When I was little we called them “forts.”

My children proudly called me to come and inspect their “condos”!

I’m starting to feel my age…

I am Thankful For…

1. 1. 1. Mommy aka MrsPages
      2. Daddy aka MrPages
      3. LittlePage2
      4. LittlePage3
      5. LittlePage4
      6. LittlestPage5
      7. Mommy’s homemade bread
      8. My body
      9. My mind
      10. My food
      11. My clothes
      12. Good friends
      13. -20C winter days with clear blue skies and sparkling snow
      14. Wool blankets on -35C nights
      15. Family Camp at Red Rock Camp
      16. The person (or people) who invented tag
      17. Play structures
      18. Doctors
      19. Books
      20. I sleep in the same room as LittlePage2
      21. I am home schooled
      22. I have 4 other Little Pages too play with
      23. I will be old enough to be able to baby sit next year
      24. We can sponsor 3 children who don’t have very much
      25. People who care listen to me

–LittlePage1 (who is not so little anymore!)

Christmas that year found us at a Christmas party. Someone mentioned how the host had baseboards just like their own. I stared quizzically at the commenter, because there were no baseboards on the wall. The hosts had apparently replaced the carpet and had not found time to put the new baseboards on. The walls had been baseboard-less for two years or so. The commenter had apparently been without baseboards for almost ten years. I was aghast! I was also innocent and naive.

Four babies and ten years later our home is still without baseboards. We removed them before we moved in in order to rip out the pea green carpets and refinish the oak hardwoods that were hiding underneath. We just never got to the baseboards. The furnace blew. In November. The installers left blood on the concrete floor trying to get the new model to fit with forty year old ducting. The roof went the next summer. Then the hot water tank, while Mr Pages was away on a business trip.

The deck finally caved in and became such a death trap for our preschoolers that we ripped it out. In trying to erect a play structure we found an old above ground pool that the previous owner had buried in the back yard. We keep waiting for skeletons. The wind storm the following autumn took our fence.

Inside, we were not faring well either. The dishwasher exploded into the basement. The dryer finally sputtered out its last warm breath. While the house was wired for ground, none of the outlets had three prongs, so Mr Pages dutifully began exchanging them all. Until he pulled out one box in the basement and found the back charred and melted. There had been an electrical fire in the wall. So out came the entire basement. (No loss. It was decorated in sixties black floor tile and orange stained chip board.) Ten men, several sledgehammers and a reciprocating saw make for a interesting Saturday afternoon. We eventually had to replace the whole main electrical box

Baby number five required us to replace the sagging patio doors and make a storage room into a nursery.

And so nine years later and several blown budgets, we are still without baseboards. The pantry is almost done, though. The front hall entryway just needs drywalling. The basement is framed, insulated and some of the walls are primed.

Most importantly, we have learned that you really can do anything you set your mind too. Plumbing, electrical, framing, roofing, drywalling – if we have wanted it done, we have checked out a book from the library and done it.

And really who needs baseboards anyway? Where else would we store all those Cheerios?

My fifteen month old daughter started calling him “bunnee” a few months ago. About a month ago it progressed to “rabbee” and then a week ago the “t” was finally added – “rabbeet.”

She understands fully what a rabbit is, identifying wild rabbits on our lawns, Bugs Bunny on someone’s shirt, and bunnies in books. Last Wednesday, we were at a friend’s house, helping with some painting. My youngest toddled around the kitchen saying, “Rabeet. Rabeet.” I didn’t think much of it. My friend’s mom is an artist. I thought maybe one of the many art pieces had a rabbit on it.

Then today, at another friend’s house, my daughter kept looking around the kitchen floor saying “Rabeet. Rabeet.”

It suddenly twigged on me and I realized she was looking for a rabbit. She has decided that all good kitchens should have there very own “rabeets!”

Thank you Little One for your beautiful innocence and simplicity. It blessed my day.