Lego Book Storage: a tutorial

I hesitate to call this an actual tutorial since it's basically hot glue and office supplies, but then, sometimes it's the simple things that we need suggestions on. I know it took me way longer than it should to come to this particular solution.
I've already come to the conclusion that the secret to living in a very small space with four people and two pets is the constant rethinking of storage. I've already reorganized several spaces in our apartment to be more efficient or user friendly because they just weren't working. Yesterday I tackled the office closet. We have three closets in our apartment, one for us, one for the kids (currently "the playroom") and one for everything else that needs to be stored. It was starting to look a little Hoarders with stuff piled in there, wedged in here and a big huge computer box from Will's desktop taking up way more space than we could afford. Now all the long term stuff (Christmas ornaments, booster seat, box of miscellaneous paperwork that needs to be kept) is stacked up on the shelf and below there is room for the vacuum, stroller and a few other more readily used items. And while it's nice to have it working better, I can't help but think that in a few months I'll be rearranging it again for some other purpose. I think that's just the way it goes.
The other project I tackled yesterday was Briton's Lego books. He loves to keep the booklets that come with every kit and he does actually rebuild things, so it's nice to have them around. But ugh, they fall apart and slip around and are all over the place. They don't fit well into a bookshelf (and bookshelf space is limited, anyway) and in his Lego bin they always seem to be in the way, which means that every time he plays, they end up all over the floor so he can search for that particular brick that he's looking for.
I was starting to think about tossing them when he wasn't looking when I spotted these cool see through pocket dividers at the art supply store.

A binder, some flat Legos and a little hot glue later and voila, Lego Book Storage. Each divider is a different theme - cars, planes, dragons etc, making it easy to find a particular book. When I handed it off to Briton he declared it "cool!" and then set about building up the bricks to make it more interesting. And it is helping because he's already "discovered" some booklets that he'd forgotten he had. Problem solved. For now at least.
Now I'm on the warpath with our refrigerator. You would think that having one larger fridge would be easier to organize than two undercounter ones but you would be so wrong. Not enough shelves, too easy to loose things in the back. I miss my little refrigerators. Any suggestions for in refrigerator storage?

be still, my heart

Of all of the things that I want, ideally, to accomplish this year with Briton, the most important thing to me is reading. I'm one of those, never without a book kind of people, if you hadn't guessed that already. I found a bookstore this week that's so packed with books, they line the stairs and knew I'd found my people. I stood in line in the rain last night, waiting to get into the Jewish Museum, and read under my umbrella. In fact, I sent Will and the kids off under cover with a "oh, no, it's ok, I'll wait out here, you go get dry" because really, I wanted to read the next chapter of my book. I love to read. I love books. I can't imagine not loving to read. And yet, both my husband and my son do not love to read. For Will, well, there's not much I can do to change that (but don't think I don't try, his iphone is filled with books that I've bought him because it might just be the one that changes his mind) but for Briton, well, it breaks my heart a little that he doesn't love to read.
If nothing else gets done this year. If homeschooling is a bust and we end up learning nothing else (and I doubt that will happen, I mean, he'll at least learn how to read a subway map) I want to change his mind about reading.

A few months ago, Will came up with the brilliant idea of introducing him to comic books and graphic novels. And for the first time, ever, he showed some interest in books. Reading with much less complaint during his required 15 minutes per day. But it was still work to get him to do it. Less work, but work, none the less.
Fast forward to this week. After visiting the library in our neighborhood, Briton asked if we could go to another library and look for a particular book. And because I'm willing to do pretty much anything to get my kid to love reading, I jumped at the chance and took the kids down to the main library near Times Square. I'd been meaning to take them there, to see the real Pooh Bear and the Lions and just the wonder of that building. (If I could do our wedding all over again, I think I'd get married there. In a library. With all those books and that beautiful ceiling and the quite that settles around you when you walk in the doors).
Evelyn was fascinated by the Pooh characters. Carefully inspecting each one through the glass and then tracing the paths with her finger on the wall sized map of the Hundred Acre Wood. Briton went straight off to find his book, Bone, and was excited (excited!) to find two volumes that he hadn't read. And then, then, he said something that made me almost cry, right there in the library.
Story time was just starting and Evelyn skipped off to hear Knuffle Bunny for the bazillionth time. I offered to help Briton get on the library computer to play one of their games and he said,

"Nah, I think I'll read. It's more fun than a computer game."
Holy Sh*t.

