today

the boy is all bundled and playing with trucks in the backyard. the booger catcher still in full force, still coughing. but he's happy.

haves is sleeping (she's been doing that a lot lately. sleeping and singing.).

the crocuses are peeking up. the tulip tree's buds are swelling. i'm dreaming up my backyard garden,

baking bread, cleaning, reading.

the sun is shining. we can leave the back door open and it will stay light till after dinner.

spring is coming...



p.s. sending good vibes out for b.f.f lisset who is having a baby right this very moment!

man stuff

nash may enjoy make-up, dolls and playing kitchen, but he is beginning to dabble in man-stuff. his new favorite show is "mighty machines" (if you have netflix instant play, check it out, you will regret it!). and yesterday the city began tearing out our sidewalks. nash watched from the window for an hour or so, every so often exclaiming, "mama, this is so amazing." and, "wow, those are great machines!"

here he is catching boogers with his tongue while watching the machines:



and here he is making machine sounds. all boy, i tell ya.



as i was posting these photos i noticed how much more copper there is in his left eye than the right. i asked him to come in here so i could look at his eyes and he said "but they're all blue so i can be booiful." so maybe he's a pretty boy. 

happy valentine's day

we started our morning with heart-shaped pink chocolate chip pancakes and milk. nash said that valentine's day is about treats and making treat bags. i think it's about treats, love and an acceptable time to put pink and red together.

we're making chicken tikka masala tonight for the very first time (vegetable for me, of course. i don't know why i feel i have to keep reassuring you that i'm not eating meat, except for that one time when i sampled steve's steak fajita and he busted me for it on the internets. seriously, it was like 1/10th of an ounce.) wish us luck!

hope you are all having a happy valentine's day. staying warm, snuggling in bed and eating yummy food, too!

photos from last year: chocolate dipped newman-O's. 

mullet-free

i caved. the mullet is no longer. bye bye pig tails. but hello super cute and classy haven! doesn't she look preppy in her little ruffled cardi and plaid barrette? we still need stacy to fix it up because i didn't do such a great job and, in her words, "i can't do everything." i'm thinking i'll have her cut some layers so that it stacks in the back and can grow out into a little a-line. what do you think?

valentine party

the kids went to a fun little valentine party at shiloh's house this week. nash worships shiloh. every time they hang out he talks about her for days. she's such a cutie. they started out by decorating valentine boxes. this was serious business (my kids may or may not have been the only ones eating fighting over glue and other supplies).




next, they frosted, decorated, and devoured sugar cookes. haven did more devouring than she did frosting or decorating.

nash and shiloh shared some hugs. haven tried to get in on the action with shiloh but her silent pleading did her no good. she doesn't like to talk around strangers, unless she's screaming.

next was valentine distribution. nash passed out fun-dip and haven passed out tootsie pops. i was really creative;) finally, the kids watched through the window as the garbage man picked up the trash. the perfect ending to a perfect party.

and isn't haven's little valentine dress the cutest thing you've ever seen?! thanks, mom!

a few not-so-recent projects

i have slacked on project posting, so i thought i'd post a few tonight since i just came across the photos. first up, i recovered this car seat for hollie and baby capri. it was quite a project, the hardest part being completely taking apart the seat cover and canopy that came with the car seat. oh, and then maybe sewing the edging with bias tape (i hate that stuff). and the slits for the seat belts. the canopy was fun, though. i really like how it turned out. i also sewed a car seat tent in coordinating fabric and a little "taggie" blanket too. i forgot to take pictures of those and probably will never get around to it. i also meant to make little strap covers with the striped material and just now realized that i never did that-i guess i burned out.


