Backyard in Progress

This has been a long time coming. We have been wanting to remove some of the grass in our backyard for a while. Nothing against grass, there is just TOO MUCH OF IT. We killed the grass in a circle in the corner for a fire pit, and cut out all the grass around that to plant flowers and trees and filled that all in with mulch. To cut out all the grass, we had to rent a sod cutter from Home Depot. There was no way we were going to dig that out. This is the best before picture I got because Eric started before I got the camera. You can see a couple strips cut out already.

More and more cutting...

... this part took a while because we had to go around all the trees and bushes we already planted. Note to self: next time, cut the grass out first, then plant the trees.

Finally making lots of progress: this is the pile of sod we cut out and posted on KSL for anyone who wanted it to come and get it. It took the guys two very full trips to get it all.

This is the next morning, by the way. We did not do this all in one night.

The mulch we got came from the dump. It is good looking and super cheap. All of the stuff we got, which was enough for all this and then some, cost $50. Here are the boys "helping" to shovel it out of the trailer.

Eric was shoveling it out while I was putting down the weed barrier.

We got a bunch of pretty plants to put in the border. The look we are going for is very lush and colorful. We'll see how it turns out. These flowers are Flamenco Red Hot Poker, Salvia, Hibiscus, Potenilla, and Geranium.

And finally, the after pictures!

We also cut out a border around our deck to make a nice clean edge.

Doesn't look perfect yet, but the plan is for things to grow and fill out, plus we'll plant more flowers and bushes. Hopefully in a couple years it will look great!

July Houses

Here is my new July 4th decoration! I have these on the shelf in my kitchen and I love them!

Got the idea from Whimsy Studios.

Seal Beach

While we were in California, we had a really long layover in Long Beach on our flight back, so we rented a car and went to the beach. We picked the wrong beach for playing though. Apparently Seal Beach is for wind sports only because it was VERY windy. There were even signs saying swimming was not allowed. We still did have fun playing in the sand, and it was worth it to not have to wait in the airport.

It was fun to watch the people out there kiteboarding. It was a busy day for that!

Will loved playing in the sand...

...but Luke did not. He kept his mouth shut tight the whole time. He wasn't taking any chances getting sand in there.

Finger Puppets!!!!

Since my mom has come to my house for the summer, we have been going finger puppet crazy. Here is some of what we have made.

We have sets for Peter Pan, Rapunzel (not quite finished yet), Fairy Tales, Little Bunny Foo Foo, Five Little Monkeys, Pirates, Old MacDonald, and Woodland creatures. I am slowly getting them all listed in the shop. They are so cute, they are going to be hard to part with!

California

We just got back from a trip to Grass Valley California for my Grandma's funeral. She was 90 years old, so she lived a good full life. Last time we went to visit her was in 2008, which I wrote about here. She was a fun lady, and we will miss her.

We did like getting together with family while we were there. Here is a picture of most of the family after the funeral at the church. I had never met my Grandma's brother before, and I was surprised to see he looks just like her.

Lukie-poo Sleeping

I should just title this blog, "The Funny Ways My Kids Sleep" from all the pictures I have like this. Here is yet another way Luke fell asleep that defies gravity.

Scram!

I tried out freezer paper stenciling for the first time recently. (I know, I am so behind on this.) I used a tutorial by Dana from MADE to make sure I was doing it right. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I don't know if you can tell, but the messy look around Oscar's face was intentional. It is supposed to look like mud. Hopefully you got that without me telling you.

Luke's Food Obsession

Luke is obsessed with ice cream. I think that is the first food word he learned to say. Wills still says it like a bad word, which I think is hilarious and Eric thinks I taught him. But I didn't. Anytime we go near the freezer, Luke starts saying, "ice cream! ice cream!" I got these funny pictures of him waiting for a bite.