Let the Experiment Begin!

I'm not sure if it was elementary science fairs or just my incredible curiosity but I love experiments. Kind of weird, I know but also super fun! 

We have been planning our out of state move for years - 4 years! In fact our first scouting trip was 2 kids ago ... unless you count our first trip which was pre kids. One of the things holding me back the most was the growing zone. We are a 6 here and were a 9 where we moved from - 3 zones difference is huge! Plus we were moving from great soil to sand! Would we be able to garden here? I began to read every book I could find on improving soil and every pin I could find too. Something that came up over and over was biochar. It fascinated me, but also seemed like some hippy nonsense. In all my searching I found one person who did a cool experiment but there was no update posted.  So, I decided to try my own! 

We have garden boxes in the backyard that are about 2 by 7 and the soil is super sandy. Oddly enough our soil varies widely from clay to silt to sand all over our yard, but the garden boxes are all very sandy.  

Last fall we mowed up the leaves and piled them up in all the garden boxes and the flower beds. Great and free way to incorporate organic matter. We had a good 4-6" of chopped up leaves covering everything. We also added 2 bags of manure and a bag of compost that we got on super clearance from Walmart (75 cents and 25 cents - couldn't pass that up!).  There was an odd lack of earthworms when we started looking at the soil after we moved and after the winter with the little bit of manure, compost, and lots of leaves the worms are impressive! Already our soil is improving! 

This Spring I ordered biochar from Amazon and got "Cowboy Charcoal" - Royal Oak brand to test out the difference and to see if either one makes a difference from all the other stuff we are doing to the beds to improve the soil.  

 

 

The biochar was an amazing consistency and was almost dust free! Cowboy charcoal had to be crushed which was a pain, but it was HALF the cost - much more manageable of an investment.  

If what I have read is correct, then this amendment will last for a long long time so the investment will be worth it!  

Biochar is also know as terra preta and was first found when researching how the poor soils of the Amazon could support such a large population. They used charcoal from their fires along with waste (kitchen scraps and human waste) to feed their soil. The difference between other ancient populations is that the Amazon soil is still super fertile. Still, which means this soil improvement lasts a very very long time. 

I added each to a (separate) bin with a bag of steer manure and filled with water. This is to charge it so it doesn't take nutrients from the soil. The idea is that biochar can hold onto water and nutrients better than the soil can and it releases it when the plants need it. So, it is especially good for sandy soil which lets water and nutrients flow right through. 

 

After a month of letting them sit, I added the mixture from each bin to a separate garden box and used a garden fork to turn the soil. It was about 2" on top of each bed and I mixed it as deep and evenly as I could.  After it was mixed in I added compost to fill the bed - it was about 4-5" of compost, which I waited to mix into the soil until right before planting. 

About a month later it was time to plant! In our area the average last frost date in MAY 15th.  I tried to plant the beds similarly so I could eliminate as many differences as possible and focus on just the biochar and cowboy charcoal. 

I'm so excited - will they make a difference? 

Quick and Easy Tips for Summer Learning!

How is it already summer break?  Didn't school just start?  The school year seems like it drags on yet is over in the blink of an eye!

I get asked a ton what to do over the summer by friends, family, and parents, so here goes!

The summer slide is a phrase used to describe the loss of learning that happens over the summer.  Think of it like your kiddo is at the top of the slide and at the end of summer they are at the bottom. I've lived this every year of my 12 year teaching career.  It doesn't happen with every kid, but to those who don't pick up a book or even see a book during the summer.  If you don't use it (skills you learn) you loose it!  I also see it happen with skills that have been practiced but not mastered.  However, here's the beauty of the slide analogy - there are stairs to get back to the top of the slide!  It's not like these kids will never get back to where they were, it's just that it takes a bit of time.  But, if you are reading this then you probably want to prevent that.  You can ever up your kid's skills over the summer and it's easier than you think. 

Almost enough yapping ... I honestly believe that parents are kids most important teacher.  As a parent that is a hard pill to swallow because then we think we get blamed for our kids not learning but it's not like that.  There is no blame game in a good education.  Kids ARE going to struggle and that's ok.  Parents are going to struggle and that's ok.  If we (parents) just know how to support our kids in learning then our kids will excel!  As a teacher I get a child for a year (or two if I am lucky enough to loop) and I can make a ton of progress in that time but as a parent I get my child for a lifetime!

