Can you believe that Christmas is only 10 weeks away?!?!  Insane!

I just spent several hours the other day reorganizing our toys.  I threw out broken toys, or ones that were missing pieces, and I even got most of the cereal box toys…shhh…don’t tell Connor!! 

As I was sorting, it made me realize…there are very few toys on the market that we don’t have some version of.  That’s what having three babies does to you, I suppose.  So, I sorted, and tossed, and organized, and we STILL have a lot of crap!  But, at least now it’s managed, sorted, organized crap! 

But, I also realized, I want to do things a little differently for Christmas this year.  Rather than the “let’s get them as MANY toys as we can,” which in the past has resulted in us buying…well, much of the crap I just sorted out! Instead, I’d rather get them a few things they really want and that will last for a long time. 

Since Connor was about three he’s been asking for a play kitchen.  And to be honest, we just haven’t been able to afford the two hundred dollars for one. Not unless that was going to be his ONLY gift. So, this year, sense we STILL can’t afford the two hundred dollars for one, and the poor child has been begging for one…we’re going to build one.  We found a pattern online and we’re going to buy the materials, paint, and a few accessories for it (like a real faucet and sink) and we’re going to build it. 

And while we’re being handy, we’re going to build them a puppet theater.  There is a great one at the library that Connor has to be dragged away from every time we go there.  So, we’re going to build one, and paint it and buy some bright colored curtains to hang on it. 

I looked online at getting some play silks for Autumn.  I have a hair scarf that she LOVES to play with, and I thought a pretty hatbox full of play silks would make a perfect gift for her.  But, after looking online, most play silks are TEN DOLLARS APIECE!!  And that seems insane to me!  So, instead, I made a trip downtown to a consignment shop and raided their rack of silk scarves! I came away with nearly thirty of them for less than eight bucks!  Now I just need to find a pretty box to put them in. 

Since we moved into this house, we’ve been toying with the idea of converting our 12×12 foot utility room into a play room.  We have two bedrooms upstairs which are Connor’s rooms, and then downstairs we have our master bedroom, and then the nursery is attached to our bedroom.  And while the nursery is a normal full-sized bedroom, the fact that you have to walk through our room to get to it sort of limits access to it, since Aiden still shares our room with us, and is often napping.  But, off the back of the house, we have this large utility room that we’re not currently using for anything. 

As we started talking about Christmas, we thought, what better time to set up the playroom.  So, once it gets closer to Christmas we’re going to start painting it at night after the kids are sleeping.  Shawn is going to do a mural on the wall, and we’re going to put a fun colored rug out there, and set up the kitchen and the puppet theater, and a small table and chairs and some bean bags.  That way, once the kids have opened their presents Christmas morning, we can take them out to the utility room, and surprise them with their huge playroom.  That way, the “renovation” isn’t apart of their Christmas presents necesarily, but all new big toys will be already set up for them! 

And the best part? We’ll have a place for all the toys, so I don’t have to spend another entire afternoon sorting through junk toys!