It was really, really hard not to burst into tears and give him a big smacking kiss right there in front of the librarian. But I resisted. Because, you know, that wouldn't be cool. I just nodded and walked around the corner and then did a little happy dance.
I'm sure this is not the end of the battle. Bone may have more draw than BrainPop.com but it's probably not ranked as high as Lego time. But still. Still! He is reading by choice. And I don't think that has EVER happened. So I'm going to count that as a win.

So, now I need some help. More Bone like graphic novel series? Anyone know any? I've never read a graphic novel myself and wasn't a comic book kind of girl so I have no idea. We've read Tintin and he liked that OK, but since he's already finished one of the two Bone books (!) that we brought home that day from the library, I'm thinking (hoping) we need a long list of other graphic novels ready to go. Any ideas?

this is the way we cruise the town, cruise the town, cruise the town

Before we moved here, we bought the much-longed-for Hello Kitty bike which we gave Evie this weekend for her birthday. It's been sitting in a box for the past three weeks, next to the door, by the bed, behind the chair, hidden except totally not. She figured it out right away, Knew what was in the box. And so she started asking "when can I have my Hello Kitty bike?" Briton and I would just look at each other like she was crazy and say "what Hello Kitty bike?" She would sigh, we would laugh and then we'd remind her that she might get a bike for her birthday, you just never know what birthdays will bring, after all. And now the birthday has come and gone and we have a bike. Which is great. Five year olds should have bikes. We'll be able to take nice long rides down Riverside Park on our bikes now. But for every day, bikes are not the handiest way to get around town with kids.
Instead, there are scooters. When we first made that decision that yes, we would come to New York, I was obsessed with getting a stroller. I NEEDED a stroller. Because how on earth do you get around with little legs and no stroller? And a friend kindly gave me their stroller (since I'd just gotten rid of ours) so I felt set. Then, right before we left, a mom at Evie's preschool who had spent the previous year in New York made an off hand comment that strollers were good, but scooters were really where it was at. I didn't really believe it. Evie, despite watching her brother and our neighbors glide up and down the sidewalks on scooters for the past two years, has never shown much interest in scooters. She didn't quite have the right balance, maybe it had something to do with that long and lean body, the bike was more her thing. So I shoved that comment off and, with only a slight pause at the scooter section of Toys R Us, bought the bike.

She was totally right. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have the stroller because it's still wonderful for those going to be out all day activities. Not to mention hauling home groceries and books from the library and sleeping children. But for things like heading out to the park or taking a walk in the evening or even hopping on the subway and then walking to the Lego store downtown, a scooter makes all the difference.
Which means that on top of getting a bike on Sunday, Evie got a scooter (pink, what else) on Monday. Briton already had one, it was a last minute decision to bring it, in fact, he carried it with him on the train (and thank goodness he talked me into that because otherwise I would have been buying two scooters. Two way more than they are in Virginia scooters, yikes)
Totally worth it. Instead of cajoling "just a little further and we'll be there" or carrying her, she scoots along. Along our street or up the busier Broadway or even along 5th avenue between the Lego store and the "Big Library". They cruise, my children. They cruise through the crowds, weaving in and out of people, around card tables piled with fake designer sunglasses and carts selling a suprisingly wide range of noodle dishes, like they have been doing it their whole lives. Like the little blond boy who can't be more than two, who scoots down the street every morning, waving at the guys stacking fruit and the man selling battered books. Like the gaggles of middle school aged kids who glide along in packs, all boys here, all girls there, matching school uniforms a blur as they pass.Like city kids. They are oh, so quickly becoming city kids.

Except for the whole, licking the windows of the subway thing. That is not very city kid, ahem, Evelyn.That, you can stop. Please. Unless, you know, you like the taste of hand sanitizer on your tongue.

five

She never tires of gazing out of the subway windows, my five year old girl. For Briton, who seems to have become an instant New Yorker (declaring this weekend that Brooklyn was “so quiet, it’s weird” and concentrating on word searches on our subway trips rather than watching the crowds and the stations and the buskers and the world go by) there is nothing to see.

But for my girl, what’s out the window in the dark, dark tunnels is captivating. She watches intently, spying graffiti on the walls as red lights flash and we slow around a corner. She points at “big mice” on the tracks as we pull in or out of stations. She waves through the black at people sitting on the next train, travelling just as fast and yet seeming to stand still next to us, until one of the trains begins to rise or sink into a different tunnel. Most of the time no one notices, but when someone does look up from their ipod or paper and smiles, she is delighted.

I love five. At five, the world opens up. The hint of Independence, knowing that, come September, there will be school, real school. And a backpack and a hook and waving goodbye to mom and heading off on her own. But at the same time five can still be little. You can still run to mom, crying, when you are hurt or sad or just need a hug. You can still pile animals in your bed at night and tote your doll everywhere you go. Picture books are still your reading material of choice but chapter books don’t see quite so intimidating anymore. Five is a good year.

