It was a working holiday weekend for the Almeida family without a whole lot of fun and games (although we did have good time at the alpaca farm's open house yesterday).

We have a long list of home improvement projects needing to be done this summer and at the top of the list (well my list, Fino's list is longer and much more complicated) was a porch make-over. If you recall, I am often on the losing end of my battle to keep the chickens off the porch.

The porch has been looking particularly bad lately with peeling paint and chicken poop stains all over it. Since we have large sliding doors in our kitchen with a view of the porch, I decided a few weeks ago I was tired of looking at the sad sight.

I solicited the girls' help with the project in hopes that they would have more incentive once the porch was looking good again to keep those darn chickens off it.

The kids were all smiles the first day of the porch painting project when we primed the floor and steps. The second day was a bit longer painting all the railings and they were anxious for it to be done (translation: they were whining about finishing so they could go and play).

The kids really like outdoor carpeting so we bought some at the hardware store. They assured me the chickens were not going to ruin their new rug! I really hope my plan works...

On Fino's list of projects was building a new book shelf. Our house isn't that big and we have A LOT of books, magazines and random items piled up all over the place (we're all pack rats) so we decided a new bookshelf was needed to get us better organized. He finished building it today and we put a coat of primer on it.

And if all that painting wasn't enough, L. and I also painted a sign for our dance studio this weekend. She really enjoys painting and art (we've done a few for Schoolhouse Arts too) so we volunteer to make them when needed.

Painting large signs isn't all that hard with an overhead projector, basic tracing skills and the ability to paint in the lines.

Needless to say, as I write this the girls are getting ready to take showers to wash away the latex paint that covers most of their bodies at the moment. And I'm covered in my fair share too.

What did you do this long weekend?

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