Take a Trailer tour: Part 1

We've made it 1 whole week here in Holmes Manor. We are adjusting to the small space in most ways, and other areas are taking extra grace.

I wanted to give a mini (haha) tour of our digs and storage solutions. I've had several ask "how do you do it?" And some interested in perusing a similar "Tiny House" adventure. So follow along and hopefully I can provide a few tips along the way.

I'm going to highlight the "kids rooms" today.

They have 1 cabinet that they share for toys, hoodies, hats, games, and books. We've equipped it with hanging shelves, tubs, storage bins, command hooks, and several hangers. The key is obviously to utilize every inch of space possible. They each have one drawer for ALL of their clothes except shoes go in bins outside our front door. The toys we selected were minimal, and thought out. Lego bin. Magnatiles. Coloring books and crayons. Tinker toys. 1 bin of planes/cars/superheros, a bin of games that have minimal pieces (except battleship for Ethan ) and books. I have large rubbermaid totes of games, books, and toys in my moms garage that we can rotate if needed.

They each have their own "room." It's personalized for their needs. Ethan got the top because of his ladder mastery. He also has his radio and a few books and his lovies and blankies. We love having the curtains on each room for privacy and light during quiet/bed times. It's not as good as a door, but it's the next best thing. Ethan still continues to do quiet time every day and loves his daily bowl of carrots (EVERY DAY) And recently is very into Lego building and creating. There are so many perks to Asbergers. Consistency, enjoying quiet solitude, and contentment with routine just to name a few..

Luke's room as you can see has some extra storage tubs we have to store extra linens, towels, toiletries, hoodies, coats, and backpacks. He doesn't seem to mind the invasion of his space.  (Both kids are happily playing tinker toys in the picture below). We don't have space for a fan so he has a small noise machine.

We've also hung 2 big canvas pocket storage units on the back of the bathroom door. These are for school work, moms paperwork and mail, art supplies, more books,  ect. They are sturdy and are super easy to hang with command hooks. 90% of our storage solutions we got from amazon.com.

Stay tuned for more of our trailer-tour ! :D

Put some spring in your step

Last weekend we took the boys to a friend's house to check out the farm. She had some new lambs amongst other creatures. Luke showed no fear, and wanted to poke the chicken in the eye. Ethan kept his distance but was still interested. :)

Luke is...

Sweet. Shy. Cuddly. Stubborn. Silly.


He loves muffins! (Fuffins)

He adores duplo legos.

He gets goofy and giggly at night when he is sleepy.

He enjoys playing quietly by himself. But next to me.

He always carries a water bottle around. Sometimes 2.

He is obsessed with my pots and pans.

He is very good at following instructions (when he wants to!)

He LOVES doing what his big brother does.

He sleeps all night.

He still takes a nap (YAY FOR MOMMY!)

He begs for me to read the same 3 books over and over... and over.

He hates being left out.

He always dumps out the toy bin, even if he just was instructed to pick it all up.

He also dislikes tomatoes, beans, and cheese.

He screams about EVERYTHING. Ear piercing screams.

He gets mad if I try to help him.. (he can do it HIMSELF)

He throws food on the floor.

He will hate his dinner before he even tastes it.


THIS sweet little munchkin is so silly. He loves to make me laugh. He gets "embarrassed" when I praise him for doing something right. Its so cute. He is growing quickly and developing an independent attitude about things he can "do himself"... while at the same time, still loves being close to me. I so appreciate that, and hope that it lasts. We look forward to potty training him this summer, and maybe even trying to learn how to ride a trike! We love you L.J.!

 He was so excited to put turkey on his finger, just like olives.

 He thinks this is how tongs are used...

 

Snow days. Slow days.

They are calling it "Snowpocalypse 2014"

 

I've just been calling it super fun! We love snow! I am so grateful that Seth was able to work from home on Friday and Monday this week because of the 14+ inches of snow we got here.. We spent a lot of time out sledding, building, fighting, playing, and eating snow. So much fun! Many memories made this week. Enjoy the pictures. :)

 Its too cold Mom!

Love his blue eyes.

 First Snow Angel! :)

 Yum

 Luke helping his Daddy with Fort Holmes

 We call this Luke's "Zoolander" face... he does it when he is focused or concentrating. So so funny!

 Yummy!

 High Five!

 This makes me laugh. I will never forget the look on his face when he got it with a snowball in the mouth. Daggers! SO FUNNY!

 These birds were so hungry! They were looking for a snack.



Seattle 2013

This post is a little late, but I believe taking a trip to Seattle may very well become a yearly tradition for our family.. so I wanted to document it. We took Ethan when he was 9 mths old but this was Luke's first trip.

We bought the Seattle City Pass which had vouchers to let us into the main Seattle attractions, including a harbor cruise to see the cityscape of seattle, 2 trips up to the top of the Space Needle, the Aquarium, and many other things that we didn't even have time to do (the aviation museum and science center are both on our list for next year)... We highly recommend the city pass, as it saves a considerable amount of money, and is still valid up to 3 months after purchase. We made sure to book a hotel that had a pool so the kids could get some water time. They sleep so well after pool time!

Enjoy the pictures! :)


Pool time!

 Ethan can't help but dance when he hears music. I love that about him.

 

 We rode the max that took us from the space needle to a nearby shopping mall (it was huge!) Ethan loved watching the buildings go by...

 

 Seattle Aquarium

 I took this from the Harbor Cruise Ship.

 

 Photo Bomb. :)

 Seattle Train Station

 

 Waving to the Max train going by.

 First face paint!!!

 

See you next time Seattle!