The Boys' Big Move

We mentioned bunk beds to G about a year ago and he's been excited about it ever since.  G and D have shared a room for about a month now and for the past couple weeks Paul and I have enjoyed the silence that SHOULD happen at bedtime.  It was an adjustment for the first couple weeks as they were both so excited about the bunk beds that it took HOURS for them to give it up at night and stop the silliness, laughter and general spazzing that ensued nightly.  The nursery is now my office again and I am thrilled to be done with setting up my laptop and work documents at the dining room table!

The boys each had a theme during their time in the nursery.  Gabriel's was antique transportation and David's was cowboy.  Both themes had similar rustic primary colors so I took a chance and mixed the two in their new room.  This is the result:

 Here's the picture above David's bed since it's partially hidden in the previous photo.  I modge podged a poster (ebay!) to mdf that Paul cut and painted black.

 I found this sign at Canton last year!

David's personal items are on the nightstand and little shelf.  I plan to hang a cluster of 3 frames between the two.

Their names took turns hanging above the crib over the past 5 years and are now on either side of their shared closet.

 Gabriel's personal items are on top of the dresser.....out of David's reach.  :)

The print in this photo was also a poster that I modge podged to some mdf that we painted black.  Much cheaper than buying something, even at my much loved Hobby Lobby!

 And the closet.  Nothing extraordinary or straight from the Container Store magazine, but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to see this and know that their individual closets were full!  With a little help from Pinterest, The Container Store and Target I got some affordable ideas to use the closet space more efficiently to fit BOTH of them.   Very few toys or books are in their room although the train table is quite large!  Our goal was to keep the toys in the play area so we did some "purging" and donated quite a few items they hadn't played with in awhile. 

• The white bags hanging on each side are for their dirty white socks.  No more figuring out which sock belongs to which boy!
• The LEGO binder replaced a tupperware box as storage for instruction manuals.  It is full of clear pages to hold the manuals so he can easily see what he has.

We have seen our boys play together better and share more than they did just a month ago.  Hallelujah!  <this is me bustin' a move>

Project: Fort - Six More Weeks of Progress

It's been almost six weeks since the last fort posting.  A few things came up that pulled Paul away from working on the fort but now, except for a roof, it's finished!

 Paul cut out the front window and built the eaves on the front.

 

Next he cut out the second window and made the windowsills for both.

Now the boys like to enter and exit through the windows......

Paul engineered a trapdoor so that it doesn't slam shut on heads or little fingers.

We made a chalkboard for the boys from a piece of wood that was cut off the rock climbing wall.  And in this picture you can see the handles Paul added to help with climbing in from the rock wall.

 I finally got around to sewing the curtains that Gabriel wanted.  The Bear County Boys Club in a Berenstain Bears book have curtains so they were on his must-have list as well.

Next up:  the roof!

David's Goes to a Birthday Party

 David was invited to a friend's carousel party this weekend.  It was his first time to ride the horses on the carousel and every time it stopped he picked a different horse to try out.  He had a great time!

This is the grin he comes up with when we say "Smile!".

Notice the "before" picture of his cupcake.

And this is the "after" shot!  You just can't see all of the pink icing down the front of his shirt!

Gabriel's Soccer Class

Gabriel took a soccer class through Frisco Athletic Center in April.  Every Monday and Wednesday he was with other 3-5 year olds to learn and practice soccer skills.  He had fun and it wore him out every time!

(We call David's camera smile his pirate face.)

Project: Rock Climbing Wall

Mimi and Papa John's spring break trip was postponed because almost everyone was sick!  So they came up from Corpus to hang with the boys and help with the fort this weekend.  After a week of rest, more measurements and planning, Paul was ready to tackle an all-day project with his dad:  the rock climbing wall. 

My big boy likes hanging out in his fort.  And in case you are wondering, if a shirt has a hood, you MUST wear the hood (per Gabriel).  It was almost 90 degrees and he kept that hood up all afternoon! 

David went with his Mimi and I to shop for some fort interior decoration.  Our goal was to find something comfy and boyish but not go "Martha Stewart" on the manly fort.  So after a morning of planning and shopping, we came home and had lunch with the guys.

 "Say CHEESE!"

Gabriel was excited to play with some friends for a little while and christen the fort with popsicles! (And yes, that is a flamingo in the future doorway.  That was David's contribution to the decor.  A fort isn't a fort without a flamingo!)

We were so impressed that Daddy "planned" this interior bench on the backside of the rock climbing wall! 

This is a monumental photo of the last screw that completed the east wall of the fort.  It was an all day project that involved a lot of mathematical equations I haven't even heard of since high school. So yes, kids, you may actually need to know that stuff!

Mimi with her grandsons

Go Gabriel!

Project:  Rock climbing wall - Complete!

 

Front wall, door, window cutouts, trapdoor, staining and roof still to come.   Then the boys get to have their Grand Opening!  By the way, what do you call a house warming party for a fort??  "Fort Warming" just doesn't sound right.......

Project: Fort - Day 2 and The First Injury

My dad had to leave after lunch to drive back to Corpus but they were able to cross off a few more items on the fort to-do list.  They put up another wall and a half and measured and remeasured, cut and remeasured and cut again (repeat many times) to get the ladder just right.  

David advised his dad and grandpa on the placement of the ladder.

All the guys worked hard all morning!

Time to stop for lunch and say goodbye to Grandpa! 

And the first injury goes to ....... David!  But its nothing that a little ice pop can't help. 

 And some silly brotherly time had him back to normal!

Project: Fort - Day 1

My dad came in town on Thursday to help Paul work on the boys' fort this weekend.  We started off with a chilly morning but Gabriel and David were ready to get started!

It warmed up quite a bit that afternoon and the boys were excited to see how their fort had "grown" during nap time! 

Gabriel had some tools and wood to work on some of his own "projects".

David wanted to snack and hammer in the middle of the action.

Tinker Bell found an almost peaceful corner of the yard and watched from a distance.

Break time!

Gabriel was a busy little worker with nails and a real hammer!

Daddy's saw was REALLY loud.

The extent of my manual labor today was climbing the 8 foot ladder while holding my fancy camera for this shot.  We all survived.

The boys got a chance to check out their fort.  I think they like it so far.

At 5pm they ran out of screws so we (I mean Paul and Dad) called it a day and turned on the grill for some burgers, hot dogs and chicken.  

The boys wanted to sit at their table.....in their fort......with Grandpa.  So Paul moved the table in and Grandpa didn't say no.

More to come: walls, railing,  doorway, awning, window, peepholes, ladder, trapdoor, rock climbing wall and roof!  And Papa John comes next weekend to help with the fun project!