The Five of Us

     I haven't posted in a while because I have been BUSY finally getting the kids rooms switched around.  I kept waiting for a time when I could be in the house for a few hours by my self, but it started becoming apparent that even a couple of hours without kids was never going to happen.  So, I went ahead and dove in and packed up, and even through out, with the kids eagerly helping the whole time.  Anna was surprisingly amicable to having some of her things thrown out or put into storage, and I could not be happier with the new arrangement. 
     Here are the "before" photos.  This was pretty normal for both of their rooms.  Even with mandatory clean up every night, Anna's room would look like this before noon the next day.

     The twins have less stuff, therefore less mess, but definitely room for improvement.

     And now.... Tada!  The "after" photos.

     Now the sleeping room contains only beds and clothes.  It is a cinch to keep clean, and after the first night when Samuel kept saying, "Uh-oh Anna, uh-oh Anna."  they all sleep well together.  They also love the playroom, and since there isn't anything out that they all can't play with, fights have gone way down. Here's how it looks.

     Anna can keep the toys she doesn't want the little ones to get out of reach on the top shelf of the book shelf or on the shelf on the wall.  Her legos are in the closet, and papers and notebooks are in the little desk.  I have most of the books in a storage library.  They can get out new books when they want, but there can only be so many books out at once.  Almost every thing that can be put in a bin or a basket, is in one.  Yes, the room does get wrecked, but it can be cleaned very quickly too.   It feels great to have these two room free of clutter and easy to clean; it motivates me to conquer new areas in my house.  Maybe I'll tackle my craft supplies this weekend.  Yikes!