Finally getting ready for spring

Now that our grass has returned to a somewhat green color we have decided that we should start getting the yard in order for outdoor play. It has been nice weather here for a good month and we haven't been outside as much as we should. When we moved into our house last year we weren't in love with the landscaping...there just wasn't much to it. Now we want to make our yard a place we want to hang out and look at and say...Wow, that's nice!! So we are in the process of digging up little bushes we don't like, taking away all the bark stuff that floats away at each big rain and replacing it with a little sod, some new plants that add color and some really neat landscaping rocks we found yesterday. We need a large amount of rocks and it just doesn't make sense to buy one bag at a time so we looked into places that sell it in bulk. After only 5 minutes of discussion we knew what we wanted and think it's going to look great. So wish me luck with all of this. I have no green in my thumb so I hope that everything lives throught the summer. Any suggestions are always welcome. I will have to post some before and after pics once we get our hands dirty.