Splash!

Both boys go through waves of loving baths and then hating baths. For now, we're in a loving-the-bath stage. Mostly because Johnny has learned the concept of water displacement. Typically in the form of splashing.

Hey, Hank, since I know you hate this, here's a little water for your face!

Ready, set...

Go!

Yay! Gigantic splash! Water everywhere! Whoo-hoo!!

Now, the pictures would indicate that fun is had by all. This is not entirely true. Johnny, of course, thinks his tidal waves are awesome and hilarious, but Hank sometimes gets doused with so much water that he probably thinks he's being water-boarded... I mean, if he had any concept of POW torture techniques, he would totally think that.

I digress. John and I used to freak out a little about getting so much water on the floor since the kids' bathroom is right over the kitchen and the seam between the tub and linoleum lines up nicely with our beautiful cabinets... but then John re-caulked that seam and I don't care so much any more. (Hopefully you did extraordinary job on that caulking, honey!) That doesn't mean that I don't lay down at least two towels on the floor for each bath session, though. Baths create quite a bit of laundry these days.

Organization may be an exercise in futility

I'm not a particularly organized person. I mean, I have this incredible drive to be organized, but I never really get to that point where there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. Even when I was a teacher, it was the most organized I have ever been and I STILL had organization issues (however, all of my glassware and lab tools were impeccably organized).

So, I decided to do this 14 week organization challenge over at A Bowl of Lemons, a blog I happened to find while searching for organization tips. (Side note: did you realize that I've said some form of the word "organize" 7 times already? I won't blame you if you bail now.)

The first week's challenge was the kitchen. So I did it. I took everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) out of the drawers and cabinets and cleaned them. Then I put everything back in a way that made more sense. The first thing I did was figure out which of my cabinets and drawers were "prime real estate" and put utensils and appliances that are the most used in those places. That in itself was a challenge. Which do I use more? This iron dutch oven or this cheesecake pan? 

And then I had to go through tupperware. Now, as I may have mentioned before, I love boxes. I save boxes and containers like I'm planning to move next month. In fact, sometime I'll order something off the Internet and when it arrives, I'm more excited about the box than the item I ordered. It's a sickness.

ubiquitous coffee cup photo bomb

But I digress. You can only imagine the pit of despair that was my tupperware cabinet. It was in a corner spot, so it's cavernous, and the boys routinely take everything out of it and leave everything strewn about the kitchen like a tornado came threw but was only strong enough to move the plastic containers. And when your children are in the habit of disorganizing you, you rarely have the motivation to organize these items. So I figured it was time to buckle down and throw some stuff away. I threw out every round container we had and kept all of the square and rectangle ones and put them in a deep drawer across from the drawer holding all of my plastic baggies. Now they are easy to put away and easy to access. That was my crowning achievement from this week's organization challenge.

Otherwise, it was just moving stuff around to make it more accessible. Like putting the deep fryer (that I have yet to use, but can't seem to get rid of) on a shelf high above the refrigerator, where it will NEVER be in my way. Oh, and making a cabinet solely for my baking stuff. And making a coffee station. And bringing the medications and bandaids and vitamins into the kitchen in an organized space.

Next challenge is the garage....

Johnny's "big boy" room

John and I set up Johnny's big boy room at the end of May and I promised pictures... so here they are! Finally!

We managed to get the exact same crib as the one in the nursery on clearance at Babies R Us.

I know this one is dark, but you can see the window with the blackout curtains and the dark blue valence.

This is a ruler growth chart that John made. I saw it on Pinterest and asked John to recreate it, so he did!

Truck wall decal.

The theme of the room was "construction" so I got him bedding (just a crib sheet) with trucks all over it and the wall decals are all construction-related. The green truck with the pile of black dots? Took FOREVER to get on the wall. Worth it, though.

We don't spend a lot of time in Johnny's room because it gets really really hot, but the whole thing is child-proofed nonetheless. That way if Johnny ever climbs out of his crib while we're still sleeping we don't have to worry about him pulling the dresser over on himself. Because John bolted it to the wall. Genius.

Holy mother of child-proofing.

I recently [read: two months ago] took all of Johnny's toys upstairs to our "bonus room" with the idea that it would become the play room. Unfortunately this room has been our catch-all room for quite some time and need a little work to be converted to a child friendly place.

First issue: 

TVs and DVD players require cords and the nearest outlet to where the TV is located is behind the bookshelves. Well, if you notice, there is a gap between the TV and the bookcase where the cords lie exposed. I cleverly wedged a basket into this gap, but Johnny is quickly learning to climb over such insignificant obstacles... drat.

Second issue:

The bookshelves themselves. They are stocked with non-child friendly things like my BTSA binder, Shakespeare and old science textbooks. Plus, they are large and definitely able to tip over should Johnny learn to climb... which I think is in the near future.

Third issue:

Random crap. The papa-san chair definitely has to go. I'm not sure where, but it is not a particularly safe place for children to perch. And the bed is taking up all kinds of valuable room that I could use for... more toys. Or something.

So there you have it. Johnny's totally un-child-proofed play room. I'd like to say that posting this makes me feel ashamed enough of the situation to do something about it, but that would require an awful lot of effort... maybe next week.