Mud Pie Kitchen

Our entire house has been gradually undergoing small changes that are adding up to what feels to us like a new home. The front room and library received new carpet, fresh paint, and a total purging of stuff.  Needing simplicity and open space I even took decor  down from the walls! Less, less, less....and loving it! Everything has been cleared out, organized, and rearranged I am finding several things regarding the boys and open uncluttered space:

1. With less toys the boys actually PLAY with something! Jason and I both noticed that when we removed the mass of play things and set only a few manipulative type toys down in the uncluttered floor they played with them. This is huge for us as we often observed our boys just roaming around holding and hoarding toys. They will set to the task of playing now and be content for the longest time.

2. Rearranging toys, art supplies, and furniture made them new again for the boys! Toys that have not been played with in ages, given a fresh home in the house, have suddenly become exciting once more. Coloring books on the top of the book shelf for months were moved into a basket on the flloor and now.....coloring has begun.  A pile of relocated  stuffed animals, long ignored, . are now being used for jumping cushions. Areas once used for toy bins are now empty zones for wrestling, spontaneous building, and my favorite....instant reading nooks. 

3. Less stuff is like a breath of fresh air. Fresh air for the imagination. Fresh air for the mommy who spends much less time now picking up junky toys. Fresh air for the entire family as we are having a blast with the new found space and freedom. Fresh air for the entire concept of play in our home.


We have also been making changes in our backyard. Jason stained the deck, we tore up lots of dense landscape (this is where I got two weeks worth of poison ivy...grrr), and are building an area for the pups so that they do not keep running a muck in the part we like to run barefoot. I have all sorts of plans in the yard....music walls...water walls, art station, and......drum roll......the mud kitchen!

So, the sandbox is great. The dudes love it. But, the mud kitchen....oh...they adore the mud kitchen. Is it dirty? You bet.  I created a small area that we make into mud. The boys wear aprons, but that is only because I think they are cute. The aprons do not really make less of a mess! I get our a box of spoons, bowls, pans, and various other dishes that can just be hosed off later. The dudes play for hours! They bring me mud pies, mud drinks, mud everything. They interact so well together out in the sunshine.  Mud. Better than any plastic battery operated  toy in the world...... :)

We also created a fantastic car ramp out of old boxes and the dudes spent HOURS shooting cars at fast pace down the bunkbed.

and, then there are times when instead of toys we have just been rolling each other up on burrito blankets and laughing until our tummies hurt.....