating around it. In the summer we do our dutch oven cooking, roasting marshmallows and sometimes just sit around the campfire.

This is what we worked on today, Tuesday. The dark colored dirt was covered with rock. It was the last area of rock we had to remove. What a pain! Under the white house is a huge hole. (years ago it was a pond) We decided we are going to plant another hydrangea there. (unless we find something else thats similar that we like better)

We also got an edger from my Dad and we went around and edged the yard at the sidewalk & driveway.

It really looks much better already, even with stuff half done.

Beautification continues.......

This weekend we got some nice weather. We went to the nursery and bought a few of the plants that we wanted to add. We got 2 Hydrangea's and 2 Lavendar's. Ouch! Didn't realize how much that stuff costs! Sunday we got it all planted and watered. Love how it is looking already!

This is the front area we worked on today. We took the rest of the rock and grow-over all out here. We still have the small area to the right of this (but theres a LOT of rock there to do). This
was really a hard job to finish! There were alot of little tree stumps and one bigger. Theres a picture below of all the 'stuff' we've pulled out of here. (minus the round stones)





I just had to share this one! Today I got a little more then just my hands into the job!! We were trying to pull up a tree stump and well it was rooted pretty good!! I ended up sitting on the ground using my feet/legs to push on it to work it loose. Just a little dirty!!!

This is the HUGE pile of the grass and weeds and some rocks that we pulled up with the black clothe stuff (that is laid to prevent weeds and such growing through the rocks). On the top is the tree stump we pulled, well rather dug out.





This is my Butterfly bush. During the winter we had some really bad wind storms that ended up blowing this over and uprooting part of it. Then we went through our winter freezing. We lost at least half of it. This is what is left of it that is still alive. We are hoping staking it and holding it up like this will help it reroot in the upright position.








This is where we planted some new lavendar. We put a plant in each corner. It smells soooo good!!

This is our side of the driveway (where we had the round stones). Here we planted two Hydrangea's. The yellow one is called a Lemon Daddy, because the leaves are yellow. The flowers will be either pink or blue. The other one is called Glowing Embers and it will have reddish pink flowers. After we put these in we still have space to fill so we are going to get another one that will have blue flowers and planted to the right of the yellow one.

I can't wait for them all to bloom!!

Now I gotta go out and water everything real good!!

Beautification continues.......

Well today we got up and were going to do some more work on the

front yard. Got outside and it was raining! But of course!

It was just a small light rain that ended quickly. We went outside

again decided to work on a different area instead.

So we started on the 'rock wall'. Well thats what it was supposed

to be. It was sooooo over grown the rocks, as huge and as many as there were, were completely covered over. It was even overgrown onto the driveway. We had to dig out most of the rocks. It took about 2 1/2 hours to dig it all out and place them all back in neatly. It was actually fun. Not to mention a KILLER workout!!!

Then while we were cleaning up the mess and the excess rocks, we noticed the 'grow over' on this side of the driveway. So we cut it all back and in the space between the driveway and the ground we placed these bricks.

If you look to the right some where those round stones are, we are going to plant some type of tree/shrub. Right now we are thinking Hydrangea's & maybe something else.

This is the full shot of the whole driveway. Unfortunately I didn't

take a before picture, but believe me when I say it looks 100%

better then two days ago!!

Now to keep the growover from happening again!

Our Beautification Process!

So we have finally had some awesome weather to go out and do some yardwork with, and we both weren't working. I started with the flower beds while Donnie mowed and weed-eated.

This top photo I planted irises beside the rose bush. I think I put 12 bulbs in there.

This is along the walkway. I planted irises in the back (thats what you can see here). Theres maybe 30 here. In front of the irises we planted two rows consisting of tulips and daffodils.

I found the daffodils and tulips in the garden dirt. While weeding I dug up clusters of bulbs that were to bunched and not growing anymore. So I seperated them all and replanted them!

In the far left corner of the space there is a plant. It's hard to see. It is lavendar and I am really hoping it stays alive!!

This is the right side of the house. We dug all the rocks out and the cement steps. We are going to try and put a small vegie garden here.

And here is the biggest part of our beautification process! The front yard. We are removing alllllll the rocks and the weeds and the black ground sheets from the whole area its in. We want to put back the green grassy front yard it once was.

We knew it was going to be alot of work, but we kinda missed the word 'hard' from that thought! It's going to be alot of 'hard' work!! That black stuff is not easy to come up now that the grass and weeds are growing through it and the weight of the rocks on it!

Oh ya, another thing we've realized. This is going to make for some really great weight loss workouts!! I burned some major calories today!! WOO-HOO!!

I'll share more as we see improvements!

Spring Break!!

