8.28.2014

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: needing, missing, reading, hoping, playing

This week I have been Needing a getaway. Not you, huh? I am the only one who needs a getaway so the universe should just get on it already. I was watching Naked and Afraid (so were you, you know you were!) and it occurred to me that the first few days might just be wonderfully isolated and relaxing... before you start to starve. Just laying in the the shade on a tropical beach, eating and drinking coconuts, spear-fishing in the cool wade pools, lady bits free as a bird now, listening to the hypnotic sounds of the forest monkeys while you doze in a big palm-leaf hammock...

Loretta starts preschool two days a week next week (she'll stay at her babysitter's the other three days) and I have a feeling she won't be Missing a beat fitting in at Otto's Montessori. Miss Etta will be the absolutely youngest and possibly also the loudest kid in the 2 1/2-5 year old classroom. We do have a little bit of how do you say? Pee Fear because the rule is no diapers or even pull-ups at school. Loretta is potty trained... when she wants to be. Sometimes this means waking up with a dry diaper in the morning. Which, right on. But then yelling so fiercely, "no thank you NO THANK YOU NOTHANKYOU!" when asked if she'd like to try a pee on the potty. "Oh let's just try; it could be really awesome," I said the other day and picked her up to deposit her on the potty. She freaked, screaming, grabbed the door jam in mid-air and was hanging there like Harrison Ford, dangling from the gaping hole in the side of a nose-diving airplane. She was like perpendicular to the ground, four feet up, holding on for dear life as I tugged at her legs to get her into the bathroom. Son of a bitch if she was gonna let her body move past that door jam. NOTHANKYOU! So I pried her stubborn little fingers off the edge, one by one, and sat her screaming butt down on the potty and guess what? Pees. Smiles. Declares, "Peepee in the toilet!" and then dances a little peacock pride dance for herself and gives me a thumbs up. I fear for us during her teenage years.

The Ladies Who Book Club has been Reading How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. This book is straight up empowering. Not in a, "Burn your bras! Yell at bra-wearers!" kind of way, but in a really smart, super funny, and raw and poignant kind of way. I relate to this insecure, but also incredibly secure, snarky, empathetic, cool, jaded, hopeful, exasperated, wise woman so completely. The conversations we've been having in the book club since starting this book have become highlights of many of my days.

Otto is Hoping for a snack. Can he have a snack? Like right now? Can he have one please? He said to Rob the other day, "Don't worry about ruining my dinner; I am almost always hungry." It's true. That lanky, bigfoot, toehead is a bottomless pit. I feel like my life has become a commercial for bagel bites or something where the boy is just constantly poking around the freezer with his growing boy sized gangly arms and eating non-stop snacks 24 hours a day while the mom stands at the counter putting away a big bag of groceries with a knowing grin, rolling her eyes because Boys! I don't mind it, it's just notable.

And we've all been Playing legos and duplos this week. Like mad! Legos are actually the best toy ever invented.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
loving, craving, demanding, questioning, worrying 

8.20.2014

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: calling, lighting, making, watching, planning

Last week I was Calling for greater meaning and it's kind of weird but I think a little bit of greater meaning may have found me. My former neighbor and forever friend once told me that when I needed help in this world I needed to ask "the helpers." Just put it out there, out loud, to the universe, what I wanted, yell it, cry it, ugly cry it, just release it, and that the helpers would find me. Well, she's never been wrong. Whenever I've done that and let things out of my heart I've been able to find a way through and today a friend approached me to be involved in a local project for the Special Olympics in our area. It's many months away which means we can do a lot to make this fundraising event a huge success and I'm very excited to help however I can. Thanks Kate, for the advice, and thanks helpers for helping me find one way to make a difference, and thanks Emily for just being amazing and letting me be a part of your amazingness.

Today I was Lighting my head up with stars, and it's too bad that's not cool-mom talk for anything neat or fun. A big piece of plexiglass fell on my head. Wow, there's really no. cool. way. to say that. So... I got to chit chat about Tim Gunn with an EMT for a bit and Rob made dinner tonight so I could take it easier. I guess those were the high points. Now we're waiting to see if I have a concussion and I'm wondering if I'm writing this post lucidly or if, come tomorrow, I'll realize it's all a;la sl=k ja193g;lka edkrr!

Loretta has been Making us crazy asking, "Why?" I subscribe to the Eleanor Roosevelt School of Answering Children's Questions. If it's a question about the world, you answer it, however annoying. I think "Why?" falls under that category but holy man is it annoying. It's like:

"Loretta, be careful on that stool or you might fall off it again and bump your head again.

"Why?"

"Because we don't want you to have fun in life. Our cautions are meant to keep you down. Yes, they're arbitrary and unreasonable but you must obey because this is a dictatorship. Bahahahahaha!" Except not that.

Otto has been Watching some great retro kids movies for the first time and it's like magic to see him captivated by movies that we loved as kids. We watched "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" recently and it's like his brain exploded with joy and then my brain exploded with joy watching him and then Loretta tried to climb on the stool and we reminded her to be careful and she said, "Why?"

We've started Planning for Fall and I never thought I'd say this but I'm ready. Life is quieter in Fall. Schedules are boringer. Scarves make all your outfits look like you're stylish. Baileys in coffee re-becomes appropriate. I'm ready Fall. Let's do this.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
needing, missing, reading, hoping, playing 

8.14.2014

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: searching, wearing, needing, moving, eating

This week I have been Searching for greater meaning. I know sometimes I come on here and talk about farts or cupcakes or whatever but lately I've been feeling this need to do something more... for my community. For humanity. It's like if each of us just did a little bit more... what could we accomplish? Who could we help? There are so many people in this world who could use a leg up. I need to figure out how to be useful beyond a donation here or there. To be continued... hopefully soon...

