I put up a couple of wren houses last summer, two different ways: one I did hang on a too-thin branch, and it did fall down this fall! The other I put up on a pole away from most activity, and wrens did make a nest in there and we enjoyed watching them go back and forth (Carolina wrens). One of these houses did come with a small piece of wood for mounting the house on a tree - it was screwed into the back of the house, with some showing above the roof. Then you would screw the upper part into the tree. I don't know about advice as to the placement of a house in a tree, though. Good luck -

1) With custom colors, it's a "best guess" scenario. No matter what brand you have, the color will react the same...or VERY nearly. 2) A color viewed in a store WILL ALWAYS "show" differently when applied and viewed in-situ. You have a different light source entirely, AND the stain does change color some when it soaks-in and dries. I always tell clients at our store..."If you apply ONE color in (or ON!) 6 different homes, you'll have 6 different colors..." BTW...we go thru a LOT of Sikkens here (Penofin too). Quite often, people are switching TO Sikkens...FROM Behr. >>> We do try to hammer home good prep. practices though! Faron

Ok, first off, thank you all for the advice and your thoughts on the matter. I think I may need to explain myself a little bit better than I did in my original post. My brain was still in hyper drive as all of this had just happened when I first posted, which is why my original post was a little scattered at best. Firstly, this is MY mother, sister and brother in law that I am having issues with, not ex-in-laws, they surprisingly have no problems with the way in which I raise either of my children. Secondly, my fiancee DOES NOT discipline my children on his own. What he does is help me to enforce any discipline that I have given the boys. He really makes sure that if I tell the boys they are grounded that I stick to it, and sometimes he is the one who talks me into shortening the grounding or calling it off all together depending on the circumstances. Thirdly, in the past I have been financially dependant upon my family. They have paid utility bills, bought groceries, and basically supported myself and my children at various times through the years. I think the reason that I mentioned that my fiancee is the bread winner of our household now, was just to possibly make the point that financially I am not dependant upon them any longer. My fiancee and I share the financial responsibilities of our household, he just makes a little more money than I do. I am not "afraid of loosing my bread winner" as one comment pointed out, and I am in no way "swapping my children for the light bill". My boys are very accepting of my fiancee and respect him. He cares for them and makes sacrifices to make sure that WE can provide them with what is needed. He is not there only for the bills he can pay or rules he can help enforce. Believe me...I've been with someone before who could have cared less if the boys had a stitch of clothing on their backs as long as he had what he wanted. My fiancee is the absolute oppisite of that. He would give his last breath for the boys if that is what it took. He is committed to me and my children. And the last point I would like to clarify is these are not new punishments or new rules because of my fiancee. I have tried and tried in the past to put these rules into action with my children to no avail. Mostly because I knew if I were to try and put my foot down with my family it would cause a major uproar. But the difference between then and now is now I have the support in the home that I need to make sure things get done and not just someone who throws their hands up with a "it's your kids and your family you deal with it and leave me out of it" which is what my ex was like. My mother is of the opinion that it is absurd to ask a 12 year old to do the dinner dishes, clean his room and take out the trash or to ask an 8 year old to clean his room, vaccuum the living room carpet and dust the 3 tables in the living room. I was not raised having chores or consequences for not doing as I was told, I was however spanked for talking back or not minding. So as an adult when I moved out on my own, I had no clue how to properly care for a home. When I was younger mother may have told me to clean my room, but I rarely did because I knew if I didn't do it eventually she would and I could go about my business of playing. I do not want my children to grow up not knowing how to do simple household tasks. Yes they suck, no one likes to do dishes or vaccuum or dust but they are all things that have to be done for the home to look nice and run smoothly. The boys know both the rules and consequences well before hand. But they've in the past been able to whine and sulk their way out of punishments. I do try to follow through with things and not just threaten. Consistancy has always been a problem for me, mainly because even if I did ground the children and still let them go to their grandmothers or on a trip with Auntie and Uncle once out of my sight my family let them do as they please. And yes, my family is has threatened legal action. The words came out of my sisters mouth as "if things don't go back to like they were (they would get the boys whenever with little to no notice by telling me they were doing something with them instead of asking me if they could) We'll make sure that you don't have the boys anymore and we'll do it through the courts" My sister has money and believes that will get her whatever or whomever she wants. She loves to throw my past mistakes in my face, she refuses to see that I have changed drastically over the years because I will forever be the "baby" to everyone in my family. She has even told me that I have to respect her because SHE is an adult. Guess at 34 I'm still not an adult yet. lol

Lesson learned. Next time I'll hire a professional company with a good reputation. Thanks for your replies! Is there anything I can do to smooth out the walls in the meantime?