Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream....

First I have to say that men that own tools and know how to use them are oh so...useful, helpful, resourceful, etc. You get the idea. Aren't they also sexy?! Well, let me tell you, my husband is all of these things and I'm SO GRATEFUL he is our handyman around here! See these tools? Those are just a few of the many he owns and uses, and last weekend he built me a sandbox. He is my Sandman. He has fulfilled my dream of corralling my crazy wild boys into a smaller area where I can keep an eye on them easier. This is very important to me because I'm about to be nursing a newborn - well, in a few more months. With 1.1 acres of land and wild children, you can lose them in 2 seconds flat. Now I can sit back and relax while they play happily in an 8 ft by 8 ft square sandbox! BONUS: I can see and hear them from the office (aka: computer, crafts, bills) and the garage (aka: laundry!). Oh the possibilities =)

It all started with 4 pieces of 8 ft weather treated lumber from Home Depot....

...and 2 truck fulls of sand from RCP Block and Brick.It wasn't easy to entertain them while the construction was going on - but the new toys and droppings of sand from the truck helped.
After the walls were up and support beams in place, the weed block was stapled down.

Next up: sanding the wood a little to prevent splinters.
I couldn't believe he even had an electronic sander. Man is this guy handy!


I got some new digging tools at Walmart. I've discovered over the years that the toys sold for "sand" are very cheap and break easily so I browsed the kitchen isle for fun possibilities. I found cups (6 for $1.50), a plastic sifter, kitchen utensils (bag of several for $0.98), nesting funnels (5 for $1), pitchers ($2 each), and plastic measuring cups (cheap!). We also found a few 'easter' themed buckets ($1.50 each), and a few little cars made for sand play ($5). I bought one package made for sand ($5 for 5 pieces) and wouldn't you know it - the shovel was broken before dad even got the sand in the box! Since it's spring, the gardening tools are out and they sell some for kids. The kids hand shovels and trowels were only $1.50, so I got 2 of each. They are very very sturdy and I've never seen one break! They only had pink left, but hey, we like pink!

Finally! The moment we've all been waiting for = SAND!

Pure heaven = boys in sand
2nd best: showing off your new sandbox to your Auntie!

We had our first visitors on Tuesday morning - cousins David and Ethan Sabin. Moms got to relax on the swing and watch the boys have a blast in the sand.
Almost looks like I've got myself a daycare!

Owen thought putting the tractor down the slide was hysterical and did it over and over...

I consider this a present to ME - and am enjoying it more and more everyday.

Thanks sweety, I love you and your tools!