On to what to do to prevent the summer slide and even get your kid to academically grow over the summer:

1 - READ - I say this to ever parent every year - the most important thing you can do to support your child's learning is to read to them/with them EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Seriously, it's that easy!  Read, read, READ!  This develops vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and promotes a love of reading.  My one year old sitting on my lap while I read him a book is teaching him so much but the most important thing is that it is developing a love of reading and learning.  

If you have a beginning or struggling reader I LOVE BOB books - they are great with phonics and are easy to see where to progress to next - start with set 1 then move on to set 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.  You can usually find them at a local bookstore but I also love the Costco version because they are bigger. Check your local library too before you purchase!  For a beginning reader it is hard to choose books because the leveling varies widely but BOB books do a great job sequencing their books for the reader's success.  

2 - PLAY - what?  Play?  I thought we were talking about how to keep your kid learning over the summer ... focus Sarah, focus!  Let me let you in on a not so secret ... play is the work of the child - play IS learning!  This book - Play and The Power of Play are on my to read list but I've read Purposeful Play and it's eye opening!  The more open ended the play is the longer it will last and the deeper the benefits.  Plus play is fun and summer should be fun!  Sneaking in learning while having fun is a win win!

3 - Pick something to focus on - one academic skill.  Maybe your kid struggled with 2 digit addition or subtraction with borrowing (that is hard!) or maybe your kiddo has not mastered their math facts.  Maybe their handwriting needs work (this is my lefty!) or they are having trouble remembering the states or maybe they are struggling with phonics.  Whatever they struggled with the most - work on it over the summer.  Not the hard core study session right before a test kind of work on it either.  15 minutes a day should be good - you want small chunks of time that are going to add up to big progress.  If your struggles with 15 minutes cut it to 10 or 5 - the important thing is a little bit of time each day adds up to a lot of learning over the whole summer.  Just as important as progress is the confidence boost they will get when they go back to school and are better at something they struggled with.  You can google worksheets for the skill you are working on or look on Teacher Pay Teachers or Amazon - there are so many workbooks out there!  You can also try Khan academy or a whiteboard and pens.  

If you don't know what to work on or your kiddo didn't struggle with anything but you still want something for them to do then try the summer bridge books, they are great!  Click the grade your child will be in NEXT year (in the Fall) for the book to buy this summer - Kinder, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade.  What's great about the workbooks is that it is 15 minutes a day - that's perfect to keep skills sharp but still have time for fun and less structured learning.  

4 - Pick something non academic to focus on.  Let me be very clear here - by non academic I do not mean they will not learn from it - they will!  I mean cooking, sewing, woodwork, chess, any instrument, gardening, origami, really anything that they love!  Maybe they could try one recipe a week this summer and by fall you'll have a kid who can cook or bake better that many adults!  Buy this book or this book and work your way through it - so much fun and such a huge life skill!  Let them pick something they love and support and encourage them to practice often.  

5 - Get outside and explore!  Bike around your neighborhood, take a walk down the road or hike up a mountain.  Stay close to home or explore far away - getting outside and off a device is always a good idea!  

6 - Limit screen time.  I know, it's hard - I have 3 kids!  But, when your child (or you) have a screen in front of them it's not just what they are seeing on the screen that is bad for them (there are some great things about screens too) but it's the ball they are not kicking, the cloud they are not looking at, and even the boredom they are not feeling ... limit the screens and let them create some entertainment!  Don't eliminate it (unless of course you want to) just limit it.   

7 - Listen to audio books - I know, I just said limit screen time - but audio books are amazing and perfect for summer road trips!  Plus, your kid isn't really on a screen just listening to one!  Similar to the benefits of reading aloud to children, listening to an audio book builds many skills - vocabulary, models fluency, comprehension (especially if you talk with them about the book), and a love of literature!  We LOVE audio books for car rides or cleaning.  

8 - Family game night! I love board games for kids!  In fact, I used board games for my whole math instruction when I taught transitional Kinder!  I did Math groups and a small group of kids and I played a game while the other kids were playing other centers.  We played the same game every day for a week or more.  It is a fun way to learn Math skills!  

Some of my favorites for little ones are:

 Count Your Chickens - yes, I love chickens but this game tricks the players into counting twice a turn ... this helped the kids in my class that struggled with counting objects.  It's cooperative too, so you all win or you all lose.  

UNO - colors, number recognition and matching all in one game!  My daughter beats us pretty much every time we play. 

