Dress Up and Snow

Our collection of dress up clothes has been slowly growing over the past few months. My daughter discovered some old Halloween costumes of mine and we have acquired some from my mother. There is something very post-modern, disjointed and all together fantastic about the outfits that the kids put together on any given day. Recently, my middle child insists on wearing our green flowered mini-skirt (mine from a mystery dinner night long ago) over his fireman costume on any trip outside in the snow.

Oh to be three again...

Oh the Weather Outside it Frightful

but this fire is so delightful

and since we've no place to go,


Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

Wednesday Reviews: Simple Home

My reading lately has been limited to interior design books--subject matter that has never intrigued me before our house renovation project. I occasionally picked up design magazines and then felt mildly embarrassed about reading them. As of the past few years, I have become less of a "fake" adult and more interested in the color, texture, and overall feel of my home.

The Simple Home is divided into sections mostly devoted to certain spaces in the home--the entryway, kitchen, workspaces, etc... Throughout the book are examples of how to repurpose materials and revalue pieces that are old and forgotten. The authors also make some color, floor covering and tile suggestions for their "simple home." For me, some of the rooms they showcase are a little too austere, too sterile for my taste. I am not a fan of concrete floors, for example, and walls of exclusively cool colors are just a little too cool for me. But there are some lovely suggestions as well. I love their suggestions for sheer window coverings and how to add texture to a room with homemade/ handknit items.

Overall, the book has helped me form my own opinions/ ideas about how to proceed in our new house.

Drawings

Do you ever have those moments with your kids (if you have kids) where life seems to be plodding along normally and then suddenly, triggered by any ol' ordinary event, you really notice how they have changed? I had one of these the other day with my oldest. We hadn't done much drawing together over the past few months--some painting and some craft work and even some coloring but not free form drawing. She got it into her head that she wanted to draw her whole family the other day. While I was ironing, she did just that. Each member of her family was drawn on a separate sheet of paper. I knew what she was doing and I was peacefully ironing like 500 yards of fabric and not thinking much of it (my mother-law-law introduced me to the idea that ironing could be calming--peacefulness and ironing never went together for me before her). Then she came in bearing her drawing. Each family member was uniquely depicted. I had her youngest brother in my arms, her father had a hysterical moustache, and her other brother had ears that stuck out of his head with straight lines. What was most astounding for me is that she drew human-like forms. Some of us had bodies, others had arms and legs coming from our heads, and we had expressions too. And I was nearly struck dumb by how my child could depict her world in this way--how her interpretations are uniquely hers--how little (and how much) I have to do with it all.

Wednesday Review: The Birthday Book

January and February are big months for us--one turned four and one is about to turn three (although his behavior indicates that he has been three for some weeks now--I thought I knew what was coming with this one, and I was.very.wrong). Some birthday planning is underway. There are going to be rocket ships (or lions? or princesses? I think I am going to have to take over the decision-making here) , cupcakes (or a cake?), friends (or wait, yes I did hear yesterday a resounding "NO, I DON'T like my FRIENDS" accompanied by some jolting body movements and lips sticking an inch or two out from his face), Grandmas, and revelry (we hope).

I bought The Birthday Book a few months ago, started reading it and then lost focus. Despite my best efforts to prepare ahead of time, I am best under pressure. This book is written and organized quite well. Although many of the ideas have been described before, they laid out well which makes it a great go-to resource for party-planners who are looking for specific ideas for a 9 year old's birthday, for example. While I will likely never read the book from cover to cover, I betcha I will open it up every year at this time of year.

Project Home: Installment One {Duvet Cover}

Because I am completely overwhelmed by all of the craft projects I want to take on at the moment (like this, and this, and this), I have decided that I need to focus (focus?! what's that? not my strong point). For the year 2010, I am going to be crafting for home. Given that we are moving into a new to us, but very very old and in need of love, home, this seems like a good place to start. So aside from a sweater that I need to complete for the hubby, I am going to be knee deep in sewing, knitting, refinishing, and refurbishing (I am not ever quite sure what that means, but I will probably be doing it) crafty things for our new abode.

Installment one was a much-needed duvet cover for a little one out of Alexander Henry's fabric, Natura. I used a tutorial online and some common sense to put it together. It still needs buttons and a pillowcase, but its a start.

Monday Cooking Challenge

Curried Cauliflower Soup: A Success!

The kids love cauliflower, especially my girl. She will eat the stuff raw which she generally will not do with other veggies. So, I am constantly trying to come up with dishes that involve this white, brainy vegimatter to serve up for the whole family. I came across one in The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper yesterday and cooked it up for our challenge this week. I was a little nervous about the curry--I have used it in other dishes and the kiddos refused to eat it. But I persisted and they gobbled it up.
This is actually the first successful meal I have made from this cookbook. I love the show and saw the cookbook on many of my favorite blogs so it seemed a natural fit. For some reason, though, I don't love the book. The soup, though, has renewed my interest--going to try the meatballs next.
AND I have to say that the hand-held blender that my mother in law got for me last Christmas-just about the best present ever. No pouring, no blender clean-up, no batches. Beautiful. I hereby declare Sunday as Soup Day.

This concludes the Monday Meal Challenge series, dreamed up by Once Upon A Parent. Thanks for putting this together Annie. It has been so much fun.