So, I quit blogging about it and finally got outside yesterday for almost 5 hours and stained about 1/4 of our fence. Whew! I am thrilled that we went from this:


to this:


I still have plenty to do tomorrow, Monday and possibly Tuesday. I know many of you are thinking don't you have 5 boys that could help? Depends on what you mean by help? If you mean they are available to complain, compare who has the best brush, wait until their brother is staining to even get their brush wet and then randomly discover when you come in the house that partial pieces of wood have been lightly or darkly stained...then yes I do. But if you mean to help make it match the work I have already done, then no I don't. So, while I braved the sun and got a dark sunburn on my shoulders and neck yesterday, I march on towards the finally finished fence for another 3 years...

In other news, since today threatens rain tonight I couldn't enjoy the cloudy perfect weather staining, so it found me buying dog food and finding garage sales. I so badly wanted to be a feature writer that found a perfect furniture piece for $1, painted it and made it fabulous for another $2 investment and totally stole the blog show for the day. But alas, today was not that day. I did see some cheap furniture and even had a woman offer to go lower on some pretty wicker shelves in various sizes that were already marked $20! I was so tempted, picturing the can of black spray paint ready in my basement but then the horrible issue of WHERE DO I PUT IT comes in!

I was able to score some like new Nike snowboard pants for my oldest son for $7, a Home and Garden urn for $2 shown here and it even came with freshly cut peonies that actually match my living room, be still my heart!!!!


I found some clothes that were $.50 and $.75 in perfect condition that I am reselling on craigslist. Plus, I found flowers at two different garage sales for $.10/bunch to $.50/bunch. Faux flowers are my favorite, but I prefer when they look real and believable! When they look fake I pass! I found some perfect for fall and a few white ones I have added around the house. Add in a new American Eagle t-shirt for me for $.50 and a pretty girly white ruffled jacket for $2 and I had a successful day! It is currently in the dryer, I might just wear it to church on Sunday and even for our family portraits outside on Sunday!!!

I need advice...what should we do for our outdoor family portraits? Regular clothes? All black? Certain colors? White and black? I need ideas, we are going to a lush green area outside near a pond and weeping willow where we have gotten fabulous pictures before.

Have a great weekend!