"This is the house that Kris built..."

By Momma Jamie

This is the house that Kris built.

This is the slide

That started the house that Kris built.

These are the kids
That slide down the slide
That started the house that Kris built.



This is the very talented, hard-working daddy
That loved the kids
That slide down the slide
That started the house that Kris built.



These are the big, bad tools
That helped the daddy
That loved the kids
That slide down the slide
That started the house that Kris built.



This is the very pregnant Momma all forlorn
That worried about the big, bad tools
That helped the daddy
That loved the kids
That slide down the slide
That started the house that Kris built.



This is the man all tired and dirty
That amazed the Momma all forlorn
That worried about the big, bad tools
That helped the daddy
That loved the kids
That slide down the slide
That started the house that Kris built.


These are the happy kids who LOVE the house
Made by the man all tired and dirty
That amazed the Momma all forlorn
That worried about the big, bad tools
That helped the daddy
That loved the kids
That slide down the slide
That started the house that Kris built.



How the House Came To Be:

Yes, I am cheesy, I know. I read this to Hannah and showed her the pictures with it after reading her the real Mother Goose rhyme ("This is the house that Jack built"). She got the biggest kick out of it and laughed and smiled really big. :-)

When we bought our house, the previous owners left behind this slide that had once been on a play gym. It has been sitting in our back yard for a couple of years now. About a month or so ago, Kris decided he needed to use this slide some how. So, this began the idea of building the kids a play house. Apparently he researched it online and formulated his plan. He planned to start working on it over a weekend where the kids and I were in Texarkana. It was to be a surprise for when we got back. However, we spoiled this surprise by changing our plans due to the weather being bad that weekend. Well, he started the project anyway.

This was around May 1st when he began by building the floor and the deck. Lincoln, who had no idea what was really going on at the time as Kris hadn't yet told the kids what exactly he was doing, thought that his daddy was building a bridge. That is what he called it. Ha!!







May 3rd: The roof trusses kind of gave Kris something to really think about. How was he going to build them? The angles are tricky and he had to figure out just the right way to make them. I know he researched it online. Then, one morning he told me that he thought he figured out how to do it in his sleep! This is hilarious to me because when I told my mom about this, she said that my Dad figures things out in his sleep too. I had to help him put the trusses together and hold them up on the roof so he could nail them on. They worked great! I will say that through this whole project, I was so AMAZED at how many measurements Kris had to figure out and cut with his saws to get all this stuff to fit together perfectly. He is one smart cookie!





May 7th: Things were coming along. He had gotten the walls up and the windows in. There are 3 windows--one in front and two on the sides for cross-ventilation. He thinks of everything. Ha!

May 16th: Now he started working on the slide part. He made a platform for it and a little "rock climbing wall" to get up to the platform.

This is the inside at this point.

May 30th: After he trimmed everything up, he painted the house yellow to match our house and painted the trim white.

June 8th: Kris finished the house this past weekend by making a door for it. The kids kept reminding him that their house needed a door, so he made them one. Lincoln has made the comment a few times that it needed a light. I draw the line at electricity!

Grandma got them this kitchen at a garage sale and I moved their Lego table in there as well.

It is tall enough in there for an adult to stand up in it.

Happy kiddos! They love their play house! I expect for them to get many, many hours of fun play in there over the years!

With all the extra wood he had, their Daddy made them a picnic table too. I so wish I would have taken a picture of our garage while he was working in there with all his saws. It was a mess! I was a mess half the time worrying about him cutting another limp off. It was just about this time in my pregnancy with Hannah that Kris almost succeeded in chopping off the top of his thumb with his compound miter saw while making a room in the crawl space of our house at the time. Luckily, other than pounding his fingers multiple times with his hammer, he came away with no major injuries!! Ha!!

Kris, it is hard for me to express how proud I am of you and the work you did on this house for the kids. You constantly amaze me with your creativity, hard-work, dedication, and skills. I wrote all this in hopes that these kids will one day read this and know what their Daddy did for them and learn a little bit about what makes you tick and about how much their Mommy loves you! :-)