Backyard Breakdown (Almost) to Date

Chris has been working his fine little tooshie off in our back yard. That is good and bad. Good because the backyard is looking sweet. Bad, because he has one of the nicest asses I have ever seen. TMI? Sorry.

Along with the help of my dad, Chris's dad, my brother-in-law Jordan, and a little help from yours truly, it is coming along fabulously. We aren't even close to being done, but I am amazed compared to last year. This is where we were at just about a year ago:

No yard, no fence, nothing, nada. My dad had started grading it with the tractor and we were prepping for the patio.

We brought in sand to prep for the patio pavers. This we would find out, became our greatest baby sitter. We have brought in several loads of dirt since and the kids and dog have lived on them.

Then the top soil and the rain came. Nothing is harder to swallow than paying to bring back in the top soil a developer took out. Especially when you are buying it from the same guy who took it out!

For some reason I can not find pictures from when we put the first round of grass in last summer. Below you can see the line on where we stopped last year. We put sod down about half way back, planted a few willows, flowering pears, pines, a maple, bushes along side the house (you will see further down), and curbing.

This year Chris's parents were re-sodding their front yard, so we decided to piggyback their delivery from Idaho and lay sod another quarter of the way back. My dad formed out where our basketball court and future shed will go.

Then we were prepared for gravel and concrete. I can't even express how happy my husband was becoming. The basketball court was within his sights! We got great advice from the man helping us lay the concrete to do recycled concrete underneath our pad. It was half the cost of regular gravel. That helps the ole budget! Laying 1800 square feet of concrete ain't cheap.

(See all those lines up there in the lawn? Yeah, that is all mowed by a push mower. It sucks, by the way.) 

Chris even snuck in a little garden box for me when he wasn't too busy. Sweetest guy ever. Wish we could just plant in the ground out here, but clay gardening just isn't my forte.

And here, right down there, is where the playhouse is going! Chris got his basketball court (which I truly love, too) and I the kids get a playhouse. He and his dad are working on it as I type. Couldn't be more excited. Gosh, didn't all ya'll want a playhouse/treehouse (and don't forget the battery operated car) as a kid? I did. So bad. And I survived just fine without them, but I don't care. A playhouse was on the top of my list for me, I mean, our kids. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they have the same dreams I once did as a young kid.

We also finished off the flower bed area on the east side of our lot. It took us far too long to finish this. It has been a muddy, weed filled mess for the past year. But running conduit, trenching for additional sprinklers, laying sprinkler pipe, yard, yard, yard and also squeezing in some daddy time with kids came before this. He's a keeper I tell ya.

Also, not photographed yet is our new curbing and our swing set is here! It is in the open space you see below, behind where the curbing and rock end. We finally brought it over from my dad's house, and it was an old rickety mess. Seriously, so, many, loose, bolts. But we tightened those babies up and it took me two days, but it stained up real purdy. Looks brand new!

From last year to this year, I'd say we are kicking this clay filled backyard's butt. It ain't been pretty or easy, but we're doing it. We owe a lot of people a whole bunch of cookies, because there is no way we could've afforded to do this on our own. THANKS FAMILY!

House Tour: Exterior

I can't believe I still have never posted photos of the outside of our house yet! We (Chris) have worked so stinking hard out there, along with my dad. Grading, edging, sod laying, tree planting, and landscaping, we are amazed on what has been completed this year. Real quick here is a video of the uprising of Casa de Shupe:

Minus the driveway, everything you see was done by us. 

I love our walkway. I love it so much. The kids go around and around it on their bikes and wiggle cars.

Hopefully by next year we will have this area complete. We have added some grasses and rock and stepping stones since this was taken. Mulch, additional bushes, and a pad for a playhouse will go in next. Then the playhouse, I am so excited for it!

This patio is one of my favorite spots. I am so glad we decided to put it in. It has added so much extra space during our backyard barbecues. Plus it is real purdy.

We put in about 8,000 square feet of grass this year. And we have about that same amount of space to go in the back. Oh, mama. But the next phase is kind of exciting to put in. Just right of the wheelbarrow back there is going to be another jut out where we are putting our swing set. Behind that (and what I am most looking forward to) is going to be our garden. Opposite of the swing set on the left side will be a basketball court. Behind the court will be an RV pad and shed.

Yet again, a lot of work. I think we are going to try and pour the concrete this fall, but the rest will happen in the spring as money allows. 

Even though whenever we look out the window we see endless things to be done, we have had so much fun running around this yard playing football, soccer, wiffle ball, you name it. So it's all worth it.