5 Boys, 1 Bath! (Nesting, Part 4)

That's right...

 

Soon and very soon, our house will be filled with 5 boys who will, for most things, be sharing ONE bathroom. 

 

And, I don't mean some mansion bath with multiple sinks and tons of square footage...I'm talkin' small, 50 sq. ft. of bathroom.

 

(Anyone else picturing a frat house in their minds?)

 

Now, besides the obvious overcrowding issues of bringing home two more boys, there are issues of cleanliness to contend with.

 

So, other than teaching everyone to be considerate of others and not take 15 minute showers...

 

there needed to be a little bit of organization. 

 

 I found too, that some of these little changes have helped to teach necessary lessons in personal hygiene to boys who, because of lack of parenting and certain cultural differences, just don't have those skills.

 

So, what are your bathroom pet peeves?

We all have them.

 

Wet towels on the floor?

 

Shampoo bottles all over the bottom of the tub?

 

Washclothes wadded up in the corner of the tub?

 

Toothpaste on the sink?

 

Urine on the walls and floor?

 

 

In my case, all of the above are on my list. 

 

So, step one? 

Getting each child a body scrubber of their own.

(Different colors to keep them clear on whose is whose)

 

 

Then, I used some of those 3M hooks

(the ones specifically for the bath)

and hung each one according to the height of the child so there was no excuse for not putting them right back where they belonged after they are done cleaning.

 

When Colin first came home, I used Google translate and typed up an "instruction manual" of sorts and taped it to the mirror in the bathroom.

"Steps to a clean body".

 

Let's face it.  When you bring home a toddler, you can take them into the bath and make sure that they are well cleaned. 

 

Not the case when you bring home a full grown teenage boy. 

 

Well, after bringing home Cameron several months later and realizing that he was clueless about personal hygiene, I thought, maybe if all his "tools" were in one place, he would remember each "step".

 

So, I gathered all the necessary things and got each boy their own metal tub.

 

A few colorful paint pens and "ta-da"!

 

 

 

Now, every time one of the boys is getting cleaned up, they know that they are to use each thing in their tub every day.

 

Sure, it means buying more items all at once, but it really did seem to help them remember to comb their hair, use deodorant, brush their teeth and floss. 

 

Now, 5 kids sharing one bathroom isn't always an issue.  Take showers, for example. 

 

Since the littles all have to be out the door in the morning an hour earlier than the older two will, they will take their showers at night before devotions/bedtime. 

The older two?

In the morning before school or after the younger ones go to bed.

 

One time that we realized it did get a little dicy was before bed when everyone was brushing their teeth.  So, we decided to put the two, (soon to be three) younger boys in the upstairs bath and Colin (and Connor when he comes home) will have their tubs and toothbrushes in the half bath downstairs.

 

That eliminates the scenario where we have 5 boys fighting for a spot to SPIT all at the same time into the same sink!

(That never ends well!)

Lastly, we needed to fix the towel hanging situation.  This one was inspired by Pinterest.

When you rent, as many of you may know, you often have the cheapest possible fixtures.  Our towel rack was one such fixture.

I lost count how many times this has fallen down off the wall.

That's when I saw an alternative idea...

I found this pre-made board at Hobby Lobby
and my husband stained it for me.



Then, it was time for new towels.
Thanks to a wonderful sale at Kohls and some timely Kohls cash that was about to expire, we were able to get some nice new towels at
Wal-Mart prices!

 

A little denim binding..... and...

Voila!

Yes, this is the full extent of my sewing abilities!

 

 

Now, the boys will be able to hang their towels on a hook instead of "trying" to fold them and hang them nicely.  Much easier and saves a lot of space.

Of course, no nest is complete without birds.

The real question was..
do we go with a straight flock of birds?


Or more of a zig zag pattern?

 

 

These are serious questions, people!
Since our flock is definitely NOT a uniform bunch, we went with the zig zag!

My dear hubby hung it for us. 
He even made sure we had the strongest mounts possible anticipating some
"stress" in its future.

He drilled the mounting holes and counter sunk the heads of the screws so that the outside bird hooks would cover them and present a bit neater.

 

Placing the final bird hook...

Here is the finished product:


And a pleased middle child!
Ta-Da!



Now, none of this is rocket science, but it has already, with only three boys, helped keep things a bit more sane (and cleaner too!)



Nesting- Part 2

Last week, I shared that the nesting has begun.  Boy, has it begun!

 

If you missed my first project, then you can read about it here.

