Horse. . .2010 model

I do not like to have tons and tons of toys all over our house. I am a bit anal; as in I follow the boys around picking up after them. . .A LOT. . .TOO much! I also am constantly going through their toys picking out toys that they don't play with anymore to go in the garage sale pile. Kyle is 2 1/2. He is not a baby anymore (as hard as that is to admit). A few months ago, I put a horse Kyle had in the garage sale pile. After countless times of him pulling it BACK out, I finally have given in and realized that he still enjoys this toy and doesn't want to let it go quite yet.

Until a few days ago, I hadn't really watched him play with his horse. I knew that he kept his "keys" in the basket but thought nothing of it. Until I saw this. . . .

Not only does he use the keys to start his horse, he also uses the remote keyless entry to lock and unlock him when he is not on him! HA!

The swing set

Elijah and Kyle's birthdays are both in January. This means we get a new supply of toys about one month before that happens all over again. Now, don't get me wrong, I love that our boys are loved and we appreciate every gift they are given. However, this can be overwhelming for a mom that is a tad bit anal and a has an ounce(or two) of over-organizer syndrome! This year was especially bad since we were not living in our house but instead in a little bitty two bedroom apartment(which we were VERY thankful for). So, I asked my parents to consider giving the boys a swing set(to be purchased at a later date). They agreed this was a good idea. Due to crazy schedules on both ours and their parts, we didn't get the swingset purchased until early June. My parents were not available to stay that weekend to help with the assembly. After borrowing tools from a friend (THANKS David Merrill!!!), Ricky and I decided to tackle the daunting task alone. (Now before I go on, I would like to tell you that neither Ricky nor I are OVERLY handy.) I could stretch this post out for a VERY long time but lets just say after 3 weeks, 24 hours of labor(some by myself, a lot with just Ricky and I, and a few late nights with Adam Grubb. . .THANK YOU ADAM), quite a bit of frustration, and EXTREMELY anxious boys we FINALLY have a finished product!

The framing to the clubhouse! This part took over 3 hours(I realize most people probably wouldn't take that long!)! It was only Step 1 and 2 of 24 steps!

I'm not sure why Elijah is wearing sweat pants in the middle of a hot June day but this was after several more steps and shows 2 of the 5 windows on the clubhouse.

With a LOT of help from Ricky, we added the bay window, roof, "table", ladder, and railing. Ricky and Adam are responsible for the rock wall!

And FINALLY, the finished product! I documented all of our progress but am just now realizing I don't have a good picture of the entire swing set! Adam again assisted Ricky and I with the swing beam and then Ricky and I with some help from Elijah added the swings.

Kyle woke up from his nap that afternoon to find swings in the backyard. He was anxious to try them out. So, we let him. . .in just his diaper(he is still wearing diapers to nap and to bed).

And with that, I declare that I am DONE using power tools and assembling ANYTHING for a VERY, VERY long time!!! And if you need to find the boys and I for the next few months, we will be in our backyard, enjoying the fruit of our labor! :) Thanks to my Dad and Mom for a WONDERFUL birthday present!