For Jennie: A Spring Fashion Show

OK, so this week is the super addicting consignment sale and I didn't get to go. Jennie took pity on me and posted all her purchases on her blog. I'm playing along and showing her the spring stuff we have have found at our local used clothing store. I got all of the below for less then $100. Lots of Gymboree and Ralph Lauren (some with tags still).
Kendall desperately needed some jeans! Finally found some.

I wouldn't suggest wearing this together but in a 4 year olds world stripes and madras are the perfect match and plaid shoes too.

For her post nap tennis game.

Kate looking smashing in her bikini, plaid shoes and Christmas socks!

To be happy about...

No new pictures right now but just wanted to drop in and say:
I love:

• How Kendall says "as well" instead of "too." For example before school she was playing kitchen and asked me and then Kate, "Did you eat all of your jello as well?"
• That the days are getting just a smidge longer, I can tell by the light coming through the blinds when we wake up and go to bed at night.
• That our house is going to smell like a brand new house soon: newly refinished hardwood floors, new paint, new carpet...
• Thinking about my garden, going to do a little reorganizing with an expanded vegetable garden in a different bed and lots of flowers.
• I think that the fans might leave today. 
• The carpet for the basement is scheduled to arrive today so we'll decide on a day to install and then we can spread out a little.
• My Weires girls are coming to visit soon, excited about the things we have planned but a little bummed they have to see the house as it is.
• I've started a countdown until my sonogram!
• I'm way too excited about getting all the toys sorted out and put back once the basement is finished.
• Speaking of "organizing" Kendall uses the word organize way more then ANY other 4 year old out there. Yesterday she said, "Mom, maybe tomorrow we can organize my socks!" Gosh, I love that kid. I really don't know who she got that from. Yes, I organize a lot now but I don't think I did growing up (Mom, did I?) Brian is more of the organizer, I don't even put away his clothes because I can't do it neat enough for him :)
• Kate on the other hand can destroy a room in five seconds flat and a supreme mess does not bother her in the least.

A Clean Disaster Area

Well, I got on my hands and knees to remove all the dried plaster from the hardwood floors, walls and ceilings, then I mopped the floor.  After that I moved some of our furniture (the small, light ones) in the family room around the ripped out carpet so we can at least use that room now, then I vacuumed up all the plaster that was on that floor. I had big plans of cleaning the upstairs bathroom that I have been avoiding that NO LONGER SMELLS LIKE DECOMPOSING ANIMAL (must have knocked ice off of some vent pipe last night on the roof) but my pregnancy back is killing me so I'm going to lay around and do nothing for a little while. I'll lay around in my disaster...but at least it is my clean disaster now.

Later I might get out and get some flowers for our table. Maybe we wont notice the gaping hole that is our ceiling, or the 7 tons of ice and snow on our deck (pushed from our roof) if we have some colorful flowers on our table? Or maybe not, maybe I will just sit here.

P.S. Today is better then yesterday actually. Despite the disaster my spirits are much higher, I just felt so helpless over it all yesterday. Now, since we have to wait until this weather changes to fix all of this mess I don't know how long this good attitude will last, there is no controlling these mood swings of mine these days :)  

I took the girls to the mall yesterday to run out some energy at the play area. I have a feeling we'll be spending any time outside of the house that we can, as long as there isn't a contractor here! Our basement carpet is due to arrive on the 22nd so hopefully we'll be able to move down there to play soon, that will open up about 800 square feet of play space for us so we'll be fine!!

P.S.

I walked on the carpet a couple of times today and my socks soaked. I kept asking the girls, "Are you sure you didn't have an accident here?" That would have been one heck of an accident!

P.P.S. Our house is shrinking around us. We can't go in the basement, and now this! All of this is not good for my pregnancy hormones, you can bet there was a lot of crying today!

P.P.P.S. I forgot to mention that I made a quick to the pediatrician yesterday, Kendall has an ear infection :(

FYI

This is not cool

Blah **Updated**

Brian goes out of town, plumber coming today to attack the funky smell that has permeated our master bath and especially fun: our roof is leaking (go away snow). Brian worked on scraping ice/snow off that area of the roof and it has been dry for a couple of days. Of course since Brian is leaving today it started leaking in a slightly different spot.

