the Great Green Room, take two

I love the idea that many families have lived in this little house ahead of us.  Imagining how they made it work with three bedrooms and one bathroom, with multiple children and without a mudroom or an attached garage, the aura of this-has-been-done-before somehow radiates a bit of peace.
We love our neighborhood.  Every house on the street is a not a variation of the same theme, not merely a different configuration of the same boards and bricks.  Most have predictably small closets and wet basements and higher than average energy bills, but they also have lots of charm.  We don't plan to move or to remodel to make room for one more.

Tolliver began bunking in Tucker's room last week.  Winter break seemed to serve as a good time to let the boys try sharing space.  So far, so good.  Tols still rises before it shines, so he uses "elusive maneuvers" to sneak out of bed without waking Tuck too early.  More often than not, his technique has been working.  And he asks every night if he can sleep under his skeleton blanket again.  Tonight he asked if he could share a bedroom with Tucker forever.

I hope the novelty does not wear off too soon...
And I hope that their relationship will always feel less like an obligation and more like a choice.

note: Tucker asked us to print the Periodic Table of Elements so he could tape it to his wall.
I Googled it and handed the first copy to him, and he looked at it for about three seconds before explaining that it was outdated and missing several elements.

The original Great Green Room, right before Tucker turned two (so nearly five years ago).