A Little Space, Please...

This project has been on our minds for months. Back at the beginning of June, DaddyBoy and I made a kidless trek to IKEA to measure...and plan...and dream. Our fantasy was to give Kayci her own space for her 8th birthday. The $2500 price tag? Not in our plans, or dreams. So we put it on the back burner, thinking we'd tackle their room when we had more time and money. Ha. Instead, we tackled it last week. It turns out, we just needed to get creative. And, several weeks ago I found coordinating duvet covers at IKEA that I absolutely loved...I couldn't get them out of my mind. It was driving me nuts, which meant I was driving my Boy nuts, which meant he was happy to go along with my crazy plan after Christmas. We live in a 2 bedroom house, it's a fact. We love the house and don't plan on moving anytime soon...but the kids are growing. Fast. And they need their own space. We weren't sure how they would react to two beds--they were both thrilled. Even better for me, when I presented then with comforter/duvet options, they both chose the one I had chosen for them (squeal!) with no coercion or trickery at all. That was probably one of the highlights of the experience for me, honestly. So, I could go on and on about how they didn't figure out what was going on until the day after we went to IKEA and bought *two* twin duvet covers (ah, hello?)...the next day I put them in front of the TV and made quick work of taking apart their big bed. They were SO excited to come in and see the beginnings of Kayci's bed...they were ready for their own spaces, the timing was right. Whew. Noble moved into Kayci's room when he was one. It's almost three years later, and the poor kid was still sleeping in Kayci's room. Other than a dresser drawer and a couple of shelves for his board books, there was nothing in the room that was "his." In fact, even he called it "Kayci's room." As excited as we were to give out growing girl some much-needed space and privacy, we were also happy to *finally* give our Bubby a space to call his own. I'm a little sad to say that after three years of cohabiting, the door still had Kayci's picture on it. You can't tell in the picture, but that's both of them at Kayci's piano recital. :)

Behind the door:  we couldn't survive without their hooks--a place for each of them to hang tomorrow's clothes. These save a lot of time every morning! I can't think of a better place to keep Noble's ties and hats, so they'll stay there.

To make our plan work, we needed two shelves to divide the room. Our budget settled on these closet organizers from Target...they're the cubes you see in the pictures. The kids were sharing a dresser...well, he had a drawer in the dresser and the rest of his stuff lived in baskets.  Poor, poor second child.  The other, most necessary, part of our plan:  keep the blue walls and orange curtains and Kayci's dresser (it works well for one kid, just not for two).  

 Here we go...Noble's bed. :) We had to buy a new mattress and bunkie board, but we had the bed frame, linens and pillows. The stool is Kayci's that's just been hanging out, waiting for a purpose since a) we moved here or b) she outgrew "the sad stool." It's a little crazy, but it fits in the space and it holds his CDs--I'm sold. Oh! We bought him a lamp, too. I'm a liar. He wanted a red one, like Andy ("Toy Story"). Done, $7 on clearance! His folded clothes are in three fabric drawers/bins on the shelf. So far, it seems to work!  Noble's Angry Birds poster fit perfectly on the (finished) back of the dresser that faces Kayci's side and makes up part of the divider, so that was a fun treat for him.

The Pixar poster was in their room already, the other frame came out of the office (Daddy switched the print for a hero poster), and I did the canvas. I did one for each knucklehead, using my current favorite pics of them. They're both from December, and Daddy managed to capture each of their personalities right now.  (I'm a little biased.)

This is the same sign and saying that's been in Kayci's room for years...I just flipped it over and redid it to match their new space. I'm still shocked that pink didn't make it into the color scheme this go round, as it's Noble's absolute favorite color. Funny: when they went to Lowe's to get a paint sample for patching, Noble was confused and thought Daddy was painting the whole room. He picked out a pink chip and gave it to Daddy...imagine the poor kid's disappointment to get home and see that the paint and the room were still blue. Maybe next time, Bubby...

Here's Kayci's bed. This is a bed frame from Mom & Dad that we've had in storage since the fire. It needed a little TLC, but I'm happy with the end result. All we bought for Bitty's bed was Rustoleum and the duvet cover/new comforter inside.

I just realized you can't really see it in the picture, but Kayci's night stand was an issue. We found one she loved in a thrift store, painted it...then realized it just couldn't work in the space.  So, I pulled in a black and white Hoosier chair (from the table I use as a desk) and stacked Nancy Drew books to make a pedestal for her new lamp (rookie mistake--I bought a new lamp instead of buying a shade for her old lamp. Dang it.). Her iHome and bedtime books & water fit, so this may be a keeper.  Plus, it's a little silly having a lamp on top of a fun stack of books, and I think she likes that it's so different.