On a happy note, school is back open and the girls get to have their Valentine "celebration" today. They are incredibly excited.

To cure my blahs I made a little Target baby registry. It's like shopping but without the spending money, fun fun! I'll add to the list as I think of things and once we finally know what this little bean is going to be!!

***Update: the plumber left and he can't find anything wrong in our bathroom. I cried.

Basement is painted!!!

Unbelievably excited. Brian is too, neither of us can wait to get the carpet in. Now I'm scouring my saved house idea file. Here are few that I love (not necessarily basement related). I've saved all these for my own use so I didn't include the links where I found them (oops!). I also included my inspiration for the kids artwork in white frames and the shadow boxes.

Snow Days

We've been trapped indoors, cancelled school, icy roads and a basement full of painters means that we have to find ways to entertain ourselves. So what have we been doing?
Snuggling on the couch to watch movies.

Crafting, lots and lots of crafting.

Setting our table for impromptu meals.

Chicks List: Home Edition

Is it too early for my nesting instinct to have kicked in? This Chick's List is home focused because everything I'm drawn to lately is home related. Maybe it's not nesting maybe it's because we've been a little trapped inside by all the snow?

I have been wanting vintage wire locker baskets for a long time. I've browsed ebay but have just never made the jump by bidding. I want 3 for my office and 2-4 for the changing table. Imagine my surprise when I opened this months Pottery Barn catalog and see tons of wire baskets. I was so ahead of this fad, unfortunately it's going to make finding them used that much harder!!

This for my office wall. Brian and I both like these but are worried that they would make my small office look a little cluttered? I think we could make it work though.

No photo here but once those basement walls are painted I have big plans of framing the girls artwork in all white frames and doing a grouping the playroom.

In one of the girls' rooms I have plans of shadow boxes with photos of the girls in them. I want to include an object in each of the boxes that corresponds with the photo. A picture of them writing on the driveway with big chunky sidewalk chalk in the frame. A picture of them dressed up as princess and a fairy wand in the frame...

Baby room: it was recently painted a light blue (before we decided to have a third) so we wont be repainting it but IF this is a boy then I want to do baby bedding that is primarily brown (not necessarily this set, I just found this for a visual) and then have accents in a third bright color. OR I want to do a nautical theme like this (this is Brian's favorite).

 IF it's a girl I want to take my favorite quilt (made by my Granny) that has been ridiculously loved for many many years, so loved that I currently can not use it because it has so many holes.  I want to have it repaired and made into a baby quilt and build the nursery bedding around that. (Dear cousins, do not hate me because I have one of her quilts. A very very long time ago when we stayed at her house I told her how pretty I thought the quilt on my bed was--not knowing she had made it and being Granny she insisted that I keep it.) I feel guilty that i have her quilt but it is the only thing of hers I have!!!

That's all for now. I could go on and on but I'll keep it short and maybe have another Chick's List soon.

Slow Down and Hurry Up

Winter storm advisory here, our 17" will get another 6-9 tonight. I anticipate school being closed tomorrow and my brain is moving a million miles an hour thinking of things to do with the girls. We're trapped out of the basement because of the painters but I think I'm going to bring the bean table out of hiding. Once they tire of that I'm planning on bringing up the kitchen (they've been playing with that a lot lately). It is funny how a toy becomes 1000 times more interesting when it's moved to another room.

My mommy instincts tell me Kate is on the verge of being sick. She hasn't been able to shake her cough, her appetites down and her eye looks a little suspicious to me (pink eye coming on?). Tonight she looked so pale to me, this means I wont sleep well tonight, I'll be getting up to check on her all night long.