second, two days before christmas i changed my gifting plans for the kids. i like to keep it simple and this year money was really tight. i had figured since the kids are still so small and get presents from all their family members that they would be fine with nothing from us. plus my parents did a great job of covering all the regular bases (something to wear, something to read, something to play with). at the last minute i felt sad that they'd get nothing from us, so i thought of one thing that each of them would absolutely love. haven's was a baby doll. i bought the only one in all of five stores that i thought had a relatively cute face (why do doll-makers think little girls want alien children?) with the intention to sew a bunch of clothes and cloth diapers and things. of course, this was two days before christmas, so i had to come up with something fast and put the rest on the backburner (where it still sits). since this doll's clothes are not removable (and are ugly, imo) i decided to make a little swaddler (if you have a real baby and don't have one of these, run don't walk). and no baby girl should have a bare head, so i whipped up a cute little headband to match. i used leftover fabric from the car seat and bought some soft flannel fabric for the swaddler's lining and the flower. i think she's pretty darn cute:


{before}

{the handmade goodies}

{the cutest baby on the block. probably the only baby on the block- i don't think drug dealers and widowers have baby dolls. what, you don't live in the ghetto yet? want to buy my house? it's for sale!}

and then we wrapped her up with a bottle and a blanket. haven opened her up on christmas morning and put the bottle straight to her lips. a natural. and she's barely touched the baby since. go figure...

for missie miss

we could use a third...




emmy and i had a high-schoolesque sleepover last night. shopping, facials, and a LOT of fun with photobooth. this may be all we are willing to share-last night's footage was a leeeetle scary (think gangy gets a face-lift scary). and if you're wondering what i'm saying, i don't know either!

inspiration

we also woke up really early and got all gussied up for this. a photo shoot for a photographer shooting stock images.

can you find us?

bad dad

today haven is mourning the loss of her binki. don't ask me why he did it, but dad cut the tip off of the only one left (at least that we can find). haven hasn't stopped crying. it's been over an hour. bad daddy. but the joke's on you: you're the one who's putting her to bed tonight at grandma's house, and i'll be all alone in our little old house enjoying a peaceful slumber. {face!} buenos noches, mi amor.

-XXooOxXXo

those days

today has been one of "those" days. not like monday. or tuesday, for that matter (only mom witnessed my complete meltdown yesterday. and thanks to the beeves who came to my rescue, the meltdown quickly subsided).

no, today is a good day.

a day when kids are happy. (and clean. and dressed.)
a day when the sun is shining. and we get to take a walk.
a day when kids play in their fort under the table and read books and laugh.
a day when we grocery shop and get loads of yummy food. the real kind.
a day when all the laundry gets done and the house smells fresh.
a day when i talk to my mom on the phone while sitting in the warm sun.
a day when haven takes a looooong nap and nash plays quietly in his room. (this may involve a little bribery-"monies" for his piggy bank.)
a day when dinner will be enjoyed with friends.
a day when i am happy with my life as a mom and a wife.

the worst part has been cutting up the steak for fajitas (hormone-free and grass-fed, of course). but i can live with that (and no, i'm not eating it).

now, if you'll excuse me, i have to go sing and clean. the kids will help, of course, because...

today
is
a
good
day.

monday, monday

today was one of "those" days.

one of those days when while i was cleaning up one mess, the kids were making another.

one of those days when our hair was kinked from yesterday, and we didn't change out of our jammies.

which became worsened by the fact that it was also one of those days when the boy peed in his underwear... because he couldn't get into the bathroom...(and he's no good at 'holding it')...because one of the aforementioned messes involved smearing a certain slippery substance he found under mom & dad's bed all over the doorknob making it impossible to turn.

which is precisely when it escalated into one of those reeeeally bad days. when, not only were we wearing jammies at dinner, but we were wearing mismatched jammies-because who has the energy to change his top and his bottom after the accident? and why change her bottoms when she only managed to dirty her top?

oh, could bedtime come any sooner? we started preparations early: we danced to this song, skipped the bath (but not the teeth-brushing) and skipped the bedtime story (but not the prayers). then, just a few moments later it became one of those glorious days. one of those oh-so-rare days when the kids go to bed at six-thirty (an hour early) without even the slightest protest. and i can breathe again.

well, after i clean up the spaghetti on the floor and the about-to-overflow toilet.

here, here to motherhood!