Siding and More

We really wanted to make a concerted effort to get the last of the siding on. It has been taking longer than we want so we planned around a long weekend to get it done. It was fun to be working together again. The weather more than cooperated with temperatures in the upper 20's C (low 80's F) over the weekend and we were able to get the majority of the siding finished. With the exception of a few loose ends. There's always a few loose ends.

Getting set up on a gorgeous Saturday morning

They get the back set up and ready to go. 

Ben is changing the saw blade.

Matt begins nailing the battens on.

Phil gets set up on the roof.

Hannah greets the animals as she does the chores.

Riley finds some shade to take a nap in.

Lydia helps by painting the ends of the battens. (I LOVE her two different pajamas together with sparkly shoes! You can tell how casual we are on the weekends here!)

Abby finds a book and settles in a comfy spot, ready to help if needed. 

Trim and battens are on. It's looking good.

Phil finished installing the boards on that little space above the porch.

Then they had to go back and put the battens on. Overall, a very productive Day 1.

Day 2 and Matty took over the sawing...

And Ben worked on the battens.

Hannah passed the pieces to Ben so he didn't have to climb up and down the ladder, which was quite helpful.

Phil began work on the gable ends as the boys and Hannah moved further down the back of the house. 

Working in their respective areas.

This picture cracks me up. They just couldn't help it! They walked all the way up from the barn to see what was going on!

As the day got hotter, popsicle breaks were necessary.

The end of Day 2. Slowly but surely it's getting done.

Day 3, just finishing up the battens on the back of the house and then moving on to the soffit.

So much soffit but it's getting there.

We had a pretty bad wind storm with 90kph winds (55mph) and this was the only damage to the house so I think the boys have done a pretty good job! 

Ta da! The almost finished product! I didn't get many pictures from the rest of the weekend. If you notice that Steve was suspiciously missing from this post, it's because he came down with some sort of bug that slowly worked it's way through the rest of us. I was next and it carried on down from there. Thankfully, we were able to get most of what we wanted to accomplish finished first.  

Once  I was feeling better, it was back to my spot at the end of the table.

I've been making some summer dresses for the girls.

Lydia's jumper.

I'm so happy that my boys use my sewing machine to do repairs or to create things of their own. I can't take all the credit though as Phil is no stranger to a sewing machine.

We know what this familiar vehicle means! A visit from Grandma and Grandpa! 

Giving us some much needed and appreciated help in the garden!

It's tradition... lunch out for Chinese food.

I took this very random picture of our three oldest at lunch and soon realized just how fast time is flying...

It seems like just yesterday....

Another tradition with Grandma and Grandpa is putting a puzzle together. This one is very appropriately called "Grandmas Quilts" and I'm not going to lie, it was very difficult!

Always the hardest part of visiting is saying "Goodbye". 

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

Psalm 103:17-18