Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! We're going to paint your house!

May 29 was my parents 44th anniversary.  44 years today, Wow!  That is awesome!  They have been talking about painting the outside of their house for a while, so my sister suggested that we all come to their house and paint it for their anniversary.  We thought that with all the kids and spouses and even some of the grandchildren painting, we would be able to get the whole house done in the day, and still have an adult and older kids to spare to watch the little kids.  So Saturday morning we all went to Pella to paint!

Mom told us we were starting "around 9ish."  Then that morning she texted me and said not to rush because due to damp conditions we would be starting later.  We rolled into Pella around 9:05am, and since they told us not to rush we stopped at Jaarsma bakery to buy some donuts.  When we got there, everyone was already outside painting!  It hadn't started raining after all, so they had all started earlier, but didn't tell us.  At least we were late because we were bringing donuts!

Here is a before shot of the front of the house.  It was beige, and the shutters were also beige.  Mom and Dad chose a slate green color, with a grayish white trim and red shutters to match their red door.

Painting the brick foundation was a real pain in the neck!  It was a slow process getting paint into all the cracks and the dips.  

Everyone else is painting, but Colleen is stuffing a donut into her mouth...

Everyone initially thought they would not be able to paint the top corner on the side of the house.  But, our extension ladder stretched out as high as it could go was just long enough for Dad to reach.  Some family members do not like heights, so had no desire to go up on the high ladder!  I did a lot of the high stuff, as I have no fear of heights, and Dad did the really high stuff.  

Dad is 6'4" and had to stretch up as high as he could to get the top part.  I would not have been able to reach.  Jim was in charge of holding the ladder steady.

Carrie and Emily painting shutters

 Emily had to leave for a soccer game in the early afternoon, and Lynn and Olivia had to go to play practice (they are in Fiddler on the Roof this summer!) for a couple hours, but we just kept plugging away and made good progress.  Before lunch we were a little worried we wouldn't finish because the foundation was taking so long, but things really picked up after lunch.

After shot of the front of the house.  Trim and shutters will be done later

Dad kept at the side of the house for a long time.  It was tiring because he would paint as far as he could reach, then would have to climb down the long ladder, move it 2 feet over, climb back up to the top, then paint a couple more feet of siding, then climb back down...Once he got to where we could reach it with the shorter ladders, Dad came down a took a little break.

The kids and grandkids just kept plugging away and the back and other side of the house while Dad did the high stuff.

Scott disappeared at one point, and it took us about 30 minutes to realize that he was sitting under the deck painting the foundation there.  Dad was really happy someone had thought to do that!

Mom and Hannah.  Hannah's face is frightening.

We painted all the back of the house and the 4th side, but were not able to finish this top corner.  The ground slopes by that edge of the house, and I just couldn't come up with a good place to put the ladder that was high enough for us to reach.  We finally had to get Dad back outside, as he is the tallest person who is willing to climb up a ladder.  And we had to use creative means to keep the ladder level and steady.

Don't try this at home, kids!

Laurel really wanted to play outside, but I had not brought warm enough clothes for her, so she snuggled on Uncle Jim's lap.

When I came inside around 4:30pm, I found Oren and Garion napping on the sofa.  I'm not sure what the little kids did all day.  I think they watched a movie and some cartoons, ate a lot of crappy food, and ran around the house. 

Nicolas, give Daddy a kiss!

Rhea and Kendall

We did manage to finish the whole house by supper time!  The trim is not done, and I'm not sure that anyone will be able to reach the trim on the side of the house, even with our tall ladder!  I am very thankful to my brother-in-law and some of my nieces for watching the little kids all day--I was at the point where I really needed a break from childcare, and I really enjoy painting, so it was nice to just be able to paint and paint without worry about chasing children.  Mom and Dad said this was the best anniversary gift they have ever received!