YAHOOOO!!! We have grass!!!

We got the grass delivered on Friday. Tuboo and He-man dad worked hard to get it all laid down.

Doesn't it look awesome! teehee!

Through this process we've learned there are so are many different sides to this grass. Here are some pics to explain:

A conservative day time grass:

A more elegant evening grass look:

Tuboo cleaning up after a "pedi-grow spray" spa treatment:

Fun daytime grass:

Tuboo reminicing and posing like in a pic he took when he was 3ish

Jumping for joy





Happy feet

Who knew grass was so fascinating!?!

So with all that work we are about 85% done. We still have to get rid of some leftover concrete/rocks, Tuboo is also working on putting up solar lights for the walkway and making a portable fence for our doggies. I still have to finish the paint on the front porch/steps and then its all done! Celebration BBQ coming soon!!!!

reflections on our summer vacation of '09

Well...it wasn't what we hoped or planned for but we had a "rock'n" good time on our vacation this year. We got a nice tan, lots of outdoor activity and worked out everyday. Isn't that what most people want? NOT!! Not, if they found out it also included digging out an endless amount of concrete for 5 days straight and then plowing through stinky top soil!!!

So last post I left you with some pics of our (Tuboo's) digging adventure. Well that continued for 5 more days. There was so much concrete and crap that we dug up more than "4 cubic yards of concrete debris".



I feel like puking just looking at that pic. It may just look like dirt but trust me, most of what is in that bin are rocks and concrete. This next picture is just a tiny sample of what we dug up. But it shows the variety in size we were dealing with. $%$#@ rocks!!! Yes I'm still bitter.



Luckily, we had my dad, aka he-man, helping us out that day. I can't believe he's 68! The way he was working the wheelbarrow was awesome.

Anyway, enough about rocks. This is what it finally ended up looking like by Thursday.









Sooooooooooo pretty! But it didn't last for long.

On Friday we got the top soil slinged in. Sure beats having it delivered and dumped in front of the house. The slinging system basically slings the dirt into your yard via a conveyor belt. It was pretty cool. Lucky Tuboo got to go right into the truck (see red arrow) with all the stinky soil to make sure the soil was getting out properly.



If it wasn't for a stupid pole and some of the bushes out front, the slinger could have sprayed the soil right into the position we wanted. But unfortunately we couldn't do it. Nonetheless it did save us about 2 days of hard labour.

So today we spent the day plowing through the dirt. We rented a big roller thingy that flattened out the soil. We are hoping for rain the next few days to help settle it all down. Then...dum dum da dum...we will be ready for GRASS!!!!!!!! Can't wait!

Can you dig it?

Dig Dig Dig...its been all about digging and hot weather.

We've been experiencing record breaking hot weather this last week and poor tuboo had to spend every night digging. Too bad we couldn't use Hampton and ZuZu's digging skills to help him out with this.

Anyway, here are some pics:

Look at all those rocks and crap!


This is the left side of the yard, tuboo will be working on this side tomorrow


A rare treat for Hampton. We let him out in the front for a few minutes. It only took that long for him to want to eat and get into the rocks and dirt ~ Have some class Hampton!


A favorite spot for the bb's as they watched their daddy dig.



We did manage to get out today and we found some great deals. We got an umbrella (that even tilts) for $29! We also found the perfect wrought iron patio set we've been looking for since last year. Cute huh!

once you go black..???

Ok, need your help! Tuboo and I are arguing about #2 and #3 (see pic below for number scheme). He wants to paint #3 black but I think it will end up looking to 'piano' like. i like the cream b/c it softens the look (as Debbie also noted) and also makes it all match the rest of the house. What do you think? If we paint #3 black then not sure what to paint #2. Do we paint it olive to blend in (thats what it was before).

#1. don't worry we'll paint this white with black tops to match the stair railings. don't let that distract you.
#2. as you can see currently this small strip of trim is black.
#3. as you can see currently this is cream like the steps (which we decided to paint all cream - didn't keep the white backing - are they called risers? i dunno)






Anyway painting continues the rest of the week and prob won't get done until the weekend.

p.s check out the shrub on the right side of the last pic. Tuboo spent the whole day cutting the shrubs and bushes along the side of the house and out front. 10 bags full!! the way he cuts the shrubs is like how some people pluck their eyebrows. he couldn't really see how much he was plucking whether it was too much or what. good thing i stopped him at one point! the shrubs on the side look very cute now. we now have our very own muffin top shrubs :)

paid for being diligent but not diligent

Hello!
So the contractor who did our pavers FINALLY took away their equipment and garbage so we can start figuring out what to do with the law BUT they took our shovel by mistake! AGGGHHH!!! Anyway, its not like we don't have anything else to do.

On to why we (or I) 'paid for being diligent but not diligent'...so the steps on the stairs had some cracks b/c of weather i suppose. some of the cracks were deep and not even primer would fill so after reading something online and some passing words from someone, the cracks were filled with polyfill. yes, polyfill. i was very diligent about making sure i filled it correctly. Unfortunately with the rain the ployfill started to rise and my beautiful paint cracked. :( long story short, i spent a long time getting that polyfil out, esp b/c i did such a job filling the cracks! my blood sweat and tears are on those stairs, literally!
Anyway, enough whining... :)

lesson for you all - don't fill outdoor stuff with polyfill!

playing with paint colors

The pavers are officially complete! The paver head dude came by last night and sealed it. We debated wether to get the sealing done as we like the worn out look but common sense won out. We figure the pavers will get worn out eventually anyway but best to protect them if we can. The sealant changed the color a bit too which took a little getting used to but again its all 'new' so we'll give it some time to get scruffed up :)

We are super happy with how it all turned out but what is depressing now is the lawn. sigh...

We spent the day painting the stairs. It was damn hot outside. Anyway, we are experimenting a bit with how we might paint the stairs and railings. Take a look and let me know what you think.

We added a black trim, kept the posts white and painted the railings cream. For the stairs we painted the top cream and the backs white. The railings and posts on the porch are the original colors.

Note: the white isn't as bright as its just primer and the rest of the paint is just 1 layer of paint

This is what it looks like without the black trim (kind of)

We are so tired, this will have to do until next weekend. Work starts up on Monday and its gonna be busy! So you'll have to wait till next week to see what we decide :))

paver dude 'rocks'

The paver dude showed up unexpectedly today and did some more work. The paver dude 'rocks' (heehee, get it?)!!....It delayed our 'day of painting' but we didn't mind. Here are some pics:


stairs 1/2 primed






we like the white railings but it won't match the rest of the house. we have an idea of how we can keep some of the white but not sure yet. will show some pics of our 'test' paint job in the next few days.

view from the door to the front yard:



There is Hampton keeping a close eye on things again. He's taking his security job very seriously!

At the end of the day we did manage to get a layer of paint on the sides of the stairs. Pics to follow soon. Man, are we pooped!

paver love!

So I am totally in love with our pavers! Here is a sneak peak:




Paver dude will be back on Thursday to finish the job. I can't wait!

Tomorrow, the painting continues...sigh....

Almost there....

The stairs and fence are finally done! Except we need to paint, ugh! I think they look really really good.


The stairs include a special place for my lawn mower (except right now we don't have any grass - haha!)



The beloved fence (with the posts primed - such a bitch to paint)! We got this done for ZuZu and Hampton. They better appreciate it!



Happy to say we now have a fully fenced in front and back for our bb's!


We had planned to start painting Saturday but the paver dudes showed up 3 days early to our surprise. We were really happy they came early. They are quick which I like even better.






They are here again today and Hampton reports they are just about finished leveling the ground. Next step, install the pavers!