Hard work: flower beds and walk way

This weekend we were so lucky to have my sister-in-law and her family here for a quick visit. They were awesome about getting their hands dirty with us as we continue knocking away at our large laundry list of things to do around the house. 

As we sat watching the kids play and my father-in-law finish the grading that he started a few weeks ago in the front yard, I mentioned to my SIL that I was planning to rip up all of the nasty weeds in the front flower beds and plant something pleasant to look at.

Before you know it, my brother-in-law and all of the kids are ripping up weeds while she and I jump in the car to head to Home Depot.

I'm so thankful that she was here to help me because I would never have known the difference between perennials and annuals, what soil to buy and where things grow best.

Okay, okay. I got a little carried away photographing the flowers...

...and babies...

He was so fascinated by the dirt! We'll come back to him in a minute.

Since we will be adding a circular driveway and parking in the front yard, we knew we'd need a pathway through the flower beds.

Lining it so pesky weeds don't grow through the rock.

Pretty stones! I know that I want a little more contrast though, so we're going to try to find some darker stones to mix in with these.

We're making progress and I'm loving it! Our next project is going to be the grass and laying out the driveway. This will be the most expensive part of our outdoor project as we're planning to plant some trees, do some landscaping and lay everything out with railroad ties. I also picked out some paint samples for the kitchen and will hopefully be working on that in the next week.

What's up in your world?