“Wake up sleepyheads,” I whisper to my twin daughters. Victoria rolls from her tummy to her back and smiles sleepily at me, her hair a jumble of curls swirling around her chubby cheeks, the last vestiges from babyhood. She yawns and stretches her arms over head and says, “I had the best dream EVER!”
“Mhmm,” I reply as I pull out socks and underwear from their respective drawers under the bed. Kathryn pops her blonde head down from the upper bunk and says, “What was it about Tori?” “Oh Kate, you will love it ’cause we were swinging so high that we got blue on the bottom of our feet.” said Victoria with a huge grin on her face. “Oooh,” Kate answered, “I do like swinging big.”
“Okay sweet peas, time to get up and get ready for school.” Thankfully, there has been a gradual entry into kindergarten this September. I think it’s been more beneficial for me than the girls, who have been ready for school to start all summer. Me not so much. I need time to adjust to a quieter house and endless hours all to my self.
Life is bittersweet right now. I’ve been at this mothering gig for awhile now. For the last 21 years, every three or so years, I’ve sent another of our children off to start kindergarten. Finally, the day has arrived when our last two start their formal education journey. Of course, I’m thrilled for them to begin an exciting new adventure, but I’m sad that this time in my life is over. No little ones sitting on my hip as we say goodbye to their bigger siblings heading off to school. It just feels weird, almost surreal.
I have a best friend who commiserates with me each September, as we say a sad goodbye to our kids heading off to school. I don’t know if we are a rarity but it just seems like so many parents are driving up to the school and saying, here’s your coat and backpack, how fast can you exit the car so I can get to the gym, or to work, or whatever. We linger over that last hug and stand back, waiting to see if our kids will look back just one more time before they head into the school. Anyway, thanks Tamara for being there all these years with me. You get me. It’s been nice to know I’m not alone in being a bit sad at the beginning of September
David and I have worked consciously, with a clear plan to prepare all our children for school, well for life in general for that matter, and this last year is no exception. Maybe I held onto our last babies a bit longer than I should have, but I believe by allowing them to move forward when they were ready, instead of pushing them, allowed them the space to find their own time to become the confident little people they are today. For instance, it wasn’t until the girls turned 5 that we moved them out of their cribs and into a beautiful 2 level loft bed.
Their tiny and sweet room is from my dreams. When I was pregnant with our 5th child, Grace Elizabeth, I knew I wanted a very special place for her but our house was maxed out. Not wanting to move, as we love our location, one night I was lying in bed and looking into our cavernous walk in closet and a nursery suddenly materialized. We created a cozy little space for her and I will never forget stenciling pink hearts and blue ribbons on the walls when I went into labour with her two weeks early, just before Christmas 2002. (She just started high school this September!)
When we got pregnant with number 6, our son William, we renovated this little space, expanding it, changing the entrance so there was a door from the main hallway, instead of from our master bedroom and another doorway into the bathroom from the nursery. This room is a clear french door and gives the room its light and air flow. It was a delightful room with dragon flies and lady bugs on his peaceful sage green bedding.
Little did we know that he would have “lady bug” sisters (our names for them when we awaited their late spring arrival in 2011) join him when he wasn’t even 2 years old. When the babies arrived, William moved into our room for like, FOREVER. He had his mattress on the floor in one corner of our master bedroom. It may not work for most people but it worked for us. I liked him close and he grew to also be a confident, happy little boy. Eventually he moved in with his older brother Harrison when our son Mitchell left for University. (Brothers sharing rooms is a whole other blog post!)
When the girls were about 31/2 years old and in preschool, we asked if they wanted to move out of their cribs but they weren’t ready. They had a little step stool they used to safely get in and out of their cribs on their own and they said they loved their comfy beds. Of course they had the loveliest Laura Ashley bedding that was so cozy. They would sleep every night under a comforter that said, “Love.” Who wouldn’t want this for as long as possible?
I knew when they turned 4 though, that we would have to do something drastic, as they were getting to be tall little ones, and gee, I didn’t want their feet to be hitting the ends of the crib and their growth to be stunted. Just kidding, but I knew we had to do something and so again I dreamed of a special space for them. I did a few sketches and right after they turned 5, we took down their cribs and started building their cottage chic loft space. Part of the idea came from all the tiny house shows I liked to watch. I figured if we used the vertical space in the room it would feel bigger and it does.
As September unfolds, we currently have 7 kids in the house and somehow our home just continues to stretch and meet everyone’s needs. Yes,we could have found a more suitable house with more than enough space for everyone but every time we have talked about moving, or I start looking at the MLS listings, our kids say, “but mom, we love our house.” And so, we figure out a way to make it work for our family.
In so many this is what I’m proudest about with my family. It’s all about being creative. Using the space you have and making it special. Also, in many ways it’s the most environmentally friendly option, opposed to building another home, or moving to another home. In addition to using the space we had, I used items in our linen closet to make some new bedding as well…the body pillow cover was Grace’s old pink sheets from when she was a toddler.