 

Remember the cool wall decal we found months ago?  I was so excited to see our Cooper's name among my children in the entryway of our home.

 

 

Well, as most everyone knows, WE were not planning on bringing home two boys this time.  So, after listening to God's call and deciding to bring Connor home as well... our wall needed an upgrade!

 

 

Now, the first thing that the boys will see when they come to their new home is that they belong here!

 

But, cosmetic, decorative changes are not all that is required when bringing two more boys home.

There are many, more practical things that need to be done around the house and while I am waiting for our Travel approval to come, what better time to work on these things?

 

 

This room is the center of our lives.

 

The table where we eat together,

 

 play games together,

 

 

 and study God's word together.

 

 

If you are observant, you will notice that we only have 6 chairs.

 

First logistical problem when becoming a family of 7!

 

 

 

 

 

An additional project that Tom took on was some organization.  We had these various bookshelves around the house, so he painted them all black and placed them along one wall in our eating area.

Now we have all our devotinal books and Bibles within arms reach as well as all HIS cookbooks.

 (I don't cook, y'all!)

 

We also found these really cute green baskets on the after Christmas clearance sale.

Now, we have a place for the mail and other assorted items that no longer clutter up our counters!

(Insert happy mama here!)

 

 

The coolest part of this room???

 

Check this out!

Cameron and I were a little stir crazy Saturday with all the sickies around the house, so we took Tommy and headed out to the Goodwill to kill some time and look around.

Look what we found!

 

In case you don't read Mandarin...

 

This is a beautiful, hand-written Bible verse.

 

Colossians 1:3-5 to be exact!

 

What makes this even cooler is that Colossians 1:3 is the very last verse that we memorized as a family.

 

SERIOUSLY?

 

God is so good!

 

He gave me that print, matted and framed, to match the black bookshelves, no less!!!

 

And at a price that I could afford to pay!

 

On the opposite wall, I decided to hang a couple of pictures till I make a final decision on what I want to do over there.

I can't wait until we have all 5 of our boys in a picture together! 

 

 



Nesting for two more Chicks!

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Now that we are officially into 2013, I am working hard to get the family, and the house, ready for our two new chicks!

 

Yes, that's right, the nesting is in full force!

 

With a small, three bedroom house, it takes a bit of creativity to welcome our newest sons into the fold.

 

It also takes some organization.

 

So, I decided to share this journey as we grow into what most would officially call a "large family".

 

Tonight's post will share one small project, but as we finish others, I will share those too.

 

This is where my new best friend comes in...

 

That's right!

 

PINTEREST!

 

I recently discovered pinterest and while I don't have much extra time on my hands these days for browsing the thousands of cool ideas that others are sharing, I have seen a couple cool things that I have tried and am excited about.

 

 

With our family about to grow again, one of my pet peeves is about to get, potentially, much worse.

 

 

That's when I saw it!

The solution to the ever growing pile of dishes!

Specfically, CUPS!

 

 

With three thirsty boys underfoot, it is not uncommon for us to go through 20 cups a day or more. 

 

Let the insanity end!

 

That's when I saw it. 

The solution to our

cup-hoarding,

water-wasting,

sink-filling,

cup problem!

 

So, what is this magic pet-peeve solving tool?

This little baby is going to bring peace and contentment to our home.

 

Ok, maybe it is not going to promise world peace, but it will go a long way to

de-clutter our counters and that makes this mama very happy!

 

This was not difficult, as any one of my friends who know me will atest.  I am not (let me say it again- N.O.T.) Martha Stewart.

 

In fact, I am not domestically gifted in any way.

(This is why God gifted me with TOM!)

 

So, when I say this was easy, believe it.

 

I started with some cheap white bath tiles from Lowes. ($.81/each).

 

Then, I cut out some pretty scrapbook paper and with a little Rubber Cement, glued the paper to the tiles.

 

Next was the part of the process where we label each tile so that the family members know where to keep and find THEIR cups.

 

The original poster from Pinterest used the first initial of each family member to label hers.

Not a great idea for a family full of Cs!

 

So, we went with the full monogram...

Using Black stickers (half-price at Michaels), we marked each tile.

 

Next step?

A little Modge-Podge to set it all and protect from water damage.

 

Then, Tom cut a plain board long enough to accommodate all these tiles people!

 

A little black paint, some poly on top for extra protection and shazam!

 

 

The final touch?

A couple of cabinet door handles and we are finished.

 

Now, hopefully, this...

 

Will become this:

 

It's the little things!