We brought Noble's desk in from the office. We have all been piling stuff in and on their desks for too long, so getting them clean was a bit of a battle. But man, seeing them mostly clutter-free feels good! Kayci's shadow box is actually a Silhouette advent calendar; I'm going to make the boxes for the empty spaces for jewelry storage. Her typewriter has been banished to its case most of the time she's owned it, but I really wanted it to be out for her. Her plastic drawers fit the bill...we just put fun paper in the drawers so Mommy doesn't have to see the clutter. :) And the karaoke machine? Has been a dust catcher for YEARS. Let me know if you want it! (Kidding. Kind of.)

We still have one more project to complete for their walls (hint:  the colored canvases above the beds), then we're DoNe. It's funny how much time the kids have spent in here in their own spaces...reading books, listening to music, crafting (Kayci), or just pulling toys off the shelves and puling them in the bed (Noble). It's a simple thing, space, that makes such a big difference.  I'm so happy that we jumped in and got this done!

Go Tell It On the Mountain

Today at church, Kayci and Noble (and the other kids at church) dressed up and sang "Go Tell It On the Mountain."

Kayci and Mommygirl made a white tutu for Kayci and a halo out of garland.   We borrowed some angel wings from a friend and her costume was complete.  It's not tough to make Kayci look like an angel.

But the real challenge was Noble.

When they started practicing the song at church a few weeks ago, he came home and said that he was going to be a wise man.  When asked what a wise man wore, he said "you know, a cape, wike a superhero."  He had it in his mind that a wise man was a superhero and that he should wear a cape.

We tried and tried to convince him that a wise man should dress like he dressed when he dressed up like Joseph at school. But to no avail.  So Kristi - being the best Mommy ever - bought him a cape to wear.

Then - yesterday - a stroke of brilliance!  If we could convince him to wear a crown, the cape might be okay.  Success!!!  So Noble wore a red superhero cape and a gold crown, a Cars tie and carried a box painted gold.  Apparently, the wise men brought gold bricks...

Here is some video if the kids singing from two different angles:

Kayci's First Piano Recital

Today was Kayci's first piano recital!  She started piano lessons in September, and she's been practicing really hard.  Here's a video of her portion of the recital:



...and some photos of her playing:

We're so proud of our big girl!

Krause Elementary 3rd Grade Christmas Program

Last night Krause Elementary had its annual 3rd Grade Christmas program, and Kayci took part - in fact, she was one of the speakers at the beginning!  Space was extremely limited, so we didn't send invitations- but you can watch the whole thing here!

Have fun watching the cutest darn milk (Kayci's costume) in 3rd grade sing, dance and speak!  And Merry Christmas!!!


2011 Krause Elementary 3rd Grade Christmas Program from James Pharaon on Vimeo.

If You're Near Brenham on Friday...

...then try to make it out to the annual Brenham Lighted Christmas parade!  This has become a tradition for our family, and the Pharaon kids will once again be riding on the Germania Insurance float in the parade.

The parade starts at 6:30, and there's no charge.  And best of all - the weather is supposed to be absolutely AMAZING!  So forget what the headline to this post says and cancel all your appointments, holiday parties, meetings with the governor and shopping excursions and head down to downtown Brenham this Friday night to see one of the best parades in Texas (because the Pharaon kids are in it, naturally).

See you there!

Kayci and Avery Play the Piano

Ladies and Gentlemen - the musical stylings of Kayci and Avery...!

Noble Writes His Name

Where's Noble??

What happens when we play hide 'n seek...before coffee.

Pat Curtis 1929-2011

My earliest memory of my Grandma is of her putting a towel down on the seat of her car (a Mustang, if I remember correctly) because my bare legs were burning on the hot vinyl seats.  It was the '70s, shorts were short, socks were long and everything seemed to be made out of vinyl.

I remember her getting me Cheerios down from the cabinet at her house because she didn't want me eating the dog biscuits that I could reach, so she helped me get something more appropriate (and just as tasty). I've got a lot of other snippets of memories from around the time I was three - about the age that Noble is now - of playing in her back yard with my cousins.  And family Christmas at her house.  And playing her piano - the same piano Kayci now practices her piano on.  And sitting at her table eating.  I remember playing at her house with soap operas on - Days of Our Lives - and of "helping" her in the back yard, which usually consisted of her giving me various errands and tasks to do ("there are some sticks on the ground over there.  Can you bring me all the sticks?") to keep me busy while she tried to get some work done.

