Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Yard Projects Before & Afters

Here's our project that's been a couple years in the making. This is what it looked like when we first moved in, except for the few pitiful flowers...I added those because I needed something there!


The backyard was a dandelion field.


It was really depressing. Especially compared to our neighbor's yards, which are perfectly manicured. 


When we first moved in, our little Cameron was 2 weeks old, so we didn't do much the first year.
The next year, we ripped out the nasty, overgrown viburnum bushes. Every time I'd walk out the door, a flock of birds would swarm out of them. It was gross. I hated them. So we attacked them with my awesome new pruners and dug them out. We didn't know what to do with them, so we threw them into the pit of our backyard. They actually survived. They shouldn't have.


 This year, our main yard project was landscaping the front yard. We started with widening our sidewalk. Kevin wanted to do the entire driveway, but we decided to start small so we could actually finish it this year. We dug out and made forms, which sat there hazardously for about a week.

We also tried to give the front a little shape, and help cut back on the amount of plants we'd need to fill it in. If you look closely, you can kind of see the little curvy line between the grass and the mulch.


It took a little while for the grass to grow in to patch in both the curve and in front of where we widened the sidewalk. I cannot tell you how nice it is to walk onto grass now instead of mud! 


Here's the {mostly} finished product!! We pressure washed and painted the porch to match the rest of the house. It drove me crazy to have a green porch and blue shutters! That problem was solved for about $40. Totally wish we would have done it sooner!


Now we need to have the trim and pillars painted white....they're looking a little faded now. haha


Besides the dead flowers in my hanging baskets, this picture makes me happy! :) 


Drum roll please! Here's the side-by-side before and afters!! 
{Kevin said his favorite part is the vehicle swap, it coordinates and everything! haha}



Here's also a quick glimpse of the other project we did while landscaping the front.
We {with the help of several friends from the ward} poured a cement slab to install a new shed! 
We had a little extra cement than we planned, so we put all the remnants into a makeshift fire pit patio.  
We had everything for the fire pit previously, but luckily had it deconstructed and just had to level it quickly before shoveling the excess cement there. It's not the prettiest thing, but it works- and was better than having cement chunks randomly in our yard!


Kevin built some shelves to go in it so we could organize all our junk instead of just throwing it all in there. Our garage is starting to feel like a garage again!! 





Thursday, August 14, 2014

Catching up a little....

It's been a while since we posted last... sorry. So to update from our last post, it's a BOY. Cam loves to rub my tummy and say, "Hi baby brother!" and no, we haven't decided on a name yet. We have a ginormous list, but we've only gone through it once. He'll have a name by the time he's born though, so don't worry ;)

Here are a few fun pictures from lately.


This one is from Mother's Day. Kevin got me a HUGE bunch of tulips from Costco and Cam colored pictures for me. I just love this scene, it makes me happy :)



A couple pics from Cam's birthday. He got all things CARS. and a sticker from the doctor, then a whole strip of stickers from the lady at Kroger. Cam promptly put them down his leg and played with them all day.


A couple of tummy pics. This first is around 20 weeks, the 2nd is around 24. I'm currently 28 weeks. Our little guys is measuring at about 29 weeks, so we're banking on him being early like Cam was.


I finally hung up the pictures I made last year. Hopefully soon the wall behind it will be painted. My nesting phase has been a drive to paint the whole house. I feel just a little crazy, but samples are painted on the wall and I'll probably start this weekend! It's been white in this house too long.


Baby prep project. I picked up a boppy pillow for $1 at a garage sale. The pillow is in great condition, but the cover was pink flowers, not too neutral. So I took it apart and used it as a pattern to make a new cover. I think it turned out pretty good for sewing my first not-quite-so-invisible zipper :)



Kevin went on a camp out with the 11 year old scouts, so I told Cameron we could have a camp out in the living room while he was gone. Can you tell he's excited? He has sooooo much fun and was zonked out within about 30 minutes of hitting the pillow. We're excited to take him camping for real soon!



Before and after pillow project. Another nesting project. Our couches are super comfy, but also super ugly. The pillows we had came with them and there's nothing wrong with them, but the room looked so dark. JoAnns sent me a 20% my entire purchase coupon for my birthday this month, and then home decor fabric went on sale for 60% off, so I figured it was time. I LOVE how bring the room looks and feels with just making new covers for the pillows!


This was today's project. Last Christmas I made Cameron a quite book. He loves with it and plays with it almost every Sunday during church, but it didn't have any cars.... this has been a problem. We also wanted him to have a few more "quite" toys for our long trip out to Idaho and Utah soon. Kevin sketched some cars for me and I did my best to recreate them in felt. Either way, Cameron loves them! He calls them "Car Fingers" and started playing with them before I had a chance to glue them together.

There's a condensed portion of our summer. There are a several other things we've been doing that I don't have pictures of yet. We've redone our front landscape, and still have a little more work to make it picture worthy. I do have before and after pics of it that will be up when we finish it :)
We also poured cement to widen our sidewalk and made a pad for a shed. The shed is scheduled for {DIY} installation this Saturday, wish us luck :)

Kevin and I also had the opportunity to participate in the Stake's Youth Pioneer Trek. We were originally going to be Ma and Pa, but due to me being pregnant and Kevin's diabetes, and other factors, we were switched to the activities committee. It was so fun to be involved! In preparation for the trek, I was able to dig into our family history and read about ancestors I have that came from England and crossed the plains. Kevin and I both started looking forward to a non-busy evening so that we could read the stories. It's really gotten me excited about family history and was kind of the kick in the pants I needed to get started with it. I don't think it would have happened had we not gotten the assignment to serve at the Youth Trek. 

Summer isn't over yet and there are so many more projects and adventures we have planned! Looking forward to seeing family and our new little boy soon! 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

For those who haven't heard yet....

We're expecting!!!!! Baby James is due Nov 4th! We should find out mid-June if it's a boy or girl!


Either way, we'll still have at least one prince charming :)


Frankenmuth Snowfest 2014

Every year, a small German town has a Snowfest, where there is an ice and snow sculpting competition. It was fun to walk around there, but it was soooo cold! (good thing though, since it would melt if it wasn't...) They also had a small petting zoo and Cameron love love loved feeding the goats! We found a fun toffee shop, delicious find!! When we were walking back to our car, we randomly passed Nemo! lol. Kind of intrigued/ freaked Cameron out. It was definitely a fun family outing! 











Detroit Auto Show 2014

It's been a fun tradition to go to the Detroit Auto show each year. Cameron shares Kevin's love of cars, so it's a perfect fit! Cam wanted to sit in EVERY car possible. Here are a few pics from that night.