Construction Crew

This was kind of delayed with all the Halloween hubbub, but I still wanted to post it. Mike helped my Dad put up a storage shed in the backyard back in September. Actually the whole family got involved! Labor day was truly a day of labor - at least for these two:

They dug out a huge amount of dirt to lay the foundation. My brother Andrew planned and helped build the frame - and these guys should not go unrecognized:

All the kids wanted to help!

 Slurpee break!

 Cute baby break!

Later Mike and I did the final assembly. We couldn't have done it without our special little helper.

Lily was so sweet going back and forth to bring me two screws at a time as I was assembling pieces.

 "Here you go, mom!"

  "Mommy, I have some more screws for you!"

She just had to step on each panel of the shed as she passed it, and when she got to me she always had the sweetest little smile and head tilt as she offered me the screws. She just loved to be a part of it and feel like she was really helping!

It was so funny to see her repeat this meandering path - I had to record it! Of course the routine changed once the camera came out - but you get the idea. Just imagine the first part back and forth repeated at least 6 times.

These shed kits come with exactly what you need - down to the last screw. We were 2 screws short at the final step and were teasing that maybe Lily had eaten them as we looked around in the grass and contemplated taking some out of a less essential spot in order to finish up. (A ridiculous number of screws went into this shed). Mike said: "Maybe they're in Lily's pockets?" -- like Lily had pockets, or would be coordinated enough to get screws into them! I guess maybe she could - she did get the screwdriver into the screw socket. Anyway it did make Mike think to look in his own pockets...where, guess what he found!? The last 2 screws! So the shed is complete. It needs steps or a ramp, but that's a project for another day.

Lily thinks it's her house, or rather her 'kitchen'. We recently discovered some neighbors on our block have the neatest little play house in their backyard. Seriously, so cool. Wood floors, real working light on the miniature porch and inside, silver butterfly fittings on the real working windows, painted yellow with purple trim. Lily and their little girl played with her little toy kitchen setup inside, and I can't blame Lily for wanting one of her own! The shed just isn't going to cut it: Much too hot and needed for another purpose, or it would not be in our backyard. But Lily had fun helping build it! I can't believe how blond she looks in some of these pictures!

 

 

The finished shed:

Who knows? - maybe Lily will go into construction one day...We could sure use someone to build us a house! Or maybe she'll grow up and live in an apple tree. She keeps telling me that's her plan (just like Little Bear wants to). I always ask if I can live with her in the apple tree and she always says yes. So far so good! She also tells me when she grows up she's going to be big like me and her hair is going to be brown like mine. -- That part will probably come true, but for now I just want her to stay little! :)