Spreading the Straw

After Scott got the yard all leveled out, top dressed with black dirt and spread the grass seed it was time to get som insulation on those new sprouts of grass.  We were lucky enough to grab a few bails of straw from the farm and had 2 eager helpers to make the job go quicker.

I don't know how much straw spreading this one actually did...but she did love running through it.

Then somehow we got into a game of hide & seek around the yard.



It's Official...We Have A Pool!!

With LOTS of help from others (thank you Grant & Joe) and the expertise of my cousin Heath and Leon of BlockCo we got the pool put up last Saturday.  It was a very interesting process to watch (I wasn't allowed to help as I was on kid watch duty).

Once the professionals got there the guys got busy measuring the level of the sand with some fancy tool...actually I think it was just a level...but it made these beeping noises when it was level so that makes it fancy :).  Once the sand was all nice and level the guys started putting down the cement paver thingys (technical term I know), the wall track and re barb (sp??) to hold the sides of the pool in place as they put it up.  I'm told that metals is heavy and the task of unfolding it is not easy - which is probably why it took all 5 of the guys.

Once all the sides were up the guys had to push the sand up against the sides from the inside to ensure the walls were stable.  While Scott and Grant tackled that the other guys started placing the beams around the outside.

Don't you know you can't watch a pool being put up without being in another one?  Kind of ironic yes, but it was around 90 degrees that day...the guys were so lucky to have some shade!

Once they had the sand pushed up in the middle and the beams on the outside attached it was time to get out the liner.  Heath said we needed to lay it out in the sun to let it bake and become more pliable.

After the liner had baked they (carefully) started putting it in the pool and pulling the lip over the side...kind of reminded me of putting a new trash bag in the wastebasket...but on a much bigger scale.

Watching is hard work...this one was plum tuckered out :).

But not this one...she kept asking me when we could get in the new pool!

Here is the first truck of water being dumped in.  You can see the hose thing on the left hand side and the guys lined up taking a much needed break!

It took two whole milk trucks (7,000 gallons in each load) and then a bit from the hose to fill it.

Man the rest of our yard is a mess right now...but don't worry we'll get right on it (seriously I think we have forgotten what the word relax means sometimes).

So...gazebo - check, rug & shade curtains - check, pool - check.  And Scott has been working his tail off spreading a top layer of black dirt over the remaining areas of dirt in our yard and seeded it the other night...so black dirt & seed - check!

I even got in it last night to vacuum for the first time...by the time I was done my feet were numb as it was only 68 degrees...but we have a clean pool :).  I was also the smart one who jumped in the day after it was put in...when it was 60 degrees...talk about refreshing!

This weekend...we are going wood shopping for the deck materials.  I am SO excited to see how that turns out and I am just as excited to see my hard working man take a break!



Just Some Hams

And here is little Grayden...isn't he just the cutest!  He is doing so well since his surgery and is so much happier and more comfortable.  I know his mommy & daddy are so very happy everything went so well and that their baby boy is able to breath easier.  My brother was making him crack up - I just love those little gummy smiles :).



Spray Painted Rug

Yup I am that crazy.  I am also that cheap and that impatient.  As I said before I wanted a rug out on our deck to add a little color to all the tans, browns and blahs.  The only problem - outdoor rugs are expensive!  If they aren't expensive then they have no color and are very neutral, which totally defeats my purpose of what I want out there.

I have seen posts about people who have painted rugs.  Search for it on Pinterest and you will get so many cute ideas.  The only problem with that is that every post I read had one thing in common - they were all very time consuming.  I wanted color and I wanted it fast!  So why not spray paint.  I mean spray paint theoretically should hold up better - right?

So I headed off to Home Depot and grabbed a 6 x 9 indoor/outdoor utility rug in a very boring grey, Rustoleum spray paint in aqua & green apple, a can of clear coat and a roll of duct tape.  You should have seen the look I got from the guy at Home Depot when I told him what I planned on doing - I think he was pretty sure I was going to ruin a perfectly good rug.   I then taped off my rug with duct tape in the design I wanted and sprayed away. 

Including the time it took to tape of the rug, this project took a total of 30 minutes to complete and my total cost came in under $32.  Now that's what I'm talking about!!  And the best part - I love how it turned out!

The duct tape worked really well and my lines came out pretty darn great if I say so myself.  I opted to use duct tape because it is wider and so I could tape off that entire grey area and spray both the green & blue colors without having to wait or re-tape.

And here is how it looks with the table (and two camera avoiding little girls) on it.  Oh and those "curtains" are spray painted drop clothes!  We needed something to shield us from the late afternoon sun and that also added a tad bit more color.  The best thing is they are movable so depending on what time of day it is we can maneuver them around the gazebo to keep us shaded :).

Happy Pretend Birthday!!

Since Lilly has a summer birthday, she got to celebrate her pretend birthday last week at preschool.  Each kid gets a whole birthday week where they get to be line leader and other neat little things that just make them feel special all week long.

At the end of the week the birthday kid gets to bring in a snack and birthday songs are sung.  I got off of work early to take the snack and see all the celebrations.  It was absolutely so cute to see her interact with the other kids. 

I snapped a few pictures of the "birthday girl" and her cupcake cake.  I would love to fib and say I made the cake, but I actually grabbed it at Meijer.  Who knew they carried such cute things there!?!  Oh and that's Lilly pointing to the specific cupcake that we were saving to take home to Nolee.  She wanted to make sure Nolee got the biggest pink one there was - how sweet is that :).

How crazy is it that we have an almost 5 year old!?!  Oh how the time sure does fly.  Happy pretend Birthday Lilly!!



Gazebo Goodness

Well the gazebo is up and I have to say I think this is really going to enhance our summer experience.  No more hot tootsies and a nice shaded place to dine al fresco or just relax with an ice cold lime flavored beverage :)

We got our gazebo at Menard's and I have to say that the assembly was pretty smooth.  There was actually a pretty good storm last night with some decent amount of winds (seriously the day after we put it up - right!?!) and it held up.  We bolted that thing down to the deck to make it a bit sturdier (and in hopes it wouldn't blow away in the wind!).  So far I like it, but I'm holding off on my final review of it after I see how it holds up during the summer.

Our patio furniture fits quite nicely under there.  I'm going to keep my eye ope for a fun colored outdoor rug to add a little color. 

It's quite tall so it feels very airy and not closed it at all.  The side panels are netting that come together and zip, so essentially we have a screened in (hopefully mosquito free) room to enjoy the summer nights in as well.

I love how it makes our deck feel more like an extended room off the house.  At our old house we had a covered back patio and we used it so much (and I had a ton of fun decorating it).  I forgot how nice it was to have that outdoor space with a semi indoor feeling.

And here is Scott photo bombing :).  This photo makes it seem like our yard is really coming together and that it should just be about time for us to sit back, relax and enjoy our hard work...until I back up further and take this photo...

Or go even further and take this one...

Yikes!!  We still have a lot of work to do (and a TON of grass seed to buy) but at least we have a nice place to sit and take a break every once it a while now :).  Oh and the pool is scheduled to go in on Saturday...so if you are in the area and would like to give us a hand come on over!!  We'll provide the beverages, my kids will surely provide the entertainment and we'll even have a cool place for you to kick back when it's all done :)!