Happy Friday

Posted on May 24, 2013 by lauren

This week was so exhausting, but in the best way exhausting can be. I am happiest in mild weather with the sunshine coming down, surrounded by my boys outdoors. And that’s mostly what the past week held, save for a missing partner who is coming home today, just in time for the weekend. But at night, as soon as I put those rascals to bed, I immediately got to work on the kitchen. It’s coming along, slowly but surely. And perhaps the best part about the slowness of it is that I can take time to reflect on the best way to change it rather than rushing into something just to get it done.

Next week we have all sorts of family coming into town for Andrew’s grandmother’s funeral. It will be a celebration of life, and surely a lot of craziness with somewhere around 14 children under the age of 9… half of whom will be in our house! I’m so excited to host and even more excited to see everyone, share memories, and play with cousins who we don’t get to see as often as we’d like.

But this weekend… we are going to chill out and maybe hit the farmer’s market on Saturday if it doesn’t storm all morning! The calm before the storm! Have a wonderful weekend.

DIY Fun: Animal Ice Cubes

Posted on May 23, 2013 by lauren

As the weather warms up, I am constantly looking for activities that will keep the boys cool (and interested). Also, there has been a lot of painting around here, which warrants the need for occupied minds while mama tries and tries to get these cabinets painted.

When Emil goes down for his nap, Milo and Oliver and I settle in for some stories, then it is time for an activity to keep them busy and relatively quiet. Lately, this has been keeping them so interested for so long, we have done it several days in a row.

And unlike this ice activity, they can have their own separate animals to free if they need some space from each other. Plus, it is really fun to stack the cubes! I use this large cube tray, which is also great for parties. I like to freeze juice or lemonade combinations in them to use instead of ice cubes so they keep the beverage cold without watering it down. We use them to keep sangria ice cold, too. Plus, if you add distilled water, they won’t be cloudy, and you can use them in fancy drinks. But enough with drinks. This one is for animals! All you need to do is place plastic animals in the cube trays, cover with water, and freeze overnight. The next day, give the kids a watering can with warm water, or a bulb syringe, or whatever else you think they might enjoy using to free their animals from the ice: My boys were so enthralled with the pretend aspect of this game, really enjoying the rescue role they took on, and continued playing with the animals and water long after they were free from the ice.

Other things you can do with this activity: stack the animal ice cubes and play a sort of bowling game (Milo thought of this), or watch them melt super fast in a large tub of warm water.

Hope you are having great weather… I know we are enjoying ours!

Dress That Mama: Simple

Posted on May 22, 2013 by lauren

Please don’t get tired of my braided hair. The truth is, it is really simple. It keeps my long hair off my neck in the heat, half-grown-out bangs out of my eyes better than any other hairstyle I’ve found, and makes it easier to not wash my hair every day, which I’ve heard is better for hair… I don’t know, how often do you wash yours?

Plus, you know something funny? Everyone keeps coming up to me with a comment. I’ve had several older gentlemen and ladies say that it reminds them of how their parents used to do their hair (!), and younger women saying they love it and ask me how I learned. I’ve had little girls compliment it. And you know, it’s so hilarious, because I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to my hair, and this hairstyle is really ridiculously easy. Here’s how:

If you have medium-to-long hair, this should work for you.

Part hair however you usually do, but make sure to part the back down the middle. separate hair into two large sections, tying off one like a pigtail with a rubber band while you braid the other side. Braid hair like you would if you were doing braided pigtails on a little girl, only work the braid forward and up rather than just braiding down. If you have bangs, you can either leave them forward, or for longer bangs (like mine), braid them into the hair as you move up the hairline. This will also help hold your braid in place. Secure with a clear rubber band, and repeat on opposite side. You should have two ends that you can tuck over or under each other and secure with a couple of bobby pins.

That’s it!

Happy Wednesday!

Kitchen Update: Phase I

Posted on May 21, 2013 by lauren

The kitchen is, without a doubt, the place where I spend the most time during the day. To be accurate, our entire family tends to congregate there, despite it being the smallest room on the first floor. There is an eat-in counter, but only one stool (we are saving for ones we love rather than buying more cheap ones that fall apart). There is a giant window that looks out into our back yard so I can see the boys playing while I chop veggies and prepare meals. There are things I love about our kitchen, but mostly it is outdated and strange.

