Psychedelic playroom!

I have been wanting a blacklight for various projects for a while now, and I finally got one yesterday at Walmart--a compact fluorescent blacklight bulb for only $4.96!!--and we have been having way too much fun with it.

I put it in the light fixture in our closet playroom and turned out the lights and voila--

A psychedelic playroom.
The girls have had fun :

• coloring with highlighters
• plastering neon stickers (the round ones meant for yard sale pricing, etc) all over the walls
• gathering up items from all over the house to see what glowed best
• playing with the LiteBright (most of the pegs glow under the blacklight!)
• setting up dominoes and knocking them over
• experimenting with highlighters on their skin. Helena discovered that she could color on her hand to make it glow in the dark--but when she washed it off, even though her skin looked clean, it still glowed! She finally admitted she hadn't used soap. Neat object lesson on germs and why rinsing with water doesn't really clean!!

We're going to use the blacklight at Tempe's glow-in-the-dark birthday party next month, too!

Classic childhood: cardboard boxes

We have air conditioning again!!!

Our AC was old, old, old and we knew it didn't have much time left. So this year when it stopped blowing cold air, we didn't even bother finding out how much it would cost to fix, opting instead to just replace it. It took me a long time (like 12 weeks) to gather bids and choose a company to work with, but last Monday was finally the day and our new unit was installed.

Yippee! Instead of being 82 (minimum) to 94 (maximum) degrees in our house, it is now a pleasant 77 at all times. 

But if you ask my three kids, they will tell you the best part about our new air conditioner is the box it came in.

I cut a door and a window, made a roof with the flaps, and gave the girls some Sharpies to decorate it with. We spent a pleasant afternoon coloring it and playing it. Juno especially loves her "home" and plays in it every day with her "Ah Ah" (monkey), a water bottle, and a few pillows.

flashback: closet playroom

One of the very first projects I did in our house was to turn our closet under the stairs into a playroom for my kids.

Yes, our playroom is in a closet. Our house is small, what can I say?

I originally posted about it here, but it's changed a bit in the last few years, so I thought I would update. Still my favorite shade of robin's egg blue, though!

The biggest change is the book rack. The original book rack in this room only had a few shelves. They were set too close together for most of our tall books, so the tall books were in a basket on the floor. Except, they were never actually in the basket. They were usually just scattered around. There was no where near enough space on the book rack or in the basket for the amount of books and toys I wanted to keep in the playroom.

Enter Giant Book Rack. This metal shelving unit was out in our shed and we weren't using it for anything, so I brought it into the playroom instead. The lower shelves are tall enough for tall board books. Along with books, I keep a bunch of other stuff on the upper shelves, mostly stuff that I rotate through our quiet time baskets or get down when the girls specifically ask for it.

• Nerf guns and darts: I keep these in a large plastic bag with a zipper. I think a shower curtain came in it. Shower curtains, sheets, tablecloths, things like that all come in those clear zipper bags and they are perfect for storing toy sets.
• Magnetic doll and her clothes: also in a plastic zipper bag.
• Pizza making set: pizza and toppings, apron, empty spice container, pizza cutter, etc, in a plastic zipper bag.
• Discovery bins: Pencil boxes with different sets of stuff. One has a tea set, one has odds and ends for inventing things (allen wrench, mini screwdriver, old zippers, calculator, anything that my girls can pretend to take apart and put back together), one has a magnifying glass and a couple of insect flashcards.
• Viewfinder and viewfinder cards: the viewfinders are just on the shelf and the cards are in a little drawstring pouch that I made.
• Plastic bingo boards: also in a plastic zipper bag.
• Photo albums

Along with the bookshelf, there's a magnetic chalkboard and alphabet/numbers magnet set hanging on the wall and a basket with stuffed animals. We have a set of desert stacking blocks that are a huge hit and a cardboard mailer tube which is great for playing telescope, or using as a tunnel for little cars, or rolling balls down. There's a fluffy purple rug, a soft kid-sized armchair, and a bunch of pillows for lounging around and reading. In the back of the closet I keep the fort kit my awesome brother and sister-in-law gave Tempe for her birthday--kind of like this one. And last of all, Tempe's Star of the Week poster is hanging on the wall.

Our playroom may be small, but it is a popular room. It's a surefire way of getting Juno to calm down during a temper tantrum. It's the one room where anyone who wants quiet time is allowed to kick everyone else out and be alone--Helena takes advantage of it a lot. It's a great place to snuggle up with a good book, pretend you're in a rocket going to outer space or a bear in a cave, turn out the lights and tell stories by glowstick, or just pass the time while mom is making dinner. My tween cooking class students are even known to sneak in there and look at comic books after we're done cooking :)
You know you want to pin it!

my kids at the pumpkin patch

Does time continually speed up for anyone else?

It is nearly the end of October. How did that happen? I feel like I was just battling the summer heat, and now Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

I've been feeling bad because we haven't done anything festive this fall. I guess I'm still adjusting to having a kid in school and the extra time commitment that is.

To make up for our lack of festivity, we went to the pumpkin patch last weekend.

If you're looking for a great pumpkin patch in Davis County, Pack's Pumpkin Patch on Glover Lane in Farmington is the best! It's free admission, has great prices and selection, and has a free hay maze and photo backdrops.

Tempe ran into one of her friends from preschool last year in the hay maze. She was so excited!

Tempe originally picked this green pumpkin but then switched to a traditional orange one.

 Juno caught on fast!

Jason pulling, Tempe and Helena pushing, Juno hitching a ride.

I opted for a white pumpkin again this year. 

Jason chose a cinderella variety.

Juno and the pumpkins in the cart.

Tempe and Helena as witches.

Striking a pose!

Disneyland prep + a cheap souvenir idea!

 

We're getting close to our third trip to Disneyland!

We've known about this trip since Christmas, when my parents surprised us with some Disney gift cards. My mom totally scored--she found $100 gift cards for $25 on Disneyland's website, so she bought 16 of them. I wish she had told me! I would have bought a bunch, too. Disney later called her and told her it was a pricing mistake, but they would still honor it *if she wanted*. Um, yeah! 

Anyway, since we've known about it so long, it wasn't until last week or so that we really started getting excited. I've been getting stuff together this week for our drive (stay tuned for a post about that later!) and making my insanely detailed packing list. 

 

I thought it would be sweet if my girls had some cute Disney shirts to wear, but no way was I going to shell out the kind of money Disneyland wants. I got this Minnie Mouse shirts at Target for $5 each.

 

We've found on our previous trips to Disneyland that most of the junk in the stores there is 1) overpriced and 2) sold at Dollar General, Walmart, or Target pretty much anywhere in the country. I want my kids to have something to remember the trip by, but I don't want to waste money on stuff we could get anywhere.

This year, I came up with two cheap and memorable souvenirs for them: pressed penny bracelets and postcard books.

I bought cheap bracelets and jump rings from Walmart for $2 and added some Mickey Mouse charms that we already have. Tempe and Helena will each have $2.04 to make four pressed pennies at the different machines around Disneyland. Then, when we get home, I will drill holes in the pennies and add them to the bracelets. Total cost: $4.04 each!

For the postcard books, we are going to buy each kid three postcards as soon as we arrive (one for each day we spend in the park). At the end of each day, we are going to have them dictate to us what their favorite part of the day was, what rides they liked best, who they met, etc. Later I will add some pictures and have everything laminated and bound as a book.

Juno doesn't have a Mickey hat yet, so she'll get one of those instead of the bracelet and book. She can make her own bracelet next time we go!