The Man of the House Has Another Birthday

We celebrated Matt's birthday last Friday.  Friends of ours invited us to their house.  They were concerned about encroaching on Matt's big day, but we said, "Hey!  That sounds great!"

One of Matt's favorites, BBQ pulled pork, was served for dinner.  The family who hosted us has three boys, so my boys were tickled to have other kids to join them in their favorite cowboy games.  The adults had time to fellowship and talk about everything from homeschooling, to homesteading to shotguns (well, the guys talked about that).  We sang hymns and "Happy Birthday" and ate a delicious dark chocolate cake that Grace made for her Daddy.

 Even though I had warned my kids earlier in the day that when it was time to go home, there would be no complaints, it didn't work out that way.  My little guys were having so much fun that they didn't want to leave, even though it was past their bedtime.  Needless to say, they were tuckered out when we finally did get home.  They slept until 7:30 the next morning--proof that they had hit their limit of fun the night before. 

The Three Amigos

Joel's mustache was looking a little haggard after a year of near constant use.  I requested that our friend, whom we call "Aunt Julie," make him another one for his birthday.  She did one better--actually two better.  She knit three mustaches, all in different yarns, one for each of the little boys.

Jude was so excited when he tried his on.  He said, "Look, Mom!  All I need is one of those things (as he swung an imaginary pick ax) and then I could be a miner!"  He happened to be wearing an orange plaid shirt that day so he really looked the part.

Of course Joel as been enjoying his new mustache, but I've been surprised at how much Isaac is enjoying his.  He's been wearing it a lot.  Usually little ones his age lose interest in things very quickly.  The only inconvenience to him is when he tries to suck his thumb.  The mustache gets in the way of his index finger, which he places on the side of his nose when his thumb is in his mouth.  To solve this problem, he simply pulls the mustache under his chin until he's done getting his little fix.  Then he puts the mustache back in its place under his nose and runs off to play some more.

Thanks Aunt Julie!  You've outdone yourself again. 

The Playhouse is Finished

I've been trying to talk Matt into building a playhouse for the kids for years, but life got in the way and projects like playhouses kept getting pushed to the bottom of the list. 

For Christmas 2011, we finally got serious and gave the kids these construction plans.  Now our little playhouse is complete and ready for all kinds of fun.  Matt built the house himself (tweaking the plans significantly) with some help from the kids.  Only one accident occurred during construction and that was when Matt fell off his ladder and landed on his elbow.

Eighty percent of the materials he used for construction were free or bought used on Craigslist, including the  windows, wood, siding and insulation.  Matt's brother gave us a bunch of wood which Matt used for the framing.  Matt's brother-in-law sold us some roofing for super cheap. We were finally able to use the old solid wood door that we bought at a salvage yard years ago.  We had intended to use it in our previous house's remodel, but never did.

Early on, we decided to ditch the front porch that were a part of the playhouse plans.  Matt wanted to build the structure on skids to avoid having to get a construction permit and it was easier to forgo the front porch.  He also wanted the house to be tall enough so that adults could walk into it, so he adjusted the height.  He added a loft with a special hole in it's floor for lowering and raising a bucket so the kids can transport things back and forth between the first and second floors.  Overall, the design is simpler than the original plans, but has more windows and is bigger. 

Even with the inexpensive materials, our budget hit its limit last Fall.  We decided to postpone further construction until we could save more funds.  Matt wanted to get the exterior weather tight before winter weather hit, so we did that and then quit the project for a few months. We literally were painting the outside of the house as a nasty November storm was descending upon us.  Over the last couple of months, Matt was able to insulate the interior and put bead board sheathing on the interior walls.

Grace sanded, primed and painted the old wood door.  Matt bought a door knob for it, hung it and then the playhouse was officially done.  One really neat feature of the interior of the house is a small red pot-bellied stove.  Elizabeth has dreamed of a pot-bellied stove in her own little playhouse for several years.  She got the idea when she saw a miniature wood stove in a playhouse where our kids take swimming lessons.

So, for the past three summers, we've looked for a pot-bellied stove at yard sales, per Elizabeth's request.  I looked and looked, even though I knew it would be an impossible find.  Not only that, she only wanted to spend $40.  I thought she was nuts, but I kept looking.  Last summer, in desperation, Elizabeth got up the nerve to ask the woman who owns the playhouse at the swimming pool if she would sell the little stove, but the woman said, "no."

We went to a family worship/fellowship time with a bunch of other homeschoolers at a friend's farm last July.  Imagine our surprise when we saw the perfect little stove for sale amongst some antiques on the property.  We asked our friend about it.  She said she just needed it gone.  It weighs 400 lbs and her husband was tired of moving it for her.  She sold it to us for $35!  It was quite a feat to get it into the back of our van, but we had the girth of plenty of young men to help in the loading process.

Grace and Matt were able to wrangle the stove into the playhouse by themselves.  I'm not sure how they did it.  I'm sure I don't want to know.  The red stove is for decorative purposes only.  It's always such a pleasure to see the ways in which God works, even to fulfill the desires of a young girl's heart (and therefore her Mama's, too).

 

We'll be looking at yard sales in the coming months for small chairs, a table and other things the kids want to put inside the playhouse.  Saturday we went to our first yard sale of the season and Lydia found a small tin cup and tiny tin pot with a lid to begin the playhouse collection.  I'm sure many hours will be spent in the little house now that the weather is nicer.  Matt would eventually like to install lighting and add some sort of heat source so that the kids can utilize the house in winter, too.  


  

Little Mr. Smartypants

Matt traveled to Washington D.C. on business the week before last.  The one rule that consistently applies when Daddy is gone is that something goes wrong at home.  An appliance breaks down, or the car does, or a sprinkler pipe breaks and floods the yard or some such thing.  In this case, the plague hit our house.

We've hardly been sick all winter, but five of the seven kids came down with a nasty cold (a sixth was mildly touched) that week.  It turned into bronchitis for several of the kids.  Our week consisted of three visits to the pediatrician, two diagnosed ear infections and two kids on breathing treatments with the nebulizer.  Good thing I still had the nebulizer from when Paul had RSV as a baby eleven years ago.  Good thing, too, that I have a handy dandy daughter named Grace who was able to figure out how to use the thing.

Isaac ended up in my bed that week.  I was very concerned about his breathing and wanted to keep a close eye on him, which resulted in very little sleep for me.  By the time Matt got home, I was exhausted.  He was jet lagged and exhausted as well.  So we both hit the hay early that evening.

Isaac was far more energetic than his parents that night.  After spending some time settling down with his big sister Elizabeth, he joined us on our bed.  How quickly a bad habit is formed.  Anyway, as soon as he hopped on the bed and saw that Matt was cuddled up to me, he informed his dad, "Dis my bed, Daddy!"