Bunk beds and bobbleheads

Our home only has three bedrooms so when we were expecting Brynn we knew that Molly and Stocky would have to share rooms.  The rooms are not big so we also knew that we would want to do bunk beds. (We could fit two beds but then there would be no room for anything like a dresser or bookcase.)  We didn't want to spend a lot but we wanted beds that were sturdy and would last a long time.  The solution?  Justin was going to make the beds.  He found a good deal on some raw lumber on KSL and was able to use his friend's shed to build most of them.  They took a lot of time!!  They are pretty awesome though...

He designed them himself, just sketched what he liked and then started building.  He distressed them himself and stained them as well.  For extra storage he found an old dresser at the DI...he used the drawers but just covered them with beadboard and put them at the bottom.  Pretty cool, huh?  This is what they looked like pre-distress and stain:

He's a pretty talented guy.  The beds also come apart if we ever decide to just have two twin beds. (It looks like he put two headboards together in this picture.  If we decide to just have two twin beds, we'd use a headboard from the bottom bunk and a footboard from the top bunk.  So it would made the footboard shorter than the headboard, if that makes sense.)

The kids love them. Molly was so excited about sleeping on the top bunk that she wasn't even sad about leaving her girly room (we re-painted Stockton's room to make it more neutral and let Brynn have Molly's purple room).  The transition from crib to bed was really hard on Stocky but he's good now-he should be since these have been done for one year now.

Did you know that bunk beds are for more than just sleeping in?  They make awesome forts...

...and basketball backboards...

...and pirate ships, and club headquarters for your friends, and helicopters, and anything else your imagination can come up with!

Oh, and if you have extra wood?  How 'bout a bookcase for Molly on the top bunk?  This is Molly's special space.

 

Or some frames to fill up the super big wall that you didn't know what to do with.

So, there you go, now you can all see how much talent my hubby has...now I'm going to fill you in on a little secret.  He collects bobbleheads.  See:

He has 30 but the collection is growing.  He keeps them up high where the kids can't break them, on a ledge in our bedroom.

 

The kids love when he gets a new one.  He's been collecting them for a few years now.  Molly used to call them "Daddies." Occasionally they come down from their ledge and we all get to admire them.  I don't know where they will go when there is no more room on the ledge.  Maybe Justin can use his woodworking skills and build a shelf or something for them. Hehe.

April

Looking back through my pictures, it seems like April must have been a busy month for us.  Maybe I just took more pictures around home.  Whatever the reason, here is all the fun we had at home and elsewhere...

Climbing the tree outside my parent's house.

Visiting the Church Museum in Salt Lake.  The Book of Mormon exhibit they have there for kids is pretty fun.

Sometimes I'm on my own when it comes time to put the kids to bed.  This doesn't happen too often, thankfully.  Stocky was having a particularly hard time falling asleep and I was putting Brynn to bed.  I let him come and sit on the rocking chair while I walked around with Brynn...pretty soon he was sound asleep.  Comfy, huh?

Justin got to get away for a day and go fishing at Strawberry.

In March I got smart and implemented a quiet time-all of my kids down at the same time for one hour twice a week.  Stocky usually fell asleep and Molly just listened to stories on the computer.  I always made myself relax and read a book.  It was nice.  I'm afraid it's fading out now.  Boo.  But I'll still keep trying.

Brynn lovin' spaghetti for dinner.  She can't make up her mind with pasta-one night she'll devour it and the next she'll just pick at it and barely take a bite.  She's pickier than Stocky.

 I have to make a conscious effort to stop being "busy" and sit down and play with the kids.  One day we built towers.

 Molly got her Kindergarten shots.  She was very nervous for a few days and even had trouble sleeping the couple nights before.  Justin gave her a blessing the morning of and I think that calmed her down a bit.  She was very brave.  I let her pick out a toy at Target after.  She chose a pony, go figure.  She hasn't played with ponies since she was three.  Whatever makes her happy, I guess.

She didn't dwell on her shots for too long, however, because off she went with Justin a couple days later for a short little backpacking trip.  Justin and Eric go every year and they decided that Molly and Tiana were old enough to go this year.  It is a short hike in and out of camp.  They fished and did other camping things.  Molly was proud of herself for catching the only rainbow trout.  She did it all by herself, with no help from Justin.

 

Took the kids to the duck pond.  They fed ducks.  A couple of ducks got extremely close and eventually they ate the bread right out of Molly's hand.  We were done after that.

 We've had a few tennis games in the back of our house, on the road that hardly anyone drives on.  Molly misses most of the balls so I stand behind her and catch all of them. 

Stocky has no clue what he's doing but he's happy to be outside. His preferred way to use a tennis racket is as a guitar.

We went to Temple Square again this year to see the flowers.  This is becoming one of my favorite spring-time activities.  The flowers are so pretty.  The kids all really love this activity as well.  I took 60 pictures (no exaggerating).  It was such a gorgeous day and now I can't wait to go next year!

 

Easter

 As with most holidays/birthdays around here, we celebrated more than once...

-The kids hunted for candy-filled eggs after Conference in Sandy.

Brynn really figured out what candy was for the first time this holiday.

-We had an Easter party in Plain City.  My mom puts so much time into these parties.  She plans games, treats, and presents that she thinks the kids will love.  And of course they do!

 

 

-The Easter Bunny visited our house and left some baskets filled with stickers and treats.  He also hid chocolate eggs around the house for the kids to find.

 Brynn lovin' those chocolate eggs!  She would put the whole thing in her mouth!!

-The kids in their Sunday best (we were all done hunting, and dressed and ready for church by 8:30 so we could take pictures. Quite the accomplishment, I'd say).

  

My mom helped me make the dresses.  Well, more like, she made the majority of them because they were beyond my sewing skill level (which is pretty much nil).  Poor Stocky, I didn't think much about his Easter clothes until just a couple days before...but he looks super handsome in his suit (not new) and I was able to find a matching tie.

-And finally, we decorated eggs with Grandpa Gene. Oh yeah!!