Family project

In our "free time" our family doesn't visit museums, theme parks or watch movies. We work together. Partly out of necessity, partly out of preference. There always seems to be project to do. What's funny is the kids think it's super fun. In our preparation for getting a new truck, we realized we wouldn't be able to park it in the garage unless we knocked down a wall that divided the garage into two rooms.

When we moved here, the garage was SUCH a mess. The walls were full of ginormous holes. I don't know how many I've patched already. Anyway, we had extra yellow paint from when we painted our living room and the kids room so that's what we used for our garage. Manly isn't it? The work-bench was up against the wall we needed to knock down. We were going to move it over to where the kids are standing in the picture below.

I've done A LOT of painting since we've moved here and the kids always want to help. I tried to let them once when I was painting the exterior of the house but that was a total disaster (paint all over the pavement and clothes.) They just weren't coordinated or mature enough to handle that privilege. Now they are 61/2 and 5 so I gave them a speech first about how to do it and if they could show me that they could be responsible and careful I could trust them to help me paint when we move to Arkansas (if that happens - and if we need to paint). They were excited to prove themselves. Luckily I had saved their "paint clothes" from a while ago when I let them help.

 

I'm not going to lie. It stressed me out. They did really well considering their age but still. I wanted to get as much done as I could while keeping an eye on them too. I'll admit. I lost it once when they were both dipping at the same time and Orion wasn't paying attention and he lifted his brush right onto Omega's face. She had paint all over her cheek, neck and hair. I had to remind myself to breath. Relax. They are helping. They are doing their best. It's just a garage. It's okay.

We finished the painting part and let it dry while we ate lunch. After a good meal we went back at it, this time David leading the clan in the knocking down process.

 

They loved this part. Somehow swinging away with a hammer and watching something crash is just really fun. They helped pull all the nails out of the wood for the frame of the wall so we could re-use it. Orion felt really manly. They were awesome at this.

 

 Here's how it looks now. 

Now for our next project. Building swinging garage doors. 

What the inside looks like currently. (All those boxes are just waiting to be used for packing!) SOMEBODY BUY OUR HOUSE! j/k.
 

 Anyway, got that all done in a day. It's nice to have a sense of accomplishment as a family.