the bean

i have to tell you about my oldest, the bean. i'm giving you a little background because monday or tuesday i'm going to post pics of what we've been doing this weekend! but back to the bean, she's an awesome kids. i, mean, a really incredible kid. she's a phenomenal student. she's kind and sweet and loving and nurturing. she's the most mature almost 11 year old i've ever met. we always joke that we could probably go on vacation and leave her here either alone or with all the other kids and they'd be fine when we got back! she cares for her siblings in a way that i can't even put into words. she's just that sweet. anyway, as i've mentioned here before, we live in a super small house. as in, a two bedroom house. a few years ago we had to break down and convert our formal dining room into a master bedroom. so currently, esme sleeps with us. the bean, za and the princess all share a room and the little guy has his own room. why does he have his own room? because he is crazy and has to be locked in at night. i know, if you've never had a kid like him that sounds insane to you. but what else do you do with a toddler who gets out of his bed at night and wanders the house? or worse, leaves the house? or eats non-food items? he cannot be trusted unsupervised. so the only option has been to put him in his own room and lock it at night. needless to say, sharing a room with a seven and five year old is not optimal for a preteen. the poor girl has to put up with alot. so we decided that this summer we'd redo the bedrooms and put her and the princess together and then the boys together. we'd take it one step further and make them a wonderful, girly room. they've never had a girl's room! she's always shared a room with her brother. so i've been planning for this room for months. buying little things here and there when i could afford it. secretly planning and stashing and waiting until we had all the materials and the time. she hasn't seen any of it. it will be a total surprise! the room we are doing for them is actually the room that the little guy is in now. it is destroyed. holes in the walls (it's a 110 year old house with plaster walls!) marker on the carpet, crayon on the walls, a mess. so today we patched all the plaster and started painting. i'll finish tomorrow afternoon while theMR takes the kids to his parents to watch the world cup. and then the big reveal! i can't wait to see her face when she sees it! i'll post before and after pics soon!