It cracks me up how our two girls just will not walk anywhere. Kate runs and Kendall gallops. Even getting into bed tonight, Kendall went over to her closet to hang something on the doorknob and then gallops back to bed. Wouldn't we all look ridiculous if we did that now? I think the next time I get groceries I'm going to gallop down the aisles. When does that stop? One day out of the blue I'll realize that they are walking and it will make me sad. I want to bottle up every little moment because I don't know which one will be it's last, the last time she gallops to bed, the last time she says "bless yous" instead of 'sneezes,' the last time Kate goes to throw her dirty clothes in the hamper before bath time but forgets to take off her socks (hilarious I tell you, she does it almost every single time, do you know how funny it is to see a little two year old streaking through your house with her socks on?!). Here's that word again: balance. I'm having a hard time between not wanting them to get another day older and not being able to wait until they are able to experience all that comes with growing up...that first 2 wheeler bike ride, that first lost tooth, that freedom from driving the first time...). I want both to bottle them up and watch them experience life, I think that is why I work so hard to preserve each memory by either blogging about it or taking a picture or making a scrapbook page about it. So that when they are grown and on their own I can relive these days. No matter how much I strive to enjoy the moment I know that I'll have regrets, don't all moms? I'll wish I hadn't cleaned this or that, wish I hadn't stopped to blog about something but instead just spent that time sniffing their sweet little girl hair smells and stealing their little girl snuggles. You just have to find that balance I guess, that ever elusive balance.

Baby It's Cold Outside

17 inches of snow and 6-9 more due tomorrow. We've been staying warm by the fire and staying busy with various activities. We stayed busy today driving 80 (round trip) miles to get Brian the snow blower he wanted.

Later this week our basement will start it's make over to bring it into the 21st century. The painting starts tomorrow and the carpet is coming up and when they're finished new carpet goes down. We're also having our Handy Manny come out to do some various jobs including (finally) putting in overhead lighting in each of the kids' rooms!

The Moment & Balance

The day is underway, kids music channel on in the background, art projects in progress (not directed by me). Kendall has cut up a piece of packaging cardboard and glued square shaped cut outs down and is now working on it with paint/glitter pens. Kate is busy with a long library receipt and a glue stick. I love how they just find a piece of something laying around and decide to work with that. Bed made, washing machine moving, desk getting sorted through.

I feel like I hear the word "balance" all the time now. I know it's something I strive for but I feel like it's a never ending battle. Balance the house cleaning with time spent with the girls, balance time feeding my creative side, throw in some household planning (meal plans, grocery list, activity ideas) and exercise...What is the right balance? How much of one do you do before you need to stop to do the other, no matter there is always something left undone. Maybe if you've balanced as much as you can then what gets left undone you are okay with? I don't know, just doesn't sound like my personality, ha. Just my ramblings about something I've been thinking about lately!

I can't tell you how many times the girls say something during the day that has me belly laughing. Yesterday on the way to school Kendall was quietly looking out the window when suddenly she says just as calm as you please, "I just saw a hedgehog....in a tree!!!"  And it's not uncommon to hear my own words coming out of her mouth. I couple weekends ago Brian and I were riding around looking at some local nice neighborhoods. On the way home from school in our own neighborhood Kendall was saying, "Oh look at that house, ooooooo that one is nice, ahhhh I like that one..."

Weekend Fun

I had decided for my birthday that I wanted to go to the hibachi grill. Brian and I really wanted to see the girls experience the hibachi so we took them there on Friday night. It was actually pretty adorable. Brian was super smart and was worried about their reaction to the fire and (as usual)  he was right, they were terrified at first (but soon loved it). When our 'table' went up in flames Kate's little lip stuck WAY out and she just couldn't seem to get it pulled back in! She was in a highchair next to me but she was leaned all the way over trying to hide her face in my shoulder. It was so cute but it didn't take long for her to love it, she kept a very close eye on that chef though!

Yesterday we spent the day at IKEA (a special birthday surprise). We just got a few things but it was actually a really good trip because a) we finally reached a few decisions on how we want to decorate some areas and b) the girls were ridiculously good. Kate isn't tall enough to go into the childcare area so both girls stayed with us and for 2 hours giggled together and shopped. Kendall kept picking out things for Kate, "This would be a good bookshelf for Kate's room, can we get it for her?"

And finally, my much anticipated (ha) to-do list. This isn't for today but really what I want to accomplish this week. I'm thinking about treating myself to a productive day of.... scrapbooking, I'm out of the habit and think it would be a great way to start off the next decade of my life. So this is the list of things I want to do on top of the regular house cleaning and mainly consists of organizing areas that have been bothering me.

