My heroes

Friday I took the opportunity to do some work in my classroom.  Mark was going to help me but I got up early and left without him.  This early bird was getting her worm.  I wanted to spray paint some file cabinets and I wanted to do it in the shade, so I needed to be there early.

I dragged them outside alone, the whole time wishing my boys were there!

I painted them the same color as the chairs on our deck.  I liked the color, so why not?

Braeden called and when he found out we were working in my classroom said, "I'll come and help."  Because he's Braeden, that's why.

When Mark got there, I pointed him in the direction of some shelves from IKEA I had bought because he can put IKEA furniture together in his sleep.  

Braeden and I painted and Mark built stuff and went on errands (lunch and more paint).  We listened to good music and it felt like old times, me getting my boys to help me with projects that may or may not pan out.

Having big sons is such a blessing.  There was some of the usual, "Move this here, no, how about there," and they are used to it. I painted three big bookcases and two small bookcases white.  They were all different shades of dingy wood before and I think it will look cleaner and brighter.  

I bought cheap paint + the shelves were in terrible shape to begin with so they don't look that great but my boys pointed out they'll be full of books so no one will notice.  My proclivity to call things good enough, felt like that was good enough.

I had some black shelves from IKEA and I considered painting them white but then I decided to switch them out for a white shelf I had at home.  It was bigger than the other two combined and bigger is better for storage!

We loaded the black shelves into the van and brought them home to the chaos that is happening here (because we're getting new carpet and the trim painted next month).  The white shelves wouldn't fit in the van.  I offered Jack, who lives across the street and has a pickup truck, $20 if he'd transport it but his truck had a flat tire + the Porters were going out of town.  Rats.

Adam is the kind of husband that when I tell him a hare brained idea, he says OK and makes it happen.  He said on Saturday he would get it to my classroom.  He said, "We'll put it on top of the Subaru."

Mark thought it was a terrible idea and he thought he should text other friends with trucks and rustle up another solution.  Every time he told Adam it wouldn't work, I could see that Adam was more determined to make it work.

Sometimes I don't know where I got some of my stubborn children and sometimes I do.

Despite Mark's protestations, he did help Adam hoist the REALLY HEAVY shelf onto the car.  Adam found a rope and started tying it on.  I admired his fancy knots and he said it was because of his "eagle powers."  Boy Scouts for the win.  Mark refused to ride in the car with us (and we definitely were going to need his help to get the behemoth off the car).  He said he wasn't going to die because of the shelf.  Drama kids gotta be dramatic.

Adam conceded that it may be a good plan to have someone drive behind him and keep an eye on things.  So I drove Joan.

It was a bit nerve-racking at times (Pleasant Grove doesn't have what you would call smooth roads) but we made it!

Here's the triumphant shot outside my classroom door:

And the new shelf in its new place:

Ready to be filled with more stuff!

I appreciate the men in my life who love me enough to know that I need my classroom to be as pretty as possible and they help make it happen.  

I also appreciate summer time (especially now before the heat is trying to kill us).  I'm so ready to read books.

And enjoy sunsets from the deck.

This picture isn't from the deck, but the grass below.  You get the idea though.