Piapie

Dress-ups

Dress-ups are one of those things that I feel strongly about having in our house.  I have such fond memories of dressing up as a kid and pretending to be someone else.  There was something about the clothes that harkened back to a by-gone era, even if it was just the 60's (mind you, I was playing dress-up in the late 70's).  The best dress ups had broken zippers or lost buttons.  They were fancy or at least fanciful.  They were just a little too big and smelled a bit musty.  And they didn't have to be exact or precise, for our imaginations were willing to do the work to turn the Brownie outfit into Chewbacca.

And so I knew early on in my parenting that I wanted a good collection of dress-ups.  I started to look for them at Goodwill.  Then the girls began getting tutus and things as gifts.  I pilfered the Old Peep's house last summer and brought back some prize ones.  And it turns out that our neighbor is obsessed with Halloween and has an extensive collection of costumes, two bags of which she handed down to the girls.

I was a bit reluctant to admit it then when I realized that we have too many dress ups.  The girls can't work their way through the overflowing bin of princess dresses, hats, tutus, sparkly shoes,... you name it.   So I put Funky B to work.  She sorted the dress-ups by category, tried them all on, choose the ones to keep out, picked out a few to pass along, and packed up the rest.   

There is no way that I, on my own, would have been able to sift through the dress ups and move some on without a protest.  But  handing the chore over to her and letting her make the decisions ("Pick 5 princess dresses to keep" or "Which of the 4 pink tutus should we pass on to so-and-so?", etc.) resulted in a seamless purging and a few well appreciated birthday gifts.  

Plus she discovered costumes that never made it to the top layer and turn out to be her new favorites!

Chicago Skyline

For quite awhile now (i.e., pretty much most of my life) I have wanted a blue bedroom.  Although our bedroom did not need new paint anymore than any other part of the house (it was all repainted prior to selling), I knew immediately that I was going to finally get my blue bedroom.    

I picked up a couple of paint chips, pondered them for a few days, and made my decision.  Only when I went back to the paint store to buy the paint did I notice that the name of the paint is "Chicago Skyline".  How absolutely perfect.

Painting Days

Slowly, one wall at a time, we are making progress on painting the new house.  The girls joined us one afternoon as we painted their bedroom the chosen colors of pink and purple.  

By "chosen" I mean that the girls were given a parent-approved selection from which they each chose one.  Left to their own devices, they would have picked a deep royal purple and fuschia pink.  At least that's what they leaned toward as they pilfered sample chips from the paint store.

As the walls gradually changed color, Funky B commented, "Now that the walls are purple, it feels like our home!"   I find that rather amusing because we've never lived in a house with purple walls.  But I realize what she's really talking about.  That sense of ownership, of being able to do what you want, of having a stake in something.  They got to choose the colors and doing so was part of claiming this new room in this new house as theirs.

For those who might be concerned about us letting the girls paint with us, we are using eco-groovy paints, such as Yolo Colorhouse,  with zero VOCs and no carcinogins.

Demolition

Just moments after the drawing party ended and the guests had gone their respective ways, Papi Chulo pulled out the hammer and put the first hole into the wall.  He's been itching to this for a very long time.  

Thirty-six hours later, the demo had clearly begun.

Can I just say that Uncle Tony is a ROCK STAR!!!