Grass Growing 101

Recently we started growing grass in our front and back yards.  We planted our first set of grass seed over the weekend of September 17th.  The whole process took a lot of work but we are hoping to see great results!  Since the beginning we've had to put more seed down from time to time because we have some pesky squirrels that like to dig up the seeds and straw!

Here are some more pictures of all the grass growing in our front yard...hopefully it will keep growing in nicely!  Aside from the squirrel holes!

Peter's 30th Birthday Bash

I'm a little outdated on my posts considering I started writing this one about a month ago but I will try to be better!

Peter's Birthday weekend was a huge success!  We had a wonderful time with Peter's parents, David, Megan, Jules and Josie and are so happy they were able to make the long trip!  Here are some pictures from the weekend.


"My Peter"...Jules and "her Peter"
Juliann frequently refers to Peter is this loving way.  It's too cute!



Josie loving the zoo and getting tickled!



The Spike Arnold "Ellington/Palmer" station at Peter's party, which was a big hit of the night!



Beer tasting for the beer guru...I picked 6 different beers from some of Peter's favorite breweries for everyone to taste!

 



The Ellington Crew...pretty good looking bunch:)









The birthday boy and I with his macaroon flavored cake!



Happy 30th to my cute Hubby!

Peter's 30th Birthday is today and I want to wish him a wonderful day!  Love you so much!

Labor of Love...the Patio!

Well, we've been working on beautifying our back yard for a while now with the main focus on building a patio.  When we moved into our house there was a tragic looking deck off the back that was very small.  The deck was removed in April and we were left with this:

Big Mess!

Then life got very busy with the end of the school year for me and a lot of out of town weekends in May and June.  So in early July Peter and I started the removal of all the stones in the yard.  It was also the hottest weeks of the summer...perfect time to start an outdoor project!


A lot of heavy lifting!

Then with the help of my Uncle Tom we started to prepare the ground for the new patio and put in proper drainage to get water away from our house.

You may notice all of the old stones stacked alongside the house!  All were eventually removed!



After the drainage was complete we then layered the ground with gravel and sand.  We also put in a little wall because of the slope of our backyard.  Basically, there is a little step down to a lower patio both about the same size.

The sand is smooth and leveled...ready for the pavers!

Top tier of the patio is almost complete...Gary (a friend of my uncle) is finishing things up

And the patio is finished!!  Now we need furniture!

And here the patio is really complete with furniture (thank you Mr. And Mrs. T), an umbrella and plants!  P.S. Ranger loves the patio too because he wasn't allowed out back during the building process!

The whole process took a lot of work and time but thanks to my Uncle Tom, cousin Luke and some of his friends we were able to do it ourselves and we love it!  Now we just need to grow some grass but as Tom said, Rome wasn't built in a day so it will happen eventually!

And the Blogging Adventure Begins!

This blog has been created in order to update family and friends on everything that is going on with our new house and our lives in Cincinnati.  We have already made a lot of changes so here are some "Before and After" pictures of what we've accomplished thus far.

Here we are after closing on the house...So EXCITED!  We are currently working to
Make-Over the front yard...stay tuned for an "After" picture.

The Living Room Before

This is the After Picture
We lightened up the walls, painted the trim and fire place and added our personal touches.

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After
We painted walls, trim, put in new shutters (not pictured) and removed shades from the
window in the back of the room.  Currently we are looking for new dining room furniture.

The Kitchen Before

Kitchen After
Not much change here aside from a little decorating and organizing. 
We would love to do a kitchen remodel someday!

Master Bedroom Before...Don't you love the Kermit the Frog Green?!

Master After
We painted the walls a very light green and painted all the trim a crisp white.



Guest Bedroom Before
(you may notice that the closet does not have a bar or any shelving)

Guest Bedroom After and ready for visitors!



Guest Bedroom Closet After
We put in custom Alfa closets from the Container Store...they are AMAZING!



This is a recent picture of the front of our house...can you see Ranger behind his doggie gate?

I'll post again soon because there are a couple of new projects in the works!