Wheels

This is Tank.

Tank likes trucks.  Actually, he likes anything with wheels, but he calls them all trucks.

He screams with delight every time we pass one on the street.  "Truck, momma.  I see it!"

He catches his breath in delight when he hears one.  "OH!  I hear the truck, momma.  You hear it?"

He says the same think about every truck he sees or hears.  "I wanna ride it!"

And if he can possibly get on it, he will ride it.

He doesn't even care if it's pink, as long as he can drive.

The other night I put him to bed.  When I went to check on him I saw this:

**Oh - the dinosaur watching over/protecting my little man is Kota.  Hi, Kota.

I didn't say anything, but I went back a few minutes later and he was still looking out the window . . . it was dark outside.

I had to know what he was so interested in.

I should have known it would be trucks.

And tonight when I went in to check on him, he looked like this:

Sweet dreams, Tank!  Momma loves you.

Linking up with Casey

A Haircut for Tank

On a sunny Saturday morning a mother pulls into a nice little shopping area.  She parks her little baby crossover SUV and steps out into the sun.  From her back seat she unloads 3 small children, all young enough to require car seats with a 5-point harness.  With a baby on her hip, a 2 year old holding her hand and a 4 year old holding the baby's foot (because mom is out of hands) she navigates the parking lot and opens the door to a childrens' salon.  Barber's chairs are shiny, depicting cars and airplanes; cartoons play on flat screen TVs; a train table in the middle of the room is encirlced by 6 small children playing happily together; plush couches full of patiently waiting parents line one wall while shelves of colorful toys (to buy) line the other.  The mother ushers her children out of the heat and into the pleasant, air conditioned room.

Insert scratched record sound here.  This is when bliss gets interrupted.  The baby that was happily perched on mom's hip begins arching his back in an effort to get to the train table.  The 4 year old begins a line of requests, "Oh!  Momma, can I have this green bow?  Isn't this headband pretty?  I really want this puzzle!".  While juggling the baby and fielding requests from the 4 year old, mom doesn't even realize the 2 year old has slipped off her hand and randomly introducing himself to everyone in the place.  She signs in only to see she will be waiting through 7 other children's haircuts before she gets the one she needs for her son.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?  Logistically, it's just a hassle for me to take the kids to get haircuts.  Bug is growing hers out, so not much to worry about there.  But Tank usually has a mullet before I get around to taking him for a haircut, and *sigh* the baby's curls are turning straight, signaling to me that it's time for his first cut.

Never being one to back down from a challenge, I decided it would be easier to cut their hair myself than parade them into town.  I went to Sally's and bought a pair of shears for $20, a comb and a spray bottle.

I bet you think this is the part where I'm going to tell you how to cut hair, huh?  Sorry.  I have no clue what I'm doing.  I've just decided that I'm willing to figure it out.  I plopped him onto a stool, handed him a sucker (it helps them to sit still) and started chopping away.

Unfortunately, he was finished sitting before I was finished cutting.

That may have been because I was really slow.  I got a few more minutes out of him by handing him the spray bottle and letting him squirt me with cold water.

All in all, I thought it was pretty successful.  I went back the next day and trimmed his neck and around his ears with a trimmer.  I will be cutting his hair for a while, I think.

I don't know about the baby, though.  I mean, should mom do the 1st haircut? 

Little Love Letters

When I first saw this written on the wall, I got pretty irritated.

Then I realized it was the first time I had seen her write her name.  I've considered putting a frame around it, but I'm afraid it might encourage more writing on the walls.

Can you see the little hand print here?

This is right next to the toilet.  As many moms know, it's pretty impossible to potty in peace. . . this is a cute little reminder of how much my children need to be next to me, no matter what.

These little ones are always right under foot.  Or in the middle of whatever I'm trying to do (in case you can't tell, he's in the dishwasher I'm trying to unload).

They leave me little love notes all around the house.

They want to show me everything they do.

They can never wait for my attention, my love, my hugs.

They need me RIGHTNOW!

And while all of this can get frustrating at times,

While it can cause the chores to be interupted, dinner to be burnt, or left sitting until cold,

One day, I'm not going to be they're favorite person in the room.

One day, they'll think they don't need me for anything (doesn't her face say it all there?).

One day, they won't want to climb into my bed at 2 in the morning for no reason.

But today... they still think I'm pretty cool.


Linking up with Casey at The Wiegand's.

Hanging Beds ~ Big Boy Room ~ WFMW

Well, I guess they're really growing up.  I just took down the last crib in our house.  I can't believe all of my babies are in "big beds".  The baby's still young enough to be in a crib, but we had to do something about the sleeping situation in our house....or rather the situation in which there was a huge lack of sleep in our house.  With 3 kids in two small rooms (think 10x11) we had to get really creative with space.

