Where It Happens: Mid-Atlantic Edition

Music Room: When we started house shopping, the girls had a few requests, and one of the big ones was a dedicated music room. They got their wish! It's not yet fully furnished, but it's a lovely room just inside the front door with the keyboard, Monkey's snare drum, Daddy's bass guitar, and a bookshelf for music books and additional instruments (bongos, glockenspiel, and a variety of whistles and rhythm instruments).

(The keyboard is in the opposite corner of the room.)

Study: Now that the girls are a little older (and formal lessons take more precedence while playtime requires less supervision), we've located the study downstairs, conveniently just off the kitchen. Of course, it's still chock full of books, arts & craft supplies, educational materials & manipulatives, etc., etc. We are loving having the additional elbow room in here though! We even have space for the girls to have a shelf reserved for their nature collection: bones, feathers, neat rocks & sticks, even a pressed lizard (thanks, Granddad!).

The study gets used for art projects just as much as it does for lessons.

Kitchen: I love my new spacious kitchen! And the girls love that there's adequate room for helpers in here! We've got lots of counter space, and the island is perfect for pulling up a stool to help me chop, measure, or mix. You may notice the "centerpiece" in the kitchen: a tray full of fresh produce surrounded by everybody's water bottles. This arrangement has made for much more consistently healthy snacking choices, and Bug has even designated herself as the person in charge of making sure everyone's bottle gets refilled (we'll see if she keeps this up once the novelty of the water dispenser wears off).

The Nook: Perhaps the smallest "room" in the house, it just might be the girls' favorite. It's actually a balcony overlooking the stairs that's lined with bookshelves (most of our household's picture books and novels), and further filled with a cozy butterfly chair, a nest of pillows and blankets, and my favorite Ikea chair and ottoman.

Living Room: The primary venue for game days (once a week we set aside formal lessons and play board games instead), movie nights (a Sunday night family tradition), and wrestling matches with Daddy (so much fun).

Playroom: The girls are thrilled to have a playroom that is actually it's own room--with a door and everything! (Previous editions were thoroughfares or a back corner of the living room). They have tons of floor space to create sprawling cities, host a crowd of stuffed animals for a show, set up a restaurant, etc., etc.

Bedroom: Once again, they are loving the wide open spaces! In fact, their bedroom is big enough to unbunk all the beds and still have room for three dressers and three bedside tables (typically stacked with books for bedtime reading).

Outside: Speaking of wide open spaces, we have a real backyard this this time that even has room for their climbing dome and a small vegetable garden! Bonus feature: a screened-in gazebo surrounded by roses. We've definitely grabbed our school supplies and a few snacks and spent the entire morning out there.