The Old Wooden Play Fort

This week my hubby is at home on vacation. We have been doing a light schedule in school with the boys so they can help with at home projects. Some time ago the discussion of taking the boys wooden play fort down in the backyard had come up since they no longer play on it - hubby and I put it up ourselves when when our 12 year old was 4. At first this seemed like a great idea. I mean more yard space sounded nice. Then as usual my brain got to thinking.

As I looked out over the back yard I realized how much the boys have grown. Joseph is 5 and will be 6 on November 1 - that's the baby. There won't be anymore what color is this games, let's play Bob the Builder memory game, no more Clifford or Barney and as I scan blogs and see other mothers just beginning their journey with their 3/4 years I feel my heart stalling at the though that this has passed and I'll never do it again. My baby is now a big boy he's out and about in the world playing with the other kids on the block - no longer content to sit at home with me in my lap asking questions, reading books, peeling apples or chopping vegetables. No, he's a regular kid with much to do and he's not to be treated like a little guy any more. Suddenly that heap of weathered wood became more than just a place where they use to play but a sacred place where the memories of their early childhood was made. A time when they learned what a real mommy and daddy was truly about. I couldn't bare to see it taken down and tossed out.

Now this is the really neat thing about how God works. I never mentioned this to my hubby whether or not he had the same thoughts as I or it was God grace to give me comfort when hubby came up with this idea for him and the boys to do this week. We have five backyard chickens (Rhode Island Reds, our Buttercup Ladies) and they decided to lower the leg posts to about 2 foot off the ground, box it in, add doors, nesting boxes, a window, shingled roof, and a 20 foot fenced in run with a cat proof top. I was amazed how great it looked , kinda like a mini "Swiss Chalet." I'll get a picture for you once we get it painted, its been raining here. It didn't cost a penny out of pocket it was built entirely from the materials from the old coop and play fort. Our Buttercup Ladies are in heaven and I still have our memory maker but its making new memories now.