Checking Things off the List Even With 2 Kids

     Watch out when our calendar tells us what to do, we get it done.  It does get difficult with two small kiddos but we've come up with some unique ways of involving them so we can accomplish some not so kid friendly tasks.  This week we got so close to finishing the fence, about 75% of it is complete.  With so many rainy days lately we were thrilled to have the sun come out for even just one day.  Since we knew only one day would be good for fence building we brought in reinforcements for the kiddos, the homestead NiNi (my mom).  Being the assistant to the muscle requires all my attention and with one of our kids being under two I'm constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure she isn't endangering her life.  With NiNi's help Papa can have all my attention and the kids are safe.

Getting the gate set into place.

     No unexpected plans came up so we were able to get to the beginning process of building the greenhouse.  A trip into Lowe's and we left with two of the lumber carts full.  Lowe's is are go to home improvement store because they honor veterans all year long and the staff are very friendly and helpful.  On this visit they were out of 2x4x12s and when I spoke to the cashier she offered the 16' ones for 12' price, which saved us money, thanks Lowe's.  Papa found plans to a barn style greenhouse awhile back and now we're actually building it.  We picked this one because of the low cost and low difficulty (we're hoping).  If you want to look at the plans check out Ana White's blog here.  

Pile of lumber ready to be cut.

     We hung up the plans in the garage and started measuring, cutting, and stacking lumber.  Since we aren't building it until next week we wanted to keep each part of the frame separate, so I labeled each piece with it's measurement and which side of the greenhouse it was.  The garage sounded like an oil stop, with Papa shouting a number out then I would repeat it, measure twice cut once.  The only tool we didn't have was a sliding miter saw, we've got a small chop saw from Harbor freight that we've been using for about 10 plus years but it's too small to cut 12" pieces of plywood in one shot.  Luckily our good friend has a mammoth Hitachi that he let us borrow and we whipped those gussets out after doing some practice cuts.  Now we just cross our fingers for a somewhat sunny day next week and it can all go together.

Helping papa take measurements.

Cut and labeled.

It's all ready, so excited to build it.

     When we were cutting the lumber we didn't have anyone to help watch the kids so we got creative.  Once they get old enough they like to just play on their own and explore the homestead or help out but when they're tiny sometimes they want to be up in your face.   Lil man does a good job playing with his sister so sometimes it's him that distracts her but while we were cutting the gussets he was in school.  To keep our little tot entertained we put on her safety gear because the miter saw was loud and she hopped in the back of the Sequoia.  The third row isn't in so there was plenty of room for her to run and play with some toys and the non-harmful tools we had back there from fencing.  Now before I get comments about locking my kid in the car, that's not how it went.  She wanted in there and we rolled down the back window and played with her in between cuts.  When there are chores to be done and they're not napping sometimes you have to use the ole noggin to get things done.  I remember once when lil man was about 2 or so we were splitting firewood and we put him in the utility trailer with some paper and paint and he was content.  I know some of you safety sallies might judge and frown on how we do what we do but we live on a homestead our way is not for anyone else but us. We have chores and want our kids involved to learn that good things come from hard work and dedication so we do what must be done and they're perfectly safe.   And if all else fails we just lock them up in a cage, no kids were harmed in the taking of this picture.  Alright now back to the homestead.

Another way to contain the kids.