3.30.2014

three gratitudes, 4


It's 7:15 on a Sunday morning and thank the stars in the sky, Loretta is still upstairs asleep! I'm grateful for this quiet time, that I got to sleep in until 6 and still have a full hour to do bills and drink coffee and listen to Otto in the other room, belting his heart out to the Frozen soundtrack. I'm grateful for weekends. And right now I'm grateful for the little fellow in the room next to me, who had me laughing so hard while he gave me a load of shit last night because he beat me at bowling. I'm like, "Dude, you had the bumpers up." But he wasn't hearing it. He was like, "Oh yeah, Mommy, sure you're good at bowling, keep telling yourself that." I suppose the goal is to raise them with loads of self-confidence, hearts of gold, and an ironic wit. So it's like check, mumble-mumble-when-it-comes-to-bowling, check.

3.27.2014

Currently {link up}


The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: facing, snapping, counting, loving, hopping

This week we have been... Facing! ::does air guitar:: Oh, facing is a cool verb I use that means your face is full of twitches. Party time. Three simultaneous face twitches yesterday (eye, eyebrow, upper lip) UGH!

I have a goal of Snapping more photos. We were on a roll there for awhile but I think winter just ruined me this year and I rolled up like a potato bug and just waited to do anything til the sun came out. It's out-ish now (ok it's been cold and rainy again but we all at least have hope now) and I'm looking forward to more outside time, some projects, and snapping more photos on my actual camera.

This one's from my phone but still, LOOK, LOOK LOOK LOOK, sunshine and ice cream! The winter does end. Thank freaking goodness.

Loretta has been Counting to ten. Amazing! Obviously I spend a lot of time wondering how BOTH of my kids are going to become famous artists AND the President of the United States... it's nice to see them off on the right path early, geniuses, ha. Loretta can identify two of anything (just try her, two is her jam!) and count to ten on her fingers but it's a pretty sloppy little count with lots of too many and not enough fingers involved, and skipping four. Pretty much the best.

Last night we were Loving this green bean recipe. If you don't know what to do with a giant fresh pile of green beans, this may be it. Quick, easy, and so good.

and we've been Hopping to make plans (yikes, that's a stretch) to move Otto from a shared bedroom with Loretta (which he only uses for clothes storage since he sleeps with us at night) into his own room, probably this weekend. We don't expect him to just fast-transition to sleeping in his own bed again or anything, but he's made it known that he's ready for his own space where he can set up some of his "choking hazard" toys and plug in his Darth Vader nightlight and just big-boy around. I'm excited for him and for the shopping trip to thrift/antique stores we have planned for this weekend to get him his own dresser.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
reading, feeling, racing, using, smelling 

3.25.2014

three gratitudes, 3


I am grateful for meal planning. We got back on the meal planning track this past weekend and it makes such a huge difference in how much you spend at the grocery (less!), what you eat during the week (just better stuff!), and the daily anxiety of figuring out what to make for dinner (basically gone!). All hail Pinterest for inspiring recipes. This week we're having veggie cheese soup with homemade bread, tacos, homemade pizza, ravioli with sundried tomatoes, and breakfast for dinner. Then one night we're having dinner at a friend's and another night we'll either order out or do macaroni & hot dogs because they can't all be winners! And then OK, speaking of spending at the grocery, I am grateful for a growing boy who has started eating us out of house and home. It's actually kind of darling how much this child can wolf down. Annnnnnd, finally I'm grateful for a husband who doesn't hold it against me that at least twice a week I'm gonna pass out at 7pm during Otto's bedtime and binge-sleep til morning. I wake up around 4:30 most days and getting 6 hours most nights is fine but sometimes you just gotta jam out some Zzzzzz's.

3.23.2014

yard kids


Last weekend, with Nana and Papa's help, we turned a sandbox into a garden for the kids. This weekend the kiddos went to work planting pansies and mums (I think) in their little garden box along with other yard activities that have all warmed my cold, dead Oregon wintered heart. Otto peed in the grass. THAT IS WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. Loretta got angry at dirt she threw in her own face. That's my girl. The grownups had a beer and mowed and I turned up a 5' x 4' patch of yard for future gardening. I'll be starting my seeds this week and so cleared out a shelf in the laundry room to get those guys going. Can't wait to see the little sprouts start coming up. Beets and tomatoes and all kinds of veggie goodness. Also? I am hard-core dreaming about a worm composter. But who isn't?

