this and that

Trader Joes, I know we've only met once but I think
I love you.
I love your pretty store, your happy workers, your yummy food, your brown paper sacks. It all feels so cozy and
so safe.
I also love your Triple Berry Bran Muffin Mix. Henry and William and Patrick don't love your muffin mix as much. But I think it's because they haven't officially met you. Once they do, I'm sure they will fall in love like me.

Hahaha! I just tried and it is just not possible.
It's not possible for me to look at this picture of Henry and not laugh.
And I shouldn't laugh. I shouldn't think it's funny that he's wearing a band-aid on the skin above his top lip because he got a tiny cut when he fell out of the van on Thursday because he was too busy drinking his Shamrock shake when we got home from the drive thru and parked in the garage. I shouldn't think it's funny.
BUT,
I do. This is so funny. He insisted on the band-aid. And I cracked up. I told him he looked like he grew a mustache. He wore it anyway. He drank his shake and he talked to us and he even took his nap. Wearing that band-aid.
That is so funny.

the new 20

Erica and I met when we were five years old. We would become not only cousins, but also another term we made up, bcff's, which stood for "best cousin friends forever". Pretty clever, right?
Today is Erica's birthday, she's turning thirty. Our friendship has spanned 2 and 1/2 decades of life. When I think back over the past twenty-five years a smile comes to my face. I think of the summers we spent, glued to each other's side. Our bike rides to the YMCA and our crushes on the lifeguards there (Roger, ha!), our trips to Great America and riding the Shock Wave way too many times in a row, our adventures in Maine like white-water rafting, the year we decided to be runners and our little tiny shorts from the Y, watching the "Price Is Right" every morning while eating a bowl of cereal off a tv tray in my Dad and Sandi's basement, and our late night big bowls of ice-cream. I remember the dreams we dreamed together when we'd have sleepovers and stay up much too late. We always planned to have houses next door to each other and build an underground tunnel to connect the two.

And now, even though she is in New York and I'm in Illinois and there is no underground tunnel long enough to connect my house to her apartment, we remain connected. Being moms and raising boys and being like-minded in lots of other ways, our lives have many parallels and remain intertwined with each others.

Erica, I am blessed to have you in my life. I'm so thankful for you and for our friendship that enriches my life in so many ways. I love you! Happy Birthday!
{p.s. 30 is so the new 20!!}

this is how I'm feeling today

We just relisted yesterday.
But this makes me happy,

I was sitting on our chaise, having coffee while the boys nap and I glanced into the dining room and smiled.
I love the way the sun is streaming in through our french doors. I love this tricycle perched (inside) and beckoning warmth and spring so that it can be ridden (outside).

daddy came home for lunch

We love it when daddy comes home for lunch!

Holly made this!

Holly, Rachel and I finally celebrated our Christmas together last weekend! (Way too belated.) We hadn't gotten together since the very beginning of December, and as always it was such a fun time that included shopping, Starbucks, yummy food (Jason's Deli and Chipotle), lots of laughing and staying up too late, and morning coffee and breakfast in our pj's Sunday morning. We exchanged Christmas gifts with each other and also went to Trader Joe's. My first ever trip there. Yes, it was everything I have always dreamed it would be. :-)

I loved every gift, and I might post more later, but I have to show you this now.


Holly made me this beautiful cake stand/2-tiered platter. I love these dishes. After "whoa this is gorgeous, I love it", my very next thought was these and Sara. Love the birds and branches and the blue. The perfect compliment to our dining room.

She and her mom (the uber talented duo) created the stand using two plates (one larger dinner size, and one smaller salad size) a crystal goblet/glass and epoxy glue. So clever.

She also gave me these darling mugs to accompany it.

Thank you Holly. I love these!

bag raider

I got home last night from visiting Holly with Rachel in Chicago. It was close to bedtime for the boys and they were freshly bathed and pj'd (they smelled so fresh and clean and still had damp hair; the perfect time of day if you ask me). I walked in and set my stuff down. Henry started digging through my bags and William grabbed a few things and ran off. He came back wearing these pearls and carrying this zebra striped wristlet. (Both $1 items at the jewelry show!) He was very serious about this fashionable combo, too. :-)

staying busy scooping

Isn't it a fact? The winter months are long. Wishing them away hasn't been working, so we've been busy finding other ways to get through them.
One thing that William loves to do is spoon and pour. This is something I learned from my days as a Montessori teacher.
I started with a big bag of lima beans and also a box of noodles, but used them separately. Then I thought I'd mix up the textures and combine them. And then for a pop of color, I added the pom poms.

