Room Transformation

When we saw this room during the tours of our house, we would always just laugh. It is in the back of the basement and there was very old wallpaper and poorly cut beadboard. If the board didn't match up (diagonally miscut), they simply spray painted the wall behind. We wanted to actually use this room someday and it turned into a labor of love that we both actually completely do love. None of the boys are brave enough or old enough to live on the opposite side of the house from us yet, but it's already been used by a few guests. After new carpet, removing wallpaper, removing poorly cut boarding, painting, adding new beadboard and molding and painting closet doors, here's our football-turned-blue room:

BEFORE

AFTER

Christmas and Snowflakes

We had such a fun, exciting and relaxing Christmas. We stayed at home for the holiday, except we did spend Christmas afternoon with Chad's grandparents. We had our own talent show. Kayden built a cup tower, Boston taught us a kung fu move with sound effects, I played the piano and Chad and McCoy did 'circus baby'. We dressed up and did the nativity together. We gave the boys new pajamas and ornaments. After putting McCoy to bed, the boys made cookies for Santa and then put them out for him and excitedly went to bed. The magic was alive in all of them still and as Christmas drew closer and closer, even Kayden's skeptical thoughts were gone.
(In their new pjs with new ornaments: Boston with Spiderman, McCoy with baby's 1st Christmas and Kayden with a dragon.)

Santa did come this year again bringing dino bones, Jazz tickets and a stand-up dancing toy. He filled the oldest boys stockings with light sabers as well, which Boston has been constantly carrying around ever since. The day after Christmas, we stayed in our pjs all day just spending time with each other and having fun.

Besides our Christmas celebrations, we have also tried to fill up our time off of school with things to do. We've been playing in the snow, sledding with cousins, playing lots of card and board games, getting good use of all the new toys and one day we made snow flakes. Boston enjoyed it for about 10 minutes, but Kayden took it to new levels and was cutting snow flakes for about 4 hours - not lying!! Here's some of his final product. We displayed them on the couch for a picture and then decided to hang them in the playroom for the winter.

All I Want for Christmas

So I had to blog this conversation that I just had in the car with Kayden. He's been having a rough time trying to figure out what to ask Santa for. So we were driving home from having lunch with Chad today and he says, "Mom, I know what I want to ask Santa for!"

"What?" I say

He responds, "A device that can change your DNA, not forever, but for a little bit so that I can become a dinosaur any time I want."

"You think Santa could get you that? It doesn't even exist."

"Oh yeah, I can ask Santa for anything! Have you ever asked him for something that doesn't exist? He could get it for you." I myself am not very imaginative in relation to him or my husband and the thought obviously never occurred to me, so he tells me that this year I should ask him for something that doesn't really exist.

We sit in silence for a while and I can still see the wheels spinning in his head and then he suddenly says, "Santa isn't real anyway." Of course I have to come back with the pat answer, "If you don't believe, he won't bring you anything." And he just responds that he's magical and that people just dress up to look like Santa.

Curse ye Kindergarten! I believed until I was 11 and the magic is still strong even today. Five years old is way too young to stop believing. So as I speak, the two youngest are sleeping and Kayden is watching the movie, The Santa Clause. He's telling me from the other room that the reindeer look like animation, but I have to make the magic last a little longer!

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On a different note, here's pictures of our finished living room (the lighting makes our walls look yellow, but they're really tan):