We have been outside for 5 days straight.  Like, literally outside ALL DAY! It has been amazing. The boys are tracked out and I am again reminded of why I love year round school.  3 weeks out during the BEST WEATHER OF THE YEAR!  In case you can’t tell, I love the spring.  I love being outside.  And I love my kiddos being home with me. 🙂 (if you’re wondering why I have been a little MIA lately… I’ve been giving most of my attention to my 3 little people!)

Other than ball playing, basketball shooting, hammock lounging, and grilling, we have also been doing some work outside.  If you remember, a little while back I shared our deck makeover.  We went from red painted deck boards and railings to a much cleaner, lighter deck.  It has been about a year and a half since I repainted the deck and it has held up really great.  The only wear and tear has been on the steps, but that is easily touched up (and it was this week!)

Here are some quick before and afters of the deck last fall.

This week, we started by ripping out all of the plants surrounding the deck.  We had large holly bushes that lined the part of the deck you see when you pull in the driveway.  They were hardy and green, but super spiky.  Trimming them was tricky.  But the main reason we wanted them out was because the kids’ basketballs were constantly rolling under the bushes and they couldn’t get them out.  We figured we’d take them out and then replace with smaller bushes, but now that they are gone, we are just going to put grass all the way around the deck.  On the back portion of the deck, there were big, thick bushes as well.  Theses were in good condition and not spiky, but it was nice to get them out and gain about 6 feet of extra yard for the kids to play.We hired a guy to help us take all of these out and haul them away (mainly because we didn’t want to mess with the holly bushes).  He was in and out in an hour and we kept saying, “Geez, why didn’t we do this sooner?”.  It feels clean and open and even more spacious.  I grabbed some seed at Home Depot and we spread it, knowing it’s not the perfect time of year for seeding, but some grass is better than no grass, right?  Also, most of this is shady so the sun shouldn’t blaze it too badly.

Then we were left with tons of red deck that was hidden before.  Obviously I knew it was there, but couldn’t get to it (or see it) with the plants in the way.  Insert my trusty assistants.  My little buddies.  One morning while our youngest was in school, we knocked this out and let’s just say I am $10 in the hole.  Cheap labor.  Haha!  They did gladly help and actually had fun.This was after the painting was finished.  Thank you boys! 🙂We added a few deck plants and the deck is ready to roll for the season!  I’m remembering why we enjoy this deck so much. It’s beautiful out here during the day.  Super shady.  And we’ve eaten dinner out here every night for the past week.

I built this large outdoor farm table last year and it has been the best addition to our porch.  Last week we hosted Jason’s team from work and fit 11 adults here for dinner.  And it’s dreamy at night too!I’m planning on spending every waking moment out here…well, at least until the mosquitoes come 🙂  And I will post some more pics when (and IF) we get some grass.

Also, coming soon… a post on some consulting projects I have been working on….stay tuned!