Sophia's first box

When I was young, one of my favorite books to read was "Christina Katerina and the Box." Christina is an imaginative little girl who, along with her friend Fats, transformed an empty refrigerator box into a race car, space shuttle, clubhouse, dance floor, and a number of other uses. The book ends with the final disintegration of the box, followed by the arrival of Fats bringing over two more boxes for them to play with from his mother's new washer and dryer.

Fast forward a little bit.

Two years ago when we bought our house, the previous owners left us quite a wealth of useful (and not so useful) items. One of those items was a lawn mower. I am inclined to include it in the "useful" category, though I am not so sure that John would. It survived until this spring, with some judicious use of duct tape (ok, a lot of duct tape and some creativity), but the handle finally broke in half at the very end of the first mow of 2011. There was some discussion about the pros and cons of welding the handle back together, but when all of its issues were added up . . . it was time!

So I did some research while I was at work last week and found a Craftsman mower from Sears that wouldn't completely break the bank, and we picked it up yesterday. Ironically, when we put the old mower out by the road, it didn't even take half an hour for someone to pull up and take it. Broke any record of curbside pickup yet! I guess they want to get some welding practice.

I know. What does any of this have to do with Christina Katerina and the box?

Well, said lawn mower came in a box! And we have one creative daddy in this house who decided that his little girl needed a teddy bear house.

Saturday afternoon was spent discovering how much fun a box can provide. And the fun isn't over! That box is still in our living room, and I anticipate many fun-filled afternoons this week . . . sailing in a boat, making a bed for Sophia's doggies and doll, having another visit with the teddy bears, and anything else we come up with.

(Sophia doesn't look at all like her mama at that age, huh?)