I take out a variety of spoons and bowls.

He especially likes big spoons, like this,

and fun spoons, like my coffee scoop. (the ones he doesn't get to use often.)

Wishing this was really ice cream with a cherry on top!

friday's hyacinth

I walked into the kitchen yesterday and heard this,

we are family

Last Friday the boys and I packed up the van and drove to Chicago to spend the day (and night) with Dan and Sara and Gabe and Caleb.
Now I always say this, but we really need to do this more often.
They're only 2 hours away and even though I wish we all lived even closer, it's really
not that bad.
Henry and Gabe are just the best of friends. They basically go off on their own and play. I wondered when that magical age of playing together and independently of us grown-ups would come, and I think it has. Four-ish must be that magical age. They played perfectly together. They even had a sleepover on a big cozy bed of blankets on Gabe's floor. And they even slept...
until 4:45 am.
But they slept.
They also played Wii,
made crafts out of pipe cleaners, paper doilies, pom poms, ribbons and glue,
played outside in the snow,
battled with their light-sabers,
chased the kitties,
and ate lots of yummy food (thank you Dan and Sara!).
I also ate lots of yummy food, including a gigantic bbq turkey leg and homestyle macaroni-and-cheese on Friday night and my first ever stuffed grape leaves and falafel for lunch on Saturday.












Thank you Dan and Sara for your hospitality. We had so much fun! Let's do it again soon and much more often.

this little monkey

climbs out of bed!

On Sunday (2.14.10), I read to William and tucked him in for his nap.
When I was reading to Henry I heard William's door open and close. That was weird; I thought maybe it was my mom going in to check on him. Then it opened and closed again.
And again.
And again.
Henry held the page for me and I jumped up to see what was happening in William's room. To my surprise I found William standing at the door.
The same William I had just tucked into his crib.
He wasn't crying. Or hurt. Just standing at his door. He was not in his crib.
Shocked at the sight, I tucked him back in. He didn't end up napping that day, but he stayed.
The past few days have been umm, well, interesting. He's safely able to climb in and out of his crib. He and Henry play in there. They play so nicely together in there with tons of pillows and animals. And it's really cute.

This game, however, is not.
Step 1: I read to William and tuck him in.
Step 2: William leaps out of bed and runs around his room.
Step 3: I hear his pitter-pattering feet and run upstairs.
Step 4: He "hides" behind his rocking chair.
Step 5: I try to be serious and stern with him about getting into his crib.
Step 6: He laughs at me. (not with me; at me.)
Step 7: I put him into his crib tuck him in.
Repeat steps 3-7, until he runs out of steam.
Today we only played one round. It's getting better and better.
I wasn't ready to transition him to a big-boy bed, but I think he is ready. And I'm trying to see the bright side; when he is in a bed, hopefully we won't have to relearn all of this tucking and staying. I pray he will just stay put!

february 14th

For Valentine's Day we,

decorated with some hand strung garland,

(idea found at the Blonde Designs blog)
*super easy and inexpensive, I used ribbon I already had and paper doilies from the dollar store.
gave friends at preschool Spiderman valentines and a little colored pencil,

had a "Love Tea" at preschool, the children sang songs for the mom's, we made a craft together and then shared cookies and punch,

but it's ok thanks to zoom lenses,


{How sweet is Henry's teacher that played with William while Henry and I made our craft?}


Henry's finished frame (his teacher took a picture of us together to put in it)

we opened Valentine's packages,
some of us got a "package" in the "mail" sitting on the front porch.


pj's, a Valentine's pez dispenser and the "Monsters vs Aliens" dvd

Some of us asked "where's my special movie?"
And some of us felt terrible that we'd put the DVD (intended to be shared) in Henry's package because we thought some of us wouldn't notice. :-(

my mom came for a visit and made crafts with the boys,




we ate chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast,

{the intended hearts looked sort of like butts}
and she made chocolate cupcakes for a valentine's treat,

The boys helped sprinkle,


And we tasted them too,



Thank you, Mom!
And,