yard work HARD work- UPDATED

Check out UPDATE #3 Below!!

After two years of living in our house, we have finally decided to landscape the backyard. I have tried to document our work and progress through photos but there have been a few times I forgot to take "before" pictures until part way through the project, so you may have to use your imagination a little bit. I'll try to be more diligent for the rest of the process!!

Initially, our entire "yard" was filled with dirt and weeds with the exception of a 4x6 block of cement that wooden stairs came down onto (to access the sliding door). We started our project by renting a massive tiller and tearing up all of the weeds. Then we had the fun chore of raking them into bags. Good times! This is a picture AFTER the tilling -- all that hard work and this was the end result?? That's one of Landon's dump trucks in the middle of the picture (he thinks a yard full of dirt is a dream come true).

Next, we made a plan for sprinklers and bought all of the necessary supplies (with the help of Sprinkler World- a place that is definitely not as much fun as it sounds to the dismay of my kids). We then rented a trencher and dug trenches. Next we had to connect all of the pipes and place the heads and drains in their designated spots (thanks for all your help Chad!).

Finally we buried all of the pipes and laid down grass seed and fertilizer. Amazingly grass is already growing!

Now we are working on a patio. So far, Scott has removed the wooden steps and the existing patio to make room for the new one. This is a picture of where the stairs and concrete slab were and the next picture is of the concrete AFTER Scott took it out.

For the patio, we have already bought the colors we will be using. We still have to dig/level the area, frame & stake it out, and the have the concrete brought in. After that we have to pour the concrete, stamp the design on, and then seal it. It seems like a daunting task to me but our neighbor knows a ton about concrete and is helping us through the process- thank you Jason!!

**UPDATE 1** (Aug 5)

Well, our grass is continuing to grow. We are getting some weeds mixed in but within a couple of weeks we'll have mowed a few times and then we can use weed & feed which will hopefully take care of it.

Jason framed the patio on Monday so yesterday Scott and I had the fun task of leveling all of the dirt within the frame. If you ever want to see how well you can work with someone, go outside in the 100 degree heat and try to smooth out & level tons of dirt using only a 2x4x16 piece of wood and brute force. Here are some before and after pictures - we were way to cranky, HOT, and exhausted to take any "during" pictures!!

Before we leveled the dirt:

After leveling:

Jason will be staking the patio this week and then we will be wheelbarrowing and pouring the concrete on Friday, which promises to be a lot of fun!

***UPDATE #2*** (Aug 17)

Ten days ago (Aug 7), we had a concrete truck deliver 3 1/2 yards of concrete to our house. First, the driver added the color we had already bought (called Palomino - kind of a bronze color) and let it mix with the concrete for a few minutes. Then, with the help of a few VERY nice friends (Thank You Chad & Ben!), we were able to get the concrete transported from the truck in front of the house to the patio in the back via wheelbarrows. Throughout the process, Jason worked diligently in the back smoothing and finishing (I think that's what it's called) the concrete. Then, he stamped the texture on with the release agent (Walnut color) and stamps we rented. He showed Scott how to do it too, so Scott was able to help with that part eventually. I didn't take ANY pictures of this process as I COMPLETELY forgot in all the excitement. When it was all done (4 hours later!), we could kind of see the texture but the patio was completely caked with the release agent so it looked really chalky. Here are a few pics of how the patio looked the following morning:

close up:

On Tuesday (four days later), we power washed the patio and were finally able to get a glimpse of how it was going to look once it was all done. We saw the color for the first time and also saw how it was going to shine. Unfortunately, once it dried it went back to looking chalky and dull. We knew ahead of time that the patio would not be completely finished until it was sealed, so we weren't surprised or disappointed at it not looking great yet.

In the pics above the patio was still wet, here is what it looked like after it dried (since it hadn't been sealed yet)

Here are some pictures of our grass taken last Tuesday (a week ago). I have already mowed it twice since then, it is growing SO well. I'll add a newer picture soon.

It has been raining off an on since last Thursday, but we FINALLY sealed the patio yesterday. Here are a few pics of the first coat going on so you can really see the difference between the sealed and unsealed areas. I haven't taken pictures of the final product yet (after the 2nd coat and dry).

You may notice we also removed the frame and stakes. Plus, I stained/sealed the wooden steps so I'll get some pictures of them, too. We still need to build up the ground around the patio and re-seed it, so the lawn will ultimately slope off the patio rather than having to step down onto it. We are also leveling out the space beside the patio so we can assemble (and USE) our shed.

***UPDATE #3*** (Aug 21)

Here is the space that Scott leveled out for the shed to go on:

It took us nearly 5 hours last Tuesday to assemble the shed, but once it was done we were very happy with it. We were able to fit everything we wanted to in it and we will someday add shelves and have room for even more stuff in there. Already, it is a huge relief on the previous congestion in our tiny garage.

Here are some pictures of the patio once it was sealed (there always seems to be some dirt on it since it is completely surrounded by dirt right now - hopefully that will change once we get grass growing around it!). There are also some pics of the patio set that we bought and assemebled last Tuesday as well. It was a steal at Walmart, so we just couldn't pass it up.

Here are some new pics of our beautiful lawn. It is so exciting to watch it continue to grow!!

Here is a picture of the one (and only) side of the patio that we have finished building up the dirt on.All we have left to do is to finish building up the ground on the other sides of the patio so we can re-seed it all, and also re-attach the stairs to the house. Then we will be done with all of the projects for this year!

Next year, we will assemble the garden boxes we already bought and start a garden. Also, we want to plant a tree or two and also cover the area on the side of the patio/house that has no sprinkler heads with gravel so it isn't just dirt. We would also like to ultimately put up a fence, but that may not happen next year, we'll have to see.

When we have the stairs on and the grass started around the patio, I'll add a final update to this post...