Beautiful Weather

The weather has been unbelievable. I am talking 70 degree weather in March-- This may be commonplace down south, but I don't live in the South.  I live in the normally icy Midwest. I didn't even have to wear a coat today. Tomorrow, I'm planning on running laps out on the track during my lunch break (yes, I'm that girl now).

There's no doubt, this beautiful weather has me spending a lot more time outside. On Sunday, Hubs and I spent hours working in the backyard. The poor thing was in pitiful shape (the yard, not Hubs). For starters, there were little doggy "gifts" all over the lawn.  And where there was no dukey, there were sticks and leaves.

First line of defense--Hubs took up the rake and gave the whole yard a once over. I followed along behind him with my purple lawn gloves on.  I believe we filled five yard bags.

Once the grass was raked and cleared, Hubs spread grass seed and I uncovered my tulips and roses (already budding).  I also checked on the two lilac bushes we planted last fall; I was worried they weren't going to make it. I was excited to see that they are beginning to bud as well.  Hopefully, we will have fragrant lilacs greeting guests as they approach our home this summer.

Spring is in the air and it doesn't even officially start until next week.

Here's a perfect example of how bad the grass is in the back, but not for long (we hope).

Now that the yard is cleared, Hubs and I have big plans for the back. We want to keep babying the grass because there are currently several bald spots-- From the dogs, the removed greenhouse/sidewalk, and just the general lack of care the yard obviously went through before we arrived on the scene. We also want to tear out our wood deck and retaining wall. We want to replace the wood with flagstone, which should make the backyard look more clean and bright. We also want to move the fence next to the driveway, so that it is aligned with the house and not jutting out into the driveway like it is now.  Lastly (and this really isn't in the back, but more to the side of the house), we want to resurface our driveway; it's pretty shabby.

No matter how gross the grass is--Judson is always happy to be outside.

And Grace just wants to run. She's our sporty girl.

There is definitely a lot of work to be done, but we are determined to tackle as much as we can.  It will be a busy spring and summer.  Also, I have Hubs word that we will finish our master bedroom by May (and his fingers weren't crossed behind his back- I checked).