Working & Playing outside

The older the kids get, the more responsibilities I want the kids to have around the house- fitting to their age and abilities of course. Honestly, I usually think about chores and jobs inside the house, but Will has expressed an interest in working in the yard and I am all about that! Not a fan of yard work myself, I'm happy to take him up on that offer. And last week, I did just that:

 Jake, on the other hand, is not working. Just playing.

We like to have fun outside as well... I have tons of pictures of Will in the trees, but now I have some of Jakey too. He loved it up there! Not quite the monkey that Will is, he needed a little help to get in the tree and basically hung out in one spot. But I'm proud he branched out and tried something new. :) That's punny.

Horseback Riding

We went horseback riding today! My friend, Ginny, messaged me last week about going horseback riding with the kids. I really didn't think I would be able to go because 3 out of my 4 kids wouldn't be able to ride their own horse and 3 cannot fit in a saddle with me. But Daniel said a couple kids could stay with him, so I took the boys and they had a blast!

Ginny had her 4, Lisa had her 2 and I had 2 of mine, so 6 kids and 3 adults, it was a great time! Will especially enjoyed sharing this experience with his friends, I think. Will had his own horse, Buck and Jake rode with me on Aster but Jake called her Astro. She was a good girl and Jake did really good riding with me, he enjoyed himself for sure. Will loved it too! He did a great job controlling his horse and told me after that his horse didn't like to listen just like him, ha! We arrived about 8:45 this morning for our 9:00 ride that lasted a little over an hour.

So glad my boys got to experience this. It was a great morning!

Bunk Beds

The boys finally got bunk beds! I'm happy about this for a couple reasons: 1. I didn't love the layout of Will's bed and Jake's toddler bed along with the mis-matched furniture and 2. A generous family member gave us the bunk beds and dresser so it was uber-budget friendly!!

God works like that sometimes. I had the choice to be patient or run out and buy bunk beds that weren't in our budget because I wanted them and disliked the room layout. I decided to wait and Daniel agreed and barely a month later we were contacted about some bunk beds. And here we are! Everyone loves them. :)

last night in their "old" beds

 forgot to take pictures of them assembling the bed

Moving things around

I haven't done a single "Waistline Wednesday" this pregnancy, but things have just been crazy! I am quickly approaching my due date and as such we gotta get ready for this new little girl!

As usual, I can never just say "hey let's do this" and do it. I have to think of all the possibilities and weigh them as if the consequences are permanent or have any real eternal value. I mean, some things do, but not when it comes to decorating the house. I'll spare you all the back and forth, but in the end we decided to move Maggie from the toddler bed to a twin bed. We already have the headboard that matches the bedroom set so it just made sense.

Before- a real shot at how messy they were that day. Below, taking

the toddler bed down and out, then cleaning up

 

 She looks so little in this big 'ol bed! Maggie was sooo excited about her princess big girl bed! She insisted on having Rapunzel bedding. Then we found these at Target, several princesses, which is fine, so long as Rapunzel is one of them :). I just love my little girl!

Jake is moving in with Will-- this is something we planned before we even knew about baby #4 because Will really wanted to share with Jake. He just had to get old enough. I'd prefer to wait a couple more months until Jake is 2 and in my mind ready to graduate from the crib, but it is what it is. So Jake will get the toddler bed and baby girl will move into Jake's room- it's the smallest and nursery-sized. If that's a real thing. I don't love how the boys' room looks. It's too crowded and none of the furniture matches. Eventually we'll get a bunk bed and matching bedroom set, but it's not in the budget right now. So I'll just have to grin and bear it. :)

We moved everything around multiple times, but this was the best solution we found. At least for now. We'll have more space once we get the bunk beds. I'm going to re-arrange and/or update the decor too. Bring in some more of Jake so it's not just Will's room. Just gotta find the time. :)