My playroom decorating plan

Our playroom is not bare, that's for sure. But the walls don't have any decoration on them. I've kind of toyed (get it, ha ha) with a lot of different ideas for giving it some decoration, but nothing ever really hit me as right.

But I decided to take some pictures of the kids' favorite toys (thanks for the idea Raquel!) and then frame them and hang them.

Admittedly, some of the pictures are of some odd toys (and the Jack-in-the-Box looks a little creepy to me), but they are the kids favorites. Well, I need a couple more of Hannah's favorites, but she kept running off with them while I was trying to take the pictures. Who knew toys moved faster than kids when you took their pictures?

So, I am collecting opinions on whether I should do them in black and white or color. The walls are three shades of tan, since the playroom is right off of the family room downstairs, if that makes a difference in your call.

Here is a slideshow of the pictures, in black and white and color. I think you just click View All Images. I think?

The Utah Experience

So, one of my friend's mom and family is coming to Utah from Wisconsin in mid-August. They will be in Provo.

SO, assuming Provo is your homebase, my Utah friends (and alllllll of you who have lived in Utah, gone to school here, etc.), what things are parts of the Utah Experience you CANNOT miss? What restraunts? Museums? Outdoor or indoor venues?

A mix of things that scream UTAH! would be appreciated. Come on, help me out here. I won't mention my thoughts on this, so I don't bias anyone. But please post your favorite spots.

This is too funny not to share

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/

"Enjoy!"

WHY am I up so late?

Michael is off sleeping at my mom's house. He went golfing with her and Uncle Darick and drove the golf cart to boot.

Hannah is sleeping at Darwin's mom's house at the girl cousin sleepover. They are playing with the new/old dollhouse Grandma renovated and getting a pedicure.

McKay fell asleep happy after we found a lost Eric Carle book and Teletubbies video while cleaning the basement tonight.

Garrett is asleep after a long day of potty training, with some forward momentum.

Ella is also asleep, cradled in daddy's arms as he checks the internet on the other downstairs computer.

I have been so tired all day I felt like I could barely breathe. My eyes just wanted to slide closed and my brain felt like my computer when it updates and pops up those messages "Your brain needs to restart. Brain will shut down in 4:59. Restart now? Restart later?" and I had to incessently mentally press "restart later" all day long.

So the real question is...what on EARTH am I doing sitting up at 12:34 am?

Soliciting potty training advice

So, we're tentatively embarking on potty-training Garrett. I mean, you just never know. We could finish tomorrow. We could stop, retrench, and begin again in 2009. Its all so unpredictable.

And while I have potty trained 3 of my kids, I have learned one thing. (Ok, more than one thing. But one REALLY important thing.) It is different for each child. What Michael responded to, McKay didn't care for. What really inspired Hannah was different for the boys.

And truly, I think the "magic trick" for each kid came from someone other than me. Tracee, a neighbor helpfully mentioned boxer's shorts for Michael. Gold! Pure gold. 5 accidents one day. Got boxers. Zero accidents the next. Potty training accomplished! McKay's Kindergarten teacher mentioned doing something to keep him on the potty for a long time, so he could relax enough. So we got the "Pee pee TV"--a portable DVD player with "bathroom-only" DVDs. Excellent. Done in a week. With Hannah, Cat mentioned telling her daughter to "make tinkle sounds." Well, that clicked to Hannah. Voila!

So, hit me with your best stuff! We're gonna try it out!

What kind of summer do your kids have?

Some friends were discussing summer routines and it got me curious.

Here in Utah it is pretty much the play all day, come home when the streetlights turn on, get really tan with all the outdoor time-type of summer that rules the day. We swim. We go to parades. We jump on the trampoline. I'd say we eat watermelon, but Darwin is allergic. Basically we have that "all-American-summer." Maybe it is because there are so many stay-at-home moms. Probably.

Granted, we have a little structure. Hannah had a reading class in June/early July. Michael has scouts. McKay has his speech stuff. Michael, McKay and Hannah have piano. So, there is practice for piano, badges to be worked on, speech stuff to practice, reading to work on, etc. Of course there are bedrooms and the playroom to be cleaned.

But otherwise, their schedules are generally wide open. And, I will admit, with the sun not going down until 10 pm, the kids can be seen out playing until 8:45 usually. They need a bath every morning almost due to the dirt and sweat and sidewalk chalk and various other summer grimies.

I think it has been a good thing for the kids, overall. A break from the constant routine. McKay has sort of had a chance to regroup and get re-energized on the school front. He seemed like he was getting worn out and it was affecting his school focus.

But then I am hearing more and more about summer camps, and sports camps, and music camps, and classes and such all day for kids during the summer. I had never considered this kind of summer. I can see where this would be a need if both parents were working. And the kids probably do have a lot of fun. But it doesn't seem to be the situation where I live. The lazy summer days are the way of life here.

So, what is it like where you live? What were your summers like as a kid? Are these free-for-all summers coming to an end? Is that a good thing or not?

Update on Hannah and the bus

Hannah gets to ride the bus with her brothers. If they are both absent one day, then I will have to drive her, but that is not a huge issue.

This will make it a lot easier on me. I won't have to drop Hannah off and then park, and take Michael, McKay, Garrett and Ella to McKay's classroom everyday to drop McKay off. McKay won't have a fit at school everyday as I leave. Overall, I think this will work nicely.

Besides, I do admit I am fairly spoiled. I get to have the bus come to my doorstep and pick my kids up for school. Ya know, that's what I keep perpetuating the autism fraud. (Continuing my eyerolling at Michael Savage.)

Hannah is thrilled that she gets to ride the bus to school. We are so close to the school that we figured she would always be driven or walk. But she'll get to ride the bus until she is in 4th grade and then for 7th and 9th grades. Kinda nice.