Little sips of happiness

I've always assumed that the dishes in my cupboards need to match. I can't just buy a glass or plate because it's pretty, I have to either buy a whole set of them, or nothing at all. Not because I'm overly neat, but because I thought that's just the way it had to be.

I do really really love my set of these. They are the perfect weight, perfect sized brim, nice simple design. I love having my morning coffee from them.   

However, my friend Stephanie kept talking about how much she loved her holiday mugs--she buys a different one for each holiday and drinks her coffee from it for the duration of that holiday season, and it makes her happy. For a while, I couldn't get past worrying about the unmatchiness of that. What do you do? How do you live with it? I don't know! But one day, while fondling the Halloween mugs at Starbucks, I decided that I was going to buy one.  How would I handle the cognitive dissonance caused by bringing this mug home without its family?  I didn't know, but the mugs were just so cute, I thought it was worth a try.  

Guess what? She was completely right. The world was a better place with that little spider in my coffee.   I loved having a Halloween mug so much that I bought an entirely different Halloween mug when Starbucks marked them down.  

Then I bought a Christmas one a few weeks later (my favorite mug ever, but you'll have to wait to see it). And they are like a little piece of MORE happiness (as if there wasn't enough already!) every morning when I pour my coffee.

And I decided to just call them holiday decorations so I don't have to worry about them not being part of a set.   They get packed up with all the Halloween decor on November 1st.  

Second Born

Amelia kind of got the short end of the stick, as often happens with a 2nd child, as far as bedrooms go. Hers is smaller. She doesn't have the cool skylight. Madeline's bed is more fun. Amelia got stuck with the bedding from our last house instead of getting new stuff. But she hasn't complained a bit. She loves having her own room. She picked out the purple paint, and tells me all the time "I just love my room." She keeps it spotless and organized. She can fall asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow because Madeline isn't in there puttering around keeping her awake. She makes her bed every morning and likes it perfectly smooth, which is a bit of a pain with the bunkbeds, but with a little help from me we can get it there.

So Amelia's room isn't as cool as Madeline's room, but I think it's cuter than Madeline's, and it feels warm and cozy in there.  

It needs curtains.  I thought at first I could handle not hanging curtains here, since it is a rental.  But I'm rethinking that.  Just looks a bit nekkid without them.

But I just drove by the landlord's house to drop off the rent check, and their house is for sale.  That has me very concerned...

A room fit for a 'tween

When we told the girls we were moving, we promised them they could have their own rooms in the new house. Madeline was especially set on this. She had all kinds of plans for her new room, mainly that it be painted robin's egg blue, and that she have a loft bed we saw at Ikea.

For the most part her room is done. I think it needs some softening--some curtains on the windows, and something hung behind the desk to hide cords...I'm still thinking that through. And if you are thinking we're really settling in too much for just renting this place, you bet your life we are. Every day when I turn on NPR and listen to more bad news about the housing and financial markets, I unpack another box and hang another picture. I am happy as a clam to rent this place for as long as it takes for things to stabilize. And I'm really glad that our landlord was okay with us painting so we could accommodate the request for robin's egg blue walls. (We found the loft bed on craigslist--you can see that it doubles as monkeybars.)




One day last week Madeline was in her room for a long time and then called me in to show me something. At the Hannah Montana concert last year they handed out free issues of Kewl magazine, which was full of pictures of the High School Musical cast, Jonas Brothers, and a bunch of other teeny-bopper "celebrities." She loved that magazine, and wanted to tape the pictures all over her room but I wouldn't let her, claiming it would take the paint off the walls. I thought telling her that it burned my eyeballs was a little harsh. Well, she's a smartypants, that little girl of mine. As soon as she unpacked that Kewl magazine, she scoped out a spot in her new room where she could hang her pictures without taking off the paint.


According to her, she put the picture of Troy from HSM right over her head so when she wakes up she can open her eyes and say "Hello there, Dollface."

Maddie is a huge hoarder collector of precious things. Go back up to the first photo in this post and notice the things she's scavenged--a coffee filter which is now suspended from the leg of the chair acting as a basket or maybe a dog dish, a shoebox from recycling which contains more treasures, a toy from Amelia's room that looked perfect for holding a plastic lizard collection. This drives me crazier than you can imagine. But a few things in her room make it a little more bearable for me. These bookshelves are great because they don't face the door so I don't have to see what is in them.

And the skylight shelf is big and deep and hides all kinds of crap treasures from my view below, but displays them perfectly for her in her nest. She spends hours rearranging her collections.

And I love the skylight. It lets in great light on gray Seattle days and at night she can see the stars or listen to the rain fall just inches from her face. When I climb up on her bed to tuck her in at night, I'm jealous. It is so cozy, and exactly what I would have wanted at her age.

Facepainting: a study in personalities. Also, Utah Pics Volume 3

They were doing facepainting when we went to see the floats for the 24th of July parade in Utah. It was fun to see what played out.

