Home, Home on the Farm

So deep down in my gut I have this desire (or more of a dream really) to move to a farm. Live off the land, reduce, reuse and recycle everything, have homemade or hand-me-down clothes, canned vegetables, hard manual labor with sweat and tears, no plastic toys the tell you how to play with them (just good ol quality wooden ones and some imagination and art supplies too of course)...the whole nine yards. I love working outside, you get such a sense of accomplishment and you can feel the day's labor in your body and you sleep so well that night. I think that my extended family always thought of me as a 'city girl' and it's true to a certain extent but my heart often thinks about getting back to my 'roots'. Surprisingly, my city boy has the same dream as I do. I feel pretty confident that it wont be something that we act on but it makes for some fun conversations together.

I just finished the best book I have read in a long time (since Eat, Pray, Love) it is a true story of a couple that left the rat race of New York City and lived 1900s style in an old farmhouse in the country. Neither knew how to farm but they researched and prepared and lived off the land, without electricity or other modern day conveniences for an entire year. See You in a Hundred Years by Logan Ward is not a book I will part with in the near future. I read it and would gladly reread it immediately. I couldn't put it down but I also didn't want to finish it.

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In completely unrelated news my soon to be four year old has grown out of all her clothes (she is finally into 3Ts and I've even picked up a few 4s!!). I've been moving all her clothes into Kate's closet! Sadly next weekend is the HUGE sale in my old city and I really really want to go. Today we went out and picked up a few summer necessities, we're gearing up for warm weather and I'm worried we may have to wait awhile.

I have not yet listed the eBay stuff. Melissa, I left a comment for you on the last post.

The Chicklet's List

I thought it would be fun to do a Chicklet's List for once. This is a little different in that it's not items that are tried and true but items that are currently on the girl's "Please Mommy Can I Have This, Puh-leeeze!?! List"

For Kendall:

Today was pajama day at school and we took our blanket and pillow but I noticed Kendall longingly eyeing the sleeping bags that some of the other girls had brought. We think these PB Kids ones are adorable with their built in pillow.

Kendall has had a renewed interest in puzzles lately and I would love to get her some more challenging ones. (Her current favorite is the US wooden one and she flys through it too!). The wooden ones by Melissa and Doug are great, found here and here.

In our ongoing quest to try different quality art supplies a few that are on the list of fun things to try are these:

Crayon Rocks--I think these would be great for strengthening different hand muscles and perfect for summer time art totes.

THIS SITE: Hello beautiful eco friendly art products (they also sell crayon rocks). Love all of this but some favorites are these...

...water color pencils, I think Kendall would LOVE seeing the magic of watercolor pencils!

...and the adorable recycled sketch books.

An item that was on the Christmas wish list that Santa didn't pick up is this fun Sleepy Princess and the Pea game by HABA

And finally, for the educational benefits and for the feeling that she is just so big her very own Leapster and of course the Dora and Princess games, ha.

For Kate:

She is a bit harder to buy for. Generally she just wants Kendall's stuff. However, I'll try to pull together a few...

Kate is still fascinated by slides so this is at the top of her list.

Also from her Christmas wish list (and currently on clearance for only $8) is this animal see saw. If the link doesn't take you there you may have to type "animal see saw" in the search box.

I realized this yesterday when it was so pretty outside and Kendall was riding her bike outside. Kate needs something to pedal around on to keep up with Kendall this summer. Maybe one of these or these. (Her legs are getting too long for the sit and scoot horse she has, so sad)

She is really drawn to the kids gardening aisle at Target with all those bright colors and fun animals. And since after this winter I plan on being outdoors every single day that is a good thing.

Well, that is about all I have time for now, if I think of other things I'll publish another Chicklet's list. Also, I'll put together one of tried and true kid's favorites for you other moms soon.

Now I Have to Pay

***Please note, you moms are all the same, so practical :) On the desk below you are only seeing the front the other side is a 'bar' with leg room underneath.

And the second part of the New Office series is this: How'm I Gonna Pay for ee Tall? I recently finished off the huge Paper Chick order that will cover more than half and today I'm working on raising the other portion. I have had a hugemongous pile of stuff to prepare for eBay and I haven't had the motivation to do it. Well this morning I completed half the battle. I sorted, ironed and photographed all the goods (well, not quite all the goods but at least all the children's clothing...I still have an MP3 player and some other stuff to prepare). Tonight after the girls' bedtime I will work on creating the listings. Let me know if you know of someone having a little bitty girl and I'll send them links to all the stuff. It's all in great condition (I pulled out anything with a smidge on it) and great name brands: Ralph Lauren, Gap, Gymboree, Hilfiger...

