Skip to main content

The Happiest Place on Earth

I'll let you in on a little secret: the happiest place on earth is NOT Disneyland.  When the booing and hissing subsides, I'll tell you what is the happiest place.  Wait for it.  Waaaait for it...Okay.  It's this place we affectionately call the "broken down house."  It might be a similar place for you.  Basically, it's the outdoors with no traffic, no screens, no play structures except those that occur naturally - you know, like trees and mud puddles.  It's magical. 

We are going to live in this magical place soon and I hope the fascination and excitement stays with us long after the newness wears off.  The boys are free to dig, cut, climb, build, and imagine all sorts of creative schemes.  They've dug oceans, built spaceships, made monster truck tracks, and become very efficient loggers (with handsaws) since we started visiting this property. 

They aren't the only one with imaginations at full tilt either.  Ross has his visions for the property, and I see space for growing all variety of plants, trees, and hopefully a few animals as well.  We love it. 

Nothing gets the boys in a good mood and ready for a day as fast as mentioning a trip to the broken down house.  And everyday we get the question: is today a burn day?  Because if you add fire into the equation, does it really get any better?  Man stuff. 

I will leave you with the face of a little boy who heard that today is in fact a burn day!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tough Love

 We were on our way home from a birthday party not long ago, and Fischer began complaining from the backseat that one of the kids had tripped him and laughed about it.   Ross looked at him in the rearview mirror and responded, "Life's hard, Buddy.  You're going to have to toughen up."  To which his brother responded, "Yeah.  You have no idea.  Just wait until you're eight."  At that, they both sat back in their booster seats and contemplated their life situation for the remainder of the drive home.    Evidently, life is smooth sailing in those early single digits, but once you reach the ripe old age of, "I can mostly tie my own shoes and reach the kitchen faucet," it's all hard knocks and rough living.   I know this must be true because Sawyer also told his aunt the other day, "It's time to get on it and get myself a car.  I'm going to get a Cord Tacoma."  I think what he wanted to say, but didn't have the words  was,

All I Want For Christmas...

  Christmas time is such a fun season.  I love focusing on the birth of Jesus with the kids and recognizing the true reason for celebrating.  I also relish the magical part of the season that gives so much life to our kids' imaginations and innocents.  They are always precious, but I feel it even more so this time of year.   Even our oldest hasn't completely given up on Santa, although he has a lot more questions having been around classmates and friends who coolly deny the existence of Santa or Christmas magic.  We know it can't last forever, but I'm going to milk it for at least one more season.  He is still more or less on board.  I think he wants it to be real, so he doesn't dig too deep.  Consequently, he and his siblings were all excited for a trip to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus last weekend.  I was excited too.  I love their reactions, and last year Carter was too sick to go, so this was her first opportunity to meet Santa face to face.   The trip didn't di

Christmas Miracle

 For better or worse, I don't have a lot of pride.  I used to have some, but after the third and fourth child, what little I had vanished.  I'd like to be put together.  I would like my kids to be put together.  I have come to terms with the fact that, 99% of the time, that's not going to happen.  When we leave the house, I consider it a win if everybody has on an appropriate amount of clothing and two shoes that match.   The first time we visited the orthodontist in preparation for Sawyer's braces, I showed up with four kids in dirty play clothes and one child with mismatched shoes.  It just so happens that the orthodontist's wife is the mom of some of my former students, and she was working that day.  Luckily, I also hadn't brushed anyone's hair before we left the house, so we made quite an impression.  I've been trying to raise the bar ever since, but I seem to keep failing.  The next appointment we came straight from the barn and smelled like it, but