Amelia: "May I please be a fairy?"  She's really into using the word "may" lately.  And not always correctly.  "May you please wipe my bum?"  I think if she could, she'd say it with a British accent.  And if she did, I would wipe her bum, because is it possible to say no to that charming accent?  But since she can't pull off a decent British accent, she's finally wiping her bum herself.  And I don't even have to check her work anymore.





Madeline: "I'd like to be a hippogryphe."  I love that the guy didn't miss a beat. He just dove right in and started painting, while I was still trying to figure out what the hell a hippogryphe is.



It doesn't even matter that she doesn't look like a hippogryphe.  What matters is how thrilled she is with the results.

And their cousins got their faces painted too:

Hands down, that shark is the coolest face painting I've ever seen.   It even made Madeline second guess the hyppogryphe.

Utah Pictures, volume 2

Years ago, pre-children, we were having dinner with Kolby's boss and some coworkers and someone suggested that we go up the canyon for a BBQ the next weekend.  Kolby's boss quickly asked, "Will my children fall in the river?"  I don't know how we responded to that, but I know we've had plenty of fun laughing at that ridiculous worry every since.  

But when Clay suggested we go to this spot up Big Cottonwood Canyon on the river to picnic, the first thing I thought was "Oh no!  Will my children fall in the river?"  

They did not fall in the raging river.  And they didn't fall off a cliff, get lost in the woods, or get burned in the fire either, although I was terrified the whole time we were there that one or another catastrophe was inevitable.  

All in all, it was a fun-filled night eating partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, nitrates, meat "product," and high fructose corn syrup.   I prefer not wasting my time worrying about artery-clogging carcinogens.

Thanks, Courtney, for letting me swipe your photos.

From whence I came. A slideshow!

Yesterday Madeline declared "I am not leaving the house tomorrow and I'm not getting out of my pajamas.  I've been gone from the house all week, and tomorrow I'm spending the day at home."   So thank you, Miss Madeline.  We've all enjoyed hunkering down and enjoying the first rainy Saturday of Autumn.

A few important things to note before watching the slideshow:

• I liked the background song before I began.  The singer is Brandi Carlile, a musician from Seattle, and I love her stuff.  But after editing the slideshow 9023 times, I don't ever want to hear it again.
• I am well aware that this slideshow is heavily weighted towards my youngest daughter. There are a few good reasons for this.  First, she looked unbearably cute in my dad's cabin hat and I couldn't stop taking pictures of her.  Those adorable lips!   I just want to eat her up.
   And second, Madeline was off exploring every inch of the cabin property and out of reach of my camera most of the time, so I just don't have as many pics of her.   
• Look closely at the horny toad and snake Madeline and Macady are holding.   You can see the injuries on the horny toad's back from that ferocious snake.  The snake was busy eating the horny toad when they found them on the road and Madeline literally saved the horny toad from the jaws of death. (Or maybe she saved the snake from choking--I think he was dreaming if he thought he could swallow that toad.)
• And no cabin or camping trip is complete without a baby bathing in a bucket.  I'm glad Breezy obliged.

Cabin July '08 from jami on Vimeo.

Things to do with 27 hours to myself every week

In an effort to avoid filling up my allotment of Me Time with hours of VH1 every day, I'm making a list of things I've wanted to do over the last eight years but haven't had time for.  That way, when you call me (and you will!) and hear "Stupidest Celebrity Moments" in the background (you might), you can remind me of the much more rewarding items on my list that I should be enjoying.  

In no particular order:

• Get a season ski pass and ski at least once a week
• Yoga
• Train for another half marathon 
• Learn to kayak
• Take bass guitar lessons
• Catch up on "Simpsons" and "Arrested Development" while I fold laundry
• Read The Economist magazine weekly
• Find some rewarding volunteer work 
• Cook and bake more
• Learn to play tennis and golf (we have both in our neighborhood!)

This all goes back to creating a "bigger smaller life."   Things have been so crazy and complicated and busy for the last few years.  The move hit the reset button.   I know if I get into nursing school next year, things will get crazy again.  But this year, I'm on sabbatical.  I have some control over what fills up my schedule at this point, so I'm going to choose wisely.  

In the past, I've always volunteered in the girls' classrooms.  And here's a horrible confession:  I've always hated it.  So I'm not doing it this year.  I've done it for five years, hated it for five years.  Enough.  I'll do classroom parties and field trips, and I'll do some committees so I can meet other parents and help us settle in.  But that's it.  

However, I am going to find some volunteer work that feeds me.  Right now I'm considering two options:  the Ronald McDonald House, and hospice.  I'm filling out applications for both, so we'll see where I end up.

And the other stuff, it's mostly me finding me again, remembering what I enjoy doing now that I don't have to figure in the cost of a babysitter and I have a little free time.   

Now go away so I can finish this episode of "My Super Sweet Sixteen" before the kids get home.