Well we got lucky this week and the weather was very Spring like!!
As well as doing some work around the house, we took the girls to the Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. It was a perfect day to go! Elizabeth had a blast and couldn't see everything fast enough!! The big girls went off and look at everything on their own. They didn't care much for the snakes and things like that. They all had fun feeding the goats though. One tried to eat Kurestin's (Jacquie's friend) jacket.

Then yesterday I took the girls out to Mom & Dads. Carrie's boys were there and Elizabeth played the whole time with them. They spent most of the time looking through the creek for froggies!! Yes, they did find them too. Elizabeth ended up with 4 in her can and the boys stopped with about 4 in theirs. But they kept finding them and just putting them back. They had so much fun! Elizabeth kept hollering about the 'Muck', getting stuck in it or getting it on her somewhere. It was soo funny!!

Then afterwards, after they ate their smoothies, Jacquie played sprinkler and sprayed the 3 kids. They were running all over the yard screaming and hollering.

Then when they were done, the laid out on the porch on towels and read while they dried off!

I'm a Sketch Diva!!

I am now designing layouts using sketches from the blog, My Sketch World.
Lucy sends a sketch and I have to create a LO using that sketch. She then uploads it to her sketch blog with her sketch.
Go check it out!! The link to her blog is on the right sidebar. You'll be able to see the LO I did!!

Then check back every Monday. A new Sketch is posted and the LO's to go with it!

In like a Lion!!

Well we thought our white winter was over. But we didn't get that lucky!!
We ended Feb. with snow! We woke up to it and it snowed
off and on all day. Snowed to make everything white, then it stopped long enough to melt away, and then start snowing again. All day!!

Well March came in like a Lion!! We woke up the 1st of March to a good
blanket of the white stuff!! It stayed for a little while but was all gone by evening time!
We got lucky this time round. It was a wet snow so it melted easily and it didn't go
down into the freezing temps that we had with the last snow storm system.

Now we are all ready for Spring to arrive!! We've had enough snow. We are all done with the oohs and ahhhs o fit all!! It's lost its 'pretty'.

Well we are back to our rainy winter weather! YUCK!! Now its wet and dreary!!

Where is the Spring???

Scrap-Jacking!

Here is my 'Jack'!

This looks much better IRL!! The painted colors around the photo are much brighter!!

This was fun. Doing something a bit different for me, and I like how it turned out.

For those that don't know what that means, click on the link in my sidebar. (Scrapjacked)

That'll tell you what Scrap-jacking is about.

Another layout

Heres a layout I did yesterday, finally.
I've been tyring all week to get this one done.
I used my DW 2007 calendar for it.
Day Feb 24/25 - Create a layout composed entirely of photos.
I wasn't really sure about the idea, but I really like how it turned out!

So my Little Girl LOVES Ribs!!

We went to TGIF's for my birthday dinner out. On the kids menu they
had ribs. Elizabeth insisted on ordering the ribs. Promised she would eat them all.

She scarfed them!!

All over her face and everything!!

She ate them all, like a big girl!!

A HUGE prize pkg I won!!

Thought I'd share here this HUGE prize pkg I got.

I got it from Rachel Cohara after answering 15 questions on her Blog(linked on my sidebar) and getting them ALL right!!

Here are the pictures of everything I got!!!!

WOW!!!

Some new Layouts I've done.

Heres more of the pages I've done in this last month.
I did this for a contest.
Had to do one on my Favorite....??? This is done as my Favorite
Christmas present!
This was done for the http://timelessinspirations.com TI race. I had to use paint to make my background paper. This didn't turn out
quite like I was visualizing, but I'll keep it cuz it's different.
I used a http://www.pagemaps.com/index.htm Becky Fleck sketch for this one. It was a contest on http://www.pubcalls.blogspot.com/ Pubcalls. This was done for the http://timelessinspirations.com/ TI race. I had to have a few things on the page. 5 different alphabets/fonts/stickers etc, a Triangle, 3 photos, 4 ribbons & the colors Black and Red.
This was for http://timelessinspirations.com/ TI too. I had to make an altered Doorknob hanger with these items-- three different lettering visible (three different types of stickers, dies, stamps etc...), chipboard, three stars, swirls, distress ink . This is for Jacquie's door.
Another for the http://timelessinspirations.com/ TI race. I had to incorporate 25 circles somehow.

This is another I did for the http://timelessinspirations.com/ TI race. I had to do Hand-Stitching on the page somehow. Again, it didn't turn out as I visualized, but theres parts I like so I'll keep it.
This is a photo of the room Donnie and I stayed in last year for our anniversary. I LOVE this picture. I sat down to do a page with this photo and saw this sketch, at http://ericassketchit.blogspot.com/ Sketch it! and knew it would be perfect. I LOVE how this turned out!