Home Office

Our house has a really nice room in the front that technically counts as a bedroom, but is more like a den.  Because of its proximity to our master bedroom, we used it as Lincoln's room up until this spring.  We knew it would eventually become our home office--especially after Austin started working from home--so we never really did anything with it.  I hated it.  It was a great room that was blah from floor to ceiling.  I couldn't wait until the day it had some color on the walls!  Here's what it looked like when we looked at the house:

The picture makes it look better than it really was.  The carpet, walls, curtains and everything were all the same almondy color as the rest of the house.  Not to mention a gross ceiling fan.  There is a large double-door closet with two sets of built-in drawers (see above). 

This is what it looked like when were getting ready to move Lincoln upstairs:

I actually hadn't taken down the heavy valences and added some colorful toys to the room until recently.  Also, the room-darkening mini blinds stayed closed most of the time because Lincoln mostly just slept in the room and it was a pain opening and closing six different sets of blinds. 

After successfully moving Lincoln upstairs at the beginning of March, Austin painted the room a bright yellow, installed new blinds and temporarily reassembled his desk in the middle of the room until the floors got refinished.

We each got a new desk, which turned into a bit of a hassle.  (We've got an extra if you're interested!)  Again, I kept waiting until things were "finished" to take pictures.  I even have material purchased for a valance curtain, but it's still hanging on the blinds with clips like it's supposed to look when it's "finished."  So, here are the reveal pictures:

Can you guess which desk is mine and which one is Austin's?  I admit to taking a little extra care to straighten up my desk for this picture.  Austin's desk pretty much always looks like that.  Austin's job and goal is to eliminate the use for paper as much as possible.  My job is to manage all kinds of papers. 

I'm excited about how my bulletin board turned out.  I covered it using scrapbooking paper and made signs on the computer.  I have the beginnings of some organizational systems going.  After a hasty move into the new space, I have not taken the time to really sit down and sort through things like I want or need to.  The closet with all the drawers also has some great potential with a little TLC.  But I'll save that for another post when it's "finished." ;o)

Lincoln's room

I haven't posted about a major home improvement project in a long, long time.  Does that mean we haven't done anything?  No way!  So, on the eve of our next major project (the pink master bathroom), I'll let you know what we did last winter/spring. :o)

At the beginning of March we moved Lincoln from what had been his room on the main level to his new room upstairs.  This bedroom has served many purposes and gone through many changes.  Here are some pictures from when we originally looked at the house:

When we first moved in we ripped out the carpet and repainted the walls to serve as a guest room.  Many friends and family stayed there.  When Austin changed jobs in December 2009 and started working from home, it also became his temporary office.

But the ultimate plan was to make it Lincoln's room.  A year ago we moved the queen size bed to Emily's room and bought a new single bed for Lincoln with built-in drawers and shelves.  I also repainted the room blue.   We didn't actually move Lincoln until the beginning of March 2012.  Later that month we had all the hardwood floors in the house refinished.  Then I accessorized and decorated.  I kept waiting to take final pictures until everything was finished, but "finished" is a relative term.  So here is what it looks like now:

The lamp and wall decals were part of a matching set from Target.  I actually have some matching valence panels, too--the first curtains I've ever purchased and not sewn myself.  Unfortunately, after sitting in the package for almost a year, I recently pulled them out only to discover they need a major hem job before they would work.  :o(  Given my recent track record on sewing projects (I have material for kitchen curtains that has been sitting in the bag for over 2 years) and the fact that not a single other window in our house has curtains (they all have blinds), I decided not to wait any longer for the reveal.

Lincoln loves his room, and I love the way it turned out.  By now we really don't use the changing table anymore.  Soon I'll convert to toy shelves or something.  A room is never finished! :o)

School week in review

I don't have any fun pictures, but I thought I'd record a post summarizing the first week of school.  Emily really enjoyed her first week and was excited to go back each day.  She still hasn't needed her alarm clock as she has come down the stairs fully dressed by 6:45am every day.  She also still hasn't slept under the covers. ;o)

Emily definitely prefers riding in the van to walking to school, although we have tried to walk at least one way each day.  It is quite a hike either uphill or downhill.  It is also along and across some very busy roads.  It will be quite awhile before I would trust her on her own.

