I built a raised garden bed over the weekend. By which I mean I compiled a list of supplies and handed it over to Rockford and my nephew, who took it to Lowe’s, gathered materials and then stopped for slushies and beef jerky on the way home because they’d done “man work.” And then Rockford and my niece assembled the bed while I was enjoying a leisurely time at the craft store with Chloe Poppins.

I did, however, put all of those bags of Stuff into the finished bed, with some help from the niece and the nephew. It started snowing while we were filling the garden bed, which is internationally recognized as a sign that the garden will be bountiful. (I don’t know that that’s true. I may have made that up.)

So now I have a small garden bed — it’s 8×4 — and absolutely no clue what I’m doing. I want to grow lettuce and peppers and squash and tomatoes and strawberries and haricots vert (because I am fancy) and garlic and onions, but I recognize that my little bed isn’t big enough to hold all of that. Most likely we’ll do tomatoes, lettuce and squash this year. And then if it’s a wonderful and magical thing I’ll build another bed or two next year. In exactly the same fashion that I build this one.

It’s a good thing that I procrastinated on making any progress on that awesome dinosaur room for Petey, because he’s changed his mind about it. I’m OK with that, though, because there are also some lovely options for his new choice: Space. My sister-in-law Mrs. Perry Mason found a “Blast Off” bedding set on deep clearance at Target, so the decorating has actually sort of begun!

John W. Golden’s Happy Bear and Hirsute Hedgehog have been in Pete’s room since he was a wee babe. I don’t think it would be a good idea to deface them with spacesuits, though, so I think we might replace them with this set of four rocket prints ($48). Because he really can’t have a room without something by John W. Golden, right?

Pete wanted to paint his room a dark, dark blue. It’s a gorgeous shade, but his room isn’t on the sunniest side of the house to begin with. We compromised by painting one wall his color. And that deep blue wall is just begging for some cool decals. Graphic Spaces’ Rocket Boy decals are pretty much just what I’d like to see there. At $70, though, they might remain something I’d like to see on the wall.

The previous owners of our house put floral switchplaces in our bedroom. They also put one in Pete’s. The one in our room will probably stay there for a good long while — mostly because they installed it upside-down, and I find that weirdly charming. But Pete isn’t really a floral kind of kid, so we need to change it out for him eventually. There’s a good chance I’ll end up getting a Plain McCheapo model, but I’d like to spring for this rocketship switchplate from Metallum Creations. At $20, it wins the Most Likely to Be Purchased award.

My boy is steadily marching toward becoming a 4-year-old, but that doesn’t make him too young for teddy bear art. Especially if the bear in question is an intrepid space explorer, like Sharon Mathieu’s polar bear ($25). I like his heart-shaped head.

Poppy has been less than enthusiastic about our upcoming move. She’s having a hard time letting go of our current house, she says, and I know she’ll miss being able to run next door to play with her friend who lives there. I’ve assured her repeatedly that they’ll still see one another and that we’ll keep all of the memories from this house. She’s kind of a delicate soul, though, and she’s struggling with the change.

So far she only sees two slivers of silver lining: The new house has a garage, so she won’t have to board a sunbaked car quite as often; and she gets to paint her room in her favorite color. She’s been asking for a pink bedroom for a few years now, and I’ve been telling her for years that “Yes, sweetie, when we buy a house you can have a pink bedroom.” And here we are! So a pink bedroom it is. She didn’t have any requirements other than the wall color, which leaves me quite a lot of leeway in choosing artwork for her room. Thematically, I suppose I’m leaning toward Whimsy with a Side of Girl Power.

Poppy already has a few pieces that will work well in her new room. Among them are a custom portrait of she and I from Lemons with a Pea (who, you should be warned, sells mostly ribald cards and art in her etsy shop) and these sweet little rocker girls from The Black Apple.

My sister-in-law has a print of Gustav Klimt’s “Baby (Cradle)” that used to hang in the bathroom. It was years — years! — before I actually noticed that there was a baby under all of those toasty quilts. “Cold Toes Warm Hearts” — another one by The Black Apple — reminds me of the Klimt painting. And I think it’s perfect for Poppy’s room.

These four pieces by Sascalia are a little bit brighter than what I’m generally drawn to, but the girls’ sweet expressions are just so very Poppy. And there are owls, of course. Every good room needs a few owls.

And then there’s this. I love nearly everything by Matte Stephens. It doesn’t really fit my overall color family (assuming I have one) for her room, but Poppy is a big fan of cats. And I am a big fan of anthropomorphizing. “The Cat Family Relaxes” would seem to be ideal for us, but it’s far over my budget.