Staining the Porch/Deck and the Front Doors AFTER Picture

The Door AFTER and Porch BEFORE picture...

I don't know if I love the door color.

I definitely don't hate it.

And I definitely do like it more than the old color.

It needs a wreath or something I think.

THE TOOLS

THE PROCEDURE
The husband and I got started at about 10:30 this morning.

We began by reading the directions...all of them.

Then we got to work...I worked on cutting in the edges and the husband used the "Deckmate" tool.

The "Deckmate" tool was a disaster.

(I feared that little gadget might be too good to be true)

The stain came pouring out of it.
So we both used brushes and we brushed, and we brushed and we brushed.

We were very happy with the look of it.

We worked until about noon when the Kindergartner had to go to school.
I kept working while the husband dropped off the daughter and hit the dollar menu at McDonalds for lunch.
We finished at 1:00pm.


AFTER...


(ignore the blue tape at the bottom of the stairs)

We love it!
It probably won't be so shiny when it's dry but the color is great!

D says A tradition of character-building value is to encourage your children each evening as they prepare for bed to tell you one thing they did during the day which they should improve upon, and then have them relate the choicest happening of the day. By the way, such a plan of evaluating the day can be of merit to parents, too.

The choicest happening of my day was staining the deck with the husband :)

Painting the Front Doors

BEFORE...

I was so excited to get started on this project that I forgot THE TOOLS picture but here is a picture of the most important tool--the paint!

My friend Rachel painted her front door this color--FEDORA.

We have the same color brick so I am hoping it looks as great on my doors as it does on hers.

THE PROCEDURE

I painted the squares and rectangles on the doors first.

(pretty sure they have an actual name but I can't place it)

I was immediately reminded that painting this particular front door can be tedious.

I tried to be fast...but tedious and fast do not go together.

I painted from 1:30pm until about 7:30pm, taking only 1 potty break.

I kind of went into crazy Becky project mode--where everyone and everything gets neglected except for the project I'm in the middle of.

The husband and kids almost had to eat cereal for dinner but the daughter offered to whip up some homemade mac and cheese in exchange for 15 minutes off her violin practicing.

I took the deal and worked straight through dinner while she fed the troops.

By the time I finished (2 coats) it was dark and I couldn't tell what it looked like or get a good picture so you'll have to tune in tomorrow for the AFTER...

Instead here are my 6 cute kids on Halloween!

The kids thought they were so funny in these glasses.

They kept cracking jokes like--

Oh wait, take the picture again, I blinked!

I'm having trouble seeing, let me put on my glasses.

(The 11 year old's Sunday School teacher did not think it was funny when he used that one in class last Sunday)

D tells us there is value in playing with children--on their level--all year round. This helps her children to be creative--a talent sadly lacking in this generation; it forms a companionship between them and her which will help weather the tensions and temptations of adolescence; and it enriches their childhood with memory-making fun.

Thanks to the Grandma for the memory-making fun glasses!