Color is Key

The goal for this year is to finish off a room a month in my new house. To get each space painted, decorated, organized and perfectly put together. January brought the completion of Maggie's room -- a space inspired by two of her favorite things: polka dots and Hello Kitty.

The amazing thing about watching this space take shape was that it was a testimony to the transformative powers of the right color of paint. Where the same bedspread, decor and accessories looked drab and unexciting against the neutral brown walls, the stark white board and batten that I installed gave the room a larger, cleaner, more airy feeling, while the perfect shade of pink added an element of fun and also light.

I am loving the final effect, which captures her personality, is clean and simple, and I think will age well with her into her older years.

Here is the BEFORE:

And here is the AFTER:

Maggie had an extra, oddly shaped closet in her room, and she had the idea to turn it into a "desk room." I love how this spot turned out for her. It is perfect for homework or working on projects,a nd then the door can be closed to hide any mess. After a fun paint job with flowers, polka dots, and chalkboard paint, it is a dreamy spot for her to sit and work.

Year of the Dragon

This January we enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year for our Family Home Evening one week. We decorated and let everyone don their traditional Chinese apparel, including the PJ's that grandma bought the girls last year, we used our chopsticks, and ate homemade wontons and lettuce wraps. The girls loved coloring pictures of their Chinese Zodiac animal (downloadable from Nick Jr. on-line) and reading about their attributes. It was fun to see how consistent the descriptions were with their personalities, and then talk about each person's uniqueness and individual attributes in our family.

The only problem with introducing such an event is that I fear we may have created a new tradition for January. And, with Mia and Maggie's minds at work -- along with my own -- it will likely get bigger and more complex each time we celebrate Chinese New Year.

Maggie's 6th Birthday, Round Two

Since my first attempts at marking Maggie's birthday fell rather flat in her eyes, I decided to try again, but with minimal exertion on my part.

We enjoyed celebrating Maggie's 6th birthday by taking Jeffrey's "famous" chocolate chip cookies and silly bands into her kindergarten class and joining them for gym time with Mr. P. Going out to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. And, having our neighbors, the Smiths over for cake and ice cream, presents, and a round of Disney Cranium.

Maggie's big present was a new, non-hand-me-down bike, which I let her just pick out a month earlier since she really does not like surprises. However, while I did not buy it that day, she did find it in the garage a week early, so I picked up a few other small items on clearance for her to open on her birthday. She was, of course, also ecstatic over her Kit Kitteridge doll from Grandma and Grandpa.

In all, I think it was a success.

Six things to remember about Maggie at age six:

1- She is all black and white. She either loves you or hates you. She either loves life or wants to die (literally, this is what she says when in despair). She is either happy or extremely sad and angry. In or out. There is no middle ground or gray space with Maggie.

2- She continues to be my fashionista. She loves clothes and shoes. She likes to fix her own hair. She has strong feelings about what to wear and likes to compose ensembles inspired by characters in books and movies.

3- She is learning to love reading. She has been picking up quite well on reading on her own during kindergarten, and she finally has the attention span for reading longer "chapter" books with dad. they have been enjoying a series of Roald Dahl classics most recently.

4- She is a total neat freak. She likes everything in perfect order. She hates for me to help her clean-up her room, because I do not always do it to her specifications, like putting a stuffed animal on the wrong side of the bed from where it "belongs." She recently gave away a Polly Pocket Princess toy because, "It was just too much work to play with it and then keep everything in the perfect spot in the package" -- which was where she had it, looking like it was still brand new, not a year old. She also still refuses to sleep in her bed under the covers because it will mess things up too much. Her ideal night's sleep involves slipping in between two stuffed animals and pillows and then not moving all night long so that in the morning she can get out without it looking like she was ever there. She commented to me the other day while discussing something that stressed her that, "I just really want everything to be perfect!" Related to that, she is very responsible. She does her homework every day on her own initiative, right after school. She gets up in the morning, gets ready for school, does her chores, and is good to go every day on time.

5- She is a good friend. She still tells me weekly how much she misses her best buddy, Kendall, and longs for a visit from the Jones family, but she is well-liked and making good friends here. Her best are probably Emi, who is in our ward and her kindergarten class, and Sarah, who is 11 and like a big sister who -- as Maggie recently informed me -- "she never has to fight with." She is a good friend to Elsie Jane and will regularly include her in play when she has a friend over. She has a great imagination, a lot of energy, and a generally positive disposition which makes her fun to be with.

6- She speaks the truth. Maggie is true to her name's meaning: she is a precious pearl of clarity. She is good at knowing, seeing, and telling the truth about things. No one can call you on the error of your ways with as much accuracy as Maggie. She also has this same understanding for the gospel. She just knows what is true. She does, however, apply her very logical mind to spiritual matters leading us to have had several conversations on how to recognize the spirit since she regularly wonders, "How do I know what is God talking and what is just in my mind?" She has a wisdom and perspective far beyond her years.

What a fun, sweet, vivacious creature is my Margaret Claire at age 6!!!