Room Rearranging (again)

For Christmas we got the girls a 4' x 4' tree play tent.  I admit it ended up being slightly bigger than we were thinking, but the girls love it!  After we first set it up, we put it in a corner in the living room, but I thought it best if we could move it into the play room.  In order to do that, we needed to rearrange and reduce what was already in there.  So this morning I started going through all the books and puzzles pulling out the more baby/younger child ones.  I also went through the toy box and threw away a lot of duplicate fast food toys and little odds and ends.  I was quite impressed how much room and how clean it turned out :o)

When Rodney got home from work and after I returned home from getting groceries, the whole process of rearranging began.  Here are some pics of the new play room.

The new play tent.  They already decorated it for Christmas - see the garland? :o)

Notice those two FULL shelves of games!

Do you think the girls like the tent?

And just last night Allyson was asking about putting the bunk beds back together again.  We told her it was a good possibility but if we do, then we don't want them telling us that no one wants to sleep in the top bunk anymore (that's why we took them apart in the first place).  They all agreed to that, so since Rodney was home early and we were already rearranging the play room, the girls' room was next.

It is put back pretty much the same way as before, and there is sooo much room now!  I love it!!!  Not looking forward to changing sheets on the top bunk again, but I will survive :o)

I'm thinking that the rotating of beds may still have to continue, although it will rotate only between Allyson and Janae for the top bunk and Kaycie and whoever will rotate from the bottom bunk and the other bed.   Not time for Kaycie to be sleeping on the top bunk yet.

Pictures

I decided I finally had enough pics to post again :o)

Here is Janae on her last day of preschool on Wednesday.  Doesn't she look festive?

Here is Allyson on Wednesday.  The 2nd grade classes had pajama day and she always wants to participate whenever they have dress up days at school.

On Thursday (Allyson's last day of school) it was red, white and green day.  This is what she wore, and she did wear green.  You just can't see it.  Her scrunchie on her ponytail was dark green. :o)  Isn't she quite the dresser?  And quite honestly, I think she'd dress like this all the time if I'd let her.  Such a girlie girl :o)

Almost one year ago in January, Janae and I decided to let her bangs grow out.  This is a picture of her back then.

Here is Janae this morning.  You can see how her bang layer is almost as long as the rest of her hair.

Here is Janae this afternoon.  I decided that it was time to get her hair cut so that she had no more layers, and Janae was all for it.  She was telling me that she wanted short hair, but my main concern was just getting it all one length.  How short or long it ended up being didn't really matter.  Isn't it too cute?!  She had this smile on her face almost the entire time she was getting it cut.  She LOVES it!  and I do too.

And I couldn't forget Kaycie.  I took this pic on Wednesday while taking the other girls' pic.  Such an ornery look.



All Things Janae

Today's posting is all about Janae.  We had quite a few firsts today and even though to most they might seem insignificant, to us (or at least to me) they are big :o)

The first thing today was she made a little "gift" for a friend at school.  All it was was a little index card where she used Christmas themed little rubber stamps and stamped them all over the card.  When she was making it I had no idea that she was wanting to give it to anyone.  So when she she told me that she wanted to give it to Mara at school, I was slightly surprised.  I then had her write her name and the little girl's name on the card, and I wrote the To: and From: beside the names.  Janae then put the card in her backpack where I assumed it would stay the rest of the day.  But to my surprise when I picked her up later that morning, I asked Janae if she gave Mara her card, and she said "yes".  I was so happy that she did this!  It makes me feel good that even though she doesn't talk very much to or according to her teacher play with her friends a lot (she calls her classmates friends), she took a step out and gave a "gift" to one them.  Maybe this is a step in her being a little bit more bold in making friends at school.

The second thing was that she actually chewed a probiotic tablet.  Not a big deal at all to probably 99% of the households in America, but Janae is quite picky on what she wants to eat.  I was told earlier in the year by her speech teacher that kids with developmental appraxia sometimes tend to be pickier eaters than most kids.  I think this is due to just how their mouth/tongue muscles are and how they don't like certain textures.  I can't say for certain that this is why she never wanted to chew the tablets, but when she did try them before, all she did was suck on it and then maybe throw it away.  So this morning when I was giving Allyson her tablet and Janae said she wanted one, I asked her if she was going to eat it or throw it away.  She told me she'd eat it, but I still wasn't convinced - that is until I saw her chewing it and then it was gone :o)  And the kicker is that when I decided I wanted Allyson to have another tablet tonight, Janae piped in and wanted another one too.  She chewed it right down!  Amazing!

The third and final thing that happened today was that Janae actually ate a fun size Snickers candy bar.  She got one at church yesterday for participating in the children's small Christmas program but never thought she'd ever even want to try it (thinking that maybe I'd get her candy bar), but when she said after lunch that she wanted it, I let her have it.  To my amazement, she ate it right down.  I should also say that this is the child who really didn't like chocolate.  She loves M & M's and nutty bars, but that is about it - no chocolate ice cream, no chocolate milk, no chocolate cake . . .   but I just got to say too that the other night Rodney made hot chocolate for Allyson and Kaycie and he kept asking Janae if she wanted some, telling her that she'd like it if she'd just try it.  Well, somehow someway, she tried some cold (or at least cool) hot chocolate and just like we told her she would, she LOVED it.  So now she also asks for chocolate milk to drink instead of just plain white milk.  Wonders never cease!  :o)

So as I said earlier.  These things may not seem really significant to most, but to me - it is a big deal!!

Welcome

If you are wondering how I came up with my new blog name, here is the last posting I put on my old blog. 

Socks & Little Girls

I do realize that most every family with young children go through this, but it doesn't matter.  It is still such a frustrating thing!  What, you ask?  Well, socks, of course.

I've come to the conclusion that socks and little girls just don't go together very well, at least in this house.  Either they don't like to wear them or they just can't seem to get them feeling "just absolutely right" when in their shoes.  You know, that little edge piece by your little toes.  Drives them nuts!

I can understand not wanting to wear socks when it is warm outside, but as soon as the weather turns colder, I am constantly wearing my socks.  My girls on the other hand take off their shoes and socks almost immediately when they step into the house (at least 99% of the time).  Kaycie is the biggest one with the not wearing socks thing, but Allyson is a close second as she always takes them off as soon as she's inside the door from school.  Janae isn't quite that extreme but is a close third.  I think Kaycie's reasoning for not wearing socks is that she can't wear her play shoes or flip flops in the house when you are wearing socks.  Understandable, but I'd rather have warm feet :o)

The other problem of them not being "just right" in their shoes makes this mama go bonkers at times.  Allyson is the worst one in this area.  There have been times she's adjusted her socks many, many times before they are "just right" or she may even find different shoes to wear.  This does sometimes help.  Janae comes in second in this area.  She's the one that has to have her socks "look just right" (down by her toes) right away.  She always checks them out and adjusts them if needed.  Putting on her shoes isn't quite the ordeal as it is for Allyson.  And finally Kaycie comes in third.  If her socks aren't quite right in her shoes, it only takes one or maybe two times at the most to get them feeling good enough.

So there you have it - socks and the Schrock girls just don't mix :o)

Now you can see why my girls are "flip flop girls"!  Summertime is a good time of year :o)