Making much with little

Last Sunday, Hubs woke up and decided to build the kids a swingset.

I raised my eyebrows when he started talking about buying lumber. "Um ... how much would that cost?" I asked in that tone.

(Read: It's another two weeks until payday. Ah, the journalist's life.)

Hubs wandered outside to think.

An hour later, I found him yanking up boards in the backyard. These boards were used by the previous homeowner for a middle-of-the-yard deck that boasted a birdbath, outdoor shower and a rusting basketball goal. (We have no idea. But trust me, we have certainly done some speculating.)

The kids came outside to see what was going on.

"You'll be swinging by this afternoon," Hubs promised.

So he sawed and hammered. All day, two little people stood outside, watching.

At 5 p.m., Hubs declared the swingset finished. Ecstatic, the kids claimed their swings.

It made me think -- I spend all this time thinking about what we don't have, and yet here's a daddy who spent his whole Sunday piecing together some old planks so that his kids would have a place to swing.

And I am grateful.