By Thursday, Emily seemed to be more settled in, less tired/grouchy after school and much more talkative.  We still haven't heard a whole lot about things they have done in the actual classroom.  We have, however, heard every detail of how lunch period works.  Lunch and recess are her favorite things, although she claims Monday will be her favorite day when they get to check books out of the library and go to the computer lab.

Emily is being a great sport about trying school lunch even though she doesn't care for some of the food.  Once we cycle through everything we'll start thinking about packing a lunch.  We try to start out the day with a large breakfast that includes something hot like oatmeal or scrambled eggs.  I'm thankful they have a milk break with crackers in the morning and a "fruit break" with a healthy snack you pack yourself in the afternoon.  She's usually still pretty hungry after school!

Emily already seems to know the names of most of the kids in her class (I think they have spent a lot of time learning them and getting to know each other).  I also already know the names of the kids who are probably going to be the chronic troublemakers.  Her teacher uses a stoplight as a classroom management strategy.  Emily told me she always raises her hand politely and tries to be quiet as a mouse so she will never move off green. :o)

Lincoln & I also had a great week.  After an exhausting day running around on Tuesday, we had a more relaxed rest of the week.  Lincoln spent a lot of uninterrupted time playing with trains (we moved the train table upstairs) and all kinds of toys out of the toy closet.  We went on an 8-mile bike ride one morning through the tunnels on the Waverly Rail Trail with a stop at Fareway on the way home.  He also spent some quality time sitting in the sandbox.  I felt like I accomplished a lot, including some yummy baking, and am somewhat back on top of things within the household and on the computer.  I have a lot more I'd like to catch up on, though, including the blog!  (This is part of another 10+ post run, so click on "older posts" to catch them all.)

I'll end with a video of how Lincoln spent a good deal of Friday morning without his sister around to boss him or run the show--except the last clip which was after school and Emily shares a trivia fact from the book she had just checked out of the public library.  :o)

School organization

We had a great summer, but with the new school year beginning I am looking forward to getting back into regular routines and doing some more organizing!  Every organizing book/article/blog I have read says dealing with the onslaught of school/activity papers is one of the biggest ongoing challenges they face.  This is my first attempt at a system to deal with it:

Hanging in the kitchen by the mail counter is a five-slot wall organizer for incoming papers, stuff for certain people, and papers that need to be returned to school.  The dry-erase calendar is now the visible schedule for everyone in the house and will include special notes and the supper menu for that day on the right.  The printed calendar is the school lunch menu.  The flip packet of sheet protectors is a routine checklist for Emily for three specific time periods: morning, after school and evening.  They will eventually be specific for each day (such as when to wear P.E. clothes and if certain activities are on certain days).  I'm going to wait a couple weeks to see how our schedule shakes out before making one for each day.  Emily loves checking things off the list.  She can even use a dry-erase marker if she wants.

Although she's just in Kindergarten, Emily will start having homework, so I put together a fun "homework center" on the table in the play area.  Emily is super excited and has pretty much turned it into her secondary art desk.

I have many more organizing projects in mind.  I hope to be sharing some more with you soon!

First day of Kindergarten!

Today was the big day!  Emily has been counting down the days until Kindergarten since the end of July.  In preparation for shifting sleep patterns, we bought a little alarm clock that we had been slowing setting earlier for the last five days.  Emily was so excited for school, she was up and dressed to the shoes by 6:20am.  She even slept on top of her covers so she wouldn't have to make her bed in the morning.  :o)

We didn't actually leave for school until 8:00am.  All four of us hiked walked the 12 blocks uphill to West Cedar Elementary.  We waited until Emily's class walked into the building.  I teared up but didn't cry.  Lincoln started bawling when we turned to leave.  I think it was more because he wanted to stay and watch the excitement of all the kids and school buses more than missing Emily. ;o)

This is Emily with her teacher, Sara Nuss, and a girl named Madison who sits at her table.

