Trash Can Play Time

Yes.
He is sitting
in a trash can playing lego.
He assures me it is comfy and
that I should try it ! Not on your life !
We've started something new with Jono.
We've been thinking he needs to be able to have
some more privileges, you know, now that he is getting older
and more responsible. A couple of weeks ago we started letting him
stay up later than Alia. She goes to bed at 7:30 and he doesn't have to go to
bed until 8:15. He is allowed to play in the toy room, quietly, from 7:30 - 8:10.
We have given him a clock and it is his responsibility to make sure his toys are cleaned up
and he is in bed by 8:15. He has done so well ! One night, early on, he was still in there cleaning up at 8:20. He gave me some excuse. I told him that with privilege came responsibility and if he couldn't be responsible to make sure he got to bed on time that he would not be able to 'stay up late' anymore. I told him that from now on, if he didn't get to by by 8:15, the next night he
would go to bed at the same time as Alia. It's been two weeks and he hasn't been
late to bed. Not one time ! He comes out at 8:10, gives us kisses and cuddles
and then gets in bed ! It's incredible. I think it is having the desired effect.
Teaching him responsibility and helping him to feel that little bit more
independent but in our safe environment. I'm seeing some
improvements in attitude as well. We're not 'there'
yet but as Rory
said to
me

yesterday.
"We are getting there ..."
I'm glad he thinks that. It gives me hope.
And that, friends, is all I need.

Covered Cork Board

I've been wanting to do this ever since I saw the idea on my friend Talia's blog back in August.

Such a cool idea and it was so simple !
I won't give you the tutorial ... you can go to Talia's ... she has explained it all there.

You will need:

A cork board
A glue gun and plenty of glue sticks
A piece of material big enough to go over the cork board.
I chose this happy piece that my Mom gave me last time we were visiting.



Don't waste your time ironing the material ... all the wrinkles get stretched out.

See ....



I added some hooky thumb tacks to the bottom for them to hang stringed items from ...



And here's how it looks in the toy room.



The frames are the kids birth certificates.
Under them are some paintings they did when they were 4 and 2.
So cute !



On the top is a beach scene that Jono painted last year.
And then the two paintings the kids did for each other for Christmas 2007.

~~

We've had a lovely couple of days at home. It's school holiday time for the kids which means no school for two weeks ! Rory took the first couple of days off and we just hung around with each other. We did a bit of stuff around the house. I worked a couple of early mornings to get caught up while Rory and the kids slept in. We hung a few things on the wall (finally) but have a long way to go with that still ! I did some organizing. Rory and the kids fed the ducks at the lake. We went to see the movie "Up". It's a great movie. I'd recommend it ! We all enjoyed it. There's been lots of playing at the park and just a general enjoying of the Springtime around here ! I heard there was snow in Colorado ... eek ! Anyone wanting to escape the white stuff is welcome to join us here ... :)

Anyhoo ... I'd better get off the computer and get moving. I feel a bit lax since we don't have to get out the door for school but I do have to work a couple of hours this morning. The kids will play in the creche and then we will go do something fun together ! I'm waiting to hear back from a friend ... we had scheduled to do something today but that was weeks ago and I only just remembered last night. I'm hoping she hasn't forgotten as well ...

the {toy} room

sometimes, i just feel like organizing. i can only take it for so long and then i'm just consumed until i get a couple of hours and totally overhaul a room or a cupboard ! my victim this time was the toy room.



we ordered bunk beds for the kids room. they share a room and have been sleeping on mattresses on the floor since easter. no biggie, except that we ordered these bunk beds months ago. they were supposed to be here by mid july. um, yeah, it's almost mid september now !

why am i telling you this ? well ... i've been putting off really organzing the toy room because once the beds come, some of the things from the toy room are moving into the bedroom. see, the bunk beds are the kind with a desk underneath. they will both have their own desk and obviously, we will move the crayons and pens and pencils and scissors and glue and paper and coloring books and you get the picture ... into the room with their desks ! but i can't move that stuff yet or it would just be on the floor !!

well ... i couldn't stand it any longer so the other day, i just got in there and got it done. it'll change again but that's ok ! it always does ....

i took a bunch of photos. in no particular order, i'll just tell you what i did ... you ready ?? ok ... let's go ...

the closet. previously they were a couple of big boxes on the floor. no lids. never looked tidy. i hated it ! this bookshelf was in the room as well. never really had a specific purpose. so, i moved it into the closet and filled it up with stuff ...

alia has lots of little bits and pieces. costume jewelry, rings, handbags, wallets, makeup. this top shelf holds all of those things ...



the bottom shelf has a box of spy gear, a box of superheroes, and a box of cars.

the two boxes on the top shelf are ones that i get down as we need them. my mom always had a box of baby toys for visiting babies. i thought it was a brilliant idea so when i was getting rid of the baby toys, i kept a collection for when we have little friends over ! it's great ! the other box up there is puzzles. the kids aren't into puzzles so much as they used to be. i get the box down when they want it and it works great. saves having all of the pieces taken out and strewn all over the place when we have visitors who aren't used to a box with 50 puzzles all separated into sip lock bags !!

the other side of the closet is home to a box with all the barbie stuff, and then two miscellaneous boxes. one has yo yo's and marbles and magnetics and stuff like that. the other had kitchen appliances and a dust buster and magic wands ! :) there's the dress up stuff hanging. that works so well. we've had it that way for a while now ! and the top shelf is the big roll of paper from ikea ... and some great drawings that they've done on it !! i like them to ask before they use it ... my kids are HIGH CONSUMERS of anything paper or craft !!

we also have this cupboard in the toy room. oh shoot ... i forgot to open those doors and take a photo for you. in the double door section, alia has all her little pet shops set up. it's great ! she can leave it setup in there and just open/shut the door !! the single door is the same ... only my little pony !! i'll have to take a photo later to show you !

this is the lego shelf. one box of lego's. one box of lego instruction books.

these next two shelves are at the top ... they are things that jono has built and doesn't want to get wrecked when little cousins or friends come over.

he loves lego.

a while back, i had a dilemma. these kids do so much drawing, but what to do with it all ?? i save my favorites but they just keep producing. i don't want to throw it away ... at least not straight away. so ... i gave them this box. it was full, two times over ! i had to cull a lot of it. i found some great stuff !! jono wrote a ninja book that i'm going to share with you soon !!

alia's baby clothes and blankets and potty ...



paper and drawing stuff ...



and the top shelf. home to all the excess stuffed animals and dolls ...



the fridge.

these stack-able 'boxes' are great ! i've labeled them and so far, the kids are doing a great job putting things back in their right place. ( i labeled everything with a flat surface !!) ha ha anyway ... this is obviously all the little kitchen bits and pieces.

the bookshelf.
yeah, blurry picture.
you'll survive !



this is the other side of the room ...



happy

alia has been writing this everywhere !

(can you see it on the crib ?)

grr.

well ... that's it folks. toy room done.

i've started a new schedule today. after a planning session in the bath last night ! :) i got up at 5:00 am. I've been working on the computer and will get off by 6:30 at the latest. it's 6:12 ... eek ! the time flies !! i have been thinking i need to 'un plug' a bit more and just get control over my time spent on the computer. we'll see how this new system works ...

i'll let you know !!

ps ... i'm not proof reading this. no time !! :)