We've made a couple changes around our house recently that have benefited the Syed kids. Maybe one day we'll make changes that benefit the adults, but we're not quite there yet :)

First up - we converted our front porch (which used to just store things) to an art space.

The kids (especially Zahra) love drawing and painting, but I'm always hesitant to do it inside as it makes such a mess. So it's nice for them to have a spot where they can feel free to paint and draw as they please.

Penelope is still having a hard time learning the "paint only goes on the paper" rule. Or, rather, she is having a hard time following that rule. i'm pretty sure she knows it.

Here's one of Zahra's creations. She works so hard on them!

The biggest bonus to being on the front porch is that the kids finally have access to the wind chimes, which they've been coveting for some time now.

We also moved the girls' room around so their cribs are right next to each other.

I guess this move did benefit an adult (me) as we moved everything around so I could move my clothes into their closet. It's the biggest one in the house and it was just sitting there unused!

I bought this print for their room a few months ago. Isn't it perfect?

But the biggest changes involved our backyard. Several months ago we had our garage in the back torn down. At that point the garage took up about 2/3 of our small space out back. Then we had the concrete under the garage removed. Then we had the soil tested for lead. Then we had new soil brought in. Then - finally - grass.

The space with the new grass is where the garage used to be. Isn't a yard so much better?

Moin also got his two-bin compost system built and some planters put in.

And put in some other pretty garden spaces as well.

The kids will be allowed on the new grass in a couple weeks. I'll post pictures when the time comes. It's still not the biggest space in the world but I'd rather have a yard than a garage any day!