I had my entire structure put together when I decided to paint so I chose to use spray paint on the support bars and roll the chain link fence. Make sure you choose a paint that is suitable for metal, I used RustOleum. When choosing a roller to paint the chain link make sure you get one with a really thick nap, this will save you a lot of time since it will get into all the little areas.

I learned a few lessons from my little project. The first was paint the chain link first and then go back and spray the support bars. If you paint the support bars first the movement of the chain link when your rolling it will remove the wet paint you previously sprayed on. The second is painting the chain link is MESSY! I had paint splashes all over my hands and arms. If you are using an oil based paint the most natural and easiest way I found to remove it is using olive oil. The third is paint the chain link diagonally one direction and then the other. The time spent painting a chain link fence is well worth it, it gives it a whole new look and makes it look more expensive than a cheap chain link fence.

You can see the before picture here.

My painted chain link fence

Ignoring the child
We have tried ignoring him but after thirty minutes of tantrum from a kid that won’t back down he is hard to ignore. I might as well be standing underneath a landing airplane, once he gets going he is louder than any jet engine.

Give your child some space
Another failing method for dealing with my son. He follows you around so he makes sure you know how ticked off he is. Today we tried giving him space in his room and I write this listening to twenty minutes of non stop screaming.

Create a Diversion
All I can say is hahaha! The diversion is met with screams of no or the diversion being hurled across the room.

Hugs
All I’m going to say is two busted lips from a hard headed little boy

Offer Food
Ummm OK, let him learn from an early age if I throw a fit Mommy is going to give me a cookie. No thanks.

Speak Calmly
We have tried the calm approach and talking to him in a soothing voice to find it is a waste of time, he is screaming too loud for him to hear us.

Remove the child from the situation
We tried taking the approach of removing him from the situation, who thought of this? Seriously, the kid has started throwing fits because he knows that he gets his own way by doing so. He is out of the cart, in the car and usually on his way back home.

My daughter had her moments but her tantrums were nothing compared to whatever takes over my son when he has his. The joys of raising kids!

I choose to sit in the parking lot with thunder rattling the car, lightning bolts striking in the distance and the torrential downpour. I thought that it would roll through quickly, 30 minutes we were still there. My son started getting cranky after the first five minutes so I let the kids out of their car seats and they ran rampant around the back of the Yukon for five minutes before they got bored.

I’m not Supermom, I never have the necessary essentials on hand to keep the kids happy in situations like this. I had no snacks, no drinks and no toys. I didn’t even have a pen in my purse so my daughter could draw. There was lightning around us so I didn’t want to go handing the kids electronic devices. Then it hit me, I Spy! Yes, my daughter loves this game and Ethan always tries to chime in. I start off “I spy with my little”, that’s when my daughter interrupted me, hands on hips, “I can’t spy through the rain Mommy”. I was waiting for the “duh” following that. In the end we ending up singing twenty minutes of “Rain Rain go Away”. I really need to start that whole good mommy being prepared thing, I’ll probably drink less if I do.

I can’t remember exactly when I bought these boots; I do remember that I bought them in high school. I remember wearing them to basketball games and when I was 18 and delivered pizzas. I wore them to my first frat party and they have been around longer than I have kept any guy in my life. These boots have been resoled in three times, walked on four continents and more countries than I was sober enough to remember. I have fond memories of running through the backstreets of Venice in the rain with a hole in the left sole and my foot getting soaked.

Throwing away these boots would be like throwing out a huge part of my past. They were versatile enough to wear with long skirts, leggings, jeans and I have even polished them up and worn them with dress pants. I no longer wear them and they sit in my closet desperate for a fourth resoling. I would love to know how many miles I walked in my favorite boots, I assume its a lot to have worn through four pairs of soles. If I ever decide to part with these boots I think they will deserve to be given a proper burial and not be turned into landfill.

I Googled both Poison Oak and Poison Ivy and it didn’t look like what we have. So I Googled deciduous vine with five leaves and found that it is actually a vine called a Virginia Creeper. I can see why he thought it was poison oak but am very happy its not. Virginia Creeper is one of those vines that’s easy to grow and near impossible to kill. I love it on the barn, in the summer it is lush and green and in the fall the leaves turn a gorgeous red before falling off. The areas we have it are very shady and it adds so much color and texture.

Virginia Creeper in the Spring and Fall

The kennel I purchased was the cheapest that Lowe’s carries, mainly because it was the only one that would fit in the back of my Yukon. The chain link fencing comes in rolls that you attach to the frame. The frame snapped together easily and the chain link fencing was no where near as bad as I thought it would be. The instructions were horrible but I was able to figure it out and I put it up all by myself while hubby watched the kids. I plan on running an underground watering system to it at some stage but given its about thirty yards from the nearest water source it can wait a bit. I’ve got a long enough hose and sprinkler that sprays in a square pattern. Now I just need to plant my veggies!

This morning I walked outside and was met with the sweet fragrant smell of hundreds of blooming Iris’s. I’m happy I have so many of them and I can’t wait until this fall to transplant them to a better location. Right now they are in two garden beds and when they finish blooming they aren’t very attractive in their current locations. I’m going to plant them either along our fence line or give them all a large garden bed in the front yard so I can see them out my office window and fully enjoy them next year.

I’ve been doing a lot of work in the gardens removing a lot of the old landscaping and replanting. I’m also about to put in a veggie garden amongst other things. If you are a gardening fanatic be sure to check back often to see all the work we’re doing. I’d love some pointers!

Last year I took my pressure washer to my parents house and gave their old fences an all new look in an hour. My dad was complaining about needing new fence boards. It took about two hours but the fence looked like new. I found that I could teach a very old dog new tricks. The two hours I spent washing the fence saved my dad a small fortune in time and supplies and gave their back yard a fresh new look.

Yesterday we went to a few local animal shelters to look at some of the dogs we found that we liked. A few had been adopted, one was too timid and the next was overly excited and scared Ethan half to death. We came home and were going to go out again today to have another look. My husband jumped online and started looking at Petfinder again and found an Animal Rescue that had pets for adoption at PetSmart. We hopped in the car and off we went.

While there we found this beautiful Husky/Shepherd mix that is only six weeks old. She and her two sisters were found in a dumpster when they were only three weeks old. How could a person put these precious puppies in a dumpster and not take them to an animal shelter. I love that their are people run private non-profit animal shelters out of the kindness of their heart. The people that take these animals into their home are wonderful human beings.

We are now going on 24 hours of puppy ownership and Maddie is fitting in wonderfully. Georgie wants to play with her constantly and Ethan has his moments. She loves her bed and slept all night cuddled up to Ethan’s stuffed Pluto. Never underestimate the power of a Disney stuffed animal, she was whining up a storm until I put that stuffed dog in and that quieted her right down. We were pretty lucky with this house, the previous owners were pet enthusiasts and we have a doggie door off our laundry room that she is already learning to use.

This is one of my favorite photo’s so far, the kids singing Maddie a lullaby.