Bruce and Em and ALL of Them: Pink headbands and bracelets are all the motivation needed......

Beau and I decided a couple of weeks ago that it was time to get a swing set for the boys now that we are in our own home again and no longer renting. We had a GIANT swing set in Florida that the boys (except for Carter as he was still pretty little) still talk about now with great enthusiasm. But we knew we didn't want to spend that kind of money again but we needed something big and sturdy enough to handle our three energetic boys. So we went on an Internet hunt for hours trying to find just the right set to accommodate each of the boys' desires.

The instructions claimed that the swing set would take approximately 15 hours and 2 people to complete the build. The set was delivered early last week and Beau was planning on building it over his 3 day weekend (he gets every other Friday off). One of the other engineers at work made a bet with Beau that the swing set wouldn't be finished by Monday. Beau, of course, rising to the challenge (he's a guy and that's what they do) accepted that challenge. I was excited because I knew that meant in order to win the challenge, the boys would definitely have their jungle gym that would provide hours of entertainment completed.

But then came Wednesday and a bleak rainy forecast for most of the weekend. Not just rain, but flood warnings. I was disheartened because I assumed that meant the boys would now have to wait a while staring at all the fun boxes that contained their swing set but not being able to play on it. Knowing this new information, the other engineer had the advantage. So he approached Beau and said that Beau could get out of the challenge if only he would wear a pink headband and pink bracelets to their next kickball game. Several of Beau's co-workers play on a local recreational kickball team, so this would be completely humiliating. But this other engineer obviously doesn't know MY husband.

Thursday evening, Beau came home from work, promptly changed his clothes and was immediately working in the garage. You see, when we moved in, most of the items from our basement and many packed boxes were placed into the garage. Our garage was completely full, with the exception of a small path that we could maneuver through if we could twist our bodies in just the right angles. He began moving all these boxes to the basement. I was so excited that I helped him and before I knew it, we had everyone in the family working on this project. Beau and I (and the 3 little boys) carried things to the entrance of the basement Zander was in charge of bringing everything down to the basement. We all had a big job, but I think Zander's work was much more intense since he had the stairs to battle. He did take one fall and ran into the concrete wall. Let's just say that he was badly bruised all over one side of his body, but thankfully that was the only injury. I had wanted the garage emptied out but the project was too large for me by myself. I was so appreciative that Beau was working on this for me, without even asking him....until I realized his true motivation. He needed a staging area to work on the swing set where he could remain dry for part of the assembly. Oh well, at least my garage can now be utilized for it's original purpose of housing our vehicles.

Bright and early Friday morning, Beau was in the garage working away. He opened all the boxes, did an inventory check, and aligned everything up into groups. Not only did he do this, but he also labeled everything for ease and efficiency. That's the engineering mind at work.

You may not be able to see it, but Beau wrote labels on the box for each part.

Beau's helpers (already taking a popcorn break)

Step 1 of the instructions (inventory and organizing) took a couple of hours so now I was SURE the swing set was not going to be finished this weekend. But anytime you do a project with the help of 3 little people with grabby hands and tons of questions, those projects always seem to double in time to complete. But there was no way the boys were going to be satisfied with staying in the house and waiting to see Beau's progress little by little.

Responding to a work email while working on swing set

My husband worked ALL day long. At one point, he had a drill in one hand and his iPad in the other (to respond to a work email). I even brought his lunch to him in the garage. He would assemble parts in the garage and then take them to the wet yucky yard when the assembly was too large. But don't worry, he had plenty of help from Will, Oliver, and Carter. They totally enjoyed playing, I mean working, in the rain. Zander, however, provided more meaningful help on this day until it was time to go to his youth group lock-in.

Oliver was the most excited and inquisitive about the project. He wanted to know how to read the instructions, how to put things together, and actually worked hands on quite a bit with Beau. Oliver also made a great tool retriever and screw and bolt finder.

Thankfully, the weather forecast took a turn for the better. We had a mostly dry day on Saturday and Beau again worked on it all day long even into the evening hours. Sunday became crunch time. Between church, soccer games, and Beau coaching, our day and time to work on the set was very limited. But, by 8:30pm, everything was complete. Beau and Zander worked hard on this day to finish everything. We have neighbors that just moved into us next door and they have 2 children, a 5 year old girl and an 8 year old boy, and they came over for a while to play also. The girl has a deep affection for Will already and everyday they meet at the fence line for "conversation". We are in trouble!! But that's for another blog....

I am so thankful for the swing set, an empty garage, and my husband. I do know that he would have worked hard trying to complete their swing set this weekend, but he motivation of a pink headband and bracelets helped.