Grass in front Yard (9/25-9/27/11)

In the spring we put down seed in the front half of the yard where it had been tore up by the city a few years back.  It was not taken care of when they put in sod, so Mike took out all the dead stuff and put down seed.  We had an overtaking of crab grass and pretty much none of the grass grew.  Our front boulevard was pretty much dead and ugly. 

Last weekend we attended a class at Gertens to learn about lawn care.  We learned that after October 1st it is a little late to put down any seed in MN.  Plus we would have to make sure the crab grass is dead by either waiting until it freezes and dies or use a weed killer and then wait 7-10 days before putting down any seed.  Pretty much they recommended waiting until spring to do anything with it.  

Mike took a rake to the dead crab grass and it ended up pulling up pretty easy and exposing the dirt.  He decided just to take it all out and then put down sod.  Not really his intent for a Sunday afternoon, but that's what it turned into!

 Taking out all the dead grass

 Daddies little helpers!

 Ready for sod!

Mike picked up sod from a place in Hamlake for a whole 80 cents a roll!  Great deal!

 Finally a nice green front yard!!

An update on the backyard grass:  It is growing in beautifully!!  We have a yard full of grass!  We are very pleased this go-round!

Carpet Downstairs

Today we had the pad replaced on the carpet in the bedroom downstairs.  We had water in the room and when it finally dried out there was an odor left behind.  Better safe than sorry we pulled up the carpet, took out the pad, and had a new pad put back in.  Now we will probably shampoo the carpet just to be sure any odor is gone and get things back to normal!  And hope we never get water in that room again!

Kate's Closet (9/19/11)

With small bedrooms and soon to be sharing kids we have been thinking of ways to optimize our space.  Kate's closet is very deep because it is over the steps going downstairs.  We decided to add in drawers and shelves into her closet and take out her dresser to free up space in the room and utilize her closet to the fullest potential.  

Before

After

Back Steps (8/31/11)

Mike covered the back steps with decking and made them bigger.  This is the main door we use, so we thought it would be nice to have more space with the kids.  Now we just need to wait for the wood to dry out and we can stain it.

After the steps were stained:

Another Garage Window (8/29/11)

Mike put in the 3rd and final window in the garage.  It's so nice and bright in the garage now!  We're hoping he can work in the garage and keep and eye on the kids while they are playing in the backyard.

Hydroseed - Round 2! (8/29/11)

We had the yard hydroseeded again.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will work much better this time!!!

Garage Gutters & Windows

Mike put gutters on 2 sides of the house yesterday.  He replaced the gutters on one side that had a hole in them and put gutters on the back, which didn't have gutters at all.  


Today he put 2 windows in the back of the garage.  He has one more for the side to put in another day.

Water! (8/14/11)

We had a big storm with a major downpour and we got a lot of water in the bedroom downstairs!  The carpet was wet in the entire room almost to the door.  It came in through the window and collected on the table that was below the window and all over the floor.  We were not sure if it came in through the foundation but think it could be possible since we had water in the room back in December on a warm day (which didn't come through a window).

The gutters were clogged so all the water was coming down by that corner of the house and the grading wasn't the best either - bad situation!

Mike ended up digging out half of the side of the house and down about 7 feet.

He painted a tar-like sealer on the wall and put plastic over that.  He also put in deeper window wells so if water does collect in them again it won't get up to the window.  They were not too deep before, you can see the water line halfway up the screen.  He filled it all back in and made sure it was graded away from the house.  Also, put on new covers over the window wells.

Mike put down new mulch and planted some day lilies....and it is complete!  Hopefully it solves our water problem!  

Patio (8/15/11)

Mike took out the concrete that was around the back steps.  There was a sidewalk and some old broken concrete.  He put in more pavers and we will make the steps a little larger with decking over them.

Backyard Fun! (8/2011)

OK, so not so fun!  The hydroseed did not work.  We got weeds, weeds, and more weeds!  

The hydroseed guys came back and took a look and said it needs to be ripped up and redone.  We debated on doing sod at this point, but weighed the cost with the other projects we's still like to do and decided it would just be best to hydroseed again.  They will come back and spray for again for free, we just had to get the yard ready for it.


It didn't work the first time because we didn't know that we needed to use Round-up on the yard to kill any weeds.  There was weeds in the yard when they came and sprayed, we asked about them but they said it would be ok.  The heat was probably a big factor too, we had a really warm July - lots of near 100 degree days!  I think we are in a lot better time of year now to seed again!


They hydroseed guys let Mike use their tiller and tractor to smooth the yard; which also saved us a lot of money.


First Mike cut the weeds as short as he could with the mower.  Then he sprayed the Round-up to kill all the weeds and any grass that did grow.  We had to wait 10 days and last weekend, 8/20-8/21, Mike tilled up the yard and smoothed it out.  Then he sprayed Round-up again to make sure everything that was tilled up is dead too.  Now we wait another 7 days for them to come back and spray - they are coming on Monday, 8/29 - WISH US LUCK on round 2!!!

Tilling the yard

Tilled

Smoothing 

Smoothed

Desk (8/13/11)

I love my new desk!!  We bought cabinets from Ikea and put a temporary counter on the top for a week or 2 until Mike could get help cutting the slab of granite.  Zac came over and helped Mike cut 2 sides off the granite so it would fit just right.  It turned out perfect and I can put all my scrapbook stuff in the cabinets!

Last weekend, 8/21/11, I used my new sewing machine on my new workspace and shortened the curtains!  

Evan and Baby #3's Jeeps! (7/28/11)

When the baby comes he is going to share a room with Evan.  We decided to add a little baby decor to the room by bringing back the Jeep border!  It turned out really cute!

Downstairs Bathroom (7/2011)

We finished the downstairs bathroom in July.  I painted, Mike put in new trim, and we got a cabinet.  


Before:

After:

Garage organizing

In May Mike put up some shelves in the garage to put all his things.  I painted one of the walls white and then the project stopped to work on the yard.  Mike is now back at it, finishing up shelves, insulation, and sheeting on the walls.  He did some electrical work yesterday, hung up lights on the outside of the garage, and now today is putting up the sheeting on the walls.  When it is complete and maybe cools down a bit outside we will paint the walls white.  He's so happy to be working on his garage again!!  It's a total mess now until he can find a home for all of his things.  That was the one bad thing about moving to a smaller house.  I will post pics when it is complete!

Grass along side driveway (7/9/11)

There was river rock, mulch, and a couple lilac bushes along side the driveway when we bought the house.  We took out everything and now it is ready for grass!

 Before grass

After grass!

Staining Patio (7/8/11)

Since the yard is seeded we won't be walking in it and tracking dirt all over.  I washed up the patio to get it ready to stain.

 Washed

 Stained

Here are some more pics of the backyard:

We plan on putting wood over the back steps to make them a little larger for getting in the back door and then putting a thin layer of concrete over the old broken up concrete by the steps to clean it up a little.