Our Four Ring Circus - My First Foray into Hardwired Home Improvement

Our Four Ring Circus

Jul. 17, 2007

My First Foray into Hardwired Home Improvement

The big project this summer is overhauling the boys bedroom. Next week all the kids head off to Grandma & Grandpa's house for 2 weeks of swimming lessons and that is when the renovations will begin in earnest. I was able to get a little head start today.

Last summer we shuffled bedrooms and the boys landed in what was formerly our guestroom. The guestroom came with a rather large ceiling fan which was nice (two of our bedrooms don't have this luxury). What we have since learned, however, is that far reaching ceiling fans and top bunks don't mix well. We've had several really good smacks in the head from fast moving fan blades over the course of the year.

Several months ago I bought a much smaller fan and today I installed it. No big deal except that I've always been someone who has an extremely healthy respect for electricity. It was a quite a step for me to take on something that had to be wired.

The fan is a perfect fit as the blades stop just short of extending over the bed. I'm hoping to replace the bunk bed with two homebuilt platform beds that create kind of a corner unit. The old fan would have been an even bigger issue as it would have been over both beds and the new beds will be higher than the bunks.

I say 'hoping' because I still have to convince John that this is the best arrangement for the boys. Their room is small and getting the beds off the floor will give them just that much more living area and it will give each of them well defined personal space under their respective beds. It's a big project but between the two of us, I know we can pull it off.

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Jul. 19, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Ben

That's MY room!

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Jul. 21, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Dad

Then you put the loft beds in it.

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Jul. 31, 2007 - Loft beds

Posted by 40winkzzz

My kids have had loft beds (some of them "extra tall" like you are thinking) and really liked them, esp when sharing a small room w/a sib. It really does make more sense than bunkbeds, b/c you get more floor space. And as you noted, the space under their beds is "theirs", even if the rest of the room is shared! Even when no longer sharing a room, they have still enjoyed the lofts. (None of them currently has a loft, but that will probably be changing in a few weeks. Our beds-- made by my hubby when he owned a small children's furniture co-- can easily be converted from bunks to lofts and v.v.)

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Jul. 31, 2007 - PS--

Posted by 40winkzzz

I keep meaning to mention-- I knew another "ABC" family once. Their kids were Alyssa, Brandon, Curtis, & Derek (B & C were twins). The mom told me that on Derek's birth announcement, they wrote, "And no, we are NOT planning to have a Zachary!"

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A few years ago, when our oldest was 4 and her two brothers were both in diapers, my in-laws were a few days into a visit from their home 3000 miles away when my father-in-law noticed that the rug under the dining room table was in serious need of vacuuming. He is not prone to domestic duties (his wife is a great housekeeper) but seeing the need, he decided to try his hand with the Hoover. As soon as 'Grandpa' declared his intention to get out the vacuum, four little feet ran for the toy box to get vacuums of their own. We had one toy vacuum and we improvised a second from a 'popper' push toy. The baby, who was not yet walking, was right in the thick of things on all fours, never one to be left out. Grandpa, trying to maneuver the self-propelled 'Wind-tunnel' around the 10 foot rug while avoiding the table legs and dodging his three little helpers, remarked in exasperation, "I just wanted to clean the rug, I wasn't looking to start a three ring circus." Welcome to my life!

About Me

My name is Tiffany. I am a 40 year old mother of 4. My husband, John, and I planned to homeschool even before we married 18 years ago but it would be several years before our oldest would be ready to start on this journey. We had our children in alphabetical order, quite by accident at first, but once we got started, we figured we had to keep it going. They are Alyssa 10, Brendan 9, Chase 6, and Emily 4. Our 4th baby, D, miscarried at 13 weeks. We have no intention of making it to Z.

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Below are downloads for several craft sheets I use with our Awana Cubbies program. These are all in Microsoft Word format and correspond to the Jumper book. I have also included my lesson plans for the current year. If you have any questions or would like other Jumper craft ideas or Hopper book craft sheets, please e-mail me.

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Bear Hug Brochure Lesson 2 Craft Page 1

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Any of Bear Hugs 1-6 Creation Craft Page1

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