Jacob's Room

Mom came to stay with us last week and Jacob wanted to show her his room. But unfortunately my house has too many stairs so we made a video and Jacob gave her a tour.

One of my favorite things growing up was decorating and redecorating our rooms. Mom was so creative and I loved how she would let us be a part of the process.

How I wish I had pictures of each time we decorated our room.

The best is when Mom gave me creative control in high school

and I painted the glass globe light?

That is probably why I love making my house a home and enjoy design so much.

I also LOVE home shows/tours/open houses. Free snoop time.

Alayna was given this gene as well

as she asks for a tour at just about

every house we visit, friend or not?

So why not open my house up for a tour?

We will start with Jacob's room

A sports theme of course....

I found his bed on ksl classifieds/craigslist. It started out like this (pic @ end of the post) I painted it a barn red and added football pulls.

His light was a clearance item I found at Emily's Lowes for $35.

Night light is a planet shape from Ikea

I don't love valences, but in Jacob's room, he would be swinging from drapes so the valence is from his nursery bedding set.

The hanging airplanes are from the free build n grow clinic at Lowes. We painted them to match his nursery bedding.

Last winter, I was so sick and pregnant but felt so bad for Jacob being cooped up all day I decided to put a swing in his room. I originally planned to hang it from the ceiling but didn't have enough room, so on the bed it went. It is perfect for a leisure swing.

(Which I read that swinging aids in brain development)

His bedding is the softest, warmest corduroy set from Walmart. And it has washed so well so many times......

The item that took the longest to find/figure out was what to put over the bed. I thought of so many options. But it is where he sleeps and put his legs up on that wall so I had to keep that in mind. I finally came to the conclusion that I wanted to do a football field. It took a year and a million searches, failed attempts until I found this rug. When I found it, the heavens opened and angels sang, at least I felt like they did, I was so excited. The perfect size and Univ of Utah.

The chair is from a set that we moved to the basement and the most comfortable one in the entire house. I put it in there to encourage even more story/snuggle time for Jacob.

The bookshelf I made when Ashtyn was 2 or 3 as a knock off from Pottery Barn.

The letters are paper mache from JoAnns. I saved my 40% off coupon and bought one each month til I had his whole name. Each one mimics a sports ball with paint, fabric (they have basketball feel fabric) or stitching. Probably my favorite part of his room. I love how he spells his name every time he looks at it.

I will admit that his room is not always this clean.

BUT it usually can be in 10 minutes or less.

If I want my kids to keep their rooms clean it has to be easy.

Kids like to stuff and shove so why not let them.

So I keep it pretty simple but I also spend time cleaning their rooms with them every few months.

Toys have 3 options, the train box, car box or toy box.

I keep a few things separate so they are easy to find, usually the smaller, most played with items. So for Jacob he has a box for trains and the 2 yellow boxes on his bookshelf for cars.

This way he doesn't dump out the entire toy box looking for Thomas or the green matchbox car. He had the sort figured out right away and knows where to put his cars or trains so they don't get lost. He is not perfect but when I help him clean his room and we sort through all the boxes he is able to get everything in order.

This also gives him a opportunity to sort an important skill for kindergarten.

But it also helps when at a store and he says he wants another toy and I tell him that his boxes are full and there is no more room.

The rest of his toys get dumped in the toy box which makes cleanup so quick and easy.

One of the other things I find important in a kids room is easy taking care of clothes. Jacob has been putting away his clothes since he was 2. I sort them into pants, shirts, jammies and roos then he puts them away in the drawers. I put hooks in my kids closets for easy hanging. 4 year olds don't do hangers but can put jackets, hats and bags on hooks.

MS Walk 2010

I am so grateful for everyone who donated to help us surpass our goal of $500 by raising $650 for team CPK.

Goal: $500.00 Achieved: $650.00

I "tried harder" this year AND increased our donation support from last year by more than double.
I put off getting the team together and fund raising thinking many times how much easier it would be to just go and walk like I did the first year.

MS Walk 2008

Or get a few friends, some family to show up and a donation sprinkled in here and there, like last year.
MS Walk 2009
But I needed to try harder.
Not just for me but for my children.

The girls and I talked a lot about why we were asking for support through these donations and what that money would accomplish. It was a little scary for them at first, but they got in their little Barbie jeep and tooted around the block knocking on doors. They were so excited to come home with their envelopes of money.

Both Ashtyn and Alayna donated their own hard earned money as well.

Ashtyn donated all she had. I was pleased she did.

I was even more impressed when she realized
what she donated was the exactly the amount
it would cost for a particular toy she has been
wanting for months. I watched her think about it,
yearn for it and it was a little painful for her.
She knew she could just pull her money out
of the envelope and take it with us to the store.
It was satisfying to see her quickly overcome
the temptation and decide to put off her
consumer gratification.

Alayna has a hard time walking and keeping up. Not for physical reasons, but lack of desire.
With no "FUN" destination (meaning Disney Land or pool of chocolate pudding with colorful twisty slides) to entice her, she was dragging her feet after the first 75 yards. That is when we talked about who we were walking for. We talked about how much Grandma would love to be able to walk this 5K

and then we talked about the many people walking (or being pushed in a wheelchair or riding a scooter) next to us who live with MS and how it makes the body not work the same as hers.

She decided were walking for those who can't AND walking because she can was o.k. even though it was long and hot.

We also came up to a park where she was given a pinwheel and some oranges. She got a good burst of energy and something to keep her busy while walking.

I also have to thank Julie, Emily's mother in law
and Malissa, Emily's sister in law for keeping tabs on her
and cheering her on. They were so helpful.

Each year this walk becomes more and more important to me.

These are just some of the lives this disease affects.

It is hard to hold back the tears when you see bibs like these


or shirts that say...

But gratifying to see my children working to help find a cure. Gratifying watching my children learning to serve their family and community.

AND THE WINNER OF THE FOOTBALL TICKETS!
ValLynn Bauer