Projecting

Today we took a field trip to Home Depot to get supplies for a playroom project (more on that in a minute!) and discovered that it was Kids' Workshop day.  The boys got aprons (with their names written on them in marker, just like the "real" Home Depot aprons) and everything they needed to build wooden fire trucks.

They really enjoyed banging in the nails that Sam and I set in place for them (in pre-drilled holes) and cramming the wheels onto axles.  The boys chose predictable colors - green for Ryan (like his honu) and yellow for Jack (like his duck).  

I wasn't anticipating a photo op, so I had to take crummy phone photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys got Certificates of Achievement and pins attached to their aprons (almost like a merit badge).  It was a really well-organized event (they even offered the boys candy and juice boxes - yeah right) so we'll try to be coordinated enough to come back another time.

At this point, though, we were on a quest for supplies.  I had a vision to turn the wall under the stairs into a combination chalk/magnet board with special magnetized and chalkboard paint.  Sam researched the process and discovered that you can't use the paint on textured walls (the magnets won't stick well and you can't wipe all the chalk off) so we went looking for a thin sheet of masonite to mount on the wall and then paint.

Lo and behold, we found 2 x 4' sheets of masonite that already had chalkboard paint on them!  Considering a small can of each kind of paint was $20 and would take more than a week to sand, prime, paint, and paint, we decided to go the cheap & easy route.

I still wanted a magnetic section as a home for Ryan's alphabet magnets (rather than underfoot at the fridge as I'm trying to get dinner ready) so we picked up a section of sheet metal in the HVAC department.

During naptime Sam measured, cut, trimmed, glue, screwed and otherwise transformed a wasted space into an entertaining area. Jack woke up first and knew just what to do with it!

 Sam's next project (because honestly, I didn't do diddly on any of this) was to install a kid-height closet rail in our hall coat closet.  I haven't yet color coded the hangers so the boys can pick out their own coats (because you KNOW I will) but I already love how much less crowded the closet is.