Race to the Treasure - the builds a path to the treasure (a cooperative game) and the players have to get there before the ogres do.  It's really good for spatial thinking which is such a hard concept for some.  The best part of cooperative games is the adult can share their thinking as they play.  "I am going to put this path here because we could go up to get the key or down to get the treasure."  It helps kids know what the adult is thinking and think a little more critically also.  

I could go on and on about games we love, but that is a different post.  Playing any game is great!

9 - Get a pen pal - How fun would it be for your kid to get and send mail!  Writing in context is the best way to improve it.  Bonus points if it is an older person to model correct letter writing!  (It is the skill that is important here - don't pick the oldest person you know, let your kiddo pick an adult to write to)  An alternative would be a mommy and me or daddy and me journal - grab a regular notebook and write a letter to your child and stick it under their pillow - when they write back they can stick it under your pillow and it goes back and forth.  

10 - Check out your local library - They usually do a summer reading program and have fun events planned for the summer.  Ours has a weekly program set up where the kids can go and learn about animals.  My kids love animals!  While you are there, check out some books and see #1 - reading really is the most important thing you can do with your child.  

Simple and doable - my kind of summer learning!  

Happy summer!  Let us know if you have any tips in the comments!

Disneyland during COVID restrictions

As a big Disney fan, I was ELATED for the park reopening. And with my kiddo having a big birthday, we decided to make a quick trip to celebrate and get what we hoped would be a little sense of normalcy.

While we did have a great time, it was by no measure anything like the magic of a pre COVID trip. And the tips on how to prepare were pretty limited, so I wanted to share based on our experience.

We flew down the day before and enjoyed some time exploring Downtown Disney. We did a full day at Disneyland park - open to close. We did not park hop over to California Adventure. Then we slept in the morning after before heading home.

Here are my Disneyland tips from our visit on 5/26:

1. Neck gaiters are not an approved mask at Disneyland. They of course will sell you a replacement at the entrance. The mask has to hook on your ears to be approved. When I went back to look at the rules there is also language about layers but I did not see that enforced. 

2. Arrive early, like way earlier than usual. We like to be in the park for rope drop and are typically there early, but with the prescreening line I would suggest arriving 1.5 hours before the park opens. The health screening began at 8:10 for a 9 am opening. The screening is quick but the line to get screened is the slow down. 

The great news is they are opening the park earlier than advertised so we were actually riding Millennium Falcon when the park technically opened. We were inside the gate at 8:30 and proceeded directly to Star Wars land. And we got more rides in the first two hours than we did all of the mid day. 

3. Stay late and get the popular rides in quick. This is always true but seemed especially useful while there were no fireworks to stay for. I hear fireworks are back soon so perhaps this will be different.

4. Get in the queue for Rise of the Resistance promptly. The 7 am time filled within 30 seconds and we just missed it. I was faster at clicking buttons at noon and we got a spot. The ride was really cool so don’t miss it. There is not a walk up option for this ride. 

See my screenshot from 7:01 am. 

5. Order your afternoon food way ahead of time. Most food requires mobile ordering. You order for a pickup window and then have to check in when you are close. When it says the food is ready then you get into another line to wait for your food. This was a mess at the dole whip location. The dole whips had sold out for the day by about 4 pm. The kids meal milks, yogurts and applesauce also appeared to sell out by the afternoon. So at noon you need to be thinking about dinner and ordering. Only churros and popcorn seemed to be served after 8 pm. It appears there is an option to cancel your order but we did not try that feature.

6. Planning for the sun is more important than ever. The distancing requirements mean than there was a time when we stood in the direct sun for 30 minutes and weren’t allowed to drink water (see mask rule) per the cast members constant reminders. That was bizarre. So have your sun hat and sunscreen ready to go. 

7. They aggressively enforce the mask rule. You cannot eat or drink in lines for the rides. In fact you can only eat or drink in approved areas of the park. These approved areas are marked in person but not marked on the map. So you have to just search for allowed eating areas. We snuck in some drinking with a straw since we didn’t have to remove our mask for that. This is also important for kids. Cast members were stopping even children whose mask had fallen below their nose. They were as pleasant as they could be and we didn’t see any altercations, but they are very strict about the masking.

8. Bring a battery backup for your phone. You have to mobile order food.  They no longer hand out maps at all, so you will need the app more than ever. It will eat away your battery. My 2 month old phone did not have enough battery for our day. 

9. The lines appear longer than they are since the lines are kept outside. By the time you reach the interior of a building, you are minutes from the attraction. They are not lining people up indoors hardly at all. So don’t be alarmed that some of the lines will appear to be the longest you have ever seen. It is just all the spacing.