There was no party, because we really don’t know anyone. And I worried for a bit, that that would upset her, my girl who loves parties and dressing up and seeing her friends. But in the end, it was perfect the way it was. Presents at breakfast (chocolate croissants, pink milk and strawberries, her choice of course) a bike ride in the park on her new Hello Kitty bike.

Will didn’t take his bike because he thought it would take hours to teach her. Instead her year of balance bike riding paid off and she pedaled away, pretty much instantly, which left Will and I trading off between riding my bike and jogging along side. And after a rest (there was a lot of jogging) cake in the playgarden with our new friends from the 6^th floor. The cake she helped me bake, Hello Kitty on the outside, rainbow layers on the inside. Exactly what she wanted. Then chicken fingers, a movie and an early bedtime (also at her request, because being five can sometimes be exhausting).

Happy Five, Evie Girl.

It's going to be a lovely year, I just know it.

snippets from the week

The past few days have been hot and so the kids and I have kept closer to home this week with the notable exception of our forray into the world of fashion so most of these are from around our own little neighborhood. Except for the one of Will. That was taken (not by me) in the Bronx. But we'll get to that.

Maybe it just....walked away?

Sorry, couldn't help myself. But seriously, those things are big, how do you loose one? Or even steal on from a normally sedate wine bar?

The ZOO! I forgot, we also went to the zoo. The kids loved it, especially the seals. And the penguins. And the lemurs. And the turtles. And the bats. They pretty much loved all of it.

Can you read that on the side there? It says "Follow me on twitter" I love that the sidewalk art guy has twitter followers.
On hot days everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, sprays down their sidewalks. I can't decide if it's to help cool things off or to make sure they don't get stinky in the heat (lots of dog pee, and probably people pee, ya know?) but it sure is a thing around here.
Yesterday was the hottest day since we've been here and being outside for more than 15 minutes had my little girl melting. So we stayed in. Briton built Legos for 6 hours (dedication, man) and Evie and I made granola, washed sheets, read books and played with pastels. She's already much better than I am with the whole blending thing. Her daddy's girl.
I'm really not sure what this is about, but it's stuck to a telephone pole on my street. Any thoughts?

The first casualty of our New York adventure. My phone. Sweaty hands + squirmy kid + sidewalk equals chunks of glass missing. Sigh. Trying to decide if I want to go ahead and get the 4G when my contract is up in July or just get another 3GS. Grrrrr....stupid hot day....
Ahem..So if you've ever wondered what kind of work one does to earn a Master's in Urban Design from Columbia, well, here you go. That is Will wandering around the Bronx wearing a periscope that he and Briton built out of k'nex. For a project. Like, with a grade. Yeah. weird, right?

How was your week? Anything fun planned this weekend? We are going to try to make it out to the Renegade Craft Festival. Plus.....

Someone small is turning FIVE! (She's already found all of her gifts. little rascal) So I've got a rainbow Hello Kitty cake to make as well. Yum yum!

Have a great weekend everyone!

how to make the bottom bunk as cool as the top: a tutorial

When we picked out the much coveted bunk beds, the display model had a tent on the top bunk that Briton immediately NEEDED. And since we were in a "sure, if you'll like New York" state of mind, we bought it. Which caused Evelyn to immediately claim that SHE wanted to be on the top bed. Even if Briton was willing (and having the top bunk was all part and parcel of the whole bunk bed bribe) Evelyn is such a tosser that the top is not an option for her. I often find her sound asleep with her feet on the ground but her head on her pillow. So I quickly jumped in before the tears could start with a "and mom will make you a tent for the bottom! "
And now that the last box has been unpacked it was time to honor that deal (or face the daily question of "when will my tent be ready??") This is, in part, what led to the trip down to the fashion district the other day. Let me just say that the folks at Mood, although perfectly helpful despite a reputation for being snotty, are more used to people who are, say, trying to make something to show Tim Gunn than moms who are making bed tents. I did eventually leave with some basic solid colored cottons for the applique. I forgot, as I mentioned yesterday, thread. And also extra sewing machine needles. And also fusible webbing which, darn it, I really needed for this. But I found away around that, as you'll see. For the main part of the hanging I used some white flannely type stuff that I had leftover from a curtain project. It's heavy and drapes well so it's perfect. Plus I had it on hand.
If you too would like to make a bottom bunk tent (or maybe a door hanging or a table hanging) here's the basic process.

