Carrie Baines comes home from her sales job and walks up the steps to a door that leads into a room with a sliding shelf. From the wet bar inside the wall behind the shelf, she pours herself a glass of wine from a bottle she removed from a built-in wine rack.

As Carrie sips from her glass, she looks out upon the clouds that drift above the trees behind a gurgling trout stream.This is what she calls a "pinch me" moment.She realizes that she is here, drinking wine, right inside of her dream come true, her custom-built, state-of-the-art treehouse.Carrie shares her dream with her husband, Bill, and their children, James, Sarah, Ashley and Chelsea.The treehouse is the result of a four-month event in which the Baines family entered, and then won, a nationwide Treehouse Masters Ultimate Giveaway contest, sponsored by Delta Faucet and the Animal Planet network.The dream beginsCarrie's dream began when she was a little "tomboy" growing up in different parts of the Northeast and the South."My father was often transferred with his job," she says. "We lived in Somerville, and Bridgewater, New Jersey; south of Chicago; and in Greenville, South Carolina. The one thing all these places had in common was plenty of woods."She said she loved the outdoors and fishing and playing with her brothers, Mark and Greg."I especially loved building secret hideouts and forts in the woods," Carrie says. "I knew that someday I wanted my own treehouse."Building a familyAfter high school, Carrie lived in Greer, South Carolina, and she later received a sociology degree from the College of Charleston, but then she moved and married in Hatboro. Two children and a few years later, Carrie found herself divorced and a single mother of her young son, James and her daughter, Sarah."I made sure that my kids would be active and not just sit at home as TV watchers," she says. "I would take James and Sarah places. We would fly kites. We would swim at a YMCA and eat pizza on Friday nights. We would also visit friends in Bear Creek Lakes in Jim Thorpe, so we got to know this area pretty well."Following another move to the Cherry Hill area in New Jersey, 10-year-old James became friends with Bill Baines, who lived nearby with his daughters, Ashley and Chelsea."James was always at my house," says Bill. "We would play roller hockey in the street or play pool in my game room."Bill recalls how much James loved his barbecue chicken, so much so that once upon a request, James danced "like Michael Jackson" so he could have a piece of Bill's chicken."One day James told me he knew this really great girl he wanted me to meet," says Bill. "Well, that great girl was his mother, Carrie. One year after we started dating, on Christmas Eve under the tree in 2004, I proposed."The couple looked for property to build on, which led them to Jim Thorpe because land was less expensive there than in New Jersey.Their home was built in 2005, and one year later they were married in the backyard.Making mom happyThe happy Baines family loved entertaining in their new home, but after they would watch "Treehouse Masters" on Friday nights, Carrie began to urge Bill to build her one in the backyard."I told her I could build her a platform in the trees, but nothing like she was seeing on the show," says Bill with a laugh.So James came up with the idea to enter the contest to win a free custom-built treehouse."My mom did an extraordinary job raising me and my sister," says James, who graduates from the University of South Alabama in just a few days. "I wanted to win this for her so she could come home from work and enjoy a glass of wine in her very own treehouse.""I just did what you have to do as a single mother," says Carrie. "I cut the grass, fixed things around the house, cooked, cleaned and did everything else when they were little."As one of the contest finalists, the family was visited by a crew from "Treehouse Masters," including program star Pete Nelson."Pete loved our hemlock trees and the backyard setting," says Bill. "He even told us that if we didn't win, he would fly back here from the state of Washington and help us with a design. He said, 'You just got to have a treehouse!'"Bill had to get all the local building permits that were necessary, even if they didn't win.In the meantime, the family solicited votes from everywhere and had help getting local support from a feature story in the Times News about the contest.When the call came in from the program's executive producer, Josh Cole, to tell them they had won by what Bill says was a "landslide" vote, Carrie was about to see her dream become reality.Mom's dream comes trueConstruction had to be completed in a week's time during subfreezing weather and intermittent snowfall.At times it was difficult to get the trucks and equipment to the site. The crews often worked until midnight in the bitter cold. Bill and Carrie prepared dinners for everyone."Pete loved my homemade chocolate chip cookies," says Carrie. "He was constantly shoving them in his pockets. He's a real guy, too, off the set, polite and thankful for all of our hospitality."The main building was constructed in a warehouse, but the installation and interior décor was completed in the backyard. Local contractors assisted with the construction. They included Michael Cataldo of Jim Thorpe, who attached the exterior wood siding; carpenter Todd Wench; RC Electric; and Patrick Walsh, who donated a dumpster and his snow removal services. The total cost of the finished project was about $100,000."Pete told us we could go inside to see the décor, but we wanted to wait for the 'reveal' day when they film the show and surprise us with our first tour," says Carrie. "We were thrilled with it all, and the interior is exactly how we wanted it."Life among the treesNow that the weather is warming, Bill and Carrie spend each weekend in their treehouse, complete with a penthouse level bedroom, a sensor-operated bathroom, and an outdoor shower. They look forward to entertaining friends and family, and especially to August when they will hold their annual Baines Bash, a reunion of about 30 friends and family.Carrie sits back in her treehouse easy chair and reflects on what has happened to her family over the past four months."It has some bittersweetness to it because my brother, Greg died from a heart attack on the day we entered the contest, but I feel his spirit is here with me."She smiles, looking comfortable and grateful."James had a vision for this house, and my dream came to life. The whole experience has brought our family so much closer together, so every time I come in here, it will be a 'pinch me' moment."She smiles again and puts an exclamation point onto what her dream treehouse means to her."I would rather have this house than a million dollars," she says. "The memories we make here will be worth more to me, stories I will be able to tell my grandkids someday."A celebration of motherhood can be anywhere. This one just happens to be sitting high above the ground inside a cluster of trees, a place that is a perfect slice of heaven for Carrie Baines and her family.