Changes

I can usually tell when my life is beginning to feel too out of control because I start doing really crazy stuff like rearranging furniture and redesigning my blog. :) I've been doing an awful lot of both lately, and though I am this close to the big reveal of my blog's new look, it's still not quite ready yet. (I have little trouble changing the major elements of my blog; it's the little details that I agonize over forever. This background generator, for instance? I'm totally addicted.) In the meantime, here are the results of my recent furniture frenzy.

First up: No more 55 gallon aquarium in the living room! In it's place is our quality literature children's bookshelf (poetry, fairy tales, Tomie de Paola, Caldecott and other award winning books, religion, and current read aloud series), relocated from it's former residence beneath the window. Also: a new permanent home for our girls' pretty wooden dollhouse! A bit unconventional? Perhaps. But that's okay. We're just sort of like that. :) New canvas storage bins in the bottom three shelves of the entertainment center hold our videos and DVDs which were previously contained within the base of the aquarium stand. The candle holders and floral arrangement were salvaged from a yard sale my mom held while she was home (she still maintains her house here in town) and the large Two Cherubs print was simply moved from our bedroom (my brother bought it for us on a trip he took to Italy the summer I was expecting Dylan).

Next, we had the great honor of receiving this beautiful old roll top desk from Darren's dad a few weeks ago. I was pretty much convinced that we "needed" a second living area to house all of our big, pretty furniture (because clearly, this was just not all fitting), but then I had the great idea to simply bid a fond farewell to the sofa in our bedroom, and everything all sort of fell into place from there. You'll see how in just a minute, but first, the desk:

Isn't she beautiful? :) I had lofty aspirations of claiming her as my own for planning next year's homeschooling curriculum, but—can you believe it?—Darren beat me to it! I tried to concede gracefully, as he does deserve his own space; and with a July deadline looming near, he certainly needs his own work space more than I do, too! Here's how she looks with her lid lifted (and a sneak peek at Darren's book in progress!)

Now, the master bedroom. I thought I loved it before, but I really love it now. Not much has changed on this half of the room...

...it's this half of the room that I just absolutely enjoy:

The aquarium from the living room took the place of the evicted sofa (a much better fit), and the rocking chair moved across the room to a new corner. I love, love, love our new furniture arrangement! But Kristen, I think, appreciates it more than any of us. When Dylan was a newborn, I read that infants are soothed by water sounds, so, dutiful new parents that we were, we went right out and bought him a Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium. He liked it well enough, but it just didn't last through four kids. No matter, though; Miss Kristen's got the real deal. :)