Actually, I'm excited about these pictures because I can create a great scrapbook page for the girls with pictures of their clothes on it! I kept a few of my favorite pieces too. The pictures here show individual pieces but I'm actually selling things in "lots" or a group of items from all the same size and season.

Home Office Design

I found the Polyvore site a while back and hadn't had a reason to use it until today when I was pulling together the plan for the office. I had a hard time finding a suitable desk and finally decided on this kitchen island. This way I'll have the option of standing or sitting while I work on projects. The glass doors in the shelf piece will keep kids out of some of my supplies. I've been really drawn to red accent colors lately. Anyway, I think you can get a closer look at some of the things if you click here.

P.S. I loved the wall color in the new Amo Ink. location (seen through pictures) and that sparked all of this!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Chick's List!

We're due for a Chick's List, don't you agree?

My current favorites are...

I'm loving Diet Ginger Ale mixed with Simply Grapefruit juice. So fresh and caffeine free.

• For lunch I am loving Veggie Burgers (best so far is the Gardenburger brand 'original') on a toasted whole wheat bun with a little pizza sauce spread on it and some laughing cow cheese on top (I spread on the onion flavored). Deee-lish.
• I love decorating. Right now I'm planning my office, new paint a couple new pieces (comfy cozy chair) and red accents. Fun stuff.
• I like these fun decals I would love to get some for the girl's rooms!
• I love this address stamp. It's currently on my wish list.
• I'm excited about picking out my fabric for our summer quilt and bags. I still haven't done it, maybe this week. I know what I'm going to get though...Amy Butler's Midwest Modern 2 line (scroll down to see line--I'm using a different quilt pattern though) . Fabulous!
• I love how pampered this Asquith and Somerset Olive Oil Salt Scrub makes me feel. Note: you can find it much cheaper.
• I love how moving a rug to a new location suddenly makes it a prime play place. This rug was moved from our living room into the foyer and I am constantly finding Kendall and Kate here surrounded by toys.

Now I'm being summoned by the little ladies, gotta run!

Oh, two more things, two conversations I love:

Kendall: Did you wash my black shoes while I was sleeping last night?

Me: No

Kendall: Why not?

Me: Because I decided to sleep instead.

Kendall: Because you worked hard?

Me: Yeah.

Kendall: You worked hard at the gym?

Me: Well, and cleaning then house, and taking care of you.

Kendall: And sewing, and making bags from fabric?

Me: Yeah, that too.

And last but not least:

Kate: Go bye bye?

Me: No, we're not going bye bye.

Kate: Whhhhy?

Me: We don't need to go bye bye.

Kate: We go bye bye Ke-guh?

Kendall: Not right now, maybe after naptime.

Mom Day

Earlier this week Brian emailed me from work asking if I would like to have Saturday morning to myself. I, of course, jumped on the chance and quickly made a haircut appointment. I have been thinking about darkening my hair and briefly considered doing it today but at the last minute I just made the appointment for the cut. Good thing too, my hair has been in a pony tail so long that I forgot what color it was. It's perfectly dark, ha. Mostly just a trim with some layers added and some long bangs. Next I stopped at the Clinque counter where they proceeded to make me look like a street walker. Sorry, I had to say it, they ALWAYS put way too much eye makeup on. I went directly to the bathroom and rubbed some of it off.

I'm home now, today I have actually eaten food, the girls are napping and we have plans this afternoon with some friend's. It was a fun morning!

P.S. Can I just say that I would like to have a stylist come flat iron my hair every single day? What a difference! Oh, she also told me my hair was curly. We all know what happened last time I tried that!

Gross

So I don't think you would want any pictures from yesterday. All morning and early afternoon was fine but at 3:30 my tummy started hurting and by 3:45 I had multiple calls and text messages out to Brian crying for help. I got sick, so very very very sick. He came home, fed the girls, played and did bedtime while I stayed closed up in the bedroom with frequent sprints to the bathroom (sorry, too much information?). I haven't been sick since 11pm last night (when I think my body raised a white flag of surrender) but I still can't eat anything, my entire body hurts. I have been drinking Gatorade though in an attempt to stop the shaking in my knees. I weighed myself this morning, FOUR POUNDS lighter. I have a ton of movies and I plan on getting better acquainted with my couch today. I imagine the girls will destroy the house that I worked so hard to clean yesterday.

