Nooks and Crannies: Preparing for the baby and the HEAT

So I'm thinking the baby will be here sometime between June 7th and June 15th (lol just guessing). By that time, the Texas heat will be in full swing. So I am preparing. Preparing for myself to be busy with a newborn and preparing for us to spend a lot of time inside. Also, the air conditioner in our car (the one that will fit all of the kids) is broken which means we will be going NOWHERE (as a group) until it is fixed.

That being said, I have been trying to rearrange and organize things a bit around the house. I have been trying to revamp old spaces or create new ones that the kids will be interested playing in for long periods of time. 

The kids do not really have bedrooms. My husband and I have a bedroom and the kids usually sleep on the floor in there. Then there are two rooms upstairs. One has most of the kids' toys and the baby crib (which we probably will not use for quite some time). I guess we can call that room the playroom. The other is what we call our "homeschool." Originally this was where we were going to do most of our learning activities and such. Now that we are unschoolers and realize that sort of thing does not work for us, it is just sort of a room with arts and craft supplies, a dry erase board, a book nook, math and science stuff,...whatever. The name "homeschool" has stuck though.

My kids don't pick up books too much on their own. The only ones they look at voluntarily are "creature" books. Mainly books about birds, bugs, mammals, fish, etc. I have found if I put book nooks near windows or in secret hideaways it encourages them to pick up books.

The Playroom

Dress Up

Legos

Movies

Puzzles

Stuffed Animals / Babies

Table

The Homeschool

Arts and Crafts

Fort

Book Nook

Dry Erase

Math and Science

Puzzles

Art Wall / Spring Board

Downstairs Book Nook

Nature Window