During Rest Time Today....

these were the views from our backyard. You see Daddy and I had a SUPER SONIC SURPRISE and it was being delivered right then!




For the past two years, Grammy & Papaw have sent small birthday gifts at the boys' birthdays and then some money at the beginning of the summer to spend on summer fun.


So last week when the b'day money got here, I got a wild hair. I wondered....can I find a wooden fort/swingset for the budget? Of course, the first place I looked was.....Craigslist. But, you knew that already. :) So, I put my feelers out for 4 different sets. The only seller I heard back from was one of the sweetest Craigslisters I have ever dealt with (buying or selling)!


Her ad said, "Wooden swing set for sale. Needs new swings and some of the plastic pieces need to be repaired. Wood in good shape. Must be able to take it down and haul it to your place. Needs a little TLC but a good deal for $75. If you are interested let me know and we can setup a time to come and look at it."

$75!!! Uh, yeah, I wanna look! I headed up North to Western Center (J. Lowe, I drove right by your old stompin' ground). Ernie was a doubter, so I left the kids with him and took off, camera in hand.


It was love at first sight!! I could just imagine the boys pretending and imagining for years. Campouts on the deck. Climbing up the rope. I could see the possibilities as endless!


I busted through the door, plugged in the memory card, and within minutes, Ernie agreed, we wanted this!! We called our good friend and neighbor, B Daddy and asked if he could get a hold of a trailer. Yepperooni, he said (well, he didn't actually say THAT). AND, he could get a few guys to help!


So, I talked to Corina and told her we wanted it. She said she'd be willing to be flexible with the price if she knew it was going to a family who would use it. $50!! $50!!! She said we could have it for $50!!!! No Way!!


It's hard to believe I was looking at it yesterday in Corina's yard and today it is in ours!


Needless to say, there wasn't much "resting" going on in our house today because the boys couldn't wait to get on THIS!!!!! How cool is it?!?!?!!!

Unbelievable! Since it was so EXTREMELY affordable (THANKS Corina!!), we headed out to Lowe's to get a tarp for the top, a swing for Dane, and some wood to replace one of the blue rectangles.

Next weekend one of the guys who helped move is going to be back in the hood and is going to stop by to pressure wash and stain it. Yippee Skippee! Tomorrow we're going to go get more wood to replace the rest of the blue plastic pieces, and after it's stained, we'll screw down the tarp.

Let's recap.... $50 for an amazing playplace (maybe the best Craigslist deal to date!) + $100 for hard labor in the HOT Texas sun (totally worth it) + $75 for upgrades = $225. We are so thankful!

Thanks Grammy & Papaw for this great gift!