Switcheroo Documentation: Mostly for McGamma

I mentioned before that we'd eventually have to do something about the children's room.  A month ago, Aidan moved in, making it seven-kiddos-in-one-cozy-cluttered-room.  This was working out okay, except for the fact that Piper and Annika were fast outgrowing their mattresses and needed upgrades, and there was no space for two twin bunks in their room.

I still would have been in the "eventually" mindset had John not stepped in when I carelessly mentioned us doing something about it this summer.  "This summer" became, within minutes, "today," and John started hauling furniture around upstairs.  No preparation!  No planning!  Just doing!  He banished me downstairs when he saw me quivering like a terrified rabbit.  

After one day of the girls and him switching ALL the furniture in the two bedrooms around, and one day of the girls and me putting all of the smaller things back in order, we have two new bedrooms, plus one closet palace.  We still have to build a couple of bunkbeds this summer, but the bulk of the work is done, everyone's happy with the change, and this quivering rabbit is over-the-moon to have it done before Polka'poose arrived.

I'm really enjoying our upgrade into the children's old bedroom.  I still haven't moved their twinkle lights over because they're my only reading light presently, and I must have those few snatched minutes of nighttime reading when the moon slants through the windows and the house is still.

I don't recognize that girl who's canoodling up to John, but there the photo sits, anyway, front and center on the dresser.

(Shameless.)

The cradle fits perfectly by our bed, with an inch or two to spare.

The children's room looks huge compared to their old one, and by some miracle looks bigger with all their things in it than it did with mine and John's.  Hmmm.  (For those interior design buffs among you, my decorating style has become about the same as my fashion style, which is to say, nearly non-existent.  Almost everything in this room from furniture to knick-knacks was free, given or found on the curb or the like, for a grand total spent of under 20 dollars.  And with children who all like different things, the only overriding theme is quilts, thanks to Mopsy, mostly.)

Annie snagged the top bunk

Susannah and Piper rule the bottom bunk, replete with a handy blanket divider, thanks to the Papa.  (Just realized that snapshot of Annika recalls this part of our off-grid summer.)

Lucinda sleeps in fresh air by the window.

Until we build the bunks, there's even room for a reading corner.

....which Annika wanted to demonstrate for Grandma O.  See!  Instant reading privacy, as long as you don't mind the other body stuffed in there with you.

Aidan claimed the elephant window.

The girls are so proud of and thrilled by their new space and kept asking me to take pictures of them perched in different spots.

Annika wanted both a landscape view of her pirates and elephants and a close-up.  I live to serve.

And now, the crowning jewel of the entire thing...

 John dismantled the closet unit from our old closet (which was more roomy than anyone should need) and turned it into a bedroom nook for Zeke and Aidan.  When the bunks are built, Millie will move out, but for now, SHE HAS HER OWN ROOM with a few spare feet of space that she has to share only with Zeke.  It's a closet, yes, but a big closet, and when I peeked in on Millie the first night, she looked up from her book, sighed contentedly, and said, "I feel like a princess."

That's my spoiled little girl.  She's practically Veruca, huh?

Apart from its own door (sadly lacking a lock) her favorite part is having some space to hang up her horse things and a Nausicaa poster she's had for years with no place to hang and enjoy it.

Horse postcards, too?  Sure, she's got some of those.

And here's Zeke showing off his new bed.

People give Hulk a bad rap, but, really, I think he's got a soft heart underneath all that green bluster.