lack of curb appeal

Right in the front of our house we have this big square of dirt that has always just been ugly and easily fills with water when it rains.  When we moved in it was filled with ugly black mulch.  I guess it was supposed to be a garden area, but it was just an eye sore.  Brent and I have talked and talked about what to do with this little patch of ugly.  

My parents somehow acquired a bunch of bricks and asked us if we wanted them.  Brent immediately new what he would do with them.  Our plan is to fill in the square with bricks and make a sort of patio area with some potted plants and a bench.  Anything would look better than what we had.  I didn't think to take a before picture so this picture is after he dug it out and started laying bricks.  So imagine it with dirt and weeds sticking all out or filled with nasty rain water. 

Day 1

Poor Brent couldn't find anybody to help him.  He had planned on starting this since the first weekend in March, but it kept raining every weekend and the whole thing would fill with water.  So he finally started on Saturday, March 17th.

Day 2

He finally found some helpers.

Jackson let me help for about an hour.

Abigail really was a great helper.  She worked really hard and walking/playing in all the sand was a major plus for her.

*After Day 2 it rained off and on for about a week.  The whole area filled with water.  Bummer!!



Day 3

Finally on March 27, ten days after starting, everything was all dried up and Brent had some time to work on the patio again.  He made some great progress. 

 In fact he finished everything he could at the time.  He used up all the free bricks.  It didn't quite cover the whole area, so we are brainstorming what to fill in the empty space with. 

Day 4 

Almost done!!  There's a tiny spot right in the middle where we ran out of bricks.  Once we finish the bricks our plan is to get a cute bench to sit right in front of the window.  Then get some pretty potted plants to sit on each side of the patio. 

 I hate how dirty the bottom rows of bricks on our house look.  Brent has tried pressure washing, but it didn't really help. Any suggestions??

We also have some new additions to our front yard.  Our lovely neighbor across the street gave us these two trees from her yard.  She works in her yard and gardens every single day.  She is probably tired of looking at our ugly front yard.  This area is also on our to do list.  We have plans for lots of plants and some bushes.  I'm sure I will post some before and after pics of that as well.

 I was going to wait and post this when everything was completely finished, but who knows how long it will take for us to get a bench and potted plants, so I decided I would post this much for now.  I will post final pics when we are 100% finished.