Love this quote

"I am the one who starts out to get her a child a drink of water, who stops briefly to pick up a paper clip from the floor, and ends up weeding the garden with absolutely no understanding of why that child is still thirsty."

From the book If I'm Diapering a Watermelon, Then Where'd I Leave the Baby?: Help for the Highly Distractible Mom by Carol Barnier.

Totally going on the Christmas list...

According to Spencer

Walking out to the car after gymnastics yesterday, a little boy waves to Spencer.

Spencer: Mama, you know why he just said bye to me? Because we're best friends.

Me: Oh really? What's his name?

Spencer: I forget.

New Playroom!

The big playroom redesign is (almost) finished! Here's some pictures, if you want to view them with notes go to my flickr page.

Entertainment center where I envisioned the tv going, only I liked the room so much without one we decided to put in a stereo instead - big hit!

Dress up corner holding our (surprisingly) large costume collectionDesk/Creativity Center/BookshelvesWall still needs magnet strips for hanging artwork and some kind of decal, probably the dandelion one talked about in previous post

Girl corner: Boy corner:Yes, we really have rings in our house:

That's about it, still in need of some artwork, I have canvases for the kids to paint and I will hang those next to each window. Gotta go pick Lexi up now!

It's time to start designing the upstairs, starting with the playroom. For the walls, I'm thinking we're going to do a light green. I was originally thinking blue, but I read that the most conflicts happen in a blue room, so definitely not a good color for a playroom. We're going to do a decal on the wall, these are the choices:

Definitely going to do this, in different colors though:

Major storage is needed, so we're off to Ikea! I can't decide if we want to do their child storage:Or their more adult storage and just use pretty baskets and bins (everything will be in white):

Love these:

I love all the options for the child storage, I'm just afraid they will be outgrown eventually and will look too "babyish". The adult stuff could grow with them and be repurposed later. How long does furniture from Ikea actually last? One thing I really like about the child options are they're safe for them to climb on, even the buckets. And they come with wall anchors so they won't tip.

Anyway, I'm going to Ikea on Thursday, I need to see it in person. Anyone have any ideas/insight?

Spencer is 4 (and a half)!

Ok, I am officially the worst mother ever. My baby turned 4 and I didn't even post anything for him. Now, he's on the other side of 4 1/2 headed to 5. I will never feel right about myself if I don't post something so here goes:


Spencer,

You are growing up so fast. This year you started preschool, you made new friends, you started (and then quit) karate, you started gymnastics (which you love and are quite good at), you said goodbye to sissy while she went off to kindergarten, you were my helper, my errand buddy, my carloop assistant. You are hillariously funny, we can't wait to see what you're going to say next. You are kind and gentle, you love to give names to all of your stuffed animals and you worry about them when they are not around. If you leave one in the car, you will go out and get it at bedtime so it will not be scared. You can hang with the girls, but you also relish anytime there is a boy around, then you can play pirates and bad guys and cars and all things boy.

This song pretty much sums up how I feel about you (and it's also one of your favorite songs at the moment):

My Heart (does a little dance)
Joanie Bartels

My heart does a little dance,
Every time I see you.
My heart does a little dance,
Every time I'm near you.

When you walk into the room,
I can hear my heart go boom boom boom.
Just a smile on your sweet face,
I can feel my heart begin to race.

My heart does a little dance,

Every time I see you.

My heart does a little dance,

Every time I'm near you.

My heart does a little dance,
Every time I see you.
My heart does a little dance,
Every time I'm near you.

Love's the name of this happy sound,
When my heart begins to pound.
Like a drum with that strong back beat,
I can feel it all the way to my feet.

My heart does a little dance,
Every time I see you.
My heart does a little dance,
Every time I'm near you.

My heart does a little dance,
Every time I see you.
My heart does a little dance,
Every time I'm near you.

I've never felt this way,
Standing here outside your door.
Trying to find the words to say,
You're the one my heart beats for.

My heart...does a little dance
My heart...does a little dance

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Wow, I just realized I never posted for my little man turning 4! I must do that, even though he's 4 1/2 now :-)