DIY Memories

Before it got too cold, we spent a few weekends giving a 'lil "TLC" to the outside/front yard of the house.  Praise the LORD that we have incredibly thoughtful and helpful families, because we had (and needed!) LOTS of help!   You know, people say that there's a sense of pride when you do things yourself.  Well, at the risk of sounding like a snot, I have to say, after experiencing both sides (hiring and DIY), I'm pretty sure I feel just as good seeing a finished result without the labor.  Terrible, I know.  However, I will say, the memories you make are way better when you do things yourself. :) Here are a few pics of the adventure(s)!

Please notice that the bushes could qualify as small trees, and the "ivey" (yes, that's right, the shrubbery on the right side of the picture is in fact ivey) could hide a large animal.

 Matt vs. Massive Root... after an impressive battle, Matt won.  This is his victory picture. :)

Love this!  Stage one: removing the ivey.

 Surprise!  There is a really pretty stone wall that lines the whole driveway!

My first experience with a power tool.  It's quite fun!

Look at the wall!

I swung this thing maybe 20 times when I was having my own battle with a root in the backyard... it is HEAVY! But I don't like to lose (or ask for help), so I paid for it the next morning. Thank goodness for manly muscles. :)

Love. This is my sweet Noah, always ready to help. :)

 My other love, Maddox. :) And I quote "Mine!  I NEED it! No, I do, Noah!"

One of the sweetest parts about being five is no matter how little you are actually doing, being a part of the action feels like such an accomplishment.  He was so proud!  And I of course loved the help. :)

 Yay!

This is awesome.  So we had no idea how freezing it was going to be on our work day.  Thank goodness, my mom had an awesome 80s wind breaker that my sister could wear. Ha! I repeat: awesome.

If I could only share a video of the next thirty seconds as I pull forward in the jeep and see my mom disappear from sight in my rear view mirror... and then pop back up yelling "STOP! STOP! The chain came off!!!". Hil.ar.i.ous! We all died laughing, and fortunately no one got hurt. Definitely a memory from this DIY project.

I'm sure our neighbors loved us for this massive amount of debris.

Getting ready to put up the shutters. Matt painted them for me to give them a glossy finish instead of a matte look. Lesson we learned: When you buy plastic shutters, you have to prime first. We'll repaint those when it's warm again. :)

:)

I hate that I don't have pictures of Matt's dad digging the path for the walkway, or Matt's mom laying the brick outline and placing the slate pieces just so. Matt had a tennis match in the morning and I left the camera in his car!  Hopefully the before-and-after pics show that this path was a sweet labor of love.  Thanks M and D! 

Yay! What a difference!