10. The character experiences are fairly limited and in some cases hard to get photos with because the character is located high up. The only ‘loose’ character we saw was Goofy. The princesses were behind a fence but they were speaking with kids so the interaction was much better there. 

11. Bring lots of food and water flavor packets. We usually bring more food but with a short trip and limited hotel food (by the way apparently Orange County is limiting the ability of hotels to serve food so breakfasts are limited or completely eliminated at hotels) that was hard to do. That became an issue in the evening when they ran out of food. We actually ordered a pizza to be delivered to the hotel when we returned. And water flavor because I swear the water tasted worse than normal. H even noticed. Rancho Zocalo and Hungry Bear were both closed but were approved areas you could sit and eat. They appeared much less crowded than other areas.

12. Don’t expect the amazing food. There are fewer food service options and the menus appear to be reduced. I was really hoping for a Monte Christo sandwich but that was not to be. That restaurant wouldn’t even indicate online if there were tables open until you were in close proximity. And the general quality of the food was just not up to the normal standard. 

13. Buttons are no longer picked up at City Hall but instead can be found in any of the stores. 

14. Pack your patience and go with the flow. It won’t be like your trips before COVID. So plan on that ahead of time. But it will still have some of the Disney magic and I expect it will get better as restrictions lift.

Board and Batten Entry

 Our house lacks character like many typical homes.  We also needed a place to hang my daughter's backpack.  A place easy to grab on the way out the door to catch the bus in the morning and easy to put away when she gets home.  So, we decided to add character AND a place to hang a few things behind our front door. 

This is the space we had to work with - small and empty.  

Since this is such a small space I decided to sand off the majority of the texture on the wall instead of adding a super thin sheet of plywood to the wall. I'll be honest - it bothers me slightly but not enough to redo it.  I bet guests will not notice at all.  

Then my little helper and I used our rip cut to cut up some extra plywood.  I wanted this to be a super cheap project and to use up some of the wood in our garage.  (You know, to make room for other projects.)

We added the battens and wrapped them around to the front door.  We screwed these into the stud (we could only find one) and added anchors to make sure they could hold weight. The top batten is 5 1/2" and the other is 4 1/2"

Our walls have rounded corners so we cut the ends at a 45. It looks a lot smoother but if our corners were normal we would have left a regular cut and ended it right at the edge.  

Like I wrote above, we used what we had - which meant piecing together boards for the bottom.  I do not recommend that.  It is much easier to use a full piece.  But, with some putty and sanding and more putty and more sanding it looks great!

The boards going down are 2 1/2" and are spaced about 16" apart (the middle is centered on the wall).  I was planning to space them a foot apart and not put one on the corner by the door - but, it looked cluttered so we just put one in the middle and it looks great!  Makes the space seem a little bigger.  

Eventually we'll replace flooring and with that the baseboards, so no special cuts at the bottom for us - they actually butt up really nicely at the bottom.  

Last step before paint was to add a ledge at the top.  I'm not planning to put anything up there, but wanted to add more dimension to it. This was the only piece of lumber we bought at it was less than $2!  

Bad lighting, but it's beautiful! We cut the top ledge at a 45 by the rounded corner also - to match the rest of it.  

We caulked and painted it white.  LOVE!

I did 2 coats of paint and sanded lightly between each coat.  I sanded again ready for the 3rd and final coat and my sweet hubby put up the hooks while I was gone.  (He didn't realize it needed another coat) Someday I'll take the hooks down and put up that last coat of paint, but for now it is beautiful! 

The hooks were $4 each from Home Depot. So, all this character added to our little entryway cost less than $10!

Non Toy Easter Basket Ideas

I have Easter on the mind right now, It's only a month away!

If you are reading this you probably have too many toys in your house (or you are my mom, hi momma)! I'm a list person, so here are some ideas for your kiddos' Easter baskets that are not toys: 

- crayons, markers or colored pencils

- coloring book

- crossword or sudoku book

- craft items (pipe cleaners, googly eyes, craft sticks, etc.)

- paint (watercolors, finger paint)

- paper (colored, white copy paper or a roll)

- journal (my oldest would love this journal and this journal looks awesome)

- pretty pens

- craft kit (a bigger kit like this paint your own car or a small kit like this dog painting kit - there are so many at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Joanns, and even Dollar Tree)

- Boogie board (am I spelling this correctly?)

- swim suit

- rash guard or cover up

- towel

- sunscreen

- sunglasses

- sandals/flip flops

- beach / sand toys (can also be for snow!)