But I have two memories of her that are my favorite.  The first is of driving down South Main where it intersects South Post Oak. There used to be a K-Mart there on that corner, and I remember passing by it many times with my Grandma (and of getting some portraits made there, too).  I have no idea where we had been, but we were on our way back to her house.  I was sitting in the front seat (remember - it was the '70s) and I remember her making up a song about my name.  And I remember her teaching me "The Ants Go Marching" - the same song Noble loves to sing with me today on our way to drop him off at school (and sung, naturally, in the same dramatic staccato as Grandma did).  And I remember her singing me a very silly song by Carmen Miranda called Cuanto Le Gusta.

And then there was the day I decided I wanted to go see Grandma, so I walked a block and a half to her house.  Unsupervised.  Unannounced.  We lived around the corner from her when I was three, and I distinctly remember walking down the sidewalk of my street, carefully looking both ways for cars (as I had apparently just been taught) and knocking on her door.  I remember her surprise when she opened the door and saw me.  I remember her calling my frantic mother and telling her that I was there and that I was alright.  And I remember her making me lunch.  Nobody ever made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich better.

I spent a lot of time with my grandma, and I loved every minute of it.  She really seemed to understand me when no one else did.  She understood that kids have a tendency to write on walls, so she gave my cousins and I a special place in her house  - the closet in "the childrens' room" - where we could write on the walls all we wanted.  My first knowledge of science was at Grandma's house when she explained how a potato would grow roots in a vase on her windowsill. She answered all of my questions, and I'm sure there were a lot.  I marveled at her paintings and loved it when she would read stories to me.  I loved hearing about all the wonderful adventures she had had (she lived a really interesting life).  She was adopted, and so I think she had a little bit of a different taste for life.  Everything seemed like an adventure.  And I think I got my love of adventure and mystery from her.

When I think about my Grandma, I think about sun brewed tea (lemon and mint), Avon and costume jewelry.  I think about drinking from the hose in her back yard.  And I remember her patiently reading every one of my Bill cartoons, no matter how dumb the jokes were.  I remember taking trips with her and Granddaddy to all kinds of interesting places - Teague, Richmond, West Columbia and all sorts of cemeteries all over the state (we used to love to see what the oldest grave we could find was).  I remember how beautiful and park-like her yard always was.  The day my sister was born in 1981, I recall a sunny May day picking dandelions in her back yard.  I remember the mint plants in her yard and her making mint jelly (which she vowed she would never do again).  And I think Grandma gave me the nickname, "Destructo."

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to have Grandma over to the house for a weekend and just sit and talk.  We talked about all sorts of things, but we really talked about family.  I grew up enjoying countless hours of sitting in her chair looking at old family photo albums.  I knew that she was adopted and that she was the keeper of our family knowledge, so it was important to me to sit down and get as much of that out of her as I could.  She brought the family Bibles with her and we talked for hours and hours about as much as we know about the history of our family.  I recorded those talks, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with my aunts and cousins soon.  It was a weekend I'll never forget, and one for which I will always be grateful.

The past three months, Grandma has been in the hospital almost non-stop.  She was finally in a rehab facility getting strong enough to go live my Aunt Peggy.  She was supposed to go home Monday.

I was supposed to have dinner with Grandma and my mom today.

Next week we were supposed to have our first family Thanksgiving in over 20 years.  We still will.

But Grandma died yesterday evening.  The last time I talked to her - last weekend - she sounded great.  She was feisty as every and looking forward to getting out.  In fact, she was trying her best to convince the doctors that she was strong enough to go home early, but she was frustrated because they weren't buying it.

She told me a couple of weeks ago while she was laying in her hospital bed that she was just tired.  She knew that she was still here for a reason, but she didn't know what that reason was.  It turns out that she was here just long enough to see her family come together again in way that hasn't happened in more than a decade.  Everyone is speaking to each other again and we all have new perspective.  Tempers have calmed somewhat and bygones are in the process of being what they are.

I wish that she could have been with us forever.  I wish that she could have watched Kayci and Noble  and Shannon's daughter, Avery, grow up.  I wish that Grandma would've gotten to see Kayci's first piano recital (and to tell her again the story of her first recital when she had to be escorted off the stage). I wish that she had gotten to see Noble grow into the mini version of me that she loved and understood.  I think they would've been great friends.  But they got to meet her, at least, even if they didn't get to know her.  They'll have a memory of her.  And for that I'm grateful.  I'm thankful for her life and for the intangible lessons that she has taught us all.

I'm going to miss her spirit and getting all sorts of crazy e-mail chain letters and hoaxes from her. I'm going to miss her cards.  I'll miss her asking about what the kids are doing.  I'll miss her stories.  I'll miss her breathlessly referring to me when I was a little monster.

Thanks, Grandma.  Say hi to Grandaddy for me, okay?

Honoring our Veterans