3.21.2014

three gratitudes, 2

I am grateful for grace under fire. A situation arose in the past few days where I was forced to wait out my emotions and carefully think out my actions... a highly charged situation where the bulldog inside of me wanted to "right fight" (a saying I learned yesterday that I now love) because I was in the right and someone in a very high up position wasn't and they were coming at me pretty aggressively and with ill information. That's all I'll say. I kept calm. I acted with grace. And the situation deflated rather than escalating. Still, how I would love to right fight this! Haha! In another life I'd be a lawyer I think. But whatever. I am also grateful for today being Friday and the coming weekend with my family and friends and a proper grocery run (we haven't done a meal plan in weeks and it's so needed right now). Finally, I am grateful for Loretta's terrible twos. I know that sounds crazy but Otto never had terrible anything. He had like one terrible hour one time. Loretta is her own person and I'm grateful for the differences and similarities of these two, what they have to teach each other and what they have to teach me.

Image via

3.20.2014

Currently {link up} living in a chaos pile


The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: battling, surfing, jumping, taking, making

This week we have been... Battling screen time. A little five-year-old someone got a little overindulged with the iPad during our past month of craziness and he's become an iPad fiend. I don't know if we've necessarily won this battle. What kind of rules do you guys have about screen time? We have a hard time saying no to him playing with awesome apps like GarageBand, for example. I mean, that's like limiting a kid's time with a room full of instruments in a recording studio. I don't even have an answer to this. It's just become apparent that he's yearning to iPad more than I'm comfortable with and we need to come up with some reasonable ground rules.

Otto has been Surfing with Siri asking her things like, "Siri, where is there candy hidden in this house?" Luckily Siri is not yet all-knowing. The answer is: in the top cupboard above the coffee cups and may he never find it!

Loretta has been Jumping, working on winking (girlfriend actually gets a one-eyed wink in every third time or so), holding up 2 fingers and saying "two!", identifying when there are two of anything, "two feet! two shoes! two cookies! two!" and dancing with a new move where she leans on the wall with one hand and crosses her foot over her thigh. You guys this dance move is sassy. This girl is sassy. And she's just like living life to the extreme, always. It's a joy to observe.

I have been Taking baby steps towards feeling like less of a piece of crap. Vitamin D. Time Outside. I did a three gratitudes blog post yesterday and am hoping to do that every day that I don't have another blog post in mind (which is like almost every non-Thursday since I'm such a crappy blogger lately) and coming soon I'm hoping to get back on track not-eating-everything and jogging. We'll see what happens but anyways, at least I'm trying. Go Team Trying!

and we've all been Making Legos on the kitchen table and therefore eating meals in the living room so as not to upset the Lego creations. Can I file this under A Beautiful Mess or do I have to file it under Lazy People Who Live in a Chaos Pile?

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
facing, snapping, counting, loving, hopping 

3.19.2014

three gratitudes, 1


I am grateful for low-key birthdays where the best present is getting to blow out your cake candles again and again and again. I am grateful for a husband, son, and daughter who are all even more obsessed with "Let It Go" than I am... and for an unending Frozen sing-along in my house lately with Loretta belting out lyrics the loudest, and most passionately. I am grateful for our front porch, especially now that it's getting nice out again. Porch sitting and beer and sidewalk chalk and kickball and just everything about afternoons in the sun.

3.13.2014

Currently {link up} we are bad at selfies


The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: hoping, wondering, working, wearing, eating

This week we have been... Hoping that Rob would pass his orals AND HE DID. Hoping that the sun would come out a little AND IT HAS. Hoping that Loretta would enjoy her quiet little birthday picnic and she did (she loved blowing out candles so much we re-lit the candles like 10 times). Hoping that this might be the beginning of a trend where if you hope for reasonable things and only have mild breakdowns of impatience a few of the hopes pan out.

Otto has been Wondering what characters and scenes he should put into the video game he is designing. I am in awe of his awesomeness and there are no words that can convey the depth of my awe. Anyways, so far this game has a name: Aquabots and a setting: Water and an enormous cast of good & bad characters each with their own power/weapon including: Fire Hat, The Man, and Henchman.

I need to get back to Working on good daily/weekly habits. Like blogging more, for one. And get back to serious meal planning, for two. And paying bills on time, haha, but not hahaha, for three. I kind of let all the good habits slide lately and it doesn't feel great. It just feels messy. So some spring cleaning of my habits is in order.

Last weekend Rob and I were Wearing cool date clothes and Eating the olives out of a dirty martini at a barcade because we went on our first date night in ages. My parents were in town so they stayed with the kiddos while we went out to toast Rob's epic test success. We took a selfie! And realized we are bad at selfies.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
battling, surfing, jumping, taking, making 

3.06.2014

Currently {link up} truffle shuffle


The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: declaring, saving, demolishing, sniffing, despising

After a few weeks hiatus, Randalin is back to co-hosting! Thanks so much to Kate of Just Pirouette & Carry On and Colleen of Mommy Panda for rocking the cat's paw as co-hosts while Miss R was taking some time to snuggle on her newest little love, Beatrix.

