Little Literates: Mommy Has Reading Nook Envy!

This Sunday my husband and I spent the kids' naptime working on the school/toy room. We really wanted to get it cleaned out and organized before Christmas so that we could make room for the new books, school supplies, and any rogue toys we get (we've requested no toys this year, but we know we will undoubtedly come home with a few here and there)!

One of my favorite parts of the room is the reading nook we made. I don't know if you've caught on, but....I like to read. Shocking revelation, huh!? ;o) Ever since I was young I would try and find isolated, cozy places to read. Whether it was under my covers with a flashlight after my Dad had said "lights out," or tucked into a feather coat up in a tree during the winter, I have always looked for special reading "nooks." Now, as a mother of little readers, I have desperately been wanting to create just such a nook for our kids. We don't have any oversized window sills or stairs with cubbies underneath, so we had to make do with what space we have available to us. I got some white throw pillows and a fun circle pillow with matching blanket on clearance at Wal-Mart, as well as a cheap (but really soft!) bath mat, re-stickable dry erase wall dots on clearance at Office Max, and two plastic shelves from IKEA. Here's how it turned out:

MOMMY IS JEALOUS! I want a reading nook! My husband plans on building our next (and permanent) home with his own two hands, and knows that a reading nook for Mommy ranks right up there with a big laundry room and spacious kitchen!

This is what I caught later in the day (as you can see, the book they are reading, One Magical Day, is one of our favorites and has been "loved on" a little bit. Mommy needs to repair it!):

All toys in the house are now successfully corralled into the toy/school room! The only exceptions are that Corbin has all of his horse collection in the boys' room, Abby has some of her favorite dolls and stuffed animals on her bed, and Daniel has a tub of infant/toddler toys and board books in the living room. Let me give you a quick tour of the rest our little one room school house!

This is the toy shelf, holding the toys that survived "The Great Toy Purge - 2009":

Here is the school table, right underneath the window so we always have plenty of light:

This is our music corner. Underneath the piano is a basket holding all of our other instruments (echo microphones, cymbals, rhythm sticks, recorders, drum, rain stick, etc.):

Here you can see our easel with supplies underneath, a section of the chalkboard donated by a friend of ours, and our foam building blocks:

Lastly, we have our school shelf and stuffed animals. On top of the bookshelf is our CD player for our music time, our books for the day, and a memory verse. The top shelf holds extra curricula and supplements. The middle shelf is for art supplies, Play-doh, and flashcards. And the bottom shelf now holds our library books and math manipulatives:

And now you've seen the Straight Paths Christian School's layout! We've decided not to paint or redo any carpets in here (or anywhere in the house, for that matter), because -- frankly -- what's the point when you have this many infants/toddlers/preschoolers running around?! It's fun, functional, and organized -- that's all we need!

I will leave you with one last sweet image of Corbin and Abby reading together, just because it makes Mommy so happy!