Goodbye box

Do you remember this box? It came into the living room in January after a neighbor took delivery of some large furniture. After eight months it was starting to fall down and wasn't played with as much. It was time for it to go. Several times I told the boys the box was going to go and there were small protests or I would think in my head, it's time, and then come in the room to find Joseph playing in it. For it was Joseph's box — he claimed it and didn't really want to share with brother. So if Will played with it, he was usually doing so with Joseph and not on his own. Will did try to sleep in it overnight a couple of times. Attempts that were quickly abandoned because hey, that floor is hard!

It was a jail, a helicopter, a hospital, a snuggle spot — it stretched the imagination! Which is why I let it "clutter" the living room for so long. Our house is not big and the box made it even smaller. After seeing how much fun the boys had with it, I think it was me who was having a tough time letting it go.  Because when they came home one day in September to a much larger-looking living room, they paused for a second and moved on.

The box was moved to the backyard where it lasted for a few more days. Then moved to the curb for recycling. But the memories will remain hopefully for the boys but definitely for me ... I'm going to go now before I get too weepy about watching their childhood pass, that it's going too fast. 

Goodbye box.

Final days -- the paper taped on front told
a story at one time. Inside it had become
 a storage spot for more boxes and stuffed
animals while stuff accumulated on top. 

Snuggle time with Baby Bunny.

Friends loved the box too. 

Cooking and a battle? Yeah, I think that's what's going on in this picture.

The not-a-box disco party box

It feels like it's been raining forever! At least every day this week and last. The only thing that has saved my sanity is THE BOX. I spied the box at a neighbor's house. Seems they got a delivery. We're all tight on my street so I immediately asked for the box, dragged box to my house, barely got it through the door and then rejoiced in the peace and quiet the box brought to my house. Not so much the quiet because jailers and prisoners can be rather loud when an escape attempt is ongoing. The day after I got the box is when it started raining and raining and raining. (Good Lord, when will it stop?!) Which is sad because I had dragged the second big box to the backyard for more fun and it's now a sad pile of damp cardboard. 

Now when I first spied the box, all kind of ideas ran through my head. Ideas that I had pinned just waiting for the opportunity to show up on the curb. Should I make a playhouse? A reading nook? 

Holly/Life as a Thrifter

Come on, isn't this amazing?!! What a lovely little house. My hats off to this mom for all the love she put into making it. Wallpaper! A mirror! But before my fantasies ran away from me, I stepped away from the craft supplies and decided to just let my boys decide where the play led. So the box is unchanged expect for some markers and a barred window in the back for the prisoners. EXCEPT for the Christmas lights which hey, they were still plugged up so not too hard to add them to the box. I got the idea here. It's fun listening to the boys and their friends play or for us all to pile in to read books. 

To be honest, while I love the occasional rainy day best spent reading in bed, these days of damp are starting to get to me. We're promised some sun on Friday but that's after a chance of snow Thursday. Which at my house, will more likely just be more rain. Time for an inspirational quote: 

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