This week we have been... Declaring that things are gonna get easier; things are gonna get brighter. It's been tough lately. I've been feeling really down and not myself and ungrounded. Anyways, enough about that. I kind of came to a few realizations in the past few days. The first is that it's ok to feel whatever I'm feeling. When my kids are sad, I never ever say, "suck it up; feel good; don't be broken." So why do that to myself? Dumb. I say, "I know you feel frustrated, it's ok to cry and then we'll figure it out." So I let myself cry. I am SO GLAD I took a few hours from my normal schedule to be alone because sneak-crying in the bathroom with the shower running feels way more tragic than power-crying while cleaning with Smashing Pumpkins blasting. That felt cathartic.

I also realized that if I don't want to feel so low anymore I'm gonna need to make some attitude adjustments in myself. A dear friend sent me this link to this awesome TED talk that really kind of kicked my ass. Everyone in the world should watch this (I ugly cried, I laugh cried, I laughy laughed, I nodded, so many reactions!) and then try this 21 day challenge. I know I need to rewire myself a little, because when I look at my life from the outside, or look at the goals I've set for myself and accomplished, it feels a lot less tragic and a lot more amazing.

Finally, I realized I am an animal. This winter has literally been a torture to my system. My skin is paper thin and wrecked. My bones hurt. I feel weak. I've been bruising super easy. Just yuck on my body. And when you look and feel like poop... well you just feel like poop. Anyways, I am likely missing a few key nutrients. Vitamin D, therefore calcium, and likely iron. So I'm just going to make a point of taking in more of these nutrients and well, I mean fuck, haha, if I do all of the above and I still feel like garbage then it's honestly time for a therapist. And if that's the case I'm pretty much going to be fine with that. To be continued...

Saving up all my thoughts for Declaring apparently. I do declare.

Otto and Loretta have been Demolishing food. Two growing kiddos. It's actually awesome. We made spaghetti last night and ate almost all the pasta and it was one of those Costco giant tubes that always make me smile because they're Garofalo like my first girl crush Janeane. That's a lot of pasta, people. Otto had two full-on bowls, double what I ate. Loretta, pain in the ass that she is, ate a full bowl but required me to entice her to eat every bite in an Elmo voice saying things like, "Ehhhlmo thinks this bite is a baby, wah, shhhh, the baby is taking a nap, open your mouth and eat the baby!"

Sniffling (ok I changed that from sniffing) a little that Et's 2nd birthday is Sunday. How did this happen? Here's a little delightful truffle shuffle she did the other day to her singing birthday card. What an epic little girl.



Otto has been Despising the wait til his Nana and Papa arrive for a visit. Every day we check the calendar and he sighs in disappointment that he has to wait more days. He's been getting up earlier and earlier every day in anticipation (joy!) and I'm happy to say they arrive today so he can calm it down already.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
hoping, wondering, working, wearing, eating 

3.04.2014

a mental health day

Today and tomorrow I'm taking two mental health half days at work. I'm working both days, but taking a little extra time at the back of today and front of tomorrow to get my head in order. Things have been kind of swimming lately. Overwhelmed is almost not enough of a word for it. So much stress. I feel like an exposed nerve at moments. Not always, but it's always kind of lurking beneath the surface. I feel like I've been sick or just barely not sick for months. I feel sad. Except when I'm fine. Which feels extra crazy.

I've wanted to talk about this on here for a while. I share so much of the joys in my life with you guys, it felt like the honest thing to do to admit I'm kind of falling apart. Except when I'm not. (Extra crazy!)... Anyways, I haven't talked about it because... I don't know why. Because I don't want pity. I just want equilibrium.

My friend told me it's probably a lot of things coming together at once, including plain old stress and a Vitamin D deficiency. I ordered some organic D to mainline, which should arrive today. Maybe the sun will come out this month, Rob will pass his test, and I will calm the crap down. I hope so.

In the mean time, two little breaks in the routine, today and tomorrow. Maybe that's all it will take to turn the tide. Some quiet, actually alone time to clean and listen to loud music. A lunch with a friend. A hair appointment. Then Rob will pass his test on Thursday and my parents will visit and it will be a low-key hopefully sunny birthday for Loretta and we'll all kind of quietly move onto the next chapter of our story and I hope it's a peaceful, happy, boring chapter of goodness.