Fake Nails Protect You

Just in case you all thought that cars were the only thing Will played with, this is what he picked out at the dollar store today with his dad.

In case you can't tell, that's a cosmetic set. I'm not gonna comment. I will say that every time he sees a commercial for a doll that you apply makeup on or do her hair, he always says he wants that for his birthday. I just say, well that's still a long time away.

Just now Will wheeled his bin of cars into the living room and I said he needed to pick up the other toys before he got those out. He asked what toys and I said he needed to pick up his makeup set. He turned to me and said, it's not a makeup set mom, it's a first aid kit. Oh.

Me: How is that a first aid set, what do you use that stuff for?
Will: See, these are for first aid (pointing to the rings)
M: How do they help you
W: You put them on your finger (slides it on) and it protects your owie that is right there
M: What about the other stuff
W: These things..
M: barrettes, they go in your hair
W: Yeah, cause if your hair goes flat, it help them
W: And these (sliding on the fake nails) they protect your fingers
M: How does the fake lipstick help you
W: It helps your lips be protected
W: How come you keep saying about the fake stuff? You can say a lot

Disaster Area Contained...for today

It must be the spring in the air. And seeing all the fun projects my sister Britta has done in her home, even though she was 9 months pregnant, I guess Tom was a little bit of help on that. I decided to try and tackle the mess called Will's room.

When Will was born I had all of these fun ideas of what to do in his room, had a whole theme picked out and everything. Yet the only thing that got finished was his curtains, crib and bumper pads. And he slept in that crib it took me 3 months, 2 coats of primer and 5, yes 5 coats of red paint to finish, for only 6 months. So maybe that is why I haven't been more motivated. He doesn't actually "sleep" in his room.

The other un-motivating thing is that since we live in an apartment storage is at a bare minimum. So Will shares his room with my sewing stuff and anything else that I don't want to keep in the storage unit. But, I was tired of walking into this:

Now I did debated about humiliating myself by posting the before pictures, but you just can't get the effect of the after pictures without them. And I'm hoping that any parent with a kid over 2 has had these times. And if you haven't...suck it. (sorry mom)

Dramatic pause to the reveal:

Normally I'm not a fan of the line all the walls with furniture, but like I said, we are dealing with limited space and LOTS of toys, so this was the best I could come up with.

Before:

After:

Featuring my new shelves from Costco which I'm very excited about.

Before:

Yes is does help clear up clutter if you get the Christmas decorations back to the storage unit before March.

After:



For staging purposes only, the quilt top I finish 4 YEARS AGO, but never made into a quilt. And Will was very upset that I took off his truck blanket for the pictures so I have a feeling that even if some miracle occurred resulting in the quilt being finished, that it would never end up back on this bed.

Now if I could just get Will to sleep in his newly organized room...

Lunch Spot

Will decided this was where he wanted to finish his lunch. I guess it's good for containing the mess. I know, he has clothes on, I'm as surprised as you.

Shelves

My quest has been completed. I have finally found a set of shelves to go in Will's room that will allow him to put away his big vehicles in something other than a bin that gets dumped out anytime he wants to play with one of the toys in it.

Costco.com came though with these:


The best part, less than 10 minutes to assemble. The only thing I wish was different is that they were about a foot longer. And they were just a little too expensive for me to want to buy two sets. But I just couldn't find shelves that were wider that met all my other requirements, so they will do. They would have gone perfect with Will's red crib. Hopefully the project of rearranging his room will be done this weekend and I will post pictures of the newly organized area.

Funny Bunny

I recently realized that I have been drifting through life. Just blindly floating through years and years of holidays and holiday mascots. Readily accepting gifts from these mystical creatures without ever asking questions. It's not till you have an inquisitive 3 yr old that you realize how easily you accept how things are. I wonder, was I like my son when I was 3? Did I have all these questions and concerns and just grew out of it? Did my parents give me the answers to such questions, or did I ever ask them? Lately when we go to bed and I tell Will we need to lay down and be quite, I get the following statement. "But mom, I need to tell you a few questions."

I think someone needs to create a Holidays for Dummies book. This book would include all of those background stories that just never seem to be told about our holidays and traditions. Sure some things vary from family to family and kid to kid, but someone needs to help me out. I think Christmas is taken care of. I can give the explanation on Santa. You’re good you get toys. Santa lives in the North Pole, somewhere you will never go so I don’t need to worry about you ever seeing him except at the mall. And Will is too shy to ever go near Santa, so I don't really need to go to deep on that one. The rest of the year he is busy making toys with the elves. Magic reindeer, loves cookies and milk, got it.

What I need to know is what the hell is up with the Easter Bunny? Will and I were in the car and he asked what the next holiday was. He was asking because he wanted to know the next time he was going to get a present, cause I bought him one for Valentines Day. I decided to skip the holiday of his Irish heritage and move onto Easter. Yeah, you will get a present on Easter. From who? The Easter Bunny. Who’s the Easter Bunny? Ummm…a bunny that comes and gives us presents. How come? Cause it’s Easter. What kind of presents? Well, eggs, candy, stuff like that. Eggs? Why does the bunny bring me eggs? Anyone? Where does the bunny live? Ummm…in the mountains. Where is he right now? Hibernating? What’s hibernating? How does he get in our house to leave us presents? He is magic like Santa.

And you can’t ever go into the religious significance, cause that really doesn’t help explain the bunny. I think I’ve heard the egg part has something to do with birth and rebirth, so I get the Easter connection. Just not sure how it ended up being a large fuzzy bunny that delivers those eggs to us. Even if there was a Charlie Brown Easter Special it might be helpful. Is there a Charlie Brown Easter Special that I missed?

My father-in-law used to go make white flour bunny footprints on the lawn Easter morning so the kids could see that the Easter Bunny had been there. I hear stories like that and see all the fun things people did for their kids just for Valentines Day and think, wow, I really am lazy. I love the idea of really getting involved in holidays and enjoying this time when Will is little and still believes what ever I tell him. (unless I tell him it's bedtime) But when it comes down to getting up 30 minutes early to get something ready before he gets up, or sleeping for another 30 minutes, my pillow usually wins. I guess that's another benefit to those people that have bedtimes for their kids.

I am going to publicly (to the 10 people that read my blog) commit to making the rest of this year a holiday palooza! I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I figure it gives me a little wiggle room. So here's to a year full of fun and exciting times that Will will probably never remember. Maybe I should hold off a few more years to get creative.

And because a blog is always more exciting with pictures, here is a picture of the Easter Bunny from Provo's Easter Egg Hunt last year.

The girl in the black coat doesn't seem that excited. Now compare that picture with Zippy (our departments mascot) who also made an appearance.

Can you feel the love? This year Zippy is going to be the main attraction decked out with custom made bunny ears.

And here is a picture of Will's first Easter. The only time that kid ever had a fat roll. I remember this photo session with Will and Lucia. Will just sat there smiling right at the camera the whole time. Long gone are those days.