Boxes

We went a bit box crazy last week.  No really.  There was the barn, the wagons, and then there was the Little House.

Last Saturday, I called The Warehouse, which serves as the local appliance, furniture, DirectTV, Verizon store(s?).  You can also buy engagement rings there.  I was on the hunt for some big boxes.  Mammoth boxes.  Ones so big that a 3 year old could stand up in them.

I have this vague memory from my childhood.  I had to be about 3.  I remember what seemed at the time a behemoth of a cardboard house sitting out on our front porch on Whitfield, or was it Willard?  Why did we live on two streets starting with W before I was 5?  I can never remember.  Whitefield, I...think.

Anyway, back to the box house.  I remember even sleeping in a couple of times.  And I think we drew flowers on the outsides of it.  Maybe even window boxes.

So it's from this vague memory of a 3 year old I was trying to reconstruct this for my kids.  I got to The Warehouse, and they had both a range box and a refrigerator box.  I wanted both!  But the guy that was helping me was trying to tell me they both wouldn't fit.  And he was right.  Because he was trying to put them in the van fully put together.  He tried putting the stroller in the range box with the hatch open and told me I could drive the 15 miles home like that.

And then I realized this was silliness.  I needed to collapse them.  And sure enough the range fit just fine.  And then I realized, despite this "helpful" guys protests, that I could do the same with the refrigerator box and slide it along side the seats.  Perfecto!  Minivans are amazing pieces of equipment!

I wanted it to be a surprise for the boys, so I waited until the boys were asleep, and then wielding my knife, I started to create this box house.  I used the stove box as the "main" section, complete with a door 2 windows and a huge hole, where I slide the refrigerator box sideways through.  This made a long tunnel section.  I added another door, several more windows and taped that sucker together.

Then, because I was bored, I grabbed some paint that I had laying around and painted the whole outside of the house.  I figured this structure was going to be with us for a while, and I didn't want to look at it with all it's labels for the rest of the summer.

I kept it from the boys until the next morning.  Forrest headed to the playroom first thing, and promptly came running back to my room, "Mommy!  There is a little house!  Can I play in it?"   He then went to breakfast with Noah, and when he came home he asked, "Is the Little House still builded?"  I guess he figured it appeared out of nowhere overnight, maybe it would disappear while he was at breakfast.

So fun.  And it was free.  And it's providing hours of entertainment for all!