Life on M Avenue: rebuilding

So I haven't seen much of my husband this week. Every evening after the kids go to bed he escapes into the dark of night, only to return hours later covered in a layer of dirt dust, a layer of saw dust, and wearing an exhausted, yet satisfied smile on his face.

A few weeks ago we finally got our new barn (pics to come in a later post!) and I was so excited to start using it. Except as I waltzed in, ready to organize our tools, move some animals in and pick right up where we left off with our old one, my eyes grew wide with disbelief as I realized there was one tiny problem. We had a new barn, but there was nothing inside. No shelves, no storage, no place to put anything. It was like a very giant, very glorified BOX. This may come as no shock to most of you, but it was truly something I hadn't considered. Apparently I eventually picked my surprised jaw up off the ground, and the past few weeks we have been busy trying to customize it and make it usable.

But before I show off what the hubby's been working on, I get to brag a little about myself. (My blog, remember??)

One particularly lonesome night, I decided to venture down to the barn to ~~make sure he was doing it right~~ praise his hard work and progress. I watched for awhile, then wanted to somehow help out. I looked around and saw the boys' scrap boards laying all over the floor and went to pick them up. Except I had nowhere to put them. (Remember.. no storage??) I stood there for awhile, puzzled. My college-educated halogen light bulb above my head slowly began to warm up, finally reached a dim glow and it dawned on me. Build something!! So I took some scrap boards that were laying on the floor (again... no storage) and threw this together. I was seriously SO PROUD.

I made the mistake of remarking to my husband "I could sell these!"

To which he replied, "As what... a Board Holder?"

Smart A**.....

anyone wanna buy one??

Anyways.. back to the husband. He has been working SO hard this week on a tool bench for 2 reasons.

1. So we can put our tools on there

2. We are hosting his 10-year class reunion at our house this weekend and plan on putting the food in the barn. On the tool bench. Nothing like a looming deadline to jump start your motivation.

And here is the completed project. I am SO proud of him!

(And he is probably SO embarrassed by me saying this!)

Our entire tool bench!

and I LOVE the fact that he built it all out of scraps. There is nothing more awesome to me than using something somebody else was going to throw out and creating it into something usable, beautiful, and unique. (and free)

We take the phrase "One man's trash is another man's treasure" very seriously around here...

This probably doesn't look like much to anyone else, but this "small" step signifies such accomplishment and hope for us. We were devastated when our barn blew over last year. We had no way of knowing how, when, and even if we would be able to rebuild. But having to fight for something you really want, facing the reality that you may never get it, and then triumphing over that.. It definitely makes you appreciate it SO much more..

And, not to be outdone, the boys and I decided they needed their own tool bench to work on their "projects." So we whipped this out while Ella was napping yesterday.

(She is currently up for 'Baby of the Year Award' for all the amazing naps she's been conveniently taking lately)

I am expecting great birthday surprises built on here this year..