Helping tower

I thought I had blogged about this already, but then someone asked what d was standing on to help me make strawberry muffins yesterday and I went to look for the post and their wasn't one. 
mommy brain strikes again!

my dad built durham a helping tower. two actually. one for our house and one for my moms house. I found the free plans on the ana white website and I forwarded them to him. a few days later my dad and my brother were sawing and hammering these beauties out in the workshop.

there are two modifications. ours does not fold. the boys thought it might be a little sturdier if it was just free standing with no hinges. we have plenty of room in our kitchen so I just leave it out. and on ours the top is not rounded. all four sides are straight. mom stained hers a walnut color and I painted ours a seafoam green. we use it almost everyday. he loves to 'help' me make his breakfast and pack his lunch, wash dishes, cook (we just keep him to the side of the stove, out of reach of the burners and give him some measuring cups to play with). he helps fix his milk sippy in the morning, and its a great height to pull over to the buffet for crafts and other busy activities.

the ana white plans are here. if you are not handy there are several of these on the market. 
this one. and this one. are my favorites.