Breaking news: first lost tooth.

DIY: Gutter shelves.

Wesley now has a shelf up near his bed to keep his books accessible way up high without having to climb up and down the ladder of his bed. Pre gutter shelf he either: got a lot of excercise or slept with books. Personally, I know that sleeping with books isn't that awful, when Mario is out of town I find that I am always sleeping with books near me on his side of the bed. Clare doesn't have a bunk bed but we installed a gutter shelf in her room too. She has it loaded with her current favorite books and a few small animals. I love that the kids can actually see their books in these shelves and that they seem to be reading more because of this. Ideally I'd like to use these shelves for just library books but I am not at that level of organization yet. We have one more left to install, I'm just waiting to see where the perfect place will be. I might put it above this one in Clare's room and rest artwork inside, put it under Wesley's bed to create a reading nook, or maybe even in our bathroom since books seem to follow me everywhere.

If you want to make a set for yourself just google: rain gutter shelf tutorial and you should be good to go. If you have questions, I'd be happy to share whatever I know, just send me an email.

DIY: Outdoor Table

Found. Actually, I prefer rescued, sometimes I feel like I'm almost doing a good thing by saving things especially roadside finds which are scarce around here. Anyhow, I rescued this metal table from our local Goodwill store for $6.99.

With a little help from Clare, I'm trying really hard to let her help on my projects but spray paint is a really hard thing to give to a five year old, we painted the table top orange.

Then after letting all of the layers dry we plopped it back into the frame and enjoyed our new porch table perfect for morning coffee and evening chats. Easy. Plus I now have a bunch of orange spray paint leftover to play with for another project.

The first day of school.

This girl couldn't get out of bed fast enough for the first day of school as a kindergartner. Last night she laid out her clothes on her floor and even tucked her princess panties inside her skirt so she could get ready faster. Her main reaction to the open house, "I can't believe they have toys in my classroom instead of work!" The sad part: I didn't even get a hug goodbye.
Wesley's first day of pre-k looks just like this except his outfit and towel change hourly. He can't keep anything down including water or apple juice. Yesterday he had all of his required immunizations at the health department but this seems to be either a stomach bug, strep, or the classic Shel Silverstein Sick:

'I cannot go to school today, 'Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

'I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I'm going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox.

And there's one more-that's seventeen,

And don't you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut-my eyes are blue-It might be instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I'm sure that my left leg is broke-

My hip hurts when I move my chin,

My belly button's caving in,

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,

My 'pendix pains each time it rains.

My nose is cold, my toes are numb.

I have a sliver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak, I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth, I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear, There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is-what?

What's that? What's that you say?

You say today is...Saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play! '

Instant fun update.

Instant fun.

Today's project: a chalkboard door. $20 at the Habitat for Humanity store with 2 cranky kids, a can of chalkboard paint we already had on hand and VOILA! Now I just need to figure out 1. where to put it, 2. what color to paint the actual door, and 3. what to write on the new space.

My favorite part: the cool key hole. I think I want to find a set of old keys to hang from the door knob for kicks.