When I saw this latest challenge I spent hours trying to think of something we have made or changes to our home. Since having children one thing that’s changed for sure is the amount of toys, books and clothes that we have and I should know because I do all the washing!
 |
| Part of play area |
There isn’t really any where that hasn’t escaped toys in them and despite not allowing them in mummy and daddy’s bedroom you can guarantee that there are a few hidden under the bed of strategically dropped so one of us stand on it while stumbling around in the dark changing nappies or doing to check on the older boys.
With having four children and my childminding we now have a play area downstairs. We have experimented with storage over the last few years and I think we have finally found some that works well for the children, accessible yet looks neat and toys out of sight. I love sticking the children’s art work on the walls and make a point of doing this with anything I make with the children I care for until it’s time to send it home. I also stick the things the boys bring home from school up too.
We moved into our current home just over 18 months ago and we are only just starting to make changes to the house. We are renovating our kitchen and trying to reuse as many of the cupboards as possible in the new layout. We’re all for reusing items for different purposes and I do this a lot in my childminding. I hate throwing things away in fact!
So when we realised we needed to make a shelter for our cats who prefer to live outside we had a hunt around to see what we had that could be turned into a shelter. Our old cot bed that the three boys used and had been handed down from one of my sister in laws to us some eight years, had started to fail so dad of 3 thought it could be used to form a shelter. We also found some old shelves and some roofing felt. Dad of 3 has so far spent a fortnight cutting, varnishing, and nailing together the shelter and it is not far off complete. He has even made a hinged door as well as a hole for the cats to climb in and out of making it easier for us to open and check on. There is a bit more wood needed around the entrance and the roof needs to completed but the cats have been using it in it’s existing form for around two months now and seem pretty happy with it. I’ve put their beds and some old newspaper and blankets inside to make them comfortable. Dad of 3 has talked about making a canopy at the front to provide a bit more shelter when the cats are eating so I am guessing that will then complete the shelter.
Having cleared out behind our garage we came across an old Belfast sink which looked in pretty good condition. I cleaned it up and got dad of 3 to move it onto the patio. Where I filled it with compost and the boys planted forget me nots in it a few weeks ago and also some herbs. With the recent weather their starting to really grow well.
We’re looking forward to making more changes to our home and the chance to reuse more items in more practical ways. I love seeing our home taking shape and becoming more functional for us as a family as we grow.
Toys get everywhere don’t they x