• Organize bar drawer
• Post office (ranks on my list of fun things right next to root canal)
• Order Valentines
• Organize recipe binder
• Basement--getting the play area put back together now that we can put the carpet back down (although this will be messed up again very soon because we're having the carpet removed and the whole thing painted)
• Call painter/handyman (see above)
• Organize spice cabinet--exciting I tell you
• Research Week in the Life and 365 Project Documentation---this might be the only one that gets done today
• Plan art activities for the girls
• Clean mudroom--Check this off the list, we bought a shoe rack and mat at IKEA and I had to clean the room before I would put them out so this happened last night
• Kendall's bookshelf--needs tackling about once a month, the girl has a LOT of books and it gets  disheveled looking quickly.
• Call Goddard preschool to observe

There is also a rough meal plan on the right side, a short list of blog post ideas, the library book I want to pick up and the paint color we choose for said basement project.

Right Now

A snapshot into right now. What the photo doesn't capture is the sound of the girls playing in the basement (lots of giggles and an unidentified banging noise??). 

My cousin did an awesome blog post this morning that consisted of her (crazy ambitious--for me at least) to-do list. I LOVED it, I loved seeing that part of her, maybe because I love lists but mostly because I just love to see how other women work and what they do throughout the day. It left me wanting more, I have a list of people (in my head at least) that I want to peek into their to-do list. I'll include my own sometime soon.

I think it would be an fun scrapbook page to have a bunch of "right now" snapshots from various days. I've added a "Right Now" label so I can find them easily in the future. Wouldn't you love to have a snapshot of your mom's life 30 years ago. I imagine many of them included to-do lists and recipes but maybe not the laptop.

30 While 30

I have two days to finish my 30 while 30 list. I need 9 more items to complete it. Here is what I have so far:

1. Visit a local art museum

2. Explore Pittsburgh

3. Expand garden

4. Volunteer

5. Track spending

6. Have a baby

7. Visit Niagra Falls

8. Document a “Week in the Life” before 3^rd baby is born

9. Find a gym class to commit to

10.  Send someone a care package

11.  Introduce kids to a variety of art media in fun projects

12. Find a local Bible study  

13. Hang some stuff on the walls

14. Freeze a few meals once a month

15.  Drastically reduce or omit corn syrup from families diet.

16.  Family game night

17.  Take a tennis lesson

18.  Make jelly or jam

19. 30 random acts of kindness

20. Keep car clean.

21.  Take a picture a day.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

Got any suggestions for me? I had to delete a few once I found out I was pregnant I had snow ski and water ski both on there but those are gone now.

Mish Mash

We have a goal of "finishing" our formal living room this month. Considering it's the 22nd I think we're in trouble. Instead I can't stop looking at kid's rooms. Like this for instance

photo source here

Heading to the library this afternoon to get this book. I think I can do five minutes and I hear there is some kind of avocado bread in this book, yum.

I started this pregnancy at a higher weight then I would like to have. I weighed myself this morning and I have lost a pound since my last appointment. It's common in the first trimester to loose weight but the books say from this point forward it's about 1 pound a week, yikes. Considering I picked up the ingredients to make this I think one pound a week wont be a problem.

Find the recipe here.

Slow Down

My sweet sweet ladies had me laughing out loud this morning in the car. We were talking about how some people go to college and how that is a big kid school and how those kids stay away from home during that time. Kendall was talking about how she was going to go there and we discussed the different kind of things that she could study. And then this conversation followed:
Kendall: "But you're going to have to drive me there"
Me:  "Actually you'll be big enough to drive then so you will drive yourself"
Kendall after only a brief pause: "But I wont know where to turn"
I love that she isn't at all concerned about driving, I'm sure that looks easy, she is just worried about knowing where to turn!

And then Kate joined in and the girls decided that they wanted to be in the same classes and how Kendall would drive and Kate would sit in the passenger seat. Kate declared that she would turn on the music and Kendall had to correct her to let her know that Kendall would turn ON the music and Kate could turn it down. I started getting so sentimental because 1) because I know this will happen before we know it and 2) I am so happy that they have each other and that they are so close in age. They are very different but they have been playing together so well and they love each other so much.