- rainboots

- raincoat

- umbrella (clear   so they don't run into everything or rainbow is so cute! so they)

- hat

- cooking or baking items (cookie scoop, muffin tin, donut pan - something they would love to learn to use)

- sprinkles (my kids LOVE sprinkles)

- books

- reading light (we LOVE this light and this egg light is also a favorite)

- clothes (new outfit for Spring or summer)

- belt

- underwear or socks

- hair items (comb, bows, detangler, etc.)

- seeds, bulbs, tubers, or even plants

- gardening supplies (hand tools, trimmers, gloves, watering can (unicorn - so fun!), etc.)

- root vue farm

- bubbles

- bubble gun or wand

- chalk

- card game (monopoly deal is on my oldest's wish list - uno is a favorite around here too)

- board game

- puzzle

- bubble bath

- bath bomb

- pajamas

- slippers

- water bottle (I'd love to try this style for the kids)

- take n toss cups (my kids love them!)

- reusable straws (we love our stainless steel and no chew marks!)

- makeup

- nail polish

- facial masks (my kids love to be monsters with green facial masks)

- lotion

- toothbrush

- toothpaste

- flossers

- ice packs (there are so many cute shapes!) 

- band aids

- sporting equipment (does this count as a toy? Basketball, football, jump rope, etc.)

- flashlight

- roasting sticks (I see my kids stabbing each other with these but a cute s'more kit sounds fun especially with camping season approaching)

- glow sticks

- snacks (fruit cups, bunny crackers, beef jerky, really anything your kids like)

- honey

- bug kit - ladybug house, ant hill, butterfly kit or even a net and little clear container for catching their own bugs

- bird feeder

- cleaning supplies (ha ha, I'm kind of kidding here but my kids love to make a mess, so a duster or a dust pan and mini broom would be appropriate for them)

- books - I know, this is the second mention but books are awesome! It could be a cookbook for your little cook, a music book for the budding musician, or a field guide to birds for your bird lover. 

I like to pick up things here and there for Easter baskets (I do the same with stockings) since it's easier to hide a few things a week from my kids instead of an entire bag of stuff. They are always with me, which makes it hard to shop for them! 

Organizing Kids Clothes

Last year, when the world shut down to flatten the curve my baby was 7 months old and wearing 9 month clothes ... then suddenly he shot up to 12 month clothes! Kids tend to do that. Clothing stores were closed and so were second hand stores. Only the big box stores were open and I did not want to drag my 3 kiddos into that chaos to find my youngest some bigger clothes. I decided to order him some jammies online to get him by until things opened up.  The selection was terrible and I had a hard time finding his size. So weird. I ended up ordering a few pairs from Target, Walmart, and Children's Place and having everything shipped to my house (side note, I love Target's drive up option but there was nothing in his size at the 2 Targets 30 miles from my house. Again, so weird.)

Then I waited ... 

And squished him into too small jammies.

And waited ... 

It took 4 to 6 WEEKS to get his jammies! I only ordered 6 or 7 pairs!  Seriously, one month of stuffing him into too small jammies and hoping the seams would hold. Let's be real, it was a minor inconvenience but still annoying. I save everything from my oldest to pass down to my middle but my little guy doesn't get the luxury of having a bin of clothes just waiting for him to grow into. 

But, why not create a bin of next sized clothes for him (and my oldest)? 

Brilliant! 

Now my little man is in 2T, we moved states and I've found an amazing online used kids clothing store called Mommy and Me Resale (go check it out and like them on Facebook).  I have no affiliation with them but ordered all the 2T jammies when he grew again. 

Things are open here, but when he shoots up to the next size over night again, I want to be ready. I like to buy used first because I can get better quality clothing for less and with 3 kids (and me not working) that's important! We save money where we can. When I see a great sale or something adorable I'll get it and put it in his bin. 

We have a great thrift store here called Deseret (there was one in Sacramento too but this store has a larger selection!). All of the kids clothes I've bought are less than $4 - you can't beat toddler wranglers for $3 or the cutest Levi's for $4! We also have an awesome store called Kidz Again - they have a huge selection of kids clothes! I got the girls some fancy dresses just because they were on clearance for $1! They wear them often! 

Back to the bin ... I made a chart to track what we have so it doesn't become a bin full of short sleeved shirts (you can see we currently have 8 yet no jeans or shorts). I can see at a glance what we have and what we need! I taped it under the lid to keep it handy. 

