Come On In...

And take a look around.

The boys' room is complete... and they love it!

When you first walk in, Elvis greets you (Blake's idea!).  He was with me when I went to C*nton last month and just had to have this tin picture of Elvis.  He wanted to hang it so that it would be the first thing everyone saw when they came in.  Over the window hangs three license plates.  We hung our three favorite states: Florida, Texas, and Kentucky.

Their bookshelf and reading chair fit nicely under the One Way sign.

Over their dresser we have a Stop sign with more license plates.  We are still working on the dresser decor, but right now there is a vintage police car and mail jeep.

The bins under their bed have made the best use of our shared space!  They each have a bin to keep their own personal toys and things in.  We then have shared bins for trains, cars, and misc toys.  At the foot of the bed we have a huge, plastic sand pail type bucket that is filled with their big plastic trucks and trailers.

We are very pleased with how their room has turned out!  We were able to use things Robert has been collecting or that we were able to get our hands on for free or a very low price.  Blake and Barrett both feel ownership in their shared room, which is what I was really striving for.

Playing School

This weekend the boys did something they have never done before... they played school!  Blake was the teacher, of course.  He played music during rest time, took Barrett out for recess, to the table for art, and the living room for P.E.  Blake pretended he was Mrs. Simmons as he took Barrett through his school day.  Barrett did whatever Blake told him to, until they got to art.  Then Barrett wanted to do his own thing with his supplies.

I have to say I thought this new form of play was the cutest thing!  I had fun just watching and listening!

The picture is of Barrett at rest time.

College Week

This past week was College Week out our school.  Blake and I sported our Florida Gators gear for the occasion.

Of course all around us were the colors of maroon and burnt orange,

but we didn't let it slow us down from wearing our blue and orange proudly.

Wordless Wednesday

Sidewalk Art

Blake drew a picture of his bike on our sidewalk the other day.

If you look closely you will notice some of the features of his bike.  He has included the kickstand, horn, front reflector, and black hand grips.

No More

What used to be green and blue, is no more.  When Blake turned two and he transitioned into a big boy bed, we had a sweet lady come out to the house to paint some things on his walls.

We were so pleased with how it turned out.

His room has been by far the brightest room in our house!

I have called Blake my "sunshine" since he was born, so I wanted her to include that somewhere on his wall.

Robert and I searched for the perfect scripture for her to paint on his wall.

We found this one and thought it was perfect.  Our prayer is that our children will love and trust in the Lord with all their hearts.  We thought the fact that this particular scripture said something about "paths" and his room had a road or "path" all the way around it made it even more perfect.

I found this four pack of wooden transportation pictures at T*rget and thought they would be great to hang over his dresser and bookshelf.  The coloring is a little off in the pictures, but in real life it matched great.

One of my favorite pictures of Blake is this one we had taken when he was 2 weeks old.  I have always had it displayed in his room (and still do!).

I have to admit I teared up when we took everything down and painted over it.  I have always loved everything about his room.  He has been in this room since the day he came home from the hospital.  He spent his first night home in his baby bed in this room.  Clearly I know the reason for this change is a good one (good doesn't seem like a strong enough word, but you get the point), but I could't help but feel a little emotional as I watched this change take place.