When I was pregnant with Kate (and being pregnant now) I got SO irritated that people assumed I would want a boy. With Kate it was quite the opposite, I wanted another girl just because I knew the bond I shared with my sisters was something I wanted Kendall to experience. With this pregnancy I'm completely fine either way. It would be fun to have a boy but it would also be great to have three sisters that can grow up together. I've bought a few boy clothes and a few girl clothes (and saved all the receipts, ha). I always grit my teeth because everyone has to make a comment about maybe this one will be a boy, or we're 'trying for a boy'. Grrrrrrr.

Yesterday I had an ugly run in with some morning sickness, my first in the history of all pregnancies. I was okay afterwards and had some breakfast but then started feeling so sick again. I cancelled our dinner guests for the evening, I was spending a good portion of the morning on the couch and would not feel up to cleaning and getting ingredients for that. However, I had already promised the girls that we would have a special date that afternoon.

You see we used to have a huge problem with bed time. Crazy bedtime dramatics that were so stressful and then ridiculously early wake up times, finally we came up with a system that works for us. We implemented the sticker on a chart system and they only get the sticker under two conditions. Once mommy/daddy leave the room they do not call us back in there (then or in the middle of the night--of course nightmares or being sick didn't count against them) AND in the morning they don't call for us until a designated time. We bought each of the girls alarm clocks and when the music comes on they can get out of their bed to play in their room and when the alarm comes on they can come wake us up. Nights are so peaceful now! We tuck them in and walk out and don't hear a single peep, no asking for water, no whining just peace. Their sticker charts had space for a LOT of stickers and we were sticklers for the rules, if they came in our room in the morning asking for random things before the alarm went on they didn't get one. Occassionaly we would offer up extra stickers for very good behavior (it isn't uncommon now for the girls to keep playing in their room after the alarm goes off!) It was finally FULL yesterday so I picked the girls up a little early from school (despite my rolling stomach) and took them to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs we even had snacks, popcorn and a drink. Then we walked next door to Target and each girl got to pick out a prize. Kendall choose a tiny baby doll with pacifier and she has been talking so SWEETLY to it! Kate chose a golden globe Barbie complete with award, golden purse and shoes. Fancy.

I LOVE this picture of Kendall sitting like such a little lady during the movie.

Here she is toting her little bundle around.

 Here is Kate with her now naked Barbie. Afterwards we made our favorite dinner. Homemade pizzas, we make the dough and the sauce and the girls add their own toppings. Like I said I didn't get ingredients today so our toppings were a little limited.

Two of My Favorite Colors Today

Today is a good day for yellow and black. This little bumble bee has been buzzing around today. Here she is quietly studying the IKEA catalog.

Now we've made it home from a Sam's run, the girls are both napping and I'm sitting down with this yumminess. I cut up a big 'ol pineapple and tossed in some blackberries. So good!

I'm always amazed by how much these monkeys can eat at breakfast. Note: they are dressed the same. I picked out Kate's clothes and then Kendall picked out her own.

Invitation

I've decided to continue the blog, however it is going to be by invitation only. If you would like to be invited please send your email address to ashley.paperchick@gmail.com  The blog will remain as is for the next few days to ensure all readers receive this message but after that you will be required to 'log in' to read.

I will continue to blog about the kids but will also include craft projects that we do, house decorating, and recipes. I started the blog as a way to document our days and those things are all very much a part of who we are. I love to look through my mom's old cookbooks to see what she was making while she was a young mom and I love to see pictures in our photo books that give glimpses into who my parents were and what they loved when they were the age I am now (and laugh at their hair styles). I want to have that recorded for my girls. One day, when they have babies of their own, they will be able to look back on things they did, but also get to know their parents at a different age and to see what they were passionate about. So from this point forward I will not feel guilty for posting non-Kendall and Kate related posts. I want this blog to be as much for them as it is about them.

Reached a Fork

I'm unsure on if I want to continue blogging or not. Various reasons, various concerns...different possible solutions but just unsure on how I want to handle it. What to do, what to do, help me out here...I want to know who YOU are. Let's see who's out there reading this old site. Who are you, how did you find it and what would you like to see here?