I also took a picture to keep on my phone so when I am in a store and see a great deal on his size I can check to see if we need it or if we are set on that item (another way to save - not buying too much). 

Hopefully, this will keep me a little more organized! Yeah for that! What do you think? Do you do something similar? 

Drawer Organizer

This was our first or second project when we bought our house.  Our drawers are big and our drawer organizer was small ... not a great look!  

Every time we opened the drawer this is what we saw ... or worse!  

So, off to Home Depot to pick up some boards!

I'm very visual so I cut up some scrap wood to figure out how I wanted to arrange it.  Tape was not cutting it.  After a million back and forth texts with my amazingly patient husband, 

I settled on our design. 

I cut up the boards, glued them together and used the drawer to make sure everything would fit perfectly.  

We used our clamps as spreaders and left the drawer to dry overnight.  

We did not glue to the drawer, I wanted to organizer to come out without damaging the drawer.  

Look at that - It's amazing and so so simple!  

This is where we left it until last week.  It looked nice and was functional but the knives kept sliding until the organizer (since it wasn't glued to the bottom).  Annoying!

So, another trip to Home Depot and my handy hubby cut down a thin sheet of plywood using our amazing Kreg Jig Rip Cut (seriously, this thing is amazing!).  

We glued and clamped and let it sit overnight.  

The finished product!  It's amazing and was super simple to make!  

On a side note, it you have kids you need these forks and spoons!  They are made right here in the US with recycled milk jugs.  They are sturdy, cute, and easy to replace when the toddler accidently throws them away or the school aged kiddo forgets them at school.  We seem to loose a lot of spoons ... seriously, where do they go?  They have plates, bowls, and cups too but we only have the forks and spoons and we love them!  

Anyway ... back to this amazing organizer ... it matches the inside of the drawer perfectly and is super functional!  

LOVE!

This is how it usually looks!  Empty.  How do we use all of our utensils every single day?  I'm searching for a new set ... or 4!  I have a set in my Amazon cart, but I don't like not being able to see and feel them in real life before I buy them.  Maybe in another 6 months that drawer will usually be full!  

Simple farmhouse beds

Much like our mattress, our kids have been sleeping on the floor for the last ... several months.  Long story short, we needed two matching twin beds for the girls' room and my oldest wanted a turquoise bed (her favorite color).  I was thinking of doing a metal bed (like this) - they are so pretty!  But figured we could build something pretty simple.  

We made this bed for our oldest about 3 years ago and decided to use the same plans and just add a top piece to make it more of a farmhouse bed.  This bed did make the cut to move with us, but is in brother's room and will be his bed once he grows out of his crib.  

We used the leftover plywood from our bed and the trusty Kreg Jig rip cut to cut the pieces down to the size needed instead of using 1 by 6s from the plan.  That saved us some time and money using up what is in our garage.

The only picture I took of the build was this:

LOL!  Once we put everything together there was a small gap at the corner so we added some molding to dress it up and hide the gap.  The molding was so small we couldn't nail it down so we glued it and used random bags from the pantry to weigh it down.  

The molding really takes it up a notch! 

Finished headboard! 

We added a 1 by 4 stacked on top of a 1 by 3 to the top (we cut a 1by 6 in half since the 1 by 3 was so expensive).

Let's be honest ... when I was staining them I had second thoughts - it was bright!  

Staining is SO MUCH easier than painting - one coat of stain and 3 coats of poly is what we used.  The hardest part was timing the stain to be done outside when it was warm enough.  The poly we put on in the garage and we used a heater to warm up the garage enough.  

In their room it is perfect!  

The horse sheets she got from Christmas last year have just a touch of turquoise which compliment the bed perfectly!

Love them together!  I was going to do matching bedding, but really love the mismatched sheets with the matching blanket.  The sheets were both gifts for my oldest last year.  

Since this picture was taken, we added king sized pillows (hubby ordered these and they are great!).  I love the look of a king sized pillow on a twin bed - it fits perfectly!  

This year for Christmas they got the cutest ruffle quilts, and super soft flannel sheets.  Since we live in a cold climate I made their beds with the top sheet (print down) then the grey blanket (this is the best blanket and it fits a twin size bed perfectly - I have bought several when it is on sale on Black Friday for $8) and then the quilt.  I am still debating on getting them a warm comforter to put under the quilt but they are cozy for now.  Flannel sheets are amazingly cozy and Santa got them from Kohls too!

So there it is - the girls have beautiful new farmhouse beds!

Now we just need to paint their room and decorate!