This is the very first time we've moved into a new house, and have left the girls rooms un-decorated. It's been driving me bonkers (some of you are familiar with Kaitlyn's trident-green room and puppy dog border), but I've had little time or energy to do anything about it. These days, though, the holidays are over, my kids are healthy again, and work is getting more manageable. And, most importantly, we have a huge Ikea gift card to spend, so that really kicked me into gear.

I bought a beautiful quilt from Pottery Barn for Eva's room a couple years ago. I don't have a picture of it, but it has pink, yellow and white rugby stripes. Here is the concept board for her surfing theme room, compiled with accessories from Pottery Barn and Etsy:

The surfboard is 5 ft tall, and will be hung with rope from the ceiling. The beach pictures are 8x10 prints from Etsy. The starfish hung on a rope, is an original etsy design as well. We're painting her room a pale yellow. And, Nich (my hero!) has eagerly volunteered to put in gorgeous, white wainscoting.

And, Kaitlyn's room will have an owl theme. Who can resist the cuteness of the Pottery Barn owls? If money grew on trees, I would take the easy, breezy route, and decorate her whole room in the Pottery Barn Kids Brooke theme. But, instead, I will be budget-conscious and have way more fun. I will order the cute stuffed owl and throw pillow from P Barn, and cheaply imitate the rest. The flower duvet set is on clearance at PB Teen right now. The owl pictures are 8x10 prints from Etsy. The big girl bed is from Ikea. And, I'll attempt to make "flower balls" myself, and hang them with ribbon from the ceiling.

This, my friends, is going to be fun.

Well, life got a little crazy for awhile there. My girls had horrible, no-good, very bad colds. The kind that keep little girls up all night long. After many long nights, and early (3AM!) mornings, and skipped naps (why don't my girls sleep when they're sick, ahhh!), we are all starting to recover.

So, moving on, I wanted to share pictures of Eva enjoying her "preschool" hour. We do this most afternoons, while Kaitlyn is still napping.

Here she is practicing writing her ABC's


And, here is a picture of her handwriting (after practicing her letters some more, I drew a box, and asked her to write her name in it- she did this all by herself!)

And, in Kindergarten news, she's all signed up! She's really excited, and is enjoying watching the new school being constructed (it's 1/2 a block from our house). It will be ready half-way through her Kindergarten year. So, she'll start at another school, with her same teacher and class, and then they will all just move to the new school when it's finished. I can't believe she's almost going to Kindergarten.... Where do the years go?

The whole reason I started blogging, was to have an online family journal of our activities, thoughts, and other stuff we'd like to remember. And to help keep us in touch and up-to-date with friends and family.


For a myriad of reasons (got busy, health issues, and the fact that I still suffer from "mommy brain") I have let the blog go a bit. And, although I'm not wholeheartedly commiting to blogging more frequently, I sure might try. And, I'll start with this.

What's new:

Kaitlyn was a late talker, but in the past couple months, her vocabulary has exploded.

Kaitlyn watches Eva at gymnastics every week, and lately, with great enthusiasm. When the class goes on the balance beam, she exclaims "Bawan Beam!!", when they jump on the trampoline, she jumps as she's watching, and when they do somersaults, she looks on in awe.

So, lately, when we are having quiet afternoons at home, I encourage both the girls to practice gymnastics. Eva is a great coach and has taught Kaitlyn how to somersault all by herself.



And, they also do many other creative, gymnastic-like things. They jump, they hang, and pretty much act like little monkeys.

Wow, it's going to take me awhile to recover from the holiday craziness. It was fun! So fun. But, I plum tuckered. So, for now I am going to cheat, and if you want to see pictures, check out my Facebook page, or wander over to my cool sis-in-law's blog.

I'll blog something real again soon, real soon!