A Little Boy's Dream

When we moved into our old house, we had three little boys.

I built them a sandbox and they loved it!

When we moved to this house, I had five little boys.

Four years later, I finally built another sandbox for them.

This is the spot under the swingset where we wanted it to go.

And here it is!

The 13, 11, 8, and 4-year-old boys and their friends are putting it to good use.

They have built tunnels, raked it smooth, and discovered that paint brushes make great sand tools!

The Best Part

Wanna hear the best part of helping my sister remodel her kitchen?

Well, I'll tell ya...

The day after I finished the project, my 11-year-old asked if he could clean up my mess!

Um...yes!

He even took before and after pictures for you to see...

Thanks, Son!

Job Charts

I got some inspiration from this pin on pinterest to make some new job charts for the summer.

I have big plans at the beginning of every summer.

I hope this one lasts long past August.

Here is my version of the above pin.

I'm telling the half dozen that until noon every day this summer, they're mine!

There are four mandatory chores at the top and others they can choose.

The four at the top they do because they live here,

the others might come with a reward.

They're going to love me even more!

Muwahaha!

The Little Girl's Room

I went through the 3-year-old girl's clothes and got her warm weather clothes out.

This is what I'm taking to the D.I.

 And I've had pictures waiting to be hung for about a year in her room.

 I got that taken care of too!

 The picture of the little girl is one from my college days that I love.

I love the feet even more.  One of them is hers and the other one is her twin brother's!

Therapy Mirror

When I took the 3-year-old girl to therapy last month,

every room had big mirrors that she loved.

We took a big mirror out of our bathroom recently

so I chipped off most of the glue

and mounted it in her room. 

Now the torture fun begins!

Books, Books, Books

After 16 years of collecting books for our family,

I decided it was time to let some go.

This is part of my "Bag a Day" goal.

Here is the 3-year-old girl's room before...

And after...
Look!  There's even an empty shelf!

And this is what I'm getting rid of!

Feels good!

Sensory Input

My little girl LOVES to feel textures and her current favorite

is the rough side of velcro.

I was trying to find things to motivate her at physical therapy

when I came across a touchy-feely book with velcro in it!

I remembered that I had some texture paper at home

and this chipboard book for scrapbooking

so I made her a whole book of textures and she LOVES it, too!

3-year-old Therapy

I have not been doing many projects around here for a while.

Instead...

Here is what I have been working on for the last two weeks...

(Intensive Physical Therapy, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day, 45 minutes from home).

Only one week to go!

I have been working on a fun something when the 3-year-old girl is at therapy and isn't crying.

I'll share it soon.

It's that time of year!

Science Fair time that is!

The 10-year-old son had his first turn at doing a science fair project this year.

He chose a project on insulation.

Here is the science fair board in progress.

And here is the finished product.

UPDATE!!!

The-10-year-old has been home from school for four days.

He slept most of the day on Friday.

Friday after school, his friend brought him his science fair board and an award

that said he's a finalist!

His response was, 

"I won the science fair asleep!"

Now I Weigh Me Down To Sleep

I took the 3-year-old girl to an evaluation for an intensive physical therapy program.

The therapist suggested that I look into a weighted blanket

for some sensory input.

I looked online for one and a 5 pound blanket costs $100!

OUCH!

So I just took an old piece of fabric and some wheat from the storage room

and with the help of my sister and her sewing machines,

I made my own!

FOR FREE!
We'll be trying to keep it clean since it wouldn't last long in the washer!
;-)

Ikea Fun

I took the 15-year-old to Ikea to get him a desk

since his legs don't fit under the one he has anymore.

Here's an old before picture...

He chose this cool corner table.

During and after...

Then he saw a cool bedspread that I absolutely love.

It has the alphabet on it.
What elementary school teacher doesn't love something covered in cool letters?

He told me how much he liked it, too.

I bought it for him along with a fun lamp for the desk.

My favorite part about the makeover is that he put some of his own artwork on the walls!

A Good Deed

A good deed is something that stays done!

Tonight for Family Home Evening,

we made cookies.

Each of the four big boys made a card for the plates and they got to choose who to give them to.

One of them chose a new neighbor

and the others chose their friends' families

 I told them to write whatever they wanted on them,
but they were not allowed to write who they were from.

We ended up with Happy Fall, Happy Monday, and Happy October Third!
They had fun doing a little legal doorbell ditching!

Mirror, Mirror

While my sister, Karla, was at Saver's finding things for me to paint,

she found this cute little mirror for the 3-year-old girl's room.

I painted it to match the furniture I painted last month.

I like how the wood grain shows through.

$6,000

I earned myself $6,000 today.

Sort of.

I was introduced to a company who would do a much needed medical test on my daughter

in exchange for a little bit of feedback through their website.

The test was done many months ago

and today I finally finished the survey.

That something sure paid off!

Another Addition

When my boys got their guinea pigs for their birthdays,

they were small little creatures.

They were kept in a Rubbermaid bin for a while.

Then I made a bigger Sterilite bin and chicken wire home for them.

Then I put their home in a box that used to be a dresser.

I'm hoping that they are full grown now because they are huge!

They really didn't have enough room to move much.

Today we made the box their home.

I wanted to find a kiddie swimming pool, but that's next to impossible at the end of the summer.

So I bought a liner from the auto department 

that you would put in the back of your car to protect the carpet

and a small Sterilite bin to catch the water that drips from the water bottles.

I think they'll be much happier with a little room to roam.

Job Chart

The 7-year-old loves to play.

24/7

When he asks if he can play, I ask if his jobs are done.

The answer is always, "Yes."
I decided to find a way for him to be sure.

So I collected some supplies and made him his very own job chart.

When the magnets are all on the bottom half of the chart,
it's play time!
He won't even have to ask!

Cedar Chest and End Table

This is what I love about this blog.

I have had some somethings sitting and waiting to be done for a long time 

and having this blog makes me get going on them.

This is an end table I got off of KSL and a cedar chest that used to belong to my older sister

(like 13 years older).

I got them both for the 3-year-old girl's bedroom,

but they don't match at all.

So guess what I've been up to.

This something is going to take a couple of days, but it will definitely stay done!