pulling out the big guns

So, as I've mentioned before, the husband is pretty into farming and tractors. He has been for most of his life. As a kid, he would subscribe to any kind of farm/tractor magazine that was free. He got quite the collection until the companies realized that he was just a kid--after which they stopped sending them.

In high school he started collecting toy tractors. They were not to be played with, but rather, used for display. When I married him, I suppose I kind of became part owner of the collection. Ha, not what Jake thinks. I kind of turned him down when he wanted to display them in the living room of our first apartment. Instead I told him someday he could have his own office where he could display all of them in the open. (Don't judge me.) Anyways, they have been in a box ever since labeled, 'Fragile: Jake's tractors.'

When we found out we were having a boy (M), I jokingly asked Jake if he would let our child play with them as a kid. He half-joking, half-serious said, "No way! Maybe when he is 16 I will pull them out and give him the talk about how special the tractors are. No chance of having a toddler or small kid play with them."

Well, alrighty then...

Skip ahead to last month. Our Christmas tree was up, but we hadn't decorated it yet. I was waiting for a day when we could do it as a family. After a few days of a bare tree, Jake decided he would start decorating it. He surprised me when he pulled out the box labeled, 'Fragile: Jake's tractors.' You should have seen the look on M's face when Jake opened the box--it seemed to be saying, "JACKPOT!!!"

Within a few minutes, Jake had put together some tractor ornaments with some of his collectibles and the ornament hangers. M was thoroughly intrigued by the collection while Jake made the ornaments.

After a few of the ornaments were hung, Jake gave M a short lesson on what some of the proper names of the tractors and equipment were. Hopefully someday they can work together on real tractors!