Backyard Makeover

My poor sweet husband thought he was going to have a relaxing and restful weekend. We had nothing planned and had 2 days of free time in front of us. And then I got a new magazine in the mail (thanks Carol). Family Fun magazine had a picture in it of a mom who had painted a section of her fence with chalkboard paint. What a great idea! I wanted a chalkboard in my backyard, too. So on Friday I told Taylor that is what I wanted to do. It wouldn't be much work, just painting a section of the fence. Well, maybe a little work since our fence is too old and rough to paint on. So we bought a large piece of ply wood and painted it instead. Taylor nailed it to the fence and I had my chalkboard. Only then I thought the kids needed a little area to stand on. Thanks to the crazy landscaping we had in our backyard when we moved in we have bricks and stepping stones and paving stones galore. It wouldn't be much work to make a little brick platform even if it is close to 100 degrees outside. So we made my platform. But how cute it would be if I put the kids' little umbrella table out there and made it look like a little cafe. Too bad the bricks were way too uneven and the chairs kept falling over. No worries! Taylor had a section by the fenced off storage area where there are some flat paving stones. He had worked really hard on getting it all level last year so it wouldn't be muddy there, but he didn't even complain when I suggested adding them to the platform as a more stable area to put the table and chairs. So we moved the stones and it worked out great. But I wasn't finished yet. I wanted lights! The fact that our kids go to bed at 8:00 and are not awake after dark in the summer was irrelevant. Originally I wanted party lights even though it would be hard to run an extension cord out there. Lucky for Taylor we found the cutest colorful lanterns at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that are battery operated. So he got the ladder out and hung them in the tree. They are so cute, I think I'm going to get some more to hang on the porch. Don't put that ladder up, Taylor! I added some stars I found in a closet to the ground covering and now we have a festive backyard. Taylor was such a good sport. It actually worked out well because during all our brick laying we moved the kids' playhouse and Taylor found a black widow hanging out in there (which is now in a jar in the freezer). So if I hadn't suggested the project we wouldn't have moved the house and found the spider which could then bite our children, the results of which I can't even think about. So one way to look at it is that my little "project" saved our kids' lives. That's what I told Taylor anyway!