August 30, 2013

kids' desk area

My dear friend Barbie texted me a picture of an old double desk...and she offered to give it to Twain and Ollie!

I just had a sneaking suspicion that it would look perfect under this {once}empty window.


Picture above from instagram--I'm davirebecca, if you care to be insta friends:)

John picked up the desk from Barbie's house and the next day I was very motivated to find lil chairs. I dragged Ollie and Twain to 3 different antique stores til I found any kid chairs. 

As soon as loaded them into my car, I noticed rust. Ug. Hate that. 

So the next few days were spend scrubbing off any surface rust. It was a most arduous task and finally John took over. Thankgoodness. Little boys were going absolutely mad with anticipation waiting for their little chairs. 

John wanted to spray paint the metal parts of the chair. And I came thisclose to complying. But I liked the natural worn patina, so he ended up just spraying them with a clear satin finish. 


He also put on new metal feet. Aren't they pretty and shiny?

Then the fun part! Accessorizing! A while ago, Loriloo got the Oliver Twist and Mark Twain books as gifts for my Oilver and Twain.  These books have been patiently sitting on the boys' bookshelf,  just waiting for their grand debut. 

And I was SUPER stoked to finally have a home for these metal bookends. 
(Side story. I bought these metal book ends YEARS ago...then sold them back to the antique dealer for PENNIES I TELL YOU...only to buy them back from him AGAIN a year or 2 later, sheesh.)

And not sure if this banner will remain, but it makes the place chipper for now!

And darlings Megan and Barbie got me these awesome metal file cabinets to store Ollie's curriculum. I'm now obsessed with curriculum--because when you have lousy material it makes you want to gouge your eyes out. 

I originally set out to homeschool just Ollie.

>Partly because our kindergarten shifted to all-day, rather than half-day.
 I was fairly certain that both Ollie and his teacher would both go crazy from each other by the end of the day. 
>Partly because I suspected Ollie would need a lil extra help. Which he does. Especially with handwriting.

I did not anticipate teaching Twain(age 4). But he insists upon it. 

It's been fun teaching them, so I have been pleasantly surprised.
Ollie and Twain cannot believe their good fortune that mommy now sits and reads to them and does activities with them all morning rather than cleaning the house. 

My house. My poooooor house. It's a mess. Stress! I crave order!
It's been a tough adjustment for me because I'm used to cleaning, doing chores and running errands all morning. I'm still trying to figure it all out.

God is patiently teaching me what I NEED to do vs. what I need to let go of...
And it's been tough for me to let go. I didn't realize I had such a deathgrip on my schedule and "to-do" list. Since I have less time for my "stuff", I'm S-L-O-W-L-Y learning to be more disciplined and to prioritize. I still mess up and waste time and have a long way to go. 

I rewarded myself with sushi for lunch on surviving the first week. I scarfed the other 6 sushi rolls before snapping this picture. I think it should be a weekly ritual. 

22 comments:

  1. It doesn't even look real, it's so pretty. Love your style!

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  2. love the desk and cute new chairs - glad you didn't decide to spray paint, they're so cute as-is.

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  3. PERFECT. Oh my, it's so beautiful! Love your little school space. I have that colorful triangle rug too, but it looks so much better in your house! I need to find a better space for mine.

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  4. I love that desk! It's a great mix of grungy and unwanted and newly loved. :)

    And instafriends?! YAY! :p

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  5. Fantastic! So happy homeschooling is going well and I was just delighting in the fact that I got to spend the morning cleaning my house. It is SUCH an awesome feeling to accomplish a clean house so I totally get that. I crave it too. The whole desk situation is perfectly gorgeous!

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  6. So are you homeschooling all the boys or just the 2? Our family homeschools! We love it! I am in 10th, and I do the P-K and Kindergarten sisters and my Mom does the 2nd grader and we are all happy with this arrangement. :)

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    1. Hello! Just the 2 younger boys! The older 2 go to our public school. How nice that you have your mom to help! Awesome arrangement!

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  7. I like your weekly reward. I might institute it at my house, too. A Jeno's Crisp and Tasty is just the thing! Very motivating! Now I'm excited to start the new school year!

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  8. Oh, and I love the story about the bookends, and I love how you decorated the school area!

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  9. An awesome desk makes homeschooling so much more fun! Good luck with your boys. I have fond memories of my mom digging up endless books for me about whatever topics I was interested in. I hope you have an awesome year!!

    I'm learning the same lessons about LETTING GO. Sometimes it's more valuable to spend time just hanging out with your husband/child/friend/dog than to worry about the dust bunnies in the corner. But it's so hard to remember!

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  10. How darling you found those books- makes their desks so personal for the boys! I remember growing up one of my favorite memories at our house one year my om made us a home school room- best thing ever! They are going to love this so very much!
    Your style is just perfect and the special touches you have done make it look so crazy fun to be 'going to school'
    also- sushi..... yumness.

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  11. How awesome that you have a perfect little desk to teach the pair of them. :) A friend once told me something I'll never forget: "Your kids won't remember how messy your house was but they will remember how much time you spent with them." So whenever I'm feeling stressed about how the toilets haven't been scrubbed and how the toys just live on my floor and multiply, it sometimes makes me feel a little better.

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  12. SHUT.UP!! This is adorable, davi! I want you to decorate my schoolroom someday. ;)

    And your story about the metal bookends?! HILARIOUS!

    xo

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  13. i love those!!!! you have such a great eye for style!!

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  14. I need this. NEED. I don't think I've ever seen anything this perfect.

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  15. so dang cute.
    you're seriously my hero.
    if i were to homeschool i'm afraid i would eat my children for dinner. with the sushi.

    ps. take the stinkin tag off your cute rug. IT STAYS. i demand it. it's too cute to take back (insert laughing/crying emoji here) bahahaa!
    i love you davi!

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    1. haaaaaa. was hoping nobody would notice the tag. but seriously the rug is killing me. the ends curl up and I'm pretty sure I've had it waaaay to long to return it. baaaa.

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  16. oh davi-girl. you're doing stupendously!! I love all of your cute little special touches, and how lovely you've made everything (isn't it easier to function and feel like you're succeeding when things are organized and lovely??)... I love that you're into curriculum now too. :) And as for the house being a mess, well, yes, it's a letting-go-- but I always tell myself that 10 years from now I will not remember how messy my house got that one week or regret spending the extra time actually enjoying schooling my kids instead of being a big ol' stressball rushing from one thing to the next. (but seriously. the mess. sometimes it really is too much. ha.) hang in there, you're amaaaasing!! and you'll never run out of God's grace!! :)

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    1. thanks for the encouragement. you are so right. i will not remember the messy house in the years to come. it's super hard though to let go. trying little by little:)

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  17. That's the cutest homeschooling set-up ever! And the end-of-the-week sushi reward sounds like a lovely plan! I know that the first year (and the beginning of every year) of homeschooling is a bit of an adjustment, but I'm praying for you and I'm excited for you!

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