A Swinging Christmas!

I really meant to post again before Christmas, but it came and went like a whirlwind! I hope everyone out there in bloggyland had a very Merry Christmas and have been enjoying a wonderful Holiday Season. We sure have. There is so much to talk about that I'll have to break it all up into different posts.

The week before Christmas, we surprised the boys with an early present ... well, actually, we finally got around to putting up a playset outside. Something we have been trying to do since last Spring. But the timing was good so I put a gold bow on it and said "Merry Christmas!" Since we've had a mild December here in Middle Tennessee, the boys have really been able to enjoy it almost every day. When Liam, our 3 year old, first saw it, he exclaimed, "It's the one I always wanted!" He knows just how to melt his mom's heart. Here's a short video:

And a few more photos:

I picked this playset up at Toys-R-Us (for an amazing deal) and hired someone to assemble it for us. Martin supervised the builders and although he likes the playset style, the redwood, and the name "Aspen Lodge", he kept saying "It's not as sturdy as I would have built it." And he is definitely right. However, after it took Martin two full years to build our new house from the ground up, I knew he deserved a break from construction so I didn't hound him too bad to build a playset like he did at our previous home. But, last Spring, the boys and I kinda gave up waiting for dad to get into the construction groove again and we starting scoping out playsets on our own. Let's just say they had a lot of fun "testing" out various playsets around town. This was the result. Not the greatest, but by far the best for the money.

However, an unexpected result is that it has inspired Martin to build his own creation for the backyard. He's already started on the blueprints! The Emperor has found his new groove!