This old house, again

There is a mountain of mulch in my front yard. Our neighbors had a tree taken down, and we asked for the woodchips. Be careful what you ask for! Don't get me wrong, we'll use every bit of it, but we need it in the backyard which is proving to be alot of work. Rob (with the help of my dad's old station wagon) is doing an amazing job of getting it all into the back yard. In the process of all of our new landscaping, we're adding the sandbox that we've talked about under the tree fort. Who knew that we had such a great backyard? Instead of composing an entire new latte about the joys of my house, I decided to reprint one from last November. Here it is...

Our house was built in 1954. We bought it in 2005 from the original owner. By mid-2008 we started to like it. Yes, it is a typical ranch, fixer-upper, money-pit; but it's home. When we bought the house, Charlotte & Mason were 1 and 3 and Mary Jane was on the way. I was frustrated that it wasn't our "dream house." My mother told me that most people don't buy their dream houses, they buy a house and live into it. There is some wisdom in that, maybe even a latte.

Dream houses belong to adults, not their small children. This has become Mason's dream house because he has a huge tree-fort in the backyard thanks to Uncle Lou. The girls love the fact that my bathroom has a pink toilet, tub, and sink to match the tile on the walls. For better or worse, I've actually come to like the fact that I don't need a baby monitor to hear my kids in the middle of the night. There will always be plenty of projects around here, some big and some small.

My latte is this, when you're thinking about your dream home, think about your dreams. My dream is to have a beautiful space for a Christmas tree and plenty of room for all of my family to enjoy each other and their toys, a kitchen that can be a gathering place, and a cozy room to sit and watch TV. When I look past the clutter and dust, it looks like I just might be living my dream.