... for the TOYS! We spent the fall renovating the attic space over our garage. It was mainly used to store baby paraphernalia and various items that we needed to toss or donate. I've been dreaming of a toy free living room for awhile, and Justin's been dreaming of a secret room with a hidden door. So voila... a playroom was born!
It's tough to capture the room without a wide angle lens, but here goes:
We removed the access from the garage (on the left) and also removed the stairway from Fisher's room (on the right). That really opened up the space.
Drywall goes in and the room really starts to take shape. We ended up gaining 244 (conditioned) square feet.
We have heating and cooling! The most expensive part of this whole endeavor.
Existing door is moved to the right about 9 inches which gave us about 6 inches more head height for the door threshold.
New door is on a magnetic hinge, so you push the hidden door in for it to pop open.
Paint!
Flooring installed.
Fisher slept on the couch for about 6 weeks, so nice to have his room back in order.
Is it strange that my two favorite rooms in our house are the smallest?
TV/Lounge space
Activity space - crafting, future homework, etc. Puzzles, games, supplies in the drawers.
Custom ladder with wide steps for extra stability (kids and adults).
Went more vertical to maximize the room's usable space.
Gloating Mom coming in hot! I couldn't be prouder of Eleanor in her Annie performances the last 2 weekends. She practiced every Saturday for 3 months (and then some), and she absolutely shined during the shows.
I was a little skeptical of how she would take to theater because she tends to clam up when it comes to singing in front of an audience (regardless of the size). But the director did an amazing job of bringing her out of her shell. She was poised, confident, and just knocked our socks off. So so fun to see her in action and all of her hard work pay off.
Eleanor had 2 roles, both of which she had solo lines: Kate (orphan) and the LJ Ward (the police officer).
Immediately after her show she asked if she could do it again, so stay tuned! Sounds like she may sign up for The Wizard of Oz in the spring.
Eleanor, 3rd from the right.
She was ALL about the flowers
Eleanor had quite the audience the second weekend. Of the ~70 seats, we had 10 of them.
Lots of fun with the fam this Fall. With school activities, birthday parties, Annie rehearsals, social lives, the weeks FLEW by.
Eleanor as the seahorse in a puppet show. One of the things I love most about her teacher and schools is that the parents are given so many opportunities to be a part of the classroom.
Uncle Nick visits! You can tell Nick knows 3.5 year old boys. Fish latched onto him right away. What do we do with an empty mailing tube?? Yell at each other!
Parents weekend at ACL. Super fun to have all the friends in town for a kid free weekend.
The condo building across the street from us caught fire (4 alarm fire) when Justin was working from home one Monday. We sat in the driveway for what seemed like hours, watching them put out the fire and rescue residents and pets. I had to leave to pick up Fish from school, and when we came back he was awestruck at the scene. The firefighters even invited us onto their engines.
This pretty much sums up this kid. Bike, bike, bike. He'd sleep with this thing if we let him.
Eleanor went to a birthday party at an arcade and won 2000 tickets. She was so proud and brought home lots of "treasures" with her loot.
Eleanor in a costume of mine from when I was her age (she added the fairy skirt and jeweled necklace).
ACL weekend two here we come!
The artist
... and the eater.
I helped Ms. King's class plant their fall garden - super fun. Vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
Watering the new garden with the cistern.
So Fisher is officially Justin's mini. He completely idolizes Dad and wants to be JUST like him - watching his "show" in the office recliner here, just like Dad. He also refuses to leave the house without a collared shirt and a leather belt.
They even have the same sleeping positions.
"Mom, what's this thing called?"
"That's a sweater, Bud."
"What's THIS thing? A sweater too?"
"No, that's called a coat."
My Little Texan.
Ellie's first Octoberama (Mathews' school carnival).
Eleanor and her friend/classmate, Francesca.
Steak/Frite Night at Josephine House to celebrate our 7 year anniversary.
Hit up the pumpkin patch in Clarksville.
Race car driver and Owlette (from PJ Mask)
Tacos with her bud, Mila at the Clarksville Halloween party.
PJ Mask Live at Moody Theater. We thought it would be a great idea to grab a drink at the W beforehand.
Trip to Dallas to visit GGma! So fun to have her living closer to us now. Kids loved seeing (terrorizing) her new place and playing Go Fish.
Brunch with Schroeders and GGma.
Bama and Papa come to visit. Lunch date at Mathews with sister.
This guy.
Another field trip... Umlauf Sculpture Garden.
E sketching the sculpture
She's here!! Laura gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on November 5: Ryan Marie. We're already in love, and Eleanor is so proud to hold a 3 day old baby.
Daddy turns 40! Even though we celebrated for what seemed like 6 months, we decided to take the kids to a fancy dinner at Uchi at 5:00 pm. Slightly different than us celebrating Justin's 30th, drinking beer out of a boot at a Chicago German restaurant.
Decided to decorate for Christmas PRE Thanksgiving this year so that our house was festive enough to host Thanksgiving.
Thanks to our friend, Jillian, our Thanksgiving table had the most stunning tablescape.
Laura and Ryan came by for a visit before the crowds showed up. So fun to have a tiny baby around... without having to be responsible for their livelihood.
Daytime hanging.
Grant and Fisher testing out the new playroom.
Making Grammy proud, parsley on the pats of butter.
Andy carving like a pro.
Louie loves Dede!
Ruby showing off her moves at dinner.
Full house full of love.
Warm fall means Fisher bikes constantly. At least twice a day to take sister to/from school, and usually 3-5 miles on the weekend days.
