the loft bed

Welcome to Brenna’s room! 11 year old girl heaven complete with a (recently shingled) dollhouse, a non-pink quilt, and lots of dragon pictures and keep-out signs on the door.

Yep, I’m finally posting about Brenna’s new bed. I’ve referenced it several times– that it was in the plans, that it was in the works, that it was in her room… The thing is, I have been blessed with a daughter with the same room-keeping-tidy skills as I have (next to none) and so getting good pictures of her new bed in her room has been a little tricky. We accomplished the mission today– and I learned that I’m not fun when I just nag and point out every last little thing on the carpet. (Note to self– I really need to work on that and cut her some slack. She knows just as well as I do that I’m just as messy as she is. The thing is, there isn’t anyone living here to boss me around. I just need to remember that no matter who you are it’s not fun to be bossed around.)

Anyway, we got the free plans for this bed from Ana White. Her website is a pretty amazing and extensive resource for building your own furniture. The plans we used are right here. Barry did about 99% of the work with a little help from Brenna reading over the cut list, holding pieces steady as he drilled, and sanding. Brenna picked the paint color and the two of us did most of the priming and painting.

You can see that the end near the ladder is missing the bottom brace to keep the legs square because the original plan was to build the big book case, but once we got it up in her room and were figuring out exactly how furniture needed to be arranged we realized that it would be either the book case or the doll house, we couldn’t fit both. Quite naturally, the doll house won. It is plenty sturdy and stable as it is– and so convenient to wheel the doll house table in and out the open legs.

She already had a desk, so we didn’t need to build one. It fits just perfectly under her bed and she loves to hang out there and draw, sort sea shells, read, type… Her desk has actually gotten a lot more use. I think it must be that everything seems more fun when it’s in a fort.

We made a couple of pillow cases that match her quilt and some cute throw pillows. I was having fun making yo-yos from scraps, so there’s the rectangular pillow with lots of yo-yos and the round one (which I made using this pattern from Cluck-Cluck Sew) with little yo-yos in the center.

Now here’s how she really made her bed–

with all her loves– her baby blanket, the monster Jonah designed and helped make her this past Christmas, Julie (the doll I made a couple of years ago), and Buttercup (the teddy I made her a LONG time ago).

Now to get a crib and dresser and rocking chair crammed into that little room.

Did I tell you IKEA is opening here this week?

13 years ago

We were both just 20 years old.

We were soul mates from the moment we met, so even though we were so young, after 2 years of dating we knew it was time.

It was time to make it real and forever because we really couldn’t imagine being without each other.

And now we’ve lived in 4 states. We’re waiting for our 6th baby to join us in a few weeks.

When we were both 20 years old I don’t think we had a clue what love really was, what it meant to build a family, what true happiness was and where to find it…

but 13 years later we’re starting to see.

And let me tell you– he is even better in every way than I had ever imagined, even in my 20-year-old naivety and idealism.

Happy Anniversary Barry. I love you more than I know how to say.

You are my best.

7!

One night last week we put 6 Year Old Logan to bed with much fanfare. “Good night 6 Year Old Logan, I’ll never see you again (dramatic sniff)!” “Oh, how will we ever get along without our 6 Year Old Logan?!” As everyone has gotten older this tradition of dramatically saying good-bye to the 2 or 4 or 10 year old forever has really become a family affair. It’s not just Barry or I saying the tearful good-byes, but a slew of brothers and a very dramatic sister too. The birthday kid laughs and laughs and loves the attention.

Then, lo and behold, we woke up to a 7 Year Old Logan! I try to only do big birthday parties on even years– so 3 friends came over to do whatever Logan wanted to do.

We made monsters out of marshmallows, frosting, and candy.

And built sprinklers out of pvc pipe. (The idea came from Eren at this vintage chica.)

The building wasn’t really appealing to the 6 and 7 year olds, but the 9 year old brother was an awesome engineer and kept everyone happy by figuring out the best ways to get water on the trampoline.

I made masks for the boys out of their requested colors, we had cake (which tasted good, but fell and looked a little sad), and opened presents.

And even though it was small and simple it was the best day this guy could have dreamed of.

It certainly left me exhausted. Just 3 extra boys multiplied the energy here by 30!

homemade paint

Have I mentioned that my 2 littlest boys are like little tiger cubs– constantly chasing and pouncing and wrestling each other? Running and squealing and slamming doors? As happy as I am that they love each other so much, it is exhausting trying to keep them from doing real damage to people and property, and the hugging and kissing of bonked heads, fat lips, and squished fingers is near constant.

We spend lots of time outside. They wade for hours in their little inflatable pool on our back deck where I can watch them from the comfort of my air conditioned kitchen. But everyday I’ve tried to have some mom-made activity to keep them calm and absorbed for an hour or so. Lately that’s been painting. Usually with watercolors,

but they use them up so fast (it’s all about the process for them, not the finished product) that I decided to try making some paint the other day instead.

I used the recipe found over at Small Things. It made a lot of paint! I’ve got four 8 ounce jelly jars of it in my fridge.

It’s at the ready so I can have an hour or so of peace…

until clean up, at least.