Our Front Door

We were lucky to get a townhouse that had "good bones" when it came to the landscaping in the front and back. The tenants before had lots of rock, pavers, terracotta pots, juniper trees, and other accessories (wind chimes, lanterns, etc). It gave me a great starting point, however, our front walk desperately needed work. It was full of pea gravel that the girls would gravitate toward as soon as we were either going outside or coming in. They'd grab handfuls and sprinkle it all over the shared walk and our neighbor was visibly annoyed by the ball-bearing, fall-waiting-to-happen, mess. I told her I was getting rid of the rock (because I too was annoyed). Those words were a trap for me - I had to do it now. I needed that motivation though, because I was going to work on the yard after the baby was born.
Anyhow, it took me 3 days to do. I could only work outside when the girls were happy and when it wasn't too hot. So, that means before nap time or after bed time (7pm). Yard work is hard with kids wanting to be right there with you...or running loose around the parking lot (yikes!). So between wrangling the girls and doing lots of bending and hauling (all the pea gravel out front filled some rock beds in the backyard) and digging, and planting, it was finished. I couldn't be more happier with the end product. I'm actually quite proud of myself - I guess all those HGTV shows paid off :)
Here are the Before & After photos:
Before :( Notice that the shrubs beneath the window were in need of trimming too.

After :) I was able to catch the maintenance man as he was trimming other shrubs and asked him to spruce ours up too. It's all sort of zen-like and that's not a typical style I'd choose, but it actually makes me feel some serenity (NOW!) as I walk past it ;)
Before :( a close up of the rock bed.

After :) The pavers could've been leveled a bit more, but hey, it's good enough for me!

Another close up...

FYI: The two bushy plants in front are Blue Mist Spirea and the four other plants are Liriope Big Blue. It was fun to go to Wal-mart and Lowes and pick out plants for a whole new zone that would actually survive the winter here...there were so many to choose from - I loved it!

And here are my big helpers:
Madeline will learn soon enough that a dress isn't the best clothing to wear while working outdoors, nor will she need a purse :) Maddie and Abbie rarely sat on the steps while I worked, but at least they were being good listeners when I did have to ask them to get out of the parking lot.