The Downstairs Playroom

We finally finished getting the great play room reorganization wrapped up.  I managed to weed out a few toys…not as many as I had hoped, but it’s a start and the drama and tragedy was kept to a minimum.  We now have a nice place for everyone to do their thing and as long as I stay on top of everyone, I am hoping we can keep it cleaned up and enjoyable.

We have all of the “play house” stuff along one wall with plenty of room to pull out the table and chairs to play kitchen.  It would be nice to keep it out, but this space is between the stairs and the rest of the basement, so everything gets tucked back in when we are done, so we don’t have to worry about tripping over stuff.

I found a chair and a loveseat at the thrift store, so there is a place to sit with a book and a blankie or a nice place for mommas to sit and chat now that we can actually have someone over for a playdate again without worrying about losing a child in the chaos.

And finally, the new shelves!  There is a bin for almost all of the rest of the toys, so there is a clear difference between put away and claiming to have picked up, but in fact thrown things any old place.  There are also shelves that are out of reach to some family members to make “Don’t take anything new out until you pick up the old mess” somewhat more enforceable.  The table is a good place for Lego building or art projects and there is enough floor space for trains or blocks and the like.

Although we are starting to get to the season of more outside time, it will be nice to have a welcoming space inside, especially in the cooler basement once the summer starts warming up!  Hopefully, I can remember to get some pictures of this space in action…

I am still puttering away at weeding out and organizing throughout the house, but the next big project to tackle is the downstairs bedroom.  If I can chip away at it, I am hoping to once again unearth the futon so we have a functional guest bedroom once more and get the rest of the space organized so I can have a welcoming place for crafting and creating.  The biggest obstacle is taming the clutter, so I just need to keep making progress on that…

Spring has…

Well, not exactly sprung, but here in Wisconsin, we have pretty low standards.  Most of the week has been sunny and warm.  Shut up.  45°F is TOO warm.  We made our first trip of the season to our favorite state park on Tuesday.  The lake was still iced over.  It looked kind of slushy to me, but we saw a guy out ice fishing, so it must have been at least a little solid yet.  And there were still snow on the ground, but the playground was clear, so we had a nice time running around and playing.  We also looked at the tiny buds on trees and basked in the springy-ness of it all.

On Wednesday, we met friends at our regular homeschool Wednesday park.  Again there was snow on the ground, but Miss Bean decided that it would be good idea to go wading in the puddles.  We had a bit of a discussion about good decisions versus poor decisions after I had her put her damp socks and boots back on.  I was pretty sure little Mr. Beeb would think his big sister’s idea was great when he followed me over to lay down the law.  Fortunately, Bug did a good job distracting him away from the temptations.  My admonition that we were going home RIGHT NOW if anyone else went wading in the puddles, accompanied by the steam issuing from my ears may have had something to do with it.  Smart kid, that Bug.

The week ended with a phenomenal BANG last night with Late Night Knitting.  There was all of the standard good stuff about Late Night at the Ear:  good friends (like her, her and sadly blogless lovely daughter, her, and her), good food (including the vanilla cupcakes that actually restore my will to live every couple of weeks), lots of luscious yummy yarn, and beautiful and inspiring projects.  But, as an added bonus, the amazing, inimitable Franklin Habit was there to sign books and read a selection from “It Itches.”  And, as an added, added bonus, the wonderful Mr. Habit came and hung out in the naughty girls’ room* before and after the reading.  Life is good when someone you stalk admire is even more delightful and swoon-worthy in person!

___

*Don’t ask.  What happens at Knit Night, stays at Knit Night.  Like gravity, it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Why?

So tonight’s dinner is going to be Chicken Satay (aka Chicken on a Stick).  It’s one of those fuss a little, wait a little, lather, rinse, repeat kind of meal.  I had the defrosted chicken on the kitchen counter for cutting and putting in the marinade and Beeb pulls up a chair to “help.”  The conversation went a little like this:

Beeb:  What dat?

Me:  Defrosted chicken

Beeb:  Why-eee? [Definitely a two syllable word]

Me:  I’m making chicken on a stick for supper

Beeb:  Why-eee?

Me:  We needed something for supper and haven’t had this in a while.

Beeb:  Why-eee?

Me:  I don’t know, we just haven’t.

Beeb:  Why-eee?

Me (firmly):  I don’t know.

~I continue cooking and he watches for a few moments~

Beeb:  Me lub chicken.

Me:  You love chicken?  That’s good.

Beeb:  Me lub chicken and you.

Me:  Awwww.

~Another pause~

Beeb:  Wat loo do-in?

Me:  Cutting the chicken into strips.

Beeb:  Why-eee?

Me:  So I can soak it in the marinade.

Beeb:  Why-eee?

Me:  Because that’s what the recipe says.

Beeb:  Why-eee?

Me:  I don’t know…you’d have to discuss that with whoever wrote the recipe.

Beeb:  Why-eee?

Me (firmly):  Because that’s just the way it is.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m delighted that he’s smart and wants to know how everything works, but sometimes the endless “why” starts to get to me.  It’s fortunate that he’s so stinkin’ cute.  Yesterday he was singing “What do you do with a scurvy pirate?” (a Backyardigan’s song) and it sounded something like “Wat loo do scooby pie-yit?” and the last line is “Make im walk ker-lank.”  Hee.  I guess I’ll keep him around a little longer.