All lined up

There she goes!

So what did Lincoln & I do?  We had a huge shopping/errand day in Waterloo.  It included a special lunch date at the new Noodles & Company by the mall.  We both gave it two thumbs up!

Lincoln & I got home just in time to walk back to school to pick Emily up in the afternoon.  Lincoln was so excited to wear his new Thomas backpack and see the school buses again.

Emily's first comment was, "It was fun, but it's a long day!  I think I need a nap!"  I could have used a nap at that point, too!  She was so tired she rode home in the double stroller while Lincoln walked and showed off the pretty red leaf he had found.  It was a great way to start the new school year!

3 years + 3 months

I tried very hard to get Lincoln to smile without closing his eyes.  This was the result...

Part of bribing him to sit in the chair for a picture is letting him take a picture of me.  Except he kept turning the camera around backwards and taking pictures of himself.

 Finally a halfway decent picture of me (cropped).

Anyway, another month has passed with this loveable goofball named Lincoln.  It's hard to know where to start!  Potty training is probably the best place.  Lincoln has been doing great!  After spending lots of time in the bathroom together, we are well on our way.  And by "we" I mean both Lincoln & I.  He is pretty much willing to sit on the toilet whenever I ask and goes almost every time.  So it's really a matter of me remembering to have him go often enough.  He wears underwear during the day and a diaper at night.  He has even woken up dry a couple times.  I actually returned an unopened box of diapers to Target.  Hooray!  This time around has been much less stressful and has seemed to just come naturally.  I'm glad I waited until he was ready instead of trying to force the issue.

Lincoln has a new found love for everything Curious George.  He has ditched his Thomas the Train pillow pet and puppy blanket and now uses a stuffed Curious George as a pillow and a Curious George fleece tie blanket as covers.  We read Curious George before bed, and he falls asleep listening to Curious George audio CD's.  We have lots of CG stuff because Emily went through a similar phase.  However, they both still love Thomas, too. :o)

We're currently working on correcting pronouns.  Lincoln refers to everyone as "he" regardless of gender.  This drives Emily nuts.  Lincoln has also started picking his fingernails where Emily left off.  This drives me nuts. :op


Lincoln has been extremely curious about noises lately.  Several times a day he asks, "What's that noise?"  It has been everything from the ticking of a wall clock to the public address announcer drifting from the football field.

Lincoln is still very much a mama's boy.  Daddy can't do anything as long as Mommy is around--especially wash his face after supper.  It was so bad one night that after Lincoln knocked his sippy cup on the floor during supper and Austin picked it up, Lincoln started bawling and put it back on the floor pointing to me to pick it up.  It stayed there until he got thirsty enough to get it himself.  I still love my little buddy, though!

Rocket ship

Emily has been enjoying a new set of books we bought this summer that includes lots of experiments and projects.  Today she begged to make the rocket ship from the section on Space.  We simplified it quite a bit by using an orange juice carton for the ship and Legos for the accessories instead of constructing everything out of cardboard boxes and paper.  I even found a can of silver spray paint in the basement. 

Ready to blast off!

Speeding through the solar system

Can you recognize all the planets?

The Lorenzen family sleeping in their space beds (Daddy is driving in the chair).

These are the "day trip" accessories since not everything fit inside.  I made the couch, and Emily made the rest.

Of course, Lincoln wanted one, too.  By shear luck, we had a second juice carton that was almost gone.  He didn't care what color it was and enjoyed his simplified version just as much as Emily.

Art Wall

Just for the record, this is what the art wall downstairs and Emily's bedroom door look like before we clear them off for the new school year...

First painting

Up until this point I have only been letting Emily paint when Lincoln was sleeping or not around because I knew he'd want to do it, too, and it would be very labor intensive on my part.  Today he asked and I acquiesced.  Here is his first ever creation: