hidden oasis

kids are messy. i knew this before i had kids. i work with kids. lots of them. messy ones. i actually have a hard time with a messy house and a messy classroom. you can ask previous classes what i hate. they'll probably rattle off five or ten different things. one will include messes.

i'm that a teacher that stops to clean up many times a day. i don't release to recesses or lunch until it's tidy. when my maternity leave ends (T minus 6 days... but who's counting?) i return to first graders. scary, tiny, messy first graders. i'm honestly worried. how tidy can a first grader be? how tidy can 28 first graders be? why on earth will i return to 28 first graders? 28!?... entirely separate post.

so we shall see. i'm sure i'll have plenty to write about soon. at home we have a magical architectural design. i would like to thank whoever designed this house. the layout. smart.

our hidden oasis is the upstairs landing. it's my kid zone. hide all the toys zone. experiment with color and design zone. that's what i've been working on during these last weeks. baby brain didn't strike nearly as badly with baby D. i feel like my creativity is back. and openness to change and a little experimenting.

when you arrive upstairs it's pretty obvious that kids run the place. but that's what i want upstairs to feel like. fun. colorful. creative. inviting... to other kids too.

another goodwill find. my mom restored it for moo. moo likes to admire herself.

inexpensive ikea frame. i gave moo three sheets of photo paper. i controlled her color choices to exactly two colors per sheet. she used sharpies. i monitored closely.

the best part was when she stopped coloring, leaned down, took in a big whiff, and said 'mmmmmm'. oh my... i hope she's not one of those spray paint sniffers when she grows up.

this bookshelf was my parents. it was a dark oak. ryan painted it for me. i love it.

i'm actually a little neurotic. she rearranges it most days. i'm not happy until it's just so again.

all the heavy duty books are low. easy for her to access. i put 'rip-able' books up high. out of her reach.

she has yet to try to climb the shelves. the bookshelf is mounted to the wall.

this was in my nursery. she likes to touch it after her afternoon nap.

the name of the game is buckets. lots. every thing in its place... a place for every SINGLE thing.

moo's room.

her thailand elephant. my parents brought it back after visiting my brother in phuket. before she was born.

 outside her bedroom.

the thailand monkeys my parents brought home for me.

baby D's new slogan. Home Goods.

his artwork. printed off the internet onto photo paper. Target frames.

my methodically placed office. i can keep on eye on the play area from here. if there's one thing i've learned from teaching... if they're out of sight, you're in trouble.

cozy couch for the grown ups.

i like it. it's really starting to come to life. it's been a work in progress for awhile now. and i hate to 'rush' a room. or a space. i think i'm starting to break out of 'survival' mode and get back to my normal 'me' mode :)