For the past 3 years, Andrew and I have discussed renovating it. And then we realized the renovations we would want to make would be astronomical in expense, and we may as well move if we are going to go down that road.

So, no renovations.

But, as I perused my “Kitchen” board on Pinterest, I started noticing a theme. Simple. White. Wood elements (I would kill for hardwood floors). Subway tiles (maybe). Open shelving. And I decided that there are a few things we can do that don’t cost a lot of money that I feel will make a drastic difference in the space.

The first, most obvious thing, is paint. We have plenty of windows and natural light in our kitchen, but the medium-finish on the cabinets makes it almost cave-like at certain times of the day… especially in the winter. And let’s face it, the Swedes are onto something with their white walls: I’m figuring that because they must live with so many hours of darkness for part of the year, the white helps tremendously.

And so, with a huge bucket of primer, I have been painting. Every day during Emil’s 2-hour-long nap, I set Milo and Oliver up with an activity (one I will share with you this Thursday) and get to work. As soon as they are in bed for the night, I am back at it, listening to podcasts of This American Life and various music (thanks, Mary) as loud as I dare. It feels really, really good to finally do something to this space that I inhabit so often.

The downside? Everything, I mean everything, is in disarray right now. There are drawers on the dining room table drying, cabinet doors on our back deck and scattered throughout the kitchen, propped up haphazardly against walls, the contents of our cabinets are in the basement or spread out over every available counter space. It’s a wreck. But once it is complete, I think it’s going to look amazing.

P.s.- I will keep you updated on the progress of the kitchen as it comes along. The above paint is just primer. We decided on Martha Stewart’s “Pure White” after trying several different shades and brightness, and I will show you a picture of that once it’s in.

P.p.s.- Do you know how crazy-making it is to try to choose a white? Too bright, too dull, too bluish, too creamy, too stark… aaaaaaaahhhhh!

Weekend Shenanigans

Posted on May 20, 2013 by lauren

Well, it turns out I didn’t take many pictures this weekend. It was a weekend of work. Lots of priming and painting of kitchen cabinets while wrangling kids, lots of writing and teaching prep and presentation prep for Andrew. It doesn’t feel like we had much of a weekend, actually. But there are lots of things we wanted to accomplish before June, and June is just on the horizon, so work it is!

Work, and family shifts. Andrew’s grandmother passed away this weekend. She was in her mid 90′s, and it was expected. But still, a shift and the recognition of the delicacy of life, how fast it really goes, led me to put down the paint brush yesterday despite personal deadlines and wishes to move forward on the project. I spent the afternoon reflecting on life and family and really looked at my kids and how much they have grown over the past year.

It is a delicate balance, this moving forward, staying busy, improving our quality of life… versus stopping, reflecting, enjoying each moment. A constant struggle for a busybody like me!

Ann Knight, we cherish our memories of you and know you are at peace. Rest well.

20/52

Posted on May 18, 2013 by lauren

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2013″

Milo: Can be found busy experimenting with water and ice most hours of the day

Oliver: Prefers fishing off the stairs

Emil: Eats dirt (and hit me hard with that plastic pipe shortly after I took this picture… that kid!)

***Linking up with Jodi and her 52 project***

Last Day of Preschool… Ever!

Posted on May 17, 2013 by lauren

Happy Friday! Today is Milo’s very very very last day of preschool! They are even having a little graduation ceremony at his school, which should be a real tear jerker…

Have a great weekend!

Let’s Talk “Screen Time”

Posted on May 16, 2013 by lauren

Screens are everywhere. I know I ruffled some feathers when I wrote this post, but let me assure you: I am not against technology. Obviously. I am writing this very post on my Mac, which I also use to check the news and weather, shop online, zone out on Pinterest, and communicate with far-flung friends and family via email and Facebook. Most of my own screen time is done in the evenings, once the kids are in bed, but I’ll be the first to admit, I’m probably on the computer too much.

But I’ve started noticing that everywhere I look, kids seem to be glued to some sort of screen, even during the nicest of weather. In the carpool line at school, the kids in the car in front of us are watching TV while they wait; their mama is on her smartphone. At the pizza place, kids are glued to individual devices at the dinner table while they wait for their food, and their parents are usually doing the same. In strollers and in shopping carts, kids have some sort of screen time to distract them. And fine. It’s not my kid, it’s not my call. I’m not here to judge. For all I know, it’s that kid’s one time all day that he/she is allowed to zone out in front of a screen. I get it.