You'll need
3 yards or so of backing fabric (enough to make two of the first measurement)
1/2 yard each of 2 colored cottons (green and red in this instance)
1/2 yard of heavy duty stabilizer
1/4 yard heavy wool felt
1 yard of sew-on, extra strong Velcro
2 yards of fusible webbing (I wish I'd had this, it would have made things easier) or, spray glue (yep)
Thread, sewing machine, notions etc.

Measure across the space between the end post and the ladder and subtract by about 5 inches (to let in a little light - you could go edge to edge if you want) Then measure the drop from the inside edge of the top rail to the bottom edge of the bottom rail (you could go to the floor BUT I think it would attract dust bunnies. Plus, we need access to the under bed area for toy storage) Cut two pieces of the backing fabric to this dimension.
Think of this as a simple quilt. Cut out the door, windows and bushes from the cotton and a small rectangle and matching triangular flap from the felt for a mailbox. Now if you are smart and bought yourself some fusible webbing, iron some on to each piece of cotton and then iron everything but the windows and the mailbox in place on one piece of the backing, setting the other aside. The mailbox should be sturdy enough on it's own and you want it to open so don't use webbing there. As for the windows, we'll get to them. If you, like me, neglect to buy fusible webbing, a light spray of glue and plenty of pins will work in a pinch, although not quite as well. Be sure to keep the glue away from the edges to avoid gumming up your needle.
With your machine set on zig zag with a short stitch length and wide stitch width sew around the sides and top of the door and bushes. Add a doorknob out of felt to the door using the same technique. You don't need to sew across the bottoms because we'll stitch those up later. Also sew around the sides and bottom of the mail box and along the top edge of the flap so that it opens.

Now for the windows.
Cut rectangles the same size as the windows out of the stabilizer. Iron the fabric to the stabilizer and then add a second layer of webbing to the back of the stabilizer. This will make the windows nice and stiff so that they can have cut outs. Iron the windows in place and stitch around the outside edge.

Lay the entire piece out on a flat surface, right side up, and top with the other piece of backing fabric. Pin all the way around and then sew with a short straight stitch all the way around, leaving about 5 inches open to turn it right side out. *hint* don't leave the opening at a corner. I know it seems the easiest since you started at one corner but it's much easier to make nice, neat corners if they are stitched. Instead put it along the top edge, you'll be stitching it shut when you put the Velcro on anyway.

Turn the whole thing right side out and press. You can top stitch around the whole thing if you like. I forgot, but I'll probably go back and do that when I have more thread (just finished when the thread ran out! Whew!)
Using a fabric pencil (or a regular pencil if your fabric pencil is in a box in storage in Virginia and you forgot one of those as well on your trip to Mood) draw in four panes on each window, leaving plenty of space all around for strength. Stitch around the areas that you'll cut and around the "inside" if the window using that same zig-zag stitch. Once you are finished, cut out the panes to create "real" windows.
Pull apart the Velcro and sew the scratchy side along the top edge, closing the hole while you go. Don't be tempted by sticky Velcro. It sucks. It gums up your machine. Just sayin.
To mount the hanging either glue or screw in the soft side of the Velcro along the inside edge of the top rail. Velcro it up and play away! (Yikes, I think that needs to be pressed again!)
And also, tada. The kids room. It small. Yes? I mean SMALL. But actually, it works. All the toys (other than the doll house and her doll high chair and cradle) are in five long underbed bins that slide out easily. The dressers and the bed are both getting painted, the raw wood shows grubby fingerprints but doesn't clean well so paint it will be. The bed butts up to the closet.
We took the door off and the kids use it as their hideout. The top shelf lines up perfectly with Briton's bunk so he can keep things that he doesn't want his sister touching there and because his tent covers most of his bed I don't know when it's not made, which suits both of us.
On the bottom Evie has her "playroom" where her doll furniture is kept and where I've hung her art on the wall. I also hung a stripy blanket from the shelf to the bed to create a ceiling for her and some privacy for him. So they both get what they want. Perfect.

a wee tour

Here is a wee tour of the apartment, or at least most of it. When I was taking the photos I was NOT ALLOWED in the kids room because they were building something (Lego ninja stadium as it turned out) so we'll have to visit that room later. I've got plans for it in the works anyway.

The whole of our place is about the same size as the downstairs of our old house. So, roughly 2/3 the size of the living area but without the benefit of the huge basement for storage, which makes things a little tricky.
First up, the living room. See those yellowy walls? They are driving me nuts. As soon as we get a little more settled into a routine, they are being painted. No matter what time of day I photograph in here, it looks yellow. Yuck. But other than that, it's a pretty good as far as size and shape. I ordered a new rug for this room because our floors are supposed to be 80% covered and the old one wasn't cutting it. Oddly, the bigger rug makes the room look way bigger. Which has me wondering about getting a bigger one for the bedroom as well. Maybe down the road.

