DEMOLITION!

...Tear the house down!

The tractor rolled in first thing this morning and it's parked right beside the structure once called home. They'll be there Monday to fire up the engine and start tearing down the house. They say by Tuesday evening there will be one giant empty lot. (It will take a day just to haul away the debris.)

Elijah (and the almost-3-year old next door, Jacob) got to be real boys playing in the dirt and inspecting the tractor. It wouldn't be a real "boy party" without dirt. You know, the red Virginia clay that just gets down under your finger nails?! It's the kind that's caked onto the inside of a giant tractor "claw" (yes, that is my technical term). The kind that a 3 year old boy found fully entertaining to scrape off in chunks with a shovel. Those hunks of dried clay found themselves hurled onto the brick of the "fire house" (affectionately named by E), splattering into pieces and flecks of dirty flying all over.

Unbeknownst to me, E also found a puddle where he decided to make his first mud pie. The aftermath was him holding up two mud-red hands and asking "Mommy, what happened?" I couldn't be mad. It was hilarious. His brown & teal shirt was now caked in red clay. Oh, my boy!

Somehow the amazing artistry of Brett Hastie captured the mischievous look that we've come to know and love from our active and wide open boy. You can see it in his eye - you can watch the wheels of his brain turning to decide "Am I going to make a good decision...OR..." This is the look right before he usually takes off running in the opposite direction, dies laughing with a deep-throated giggle, or tries to hurriedly explain his way out of the trouble he's just found himself in. There's so much going on in that little head. He's so active. So full of life. Always on the go. Extremely creative. And always entertaining!