But it has made me wonder. And you know what? Because this is a blog where I discuss my opinions (and that’s what this is, just an opinion), I’m going to go for it. Having our kids exposed to screen time everywhere is bullshit. It’s messing with our kids’ abilities to just be. It’s okay for our kids to feel frustrated or bored. It’s okay, no, good, to make them wait. It’s okay to let them be in their own heads a bit, to look out the car window instead of be constantly entertained. What about daydreaming? What about learning ways to be okay with quiet? Are we doing our young children a disservice by constantly distracting them from life?

I wonder if it’s because we’re all so darn tired all the time. I know I have resorted to a movie on the computer for my older two while Emil takes a nap, just so I can lie down and rest beside them. But recently, I have observed something really interesting within my own family.

I’d say we are very good with not allowing a lot of screen time with our kids. We haven’t owned a television in over 9 years, so there’s never just background noise of a TV someone left on. If we are watching something, it is because we went to the effort of opening our computers and finding some sort of show or short video, and then once it’s over, it’s over. But I was starting to fall back on that too much. I was letting the boys watch close to an hour of PBS every afternoon, sometimes more.

And then, during a wrestling match (right after I had told them not to roughhouse near the computer), they knocked my computer off the side table, ripping the cord out of the side and breaking the power cord. Luckily, the computer was fine. But the punishment was stern: absolutely no screen time for a week.

The first day, they asked me a few times if they could watch a video or play a game. But after that? Not once. An entire week has gone by, and they have filled that time with more books, pretend games, outside play, puzzles, music, and books on CD checked out from the library. They have been significantly less whiney and irritable in the afternoons. Andrew and I both noticed this change about 3 days in, and decided maybe we need to change our family rules around screen time for good.

I know that every family is different, but I ask you this: what have you noticed about screen time with your kids? How much is too much for your family? Do they become fussier when they are allowed more screen time? Have you found a good balance? I would like to designate one day a week as a “video day,” where they can choose to either watch a video or play an educational computer game (pbskids.org has some great ones) for an hour tops, but I wonder if I will lose my mind if I have no down time during the other days of the week!

And please, don’t take offense to my opinions in this post. I am only speaking from what I have seen with my own kids. The last thing I want to do is alienate anyone or make anyone feel judged. On the contrary. I would love to get a good dialogue going about this issue. We are all in this together!

Dress That Mama: The Best Dress for Summer

Posted on May 15, 2013 by lauren

Ah! The warm sun feels so good after being cooped up all winter (and most of spring)! And I found a dress that has quickly become my favorites: I wore it out to dinner on Friday night, I’ve worn it to breakfast and all morning Sunday, as well as to Milo and Oliver’s preschool Mother’s Day celebration. And I wore it yesterday (yes, I washed it in-between). It’s lightweight and has pockets without making it look bulky, and that somehow is all a dream come true. You know, for collecting small treasures from grubby little boy hands!

Dress: Anthropologie

Clogs: Rachel Comey

Have a lovely day!

P.s.- Milo “graduates” from preschool this Friday, and though it seems like not a very big deal, I may just cry.

Garden Progress: Complete!

Posted on May 14, 2013 by lauren

After what seemed like setback after setback, we finally finished expanding our vegetable garden! Andrew did a great job on the fence, especially considering our downward sloping yard. But perfection is not necessary, as long as the goal is achieved: a fence to keep out the critters (human and rodent and canine) and to prevent the inevitable trampling of small plants if a fence were not there. And though I would love to have started everything from seeds this year, it just wasn’t do-able. If things go well, we will try for it next year.

Here’s what we planted:

Broccoli, broccoli raab, 3 different varieties of tomatoes, 2 varieties of kale, rainbow chard, rhubarb, beets, purple and orange carrots, garlic, beans, butternut and straight-neck squash, red bell peppers, rosemary, oregano, dill, basil, parsley, thyme, red cabbage, and cucumbers, as well as edible flowers throughout. Who knows if our seeds will all come up, but I certainly hope so! What a bounty we will have if they do! Milo and Oliver helped my finish the path leading up to the gate yesterday afternoon and had a lot of fun pouring the sand for the stones. It feels incredible to be finished with the hard part. Now… we wait (and weed and water and sing to)!

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