When the Baby was born, Tank was still in his crib (he was only 17 months) and Bug was in a toddler bed.  We had this bed made for her (her toddler bed had to be converted back into a crib for the Baby) because it provided toy storage underneath the bed.  We are all about creative use of space.

For the past few months, Tank's been kind of uneasy; he was in need of a big bed, too.  Originally we were thinking bunk beds for the boys, but then I stumbled across these plans on Ana White's web site, and I had to have them.  You should really check out Ana's site.  She has so many wonderful - FREE - plans on there.  We built BOTH of these beds for $175 total, in one weekend, with 3 littles running around.  We altered the plans just a very little to make them lighter (weight, not color).  Here's what we did. . . please get the full, exact plans at the link above.

I'm putting the price of the wood next so you have a guideline of what to look for.  We had to search for this. . . there are lots of different grades and types of wood, you don't want cabinet grade - they're like $4-6 per board!

For 1 bed we purchased:

• Five 2x4x8 ($1.87 each)
• Thirteen 1x4x8 ($1.96 each)**
• 3" Wood Screws, (3) 1# boxes
• Paint
• 4 eyebolts
• 25 feet of rope (you'll probably need less than this)
• Wood glue (we had this on hand, but you need it, so it's going on the list)

** This was the main change we made to the original plans.  We used 1x4s for deck boards instead of 2x4s.  We are also using 1x4s for a Wall Mount

Start by cutting your boards.  You need:

• 2 - 2x4s at 82 3/4" (Frame Sides)
• 1 - 1x4 at 82 3/4" (Wall Mount)
• 6 - 2x4s at 42 1/2" (Frame Joists)
• 12 - 1x4s at 84 3/4" (Deck Boards)

The pile for 2 beds looked like this:

Build your frame.  Start by marking your Frame Sides.

Then screw the Frame Joists in were you marked.  You want 2 screws in each joist.

Make the rectangle, then go back and add in the "inside" joists.

Finished Frame

Next you deck it.  Easy peasy, right?

Well, yes and no.  You want to remember to keep the boards square and the spaces even, and you have to both glue and screw (I swear the bad part of my brain giggles every time I say that, but I mean actually drilling a screw into wood) each deck board into place.  I can't stress enough how clear and detailed and absolutely necessary Ana's plans are.  You'll want them for this part.  I attached the outer 2 deck boards and then worked my way across the middle.

Here's what it looks like when construction is finished.  It's sitting nekked on saw horses ready to be dressed.

Sand the whole thing - it helps to use a belt power sander - and round the corners (hopefully preventing ER trips in the future).  Vacuum or brush all the sanding dust off and paint (or stain).

Then sand and paint/stain again.  You should also paint the extra 1x4 that is for the wall mount.  Let everything dry overnight.  Even if you're impatient, like me, you should really wait for it to dry all the way.

!DANGER! - okay, that might be extreme, but I really want to express here that these beds are heavy.  If you have any doubt about hanging them...please get help.  Someone could get very seriously hurt if they are hung incorrectly and fall.

We followed Ana's instructions to hang the bed but added a wall mount.  Use the "extra" 1x4 that was cut at 82 3/4".  Find the height you want to "hang" your bed.  Use a stud finder and hang the 2x4, drilling it into each stud it crosses (you'll want to use a level here as well).

Butt the Frame Side up against the wall mount and drill the frame into the mounted 1x4.

We are hanging the bed in the corner, so we also added a mount on that side.  This takes a LOT of the weight off of the eyebolts and rope. 

Creative use of small spaces + inexpensive DIY building plans work for me!

Check out what's working for everyone else!

Design Dazzle

Truly Enjoying Family

Everyone I know seems to be busy right now, and no one seems to have an end in sight to the busy-ness.  I'm SO guilty of that myself.  There never seems to be enough time...we rush around every weekday and weekends are planned out before they arrive.  But during all of this, something is happening.

This

Is becoming this

It's happening right before my eyes,

Yet I feel like I miss so much.  I think with every word they say and every step they take, "when did you get so big?"

When you're expecting, and when your child is born, people say to enjoy it because they grow so fast.

There is no way to truly convey that message in understandable terms. 

The sleepless nights (of which there are PLENTY),

The sassy words (see previous parenthesis),

The tantrums (not too terribly bad, actually).

All of the good and all of the bad.  Those moments just hurry by.

I can't stop the time,

But I WILL soak it all up.

Enjoy today!