Before & After

Our duplex has a HUGE problem with weeds. The lovely neighbor has called the cops and filed nuisance reports in the past. Instead of waiting to get a warning saying we would get a $500 fine and if we didn't comply could spend a few days in jail (FOR WEEDS!!!!!- RIDICULOUS!) I decided we just needed to do something about it.  So last week I ordered 30 tons of rock, and scheduled a bobcat guy to come clear the weeds and spread the rock. Then I decided if I had to be there supervising that I should paint. I hired my  brothers and we thought for sure we could have the entire project done in one day.

Of course that didn't happen. We had problems from the get go. The rock got there an hour late. The bobcat guy didn't call to get the property marked so he could bury the weeds, then told me he could come back with his brother who had a dump truck BUT it would cost me $300 and I would still have to pay him is minimum rate for the day. I cried a lot from the stress and the heat. Luckily my brother was there and doesn't put up with stuff like that and told the guy to finish clearing the weeds and spreading the rock and that we would take care of the weeds ourselves.

Josh's generous friends let us use their truck and trailer to haul 2 TONS of debris off to the dump where he and his sweet wife shoveled it all out of the truck. I cried more....because they loved me enough to do that. We still have soooo much junk to haul off because it took them two hours to unload it and by that time the dump had closed. Eric mowed the 3 ft lawn, painted a ton, and gave me hugs. He was so sad to leave me all alone, but had to go teach at the college. I have hard times with my bros, but man were they amazing to me on Friday, I appreciated them so much. We got the whole front of the house painted the first day and about half of one side. Josh painted the doors after cleaning them really well and the renters LOVED them.  They were giddy. I was so upset that we would have to come back, because Tyler works nonstop and is getting his MBA, so he has so little time, and I was just being stubborn, and should have waited until he wasn't so busy. He laughed at me crying about him having to work and got the rest of the house painted in a few hours the next day (he cheated and used the sprayer though). 

It looks SO MUCH better. The neighbors just stood there watching in awe. One jerk of a neighbor came by to tell me that he didn't like the new door color and that I should have used red. What a punk. I don't care what he thinks, his house is peachy/orange... 

BEFORE:

DURING:

 AFTER:

Oh and I got so fried. I put on SPF 50, but I was just so white that this is what happened:

I didn't know I could get that tan!!! haha I have been trying to lay out a little to blend it but I don't know if it will work!

Anyway thank you so much to my brothers and sister in law for all your help, and to my mom & Tyler's parents for watching the kids those two days! We love you so much!

Easter

On Saturday, we had our awesome community Easter Egg Hunt! The kids got so much stuff there, it was ridiculous.

After the hunt we headed to the Hurricane Easter Car Show and saw lots of cool cars. Nathan drove some huge remote control cars, and Ava had a turn too. There was also a huge slide. We didn't know if Ava would be able to climb it by herself so Tyler was going with her, but she sped to the top and flew down all by herself.

Later that day we dyed our eggs. I got a Monster kit this time. It was hilarious! I have never had so much fun decorating eggs. We dyed them first then let them dry while we ate and were going to put the faces on after dinner. It was Ava's turn to say the blessing and she said "Please bless that our monster eggs will be awesome..." Oh that girl. We were all laughing so hard.

Eric had fun doing the eggs with us and even took them out for a photo shoot, haha!

Easter morning the kids were so excited for their baskets. After they checked out all their goodies we had our own Easter egg hunt, got ready for church, and took pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits. Aren't  they so stinking cute!?!?!

 Poor Nathan couldn't keep his eyes open thanks to the bright sun...I am the same way, sorry Son.  I think we still got some cute ones though!

The night before I got the turkey all ready and a bunch of the stuff done for Easter dinner. I asked my brother to put the turkey in the oven, and about 5 mins after the time to go in I got a call. I was in Primary but luckily I didn't have any responsibilities that day. Eric said the bag was smoking so I rushed home and pulled the turkey out. Of course that was the last bag I had, but I was able to find one stashed in my mom's pantry. Somehow everything managed to be done in time for Tyler's family to come over and eat.

How To Make Your Own Curtain Rod

Our house has these 3 huge windows.

The space is just over 13 feet long. I wanted to hang some curtains and take down the blinds that used to be there....only problem- A 14 ft curtain rod will set you back $80 or so. Thanks to the fabulous internet I found THIS link and we made one ourselves for a whopping $6 plus $8 for 4 mounting brackets which of course I found way cheaper after we were finished.

The link is way cooler and explains everything with pictures. When I start project I want to get them done fast and always forget to take pictures along the way. 

You just need:

Electrical Conduit- 1/2 -3/4 inch wide (and a connector if you are using more than one piece)

Spray Paint

Finials

Brackets 

I bought 2 pieces of 3/4 inch conduit (10 ft each). Tyler cut them to 7 ft each with a saw, but you can use a pipe cutter too. Then he even sanded them down for me. The next day I propped them up against a ladder and spray painted them (and the connector piece) with some black spray paint I had on hand and Tyler used his handy dandy laser level to attach the brackets to the wall.

Painted Connector

Finials

When it was all dry we hung the six curtain panels on the rods, connected the two pieces and put the whole thing on the bracket. 

Now the horrible part...FINIALS, blech. I couldn't find anything I really liked (that wasn't super expensive). On the link I posted she found some great stuff at IKEA, but since I don't have one here I had to figure something else out. I ended up getting these little metal caps that they use in iron staircase detail work. They didn't fit flush so I spent about two hours sanding down the insides. It was BRUTAL!!! My right hand/arm was numb for 2 days. Then I had to paint them because I had scuffed up their paint. It would be so worth it to find something that just slid over the top of the rod. We also thought that we could have bought some styrofoam balls (which I saw a huge bag of at Dollar Tree), painted them and shoved them on the end. Oh well. 

After all that sanding the caps still would not stay on! I was about to cry when Tyler decided he could drill a hole in it and the rod and screw it together. Now it fits beautifully and looks really nice!

I also made those new pillows for the couch while I was at it. Our ballet teacher didn't show up a few weeks ago, and since no one could sub, Maria and I headed to JoAnn's and she helped me pick out this super cute fabric. I LOVE it!!