The Big, Brown Lawn: Some great ideas take a while...

Last spring I learned about Little Free Libraries. I started seeing them online and was enamored by the whole idea of them. People creating mini libraries to share books they love, connect with their community, and spread a bit of joy.

Last spring was also a time of being painfully ill. After a horrific week of being stuck in bed, my family surprised me with a wonderful Mother's Day gift. They had been secretly working on building me my very own Little Free Library.

I was so emotional when they gave it to me as it represented me and my style so well. They had gone to the REStore and our garage and found items they could repurpose and the results were amazing.

There was a bit of work left to be done and we figured we'd get to it. As the weeks moved along into summer and our plans and attention were directed elsewhere, our Little Library waited.

The kids took this picture of me in my Little Free Library Shirt.

Visions played around in our heads from time to time and on our trip to Idaho last summer we discovered a perfect companion for our Library, a Little Free Herb Garden just like the ones we saw outside the Moscow Food CO-OP. We decided we could create a library and mini-garden to share with our neighborhood.

Our sign arrived in the mail!

Made from repurposed wood

This weekend we ventured outside to work a bit in the garage and discovered our Library waiting patiently and Josh said, "We should finish that roof, it wouldn't take long." So there it was. Motivation, and the ball was rolling. We decided to set the post, finish the mason jar lid shingles to cover the chicken feed bag roof liner and in the time it took me to get ready to hit the grocery store this afternoon Josh had walked the Library out front and I opened the door to find this...

We've seen some of these kids riding up and down the street before, but we've never spoken.

The other night at the preschool parent meeting, Bev and Michael were presenting about Friendships. The stages of development related to friendships, dynamics of neighborhoods past and present and suddenly my mind was reflecting on fond memories of my childhood neighborhoods and friendships. I thought about our current neighborhood and how we know some of our neighbors and are connected, but it is mostly through the adults. Today as I walked out and saw "the pack" of kids huddled around Josh, lollipops in mouths, leaning over handlebars, my heart leaped with excitement.

This is what that little sign is all about "Celebrating Healthier Neighborhoods". At one point while out chatting with the kids it caught my eye and I thought this little library is a change, a moment in time to stop and notice. Our kids joined us out front with the dog and scooters. Kids rode up and down the street and would come back by and stop and chat about dogs, science experiments, books, characters...the beginnings of building our little community.

Ellie checked out the height...perfect for grabbing that special book!

Later Josh told me how the boys rode by and stopped to talk to him about the library. I almost hated leaving to go grocery shopping, but my heart was smiling as I drove off with my Little Free Library and my neighbors huddled around chatting about it in my rear view mirror. If it has this effect and the books aren't even in it yet...oh the possibilities!

On my way home from the store I imagined my family inside gearing up for the evening ahead. I turned the corner and found "the pack" riding bikes and I waved. As I neared my house I was delighted to find my family out front, smiling at me and waving!

LOVE! Ellie: "Can't stop for a picture, I'm workin' here!"

They surprised me with Twinkle Lights! They shared stories of passerbys stopping to chat. Now let the opening ceremony planning begin. I can hardly wait!