Tornado Shelter Turned Reading Cubby

Prior to the hail storm we always kept the space under the steps downstairs empty.  Ok, not empty.  There always seemed to be a few stuffed animals or dolls in there.  Until now the basement has always been cement floors, so we threw in a piece of carpet we had leftover from upstairs and made sure there were a couple pillows and 2 tumbling mats to cover heads with, a camping lantern and a crank weather radio/ flashlight in case of storms.  Luckily, we were out of town for the August 9, 2009 storm.  But, we did spend many a tense moments in that little space the summer of 2008 after the Parkersburg tornado.  It seemed that summer the sirens went off more than I could ever remember, we supposed people were a little more cautious after the destruction and warning times in Parkersburg. 

The kids freak and I mean f.r.e.a.k. if they hear the siren go off.  They don't even bother to ask if they should go downstairs, they don't even look at Ryan or me.  They head, no... run straight to the basement. 

In an effort to make the place a little less scary and a lot more fun, I decided we should transform the "shelter" into a reading cubby.  I told the kids they could write, put stickers, tape things to the steps and the walls underneath the steps.  We threw in some pillows, collected a few of their favorite books, a couple blankets, a little lamp and voila! A Reading Cubby.  Drue especially loves the space since she is able to read 'big-girl chapter books' now!

I love this.  It was written in October, when DD was "6 in a haf!"

Never forget the HALF!