Mid Winter's Day

I think that we may stay inside all day today. It may be difficult because Kendall and Kate ask to go bye bye all the time. Kendall asks specifically for Target, she knows my weaknesses and knows her chances are better if she drops that store name. I may remain in my pjs for as long as possible. I need to clean the bathrooms, fun times I'm sure. I think we will do some crafts that I have planned, play in the basement, snuggle on the couch together and maybe at some point I will work out on our home equipment (I never use that stuff). Hopefully tonight I'll have lots of pictures of fun activities that we've been doing, my poor camera is probably getting rusty from lack of use. Here are some old pictures to hold you over until then.

Whoa

I can't believe it, look what I made during nap time! I thought I would practice with fabric that I had on hand and it ended up turning out perfectly, I am in complete and utter shock. I used a tutorial that I found on this site and added pockets on the outside to hold colored pencils (or these Twistables). On the inside I put a double pocket to hold a few small supplies. I think next time I'll use a heavier interfacing to make it a bit sturdier.

P.S. See those gorgeous flowers in the background? Those are on today's list of things to be happy about. They arrived on Valentine's Day...a box full of buds and now 3/4ths of them are open and the whole kitchen smells.

"Sister"

It's one of my favorite words. I'm so glad that my girls get to experience sisterhood.

Playing and Planning

Blog breaks are good for my mental health. Even I can talk about myself and my kids for only so long before I have to take a break. One sided conversations aren't my favorite :P

We've been going to the gym a lot, the library, visiting Great Gram one time (and Uncle Jeff and Aunt's Jill and Lin too). We had lunch at our neighbor's house yesterday, have I mentioned how we lucked out in the neighbor department when we moved here? Kendall was off school on Friday and again yesterday for various teacher planning days and holidays. We've stayed busy at home playing with play-doh, practicing our cutting and I've been dreaming about Spring. I have big plans. I'm going to start now working on little tote bags for the girls to hold a little outdoor art kit. Drawing pad, colored pencils, water colors...so we can take them out doors in the spring and summer and draw what inspires us and just enjoy the weather. I really want to find a cute quilt, something like one of these for all our picnics and outdoor time. Maybe I'll have to try my hand at making one, we're only half way through the winter. I think I'll have to order the cute fabric though, we don't have a good selection around here. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm liking the idea more and more, I can buy enough fabric to make matching tote bags for our art kits..hmmm, the wheels are turning. Susan, do you want to come hold my hand and walk me through this step by step? :)

First two quilts were found here. And the third is here (love this cute blog).

Ouch

It's the best feeling in the world, when you love so much your heart hurts. These two, uh, they kill me.

Yesterday at dinner time Kendall said, "I want to eat the last overs." She wanted the left overs from the night before (flank steak, asparagus, and cheesy orzo). When I was folding laundry she ran to give me a huge hug and thank me for cleaning her Dora socks. She has also become so sweet to Kate, "Oh baby, what is wrong, are you okay, my sweet baby?" Never mind that 2 seconds before she tackled Kate to the ground to get something away from her.

And this one. This one can't speak without pings going through my heart. She repeats anything you say, and especially anything her "Ke-guh" says.

It's going to be a busy weekend. Tomorrow night our awesome neightbors offered to watch the girls for us! Whoo hoo! Sunday I think we will go visit Great Gram so I may not be posting for another couple of days. So HAPPY HEART DAY!

Sing With Me

Excuse me while I brag shamelessly about my baby. She is actually usually clearer when she sings this but it's 7 in the morning here.

She is also a bit of a tattle tail. This morning we dropped Kendall off at preschool and then ran up to the grocery store because we are hosting dinner here tonight. I picked out two cookies and put them in a bag (except for half of one that I gave to Kate). We went down a few aisles and I noticed that she hadn't had a bite yet. I asked for a bite and she handed it to me. After taking a small bite I went to hand it back but she wouldn't take it. She kept saying no and pushing it back to me. So I ate it. We finished shopping and were paying for everything when the lady looked at Kate and said, "Did you get a cookie!?" and Kate very clearly stated, "Yesh, Mommy eat it". That little snitch.

Living the Dream

Today is one of the days I dreamed about. When I was growing up all I really wanted to be was a mom (well, that is not true, at one point all I wanted to be was a turtle but that's another story). When I would imagine what a mommy day would be like it closely resembled today. The girls have been angelic. Kendall and I got groceries together this morning and when we came home she and Kate played FOREVER. First they pulled out all the winter hats and gloves and played dress up with those. Then (you're not going to believe this) they played sleeping. Yes, that's right, they pulled blankets and snugglies down stairs and played sleeping on the formal living room couch for about 30 minutes. Of course they didn't actually sleep they talked and giggled the whole time. I worked in the kitchen all morning (potato soup, fruit salad...)and the house rang with the giggles of little girls. Heaven.