Our next space conversion is over the garage and a place for our 17 year old son Harrison. Hopefully we can create a cool space for him to hang out with friends and play his drum set…up and away from the main family space. I hope after we get through some yard projects we are onto that so he has that space for most of his Grade 12 year. (maybe it will entice him to remain home to attend University too)
Well, here are a few pictures of the process we went through as we said goodbye to our little girls cribs and sweet nursery and hello to their big girl room. We turned it into a lovely space that they love to play in, read in and hang out in. There is even a secret, under the stairs closet, (we call it the Harry Potter room) that fits the girls dresses beautifully and gives them another hide away to read and relax.
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| I grabbed this picture just before we were about to take down the cribs….you can see how narrow the width of the room is in this picture. I still love the wall colour….it’s Soft Earth and the Beadboard is painted with Calla lilly |
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| The girls loved watching each stage of construction take place. This was just after we found the quilts, the mattresses and some of the pillows for their beds. The mattresses we bought at Ikea….love that place…thanks for the idea Auntie B! |
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| I don’t know who was more excited about the new beds, the girls or their big brother Will |
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| And finally, here it is….the first night in the BIG/little room (The paint colour of the loft is Calla Lilly by Ralph Lauren) |
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| We built the bottom bed with lots of head space so we could all cuddle together to read books under the great lights David installed…we are still looking for fairy lights for the inside of the bed frames…but the chandelier has a dimmer on it and it’s magical at night time. |
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| The three bunnies over the bookcase was something I picked up from Winners when I was pregnant with William…little did I know we would have three babies in 2 years. Three has been such a magic number! |
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| The globe was given to me from a friend when I lost a baby before Will was born…it’s an angel holding a baby and the little twin fairies were on our daughter Grace’s 3rd birthday cake. She wanted a baby sister and was blessed with TWO. |
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| More twin decor; Mom with twin babes and sisters talking…these are Willow Tree Angels |
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| The end of the room is all mirror making it seem bigger and a great place for the girls to dance. The door to the left goes into the master bathroom which is perfect for little girls in the middle of the night….the other door to the right goes out into the hall…we are just next door which is great, as even though they are big girls now, they do like to be close to mom and dad. |
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| Here’s Victoria checking out the little reading spot in their Harry Potter room under the stairs |
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| Kathryn’s reading has taken off Big time!!! Who knew all this time when she was quietly watching me run my finger along the words while Will learned to read that she was picking up the words too. One day when Will stumbled over a word, she supplied it with ease. We realized then that she was reading at an advance rate for a little one about to head off to kindergarten. She loves to read to her stuffies and dolls…well anyone who will listen actually |
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| The girls love fairy stories the best |
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| Each girl has a deep drawer under the bed which is perfect for p.j’s, socks and underwear and this dresser gives them each two drawers, one for tops and one for bottoms. We are REALLY working hard on continuing our minimalist theme and trying to have clothes that combine to make many outfits. |
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| All ready for the first day of school…thank heaven it’s just a couple of hours |
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| The girls love to hang out in Kate’s bed as it’s so cozy. It’s so funny how there was no discussion about who would get which bed either….but they have decided that they are going to have sleep overs in each others bed on weekends. |
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| I embroidered the Hope pillow for Victoria Hope before she was born |
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| And did one also for Kathryn Mira….which is short for Miracle…our Hope and Miracle babies |
I picked the girls up at lunch time today. I found the whole class out in the school yard. I scanned the playground and finally found our girls on the swings. Victoria was trying hard to get on the swing which was higher than her bottom. I watched as she finally stepped up on the seat, pulling her whole body up to standing position and then she plunked herself onto the seat. Smart Cookie! She lifted her little legs and pumped them behind her, moving her body forward and back, trying hard to get some momentum.
I started walking towards her, thinking that I would give her a push but Kate got off her swing and gave her sister a push. As Tori pumped higher and higher I heard Katie say, “Touch the sky Tori!.” Those words made me tear up because dreams come true. A long, long time ago, I wished on a star for these babies to come into my life and now they are taking off and flying, getting blue on the bottoms of their feet. What makes it even better though, is that they are doing it together.
Lately, I’ve been ending most of my blog posts with a recipe (’cause I’m always cooking or baking around here) but today, I just wanted to end it with a Youtube video by Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole called, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I’ve loved this beautiful song and his rendition, which combines the two inspiring songs, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World.” (If you are unable to access the video below, click on the hyper-link above.)
My little kids love to sing “What a Wonderful World,” and I’ve loved the theme song from “Wizard of Oz,” my whole life. In fact, my fav line from that movie is when Glenda, the good witch tells Dorothy, “You had the power all along my dear.”
It took my whole life up to now, to realize we are “all” more powerful than we know. I hope as my two little ones head off into the world, they will experience what a wonderful world this is and also know they don’t even have to click their ruby heels three times; that they have the power to create the life of their dreams.
Oh, and hopefully they will remember, “There’s no place like home.” Thanks for sharing this time with me. Gee and do you think that now that I have 6 whole hours a day to myself, I can write a few more blog posts, or finally get my book finished? One should hope….so stay tuned.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope