Weekend Project

Lee left us this weekend for his annual trip to Dragoncon.... or nerdfest as we like to call it. Lee and 55,000 other people... all roaming 5 hotels in downtown Atlanta. Lee said the night he checked in, he was the only "normal" looking one there. I'm so glad he doesn't dress in costume. (Dragoncon is a yearly weekend conference for all things sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, etc. They have EVERYthing there.... from super heroes to zombies.... Star Wars to Halo gaming. It's everything imaginary. Lee spends the weekend stalking Star Trek actors.... he listens in on a few panels as well :)

Anyway- with him gone, and me pulling my hair out with the 3 little ones... I'm sorry they are driving me nuts..... though I shouldn't complain- I just talked to Grandma and she used to do it all the time as my Grandfather traveled... and she didn't have a car, a microwave or pre-packaged meals. ANYhow..... with Lee gone, I thought I would embark on a project that has desperately needed some attention.... the PLAYROOM!!

A combination of me being too tired, never going up there, letting the kids have free rein and a broken A/C led the playroom to look like this.....

Pretty sad, huh? I was mortified when I brought the A/C man upstairs.... so after he left (yes, the a/c is fixed now) I decided this took top priority.

The night before Lee left, I went out and gathered my supplies... shelving, storage boxes, etc.... the next morning, I got to work.

NOW... it looks like this:

I'd say that's a nice improvement!

It feels so nice to have everything so organized!

Awhile ago we weeded the kids toys down to what just fits in these bins. I have an issue with toys... I hate toys, they are so unnecessary. No matter what the media tells you- kids do NOT need a lot of toys. And don't get me started on the "learning" toys... no kid is going to learn the word "hand" because some stupid motorized animal says it. They are going to learn the word "hand" because you sat down with them and taught them it. Ok, I'm getting off topic- I warned you not to get me started.... Anyhow.... My kids rarely play with toys.... and if they do.... they only play with a few things.... the imaginary play (telephone, hair salon, tool set), the legos/blocks, My Little Ponies and cars. So we got rid of the rest. Oh and we kept all the paper and crayons... all they want to do is color.

But I reorganized it all, spent an hour putting every puzzle back together, got a boxful of trash and now- heaven!!

I love the bed.... I disassembled the book shelves from the other house (since there's not room in their rooms for them here) and screwed them all together to make the headboard. Free project. love free. Then I took 2 flat sheets from Walmart (just cheap ones) and made a duvet cover for the bedspread. Now it's all cozy and welcoming. Want to come stay??

We still have the "craft" side of the room to do- but I needed Lee's help. I can't get the storage unit I want upstairs... or even home from the store with the 2 little ones and myself. So that will wait. But for now, the rest of it is looking spiffy! :)

Will was my little helper and quite handy with a hammer- he hit the nail every time! He helped me put the bookshelves together.

I got him this little backpack (that holds some balls) from the store and he walks around, proudly,  with his "mappack."

Tyler was quite good too, just watching me. I gave him this little duck and he laughed and laughed at it.

So 1 project down... about 10 more to go. :)

(and I am sorry for the quality of these photos, Lee took the camera with him so all I had was my camera phone)