I love Pinterest. I know, I'm one of those moms. I stay at home with the kids, dreaming of all the wonderful DIY things I can do. And I actually do a lot of them. I love stuff like that and I usually manage to convince my hubby that he does too. He's a good sport. His "hubby do" list is almost all projects I've started and can't finish without help. But I digress.
My latest idea was to do a sandbox. We just put down red bark mulch all around the "landscaped" (read: weedy dirt) parts of the yard so the boys have nowhere to dig. More so, I have to run around telling my 2-year old not to dig in the bark. So a sandbox is needed. And a covered sandbox is more needed. And a covered sandbox with a lid that folds back into bench seats is most needed.
Pinterest directions in hand, I headed to Home Depot with my in-laws and a trailer for lumber. Two hours and way more than I had planned to spend later, we had the necessary supplies. (Note: when the blogger, no offense to her, says it cost her $90, it was because she already had outdoor paint-$40, hinges-$20, and only needed to make hers big enough for two and not four. Cost me closer to $250,)
First step: painting. I let the kids pick the color and they picked orange. Actually a nice shade, too. For round one of painting, the two older boys helped. They did a great job. I only just had to go back and smooth them out. For anyone trying this, I did two coats on each side and it took almost a whole gallon of paint. When you decide you want to protect your garage floor from orange paint globs, remember two things.
1.) The kids will find a way to paint the floor. Now, please remember they are little. And boys. And you handed them a paintbrush. And a shiny new gallon can of paint. What were you expecting? They now have nice orange socks to go with their now-orange pjs. And orange feet. And you will go to church on Sunday with some blue toenails and some orange ones. Embrace it. It's a look.
2.) Paint sticks to newspaper. That means it sticks to the wood. That means you will have chunks of newspaper stuck on the freshly painted wood and it will take you longer to peel off the paper than paint the boards. This means you will eventually give up and just paint over the paper and have chunky sides. This means you will tell yourself it's for young kids and goes outdoors and it doesn't matter. Then you will tell this to your husband. He will agree it's no big deal. You will then try not to feel guilty about not doing it perfectly. You will fail and go to bed exhausted. Then you will wake up and realize it really isn't a big deal. Sigh of relief goes here.
Of course, you will paint at night while the kids are in bed. Smart idea, right? But then you will forget that your light is motion-activated. And said light will not recognize you exist just like in Better Off Ted (and if you haven't seen Better Off Ted, you will not know what I refer to. So go watch it. Or don't. Totally a personal preference thing.). So every 10 minutes or so you will have to get up, walk to the garage door, and jump up and down like a crazy person. Do not let this bother you.
Ta da! The wood is painted and try. So you will be helpful and bring all the wood and supplies to the back yard so as to begin assembling. First, the power drill will make your infant daughter scream. So you wait until she goes down for a nap and try again. Then you will break a drill bit. Oops. Moving on. You get all the pilot holes drilled and begin to attempt to screw them together. The screws will not go in. At this point you will realize you are a half hour late in making dinner and will give up. At this point, you rope the hubby into helping. Apparently all the screws needed was more strength because he puts the whole thing together in ten minutes. But then the staple gun runs out of staples. And the wind picks up. And the kids are super cranky and have bad attitudes.
Disclaimer: the "you" in this post is me.
So there is not yet a finished photo. Because right now it is sitting in the backyard, not quite finished, and will be finished when 1) we get the right sized screws for the bolts, 2) have some spare time and no wind, 3) the kids are in bed and 4) we get paid again so we can buy the sand (kind of an afterthought ironically).
I'll try to post a finished picture. But it may be awhile.
I am very thankful for the grace God gives us. Sometimes we gets ideas in our heads of projects we want to accomplish. And things don't always work out. But that's ok. The important thing is to do our best and (as my now 6 year old son says) to believe in God. I tend to stress over little things. This is so foolish. It wastes the time I have worrying about things. So I will try to do better. I will try not to get overwhelmed and remember that, as always, He loves us more than the sparrows.
