Is Dad trying to be like This Old House?

I am very grateful for my home. 

I love having a HUGE backyard. Mostly because I don't have to mow it.

But our yard looks like crap. And not from lack of effort on Jeff's part. I want to get that clear. Jeff mows each Thursday, rain, snow, sleet, or Hades heat. 

It just feels like we have no clear vision of how to turn our massive yard into one of those magazine escapes like we want. I have no clue how to keep any plants alive, let alone what kind of plants to even get! Although, my flower pots are still looking awesome even with the record heat and month of no rain. And there's only so much of Jeff to go around between work and husband and father duties. Plus, the lack of a sprinkler system on a 1/3 acre takes up a lot of energy. 

Last night we sat outside enjoying summer and chatting about what we should do with the yard. Oh sure, we can list out big ideas like having a "child-only zone" with a swing set, playhouse, sandbox, and trampoline or the "man zone" to house the "man toys" like the 4 wheelers or the "party zone" with a covered patio and this patio furniture set. But then we look around and think we don't have the know-how, funds, or vision to actually make it happen.

For the past year, we've debated over and over about whether we should a) stay, b) add on to our house and do some of the other "wish list" items we have, or c) build a new house. We love our neighbors. We love the area where we live. We love having an actual yard. We hate not having any kids in the neighborhood. We get annoyed with a historic home that has a few quirks that we don't know how to fix or have the money to just pay someone to do it for us. We hate having small living spaces now that our kids are getting bigger.

Well, we are still here. And last night as Jeff and I were rattling off our ideas and "zones" we want to create, I said I want to enjoy our home/yard as long as we are here. I don't want to just keep putting things off because we think we might someday move or add-on. Because let's face it, we've been here eight years and I really don't see us going anywhere anytime soon. As I started to have a mini-pity party over the things we don't know how to do or can't figure out what we really want, I decided to walk around the yard and see the beauty of what we do have right now.

Pretty awesome, right?

Oh, and today we did make some progress on one of our yard projects. We went to the "man store" aka Lowe's to check out options for sheds. Pearl asked me in this super annoyed-I-don't-want-to-be-here voice, "Is Dad trying to be like This Old House?" 

The "man zone" has been leveled and gravel-filled in preparation for this bad boy. Now we've just got to convince someone to come and help us build it. We need know-how and tools. Please. Anyone.