beginning landscaping

What a busy day we had yesterday. If you didn't scroll down to my last post, you'll need to do that to see the boys' room and the progress we made in there. Well, the secret is, Mike made the progress in there, while I made progress outside. So we were both busy! Last summer towards the end, we decided we hated the 3 bushes that were in the corner, so we got rid of them, leaving the roots. Obviously we had to do something about that this summer, so hence, yesterday the kids and I went out and started picking up all the little rocks. And let me tell you, those small landscaping rocks take forever to pick up, plus there are pine needles mixed in, so we all got our share of pokes!

Finally able to rip the plastic up so I can start trying to dig out the roots. The plan is to bring the landscape around the house and put grass where those roots currently are.
We made a special trip to Lowe's (lifesaver) and got a tiling spade and a garden claw and started digging up the bottoms of the roots. Once we got a chunk uncovered, Mike came out and hooked up the chains to the truck and the roots and out they came.

Tada!
We're not sure what's happening here, but we want to take out the wood ties on this side of the house and possibly the trees, although we can't decide. They're kind of nice to have in the summer to offer a bit of privacy since that is our bedroom window, but yet they do scape against the house. The other problem here is the landscaping has settled next to the house, which could be the cause of some of our water problems in the boys' room. We'll start by building up the land next to the house and making it slope away. The front of the house will have to have the bushes taken out in order to do so. I wish landscaping was my forte, but it's not, so we'll see how it goes.
Lots was accomplished this weekend. The weather was gorgeous and we spent almost the entire days outside. I could live in spring weather year round. Not to hot, not to cold, just the way I like it.