We still need some more art on the walls but everything we brought is up, so I'll be on the hunt through the year for a few things to add (always fun)
The only thing I don't like much here (other than the paint) are the heavy grates on the window. Don't get me wrong, I know why they are there, but they make me feel a little like I'm in jail. Beyond them is a fire escape which we can go out on but haven't yet because we don't want the kids to get any ideas. I might put some plants out there though. Also on the list here is to put a small thin shelf behind the couch. We have a ton of boxes sandwiched up back there and so it sits off the wall a bit. Will mentioned that it would be nice to have a place to put coffee mugs and the like so I've got plans to have the hardware store cut a piece of plywood that can be painted and mounted on brackets.
Just off the living room is our room. It's spacious and much lighter, strangely, since it has the same paint and the same number of windows. It must be the grates that cause the living room to look darker. Who knows. We wanted to give the kids this room and I still wish we could because theirs is TINY. But neither of the other rooms can fit a full bed and still have doors that open. Ah well. Because we don't have much extra closet space (meaning none, nada, zilch) I've put the baskets that used to hold our clothes under the bed to hold all of our off season clothes and linens. Also the cat sleeps in them. She changes which bin each time, just to throw the kids off when they come looking. Smart kitty (more on her later)
All of my craft storage is in here in the white boxes along with my machine. Unfortunately the missing box also seems to have my sewing notions in it so my good scissors, all my thread, buttons, snaps and sewing machine accessories are MIA. Rats. Also. the closest fabric store is in the Fashion district WAAAAYY down town. I went there yesterday and it was, well, not like popping out to JoAnn. (both in schlepping and in the type of people shopping there) The fabrics were amazing but I was so overstimulated by choice that I forgot things like thread and extra needles. Double rats. It's a long way down there with two kids.
Our bedroom leads into the office/schoolroom/dining room. It's not as pretty and calming as our old dining room and I miss that, but it pulls triple duty.
During the day the kids have been working on projects there (painting, computer time, puzzles) and it's where Briton and I will do a lot of our work in the fall. For dinner we pull the table out from the wall and round up the chairs. Two office chairs, one kitchen stool and Evie's chair, so we can all eat together.
After dinner back goes the table so that Will can work at his little desk in the corner. Like I said, not super pretty, but functional. And with some more kid art and some plants in the window, I think it will be a pretty fun space for all of us. That thing on the table is part of my spruce the kids room up plan. more on that later.

Ah the kitchen.
Blah.
Will thinks the bathroom is the worst room but (as you'll see) it's not too bad. Old, yes, but in a classic kind of way. It doesn't really bother me. But the kitchen is just plain ugly. The problem with getting to design your kitchen from scratch and then leaving it is that everything else from then on will be not quite as good. And something that is functional but really pretty darn ugly, well, ugg. On the bright side, I've always wanted a comfy chair in the kitchen and this weird too small for a table space seems to work for that. My view is of our bikes, but whatever. I'm heading to the farmers market later today to get some herbs and house plants for that window though, it's begging for it. Also on the bright side, I have about twice as much cupboard space as I used to. Should have brought the waffle iron and the crock pot after all. Live and learn.
And finally, the bathroom. See. It's not too bad. What? Oh, the thing on the toilet? That, my friends is a cat toilet training tray. Yep, toilet training. the litter box was too much to deal with so we got one and are well on our way to having a toilet trained cat. This is not our first foray into cat toilet training, by the way. Will trained the cat we had in collage to use the pot as well and Ella was trained when she was younger. She was hit by a car when she was about a year old and, despite broken hips, miraculously survived and dragged herself home. After she healed we kept her in and trained her, so this is more of a refresher course. I know your jealous. We could be in a circus freak show, right?

And that's about it. You can see the entry hall in one of the living room pics. We're going the shoes off route so most of the time there is a pile of shoes at one end. I need to find a bench to replace that table because it's hard to put on your shoes standing up in a narrow hall, but we'll get to that. I've also asked my woodworker extraordinaire dad to make something like this for me which will solve the winter/fall coat issue that I know is coming as well as the where to put the mail problem. Can't wait.

So, now I need opinions. What else should I do? How many rooms should I paint? The living room for sure and maybe the hall? Can't decide how much work I want to do here. Any ideas for making the kitchen less blahtastic on the cheap? What do we think?