We haven’t done much to our backyard since we bought the house years ago. We’ve torn out a few trees, removed a dilapidated shed and built a new shed/playhouse. We have said for years, we’re going to start working on transforming the backyard and yet by the time we’ve got free Saturdays, it’s too hot to be motivated to start the project. We trick ourselves into thinking we’ll do it in the fall when it cools down. It doesn’t seem to ever cool down so November rolls around and all the holiday fun that goes with the season and we’re not ready to start the project. This has been a five-year cycle.

But now I’m serious.

So the other night, as the sun started to tuck behind the house, I went outside to make a plan. I sat on the trampoline and tried envisioning what I wanted out of the backyard. As I surveyed the project, I couldn’t help but notice the dirt patch/runway in our grass. Most would be frustrated their grass looks like this – but this tells me our backyard gets a lot of use!

We have a soccer net just outside of this picture and that dirt patch is the kicking pathway of the goal – it gets so much love. Kick after kick and running back and forth, grass doesn’t stand a chance of growing there. As I look to re-do this space, I know that soccer goal isn’t going anywhere and chances are, our grass will probably still look like this even after it gets a complete makeover. And thats okay. In 10 years when my kids no longer want to go outside and kick a ball, we’ll have nice grass. Until then, I’ll enjoy this view.