The Little White Cabin: I stopped, paused, and smiled tonight...

I stopped, paused, and smiled tonight. Sometimes you look back on a “big” decision you made, and question it; even regret it. But every new moment we make at the cabin (thus far) has reinforced the decision we made to purchase it from my parents (and thankful that we could even entertain the idea to keep in it the family.) We all get home tired, dirty - and Joe and I always know that there are still a TON of things we need to get done at our own "home."

But the bond this experience is creating for our crazy family-of-five, is something pretty cool. And maybe it helps me have a bit of connection to the way I was raised: expected to work hard, pitch in, help out on the farm - but at the end of a long day, knowing you did your part to make things a little better.

The kids are amazing me (and I mean this so genuinely) that they just have this crazy desire to contribute. They always have the option to “take a break” and watch a show (we setup blankets on the concrete floors, with the OLD TV + DVDs.) But they truly just want “a job” to do instead. So sometimes that means the adults have to make up a few things for them to do, but I am realizing that is okay. :-) I am just thrilled they love “going to the cabin” and want to help, regardless of the task. And this morning, Samuel woke up in a super, great mood, just knowing a trip to the cabin was in store after the basketball games. How cool is that?

So, today we went up mostly to check on the gutters/and Ruby’s roof (she is the outbuilding.) We had our contractor go up yesterday to remove the moss, as the pitch is really steep, and he also replaced gutters. So given our "fight" with State Farm, we had to take some pictures (fingers crossed for the outcome!) Joe power-washed her and the kiddos all helped take a hammer to the moldy drywall, and they LOVED it! Luke ran into Frank (the main cabin), at least 3 times, telling me I needed to: “go see what they had done” and that: “daddy just knew what he was doing – he was a real worker!” :-)

Rachel helped me test some paint, sand the living room floor (test), and put some peanuts out for the squirrels (which SO reminds me of my grandma – because we had a little wood platform build on a cedar tree – and it was always kept filled with peanuts!)

We had hoped to order a pizza from the Zig Zag Inn and eat it at the cabin tonight, but we were a bit late getting up there today (given b-ball games and traffic), so we opted to head home (with the added daylight savings tonight.) But everyone was in a really good mood when we got home – and my heart was happy.

So – there is a lot of work ahead, but we are sort of at “the ceiling” for what we can do as complete amateurs… (Unless of course, it entails ordering fun cabin décor online!) I would love to say that I learned 100% from watching my dad who was one of those “guy-guys who could take a pocket knife and build a shopping mall.” But we have our limits, so we have our contractor lined up – and hoping he can get moving next week! We have a long list of bids, ideas, and trade offs. And - we have to make some tough decisions on life-priorities, to make some of the upgrades happen, so praying as we go along. But so far, the “gut feelings” have been positive on the choices, and we are so excited for what is in store for this special little cabin!

Okay so here is what I know you all want to see… the pictures! :-) A good way to spend a Saturday afternoon... indeed.