the workshop.

Four years ago, we had eight pine trees removed from our yard. David planted a garden and built Judah and Amie a magical play house in the corner.

Less than two years later, Gabe and Noah arrived on the scene to help enjoy it.

As cute as it’s always looked in our backyard, the playhouse has always been a bit of a sore subject in our family. And by that I mean, No one really played in it. It’s true. David spent hours buying lumber and building and painting this totally unique clubhouse for the kids, and then one day some neighbors gave us their tattered old trampoline, and it’s been the object of everyone’s affection ever since.

Sigh.

Not that I’m complaining. My biggest piece of advice to any mom of boys I meet is: Get a trampoline. It will change your life.

So here we are, in 2018, and David decided it’s time to move on to bigger and better things, namely: a workshop.

He disassembled the playhouse and friends from church were happy to take it off our hands. Then he bought some plans online for $30, and proceeded to begin building his Dream Workshop.

Here it is thus far. Yes, it’s big.

It took me awhile to get used to a 12×16 structure looming over our yard, but now it seems normal, as normal as anything seems in our ever-evolving yard.

David began building the workship while I reread The First Four Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and we were amazed to discover that the claim shanty Laura and Almanzo and baby Rose moved into was 12×16. Can you imagine?

And you know what’s hilarious?

The kids play in it constantly.

The star of this workshop is going to be the 48-paned window David’s dad found at the Habitat Restore. Actually, he found two: one for himself, and one for David. We’re hoping Steve uses his for a writing shed.

David’s in the process of deglazing it (yes, that’s probably lead paint on the ground so the kids have had a firm warning). Steve also gifted us this beautiful white door and installed it for us the week after Christmas when David and I were laid up sick.

David plans to use his workshop to store all of his tools, to do projects (like hopefully build me a bookcase for our bedroom), and probably most of all, keep his gardening operation working. This year he transitioned from using seedlings to starting everything from seed. This means trays of seeds are currently being stored in our house. I am okay with that only on a temporary basis.

The workshop will give him a launching place to garden to his heart’s content.

Right now, it’s fun to see the kids enjoy it. This is the look I got when asking Gabe and Noah if they’d gotten into Daddy’s tools:

Their favorite pastime is using the workshop for sports announcing . . .

It’s a shame they don’t have any personality!

It’s been a cold January in South Carolina, so everything in our yard looks very brown right now. But one day, the workshop will be painted and the garden thriving and it will be a place of color and butterflies and life.