Landscaping with 'helpers'

Our house is in SERIOUS need of some landscaping! Today, we decided it was time to do something about it. Apparently, just gazing out the window, shaking our heads, and hoping some beautiful flowers would overgrow the weeds wasn't quite enough. We woke up early this morning and within an hour had 3 huge bags of weeds (the 30 gallon yardwaste paper bags) and a large trashcan full of this horrible 'Juniper' groundcover that has bothered me ever since we moved in. It pulled out in one great big 'carpet'. It was so nasty!

I forget how much my boys like being busy! They were actually really helpful, especially Matt. He pulled all the weeds in this one corner and filled an entire yard waste bag himself! Twelve hands working, even when 8 of those hands are rather small, are much faster than just 4 hands. We then went to this great local nursery and browsed their plants. One of the helpful ladies, even helped me draw a plan! So, now we at least have an idea!
Here is a 'before' photo.
Next week, we hope to pull out those ugly red bushes, and put down a nice layer of garden mix soil to even out the beds. Then, maybe we'll plant some, bushes and flowers! Yea!