A Gift of Love

I have been dying to share with you Kat's Christmas present from Frank....and even though she does not always read my blog....I knew...the day I posted it would be one of the days she would read it....and I just could not take the chance.  Back in October we were up and my mom's house and Frank decided to bring home a doll house kit that my mom and dad gave Kat for Christmas when she was 2 years old...She was 30 this year.  He said he was going to build it for her.  The dollhouse was called the Pierce and is a three story house.  I never dreamed how big the thing would be....but...the first part of November...Frank began building....first the stairs.

Before he finished the stairs we made our first of many trips to Hobby Lobby for stuff.  First we got paint for the outside and the inside and during that trip we bought some cute wall paper.  Second trip was for the first bag of shingles and the bring underpining you see....he also bought the laminate flooring sheets.  It is amazing to me how a kit...can come with so little.  It would seem to me that if you buy the kit....you should get all the essentials.  Don't you think?  Especially for as much as those blasted kits cost....griefus!

After he finished up his first round of school he began to work earnestly on the house.  He painted, sanded, painted some more....wallpapered, and during all his working....we had Thanksgiving....so we had to put the house away ....which meant taking it out of the living room where he was working and moving into my office.....then there was the Open House...and he had to clean it all up again....and then...we went back for the second bag of shingles......and this week when we went to Knoxville to get our guns...we bought bags number....three and four....and will need at least two more to finish up. 

We went to my parents and got the television that was there....so he could watch football while he worked....and he painted...and constructed the dollhouse....with his coffee, diet coke, and snacks he worked hard on this project.

He did allow me to paint the porch rails and some of the gingerbread pieces when crunch time came.  Last night...when we went to bed...we knew it was not going to be completely through....but that was ok....they would not be able to get it into their car to take it home...so he finished one side completely....and when she called today to say she was an hour away....he hid it.  You see....we did a scavenger hunt for her to find this part of her present. 

This is what the roof looked like.  To date we have used 1400 pieces of roof stuff and are nowhere near finished.  Our next to the last trip to Hobby Lobby....we found some little Christmas wreaths, a string of lights and a tree.....We opened our gifts.....and I saved this one for last.  I had made her a photo book....and on the very last page was clue number one.....The hunt went like this:

Clue #1 – You have to walk the narrow and straight

Hurry and find me, Oh please don’t be late.

I’m hidden away in a yucky gray box

Just open me up….Hey! I ‘m not even locked!

Clue #2 – I’m hanging on a Christmas tree

Won’t you come and look for me?

I’m shiny and red and have lots of bling,

I don’t make a noise and I don’t even ring.

Clue #3 – This clue is somewhere I shelter my friends.

With pictures and churches and some odds and ends,

You will find me ‘neath the big angels feet,

Sitting there waiting – all nice and neat!

Clue #4 – Inside your momma’s office there’s a big and small brown box

The boxes were peepaws and neither is locked.

Search for the next clue in one of these two

And you’re getting closer….please shout now…Whoooo Hoooo!

Clue #5 – Music abounds in this room you will see,

Magnolias of Still and guitars one, two, three,

An old mandolin and a new one rest quietly…

Look for some thunder….you can make it sound brightly!

Clue #6 – Deep in a case holding glasses of green

Is your final clue if you know what I mean,

The glasses and plates I have loved through all time,

Look in the punchbowl…that green one of mine.

Final Clue – Go to the room where the meats are kept cold

There’s a present there waiting …at least that’s what I’m told.

This gift is so special and full of great cheer.

Merry Christmas from Frank

I love you, my dear!

She found it sitting on the freezer in our utility room....she and Frank both cried when she found it....and then Clay and Frank moved it back into THE WORK ROOM so she could see it.  Inside it...where little pieces of furniture that my mom had actually begun....  This was a wonderful gift....28 years in the making.

Kat was so sick today....but this gift...made her day....heck...it made her year.  It tickled me to see a dream...fulfilled...even if it did take 28 years.  Merry Christmas to all!