Another school year is over, and this was a big one for the Furbers: Jack graduated from elementary school, Katie finished kindergarten, and Andie graduated from middle school. With the end of each school year at my house comes a variety of trophies, certificates, awards, and really cute art, and along with all that comes the challenge of storing and displaying it all. JP and I developed a system that has held up very well over the years.

When Andie started school (9 years ago!) we bought 20 26"x12" flat files and started filling them up with mementos for each year.
Now each child has a box for each school year that contains all the good stuff we want to keep. Some have parts of halloween costumes (like the giant white sunglasses Jack wore with his Willy Wonka costume), some have party invitations, pictures of friends, tickets to plays, programs from performances.

Because all three of our children have gone to the same elementary school, it's especially fun to compare the school projects they've all done -- we now have a complete Furber set of the Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly from the Rancho Romero Kindergarten curriculum.

Every once in a while I sit down with a stack of them and try to clean out the contents, thinking the kids can't possibly want all this when they move out and have to store it all themselves. But then I get lost in the memories brought back by each little item, and I keep it all.

A Katie-Friendly House

As all regular Suburban Zen readers know, JP and I pride ourselves in having a house that incorporates both brains and beauty: it looks great most of the time because it's built with a kid-friendly foundation that can take the beating our family dishes out. One important element to making our house work for our family, is accommodating Katie, the youngest, smallest and most independent of the Furber family members. Katie likes to do most things herself, and loves to help in the kitchen, so we have a set of simple tools to make that easy for her:

A Kik-Step Rolling Stepstool in our pantry that she can roll out when she wants to help in the kitchen

Little stepstools that we stash in the bathroom, under the coffee table, and other places so there's always one available for her to reach what she needs

A big breadbox that sits on a low shelf in the pantry filled with snacks

And a drawer full of plastic plates and glasses so Katie can help herself when she's hungry

And up until recently, we had a Stokke Trip Trap chair for her at the end of our kitchen table that served as both a booster chair and a step ladder, depending on the desired function at the moment.

About six months ago, Katie announced she was too big for that chair and no longer needed it, so now it sits in our garage. As Katie gets bigger, I'm sure each of the other helpers we have for her will be retired to the garage. But for now, they're happy reminders that while Andie is just a few years away from going off to college, our little Katie will be here to keep us company for a nice long time.