Ever since the kids started going to a real school, our bedtime routine has crawled its way to the top of the priority list. We used to put the kids to bed at an "aboutish" hour. It wasn't law. Merely a general suggestion. And it wasn't a big deal because our mornings were on our schedule (I really do miss some things about homeschooling). Now, with the amount of stimulation they have in a day, they absolutely need their beauty sleep and, more importantly, I'm just not into torturing teachers.
So our routine during the week starts with jammies, brushing teeth at 6:45 and by 7:00 we usually have the big kids settled so they can get to sleep by 7:30. The baby goes to sleep whenever she wants to because...
She sleeps anywhere:
But it really was time to move on. She's practically a grown-up!!
Wouldn't it be awesome if our favorite thing hung from our neck at all times so we could always have it within arms length?? Like chocolate. A glass of wine. Oooo, or a flask. Yes - get on that inventors!!
I told Jason that I wanted to have an option for guests when they come visit as opposed to getting another set of bunk-beds for the girls room. And omigosh did he DELIVER!!!
He put it all together in 2 days and picked up a gallon of antique white paint. I gave it two good coats and was done the next morning. It turned out so beautiful. Our biggest problem was that we don't have the money to buy a plush, big full-size mattress.
Enter Amazon: This is the Signature Sleep 8-Inch Memory Foam Mattress. It came delivered to our door in a big box. It was vacuum wrapped and rolled up. We unrolled it and 2 days later, we had a fully-inflated mattress. Sweet huh?
So now our favorite new weekend routine is a sleepover in Elena's room. Personally, I don't think kids need their own room. We split them up so there is a boys' room and a girls' room. They get major life skills from learning how to share a space with a sibling. And we could never afford a 6 bedroom house so isn't that convenient ;)
We also decided to upgrade the bedding for the kids. Up until we had to stage the bedrooms to sell our old home, the kids were using our old college comforters. Long overdue my friends. The gift of "home decor" and "making things pretty" is so far removed from my skill-set that it is a bit of a joke among people who know me. I'm in on the joke though and do my part to perpetuate it! When our realtor came in to see our home ready to sell, she gave me a pity-smile and asked if I had any friends who liked to decorate. I was not surprised at all... I am "decorationally-challenged". New phrase
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| The Before (my handiwork) |
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| The After: My friend came over to bail us out!! |
(If you look closely, you'll see that I didn't even put the quilt on in the right direction. But I guess that just shows you how much I don't know about these things?!
I wanted to find something that was pretty for Elena's new bed though and stumbled on these funky and fun quilts on Amazon!
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| Greenland Quilt - Bohemian |
I agonized over my decision on a quilt for entirely too long. But only because there are SO many other pretty ones!! My other three favorites were Nirvana, Clearwater, and Blooming Prairie. But since it was for Elena, I went with bold, colorful and funky!!
So in the end, we paid:
$179 for the mattress
$71 for the quilt set
$60 for the paint
$50 for the wood
Total: $360 - not too shabby!
And got a beautiful new bed. Now we just need all of you to come visit us!! I hear Tennessee is beautiful this time of year...*wink*
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