I almost didn't want to put them down for naps in fear that the spell would be broken. They are both asleep now. I rearranged some toys, I'm going to take the child locks off one of the kitchen cabinets so some of their toys are more easily accessible. Originally they had been in the pantry but I wanted that space for our recycling bins.

Now I'm sitting down to do a little scrapbooking. I'm working on client stuff. I think you all know I scrapbook for other people (?) for a not so small fee. Anyway, I'm going to be finishing up my super huge order (turned out to be about six or so albums--30ish pages each) and I'm debating on if I will continue to do it or not. I love to get the check in the mail but I have a ton of our photos and memories that I would rather be doing. I think that I will have a hard time saying no if someone asks me though. We'll see.

After nap we're all going to go to the gym. Either today or tomorrow I want to take a few Valentine's pictures of the girls.

Today. Well, really yesterday now.

I have been trying to blog for days now, either Blogger or my computer is messed up though.

I started this part yesterday morning:

We haven't really been doing much that is blog worthy. Today we are going to pick up some lunch at my favorite bread bakery (they have soups, salads, and other goodness) and take it to Great Gram's house. The girls and I are really excited.

Since I haven't posted a picture in awhile:

This is why my closet is never clean (sorry for the blurry photos, what is going on with my camera?).

This is what is happening as I type this:

This is what we did before 7am this morning. A little impromptu puppet show.

Real time: Finally, here are a couple of pictures from yesterday afternoon.

Today we are having our sweet neighbor over for lunch. She has grandbabies that are Kendall and Kate's age and I know she is missing them!

Randomness

Random musings from the day:

• Today I cleaned the entire house...all four bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming...I even vacuumed out my car. The only thing that stands between me and a clean existence is my office. My cleaning motivation always comes to a screeching halt in this room.
• I am incapable of remembering my cloth grocery bags. They always remain on my passenger seat when I head in for groceries. As I wheel my cart out to the car filled with blue plastic bags I remember them.
• It's funny how your perspective changes. The last two days we have had temperatures up to 40 and I feel like it is downright warm.
• I never want to forget this about Kate: She likes to snuggle right now, she wants you to hold her so she can rest her head on your shoulder and she always tucks her hands between your body and hers.
• At Lorie's house Kate did something (I can't remember what) and Lorie looked at her and said, "You little snot" and Kate looked at me, smiled so big and said rather proudly, "I snot!"
• Kendall and I both have the sniffles right now, her little nose is so red. My sweet little tidy girl for some reason uses a tissue and then proceeds to toss it ON THE FLOOR. This is the kid that will not go to sleep until everything is clean in her room but she throws her used tissues on the floor?!
• I have an irrational fear of birds in large quantities. I love to watch them from our window but I gave many a street person a good laugh by my exuberant over reaction to the flocks of pigeons in Boston. I think people that go into the large bird cages at the zoo are certifiably nuts. I would much rather hold a snake then a bird.
• I'm avoiding cleaning this office by trying to thing of more random things to say.

Paris was wonderful. I think that the best part was just being a couple with Brian again, making each other laugh and enjoying each other's company. We took our time over meals, a rarity for a mom. We talked about things other then bedtime rituals and potty breaks and just explored and got excited about our future there. We walked everywhere and felt very old because every morning we could barely climb out of bed because of the sore muscles and feet.

We stood out like sore thumbs. Evidently the only suitable color to wear in Paris is black. My red argyle knit hat was like a flashing neon sign saying "TOURIST HERE." But I was completely okay with that, we were tourist to the full extent of the word. We took pictures of ourselves and even our meals. We had a blast.

Brian having crepes in a little cafe near the Pantheon.

My favorite part of a trip is usually the street markets and we went to two different ones in Paris. I loved seeing all the fresh food, meat, fish, wine and handmade goods.

They take their chocolate very seriously here.

It was very cool to see a lot of the work that I studied in school. We visited only two museums: the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay.

This is possibly not the most flattering picture of Brian but it was his favorite meal while we were there. We found this very authentic cafe (recommended by a French friend) it wasn't touristy at all, they didn't even speak English or have any translated menus. Brian had a croissant with fresh jam and two huge chunks of bread SLATHERED with butter.

One night we ate at a restaurant on the Champs-Elysees. The dining room was upstairs directly above a Renault car showroom. The tables were on these narrow walkways so you could look down on both sides and watch all the people.

Arc de Triomphe

The Notre Dame Cathedral from the Seine

Walking back to our hotel after dinner

We had so much fun and we're even more excited about living there later, learning the city more and showing it to our visiting friends and family.

On a completely unrelated note isn't it unfortunate that they make gluesticks to look so much like chapstick? Silly little girls.