Last year after Christmas, we purchased another bookcase for the playroom and rearranged it to make space for our growing home library. It seems to be a new tradition, because we did the same thing this year as well. Instead of a new bookcase for the playroom, we got two new bookcases. One of each of the boys’ bedrooms. They received new LEGO sets and books for Christmas and they were out of room to display their treasures. Over the last year, the playroom bookcases had filled up and would no longer work as an overflow for the bedrooms. Jeremy told me his goal for this coming year is to NOT buy another bookcase… Where’s the fun in that?
We grabbed two more Billy bookcases from IKEA on New Year’s Eve. We spent New Year’s Day assembling them and rearranging all the treasures the boys love to display in their rooms. It felt so strange rearranging these rooms. They’ve stayed mostly the same since we moved into this home 8 years ago. As we adjusted their rooms, it’s clear we’re accommodating older kids, not the littles we moved into the house with. My mama heart has been processing all the growing and changing of my boys as as I process and rearrange these spaces. It’s been a bit mentally taxing. It was like Tetris finding the right home and spaces for their things, while leaving room for new treasures to be collected in years to come. Definitely a mental puzzle!
We moved a chair from Graham’s room into the playroom, which was the springboard for rearranging the playroom. Our old set-up didn’t leave enough walking space between the bookcases, two chairs, and the piano. Last week’s project was the bedrooms and this weekend’s project was the playroom. It feels so good to have them both tackled now. We took down some maps from the walls that the boys have outgrown. We now have some new wall space to decorate around the piano. We’re thinking music themed décor, but I have no actual idea what that is at the moment. I’ll have to keep my eyes open!
Other highlights since I last posted… We spent New Year’s Eve playing games with family in Vancouver. We enjoyed a meal with Nana and Papa. We showed them the Christmas musical and shared a few of our new Christmas games with them. We celebrated my sister’s birthday with sushi! Owen was brave and tried it for the first time. He didn’t like it, but I’m proud he gave it a shot. The Scott family wasn’t into the sushi scene, so we all found Chinese food options while my parents and sister enjoyed their special birthday treat.
We finally took down the Christmas decorations. It was fun to restyle the mantel yet again! This week, I added paper hearts to the wall to go along with our paper snowflakes. The multi-color hearts go well with the birthday banner I’ve left up from my sister’s celebration. April and I have birthdays two weeks apart, so it felt like the banner could just stay up for “birthday month.” We spent our evenings at church last week for a special spiritual emphasis to start the new year. I got dinner with a forever forever on Wednesday. We started a new weekly art class on Thursdays mornings. We wrapped our first week back to school with a outdoor adventure to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Sunny January days are perfect for getting outside, going for a walk, and birding!
Happy New Year!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 