We have all been Wearing old clothes and looking like bohemians. Luckily that's the rage these days so everyone just thinks we're hipsters. Or at least that's what I tell myself ::nervous laughter:: Like Otto's cutoffs are actual cutoffs... of pants... that were used pants to begin with. I would say I'm looking forward to wearing fall layers, except I refuse to admit summer will ever end because that's when Oregon goes "All Summer in a Day" and I start crying in the shower for no reason on the regular. So... there's that.

Loretta has been Needing to tell us stories lately and it's just great. She's graduated from short sentences to garbled narratives with punchlines and everything. Her favorite story to tell is about how at a party we went to a few weekends ago this little boy kept trying to hug her and she wouldn't let him. The story sounds like this, "Doobadoo boy! And bubuh hug! And doobadoo no thank you!" Then she smiles and puts her hands in the air and it's the cutest thing in the history of all time.

Time has been Moving so quickly this summer and I'm a little bit freaking out to think that Otto starts kindergarten in just a couple of weeks and Loretta will be starting at Otto's school too (it's a Montessori so he'll be in elementary this year which what?!?!). She'll be starting at the youngest level just a couple days a week. We just decided, after a lot of soul searching, that we'll be keeping Otto at his school for at least one more year and not transitioning him to public school which was the original plan. Public school here is half day kindergarten and that's just difficult and honestly not enough. So I'm a little bit freaking out that my kid is an old man and time is passing but I'm also excited for all this coming year will bring our family, everything my little peanuts will learn, and for Loretta to go ahead and lock in potty training, never poop on the couch again sweet darling!, and hopefully stop smearing all her utensils on my arm at every meal while she's at it.

Speaking of smearing spoonfuls of sesame noodles on my arm... We have been Eating super simple meals lately and this recipe for sesame noodles is my favorite find. Easy as anything, kids gobbled it, cost like eleven cents or something because every ingredient except the green onions was already in my pantry. ps. I used apple cider vinegar because it's what I had and I left out the chili paste and us grownups just did our own spicing with sriracha and it was still fantastic.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
calling, lighting, making, watching, planning 

8.06.2014

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: craving, cleaning, daydreaming, growing, reading

This week I have been Craving flavored water. I was chugging the delicious stuff at a bridal shower on Saturday and came home craving super cold cucumber, basil, lime water like I've never craved water before. I even broke my "nothing new" resolution to buy a good-sized glass water jug for the fridge to keep my cute-ass water in. No regrets. That's damn good water and the $10 I spent on the jug is way cheaper than how much a certain only other adult in this house spends on bottled beverages each week. Not that I needed a reason. It's a water jug for gersh dernit. Also this kind of coincides with my giving up Coke Zero about a month ago and then all cola products (even the "natural" ones) a couple weeks ago. I'm doing this for not-wanting-cancer and wanting-bone-health reasons. Plus I love making food rules.
image via 

Buy yourself a basil plant, get cucumbers and limes, have a one-man water party it's so good. I promise.

Otto has been Cleaning up a storm. He tidied the kids' toy room and his bedroom over the weekend and actually did a really fantastic job. What?! Amazing. He's going through a categorizing and organizing phase. Laying out all of certain toys, putting things in piles, getting really irritated when Lorettazilla lumbers through a room knocking everything in every direction (and then lately peeing on the floor as a nice final chaos touch, but that's another story). Anyways, he is my little tidy tyke these days and takes great pride in a job well done. I love that. He should be proud of himself, he's the raddest five year old kid I know and I don't mind adding, "good little tidier" to his list of talents.

Myself, I have been Daydreaming about cleaning house. Triple X daydream right? Maybe I should spice it up by daydreaming about cleaning house with Justin Theroux... Whatever. I'm having an unexpected day off on Friday and the plan is to donate every single thing I can bring myself to remove from my house and then take a bucket of soap and water to whatever's left. I feel super overwhelmed lately and decluttering always helps to keep that feeling under control.

Everything in our house has been Growing - string bean children with wolf appetites, piles of clutter, grass that needs mowing, pumpkin vines that stretch twenty feet, mounds of laundry, bills, just name it and it's growing. Things always calm down in September, that's a saying right?

We have been Reading quite a bit these days. Magic Treehouse, Little House, Oz, Flat Stanley, Dahl. We're huge book devourers. I'm on the lookout for a new series to read Otto at bedtime. Suggestions are super welcome please. When did you guys read Harry Potter to your kids? I've been thinking Otto might be ready for the first one but at the same time... I don't know. It's pretty rough and the series gets really dark. Too dark for a kid his age, in my mind. Anyways, we love serials so if you've read any non-snotty, non-violent kids series that you thought were great please let me know. We're on the lookout.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
searching, wearing, needing, moving, eating 

8.02.2014

A Giveaway - Kate Quinn Organics $100 GC + Toys!

I'm excited to share with you guys that one of our favorite brands, Kate Quinn Organics, is currently having a giveaway on its Facebook and Instagram pages.

Clicking the picture will take you to Kate Quinn's facebook page. From there just comment on the giveaway post with "yay kate quinn giveaway" and you're entered! You can also get an extra entry by following Kate Quinn's instagram page. I do and I love that Kate is a relatable, human, person on there, never just a brand. She's a mom and has lots of pictures of her kiddos and it inspires me to see moms with successful awesome businesses still being actual moms with sometimes messy hair and not in heels and suits with slicked back bob haircuts and scowls (or whatever, you know what I mean, or maybe you don't - it's early and I'm having tea instead of coffee).

*this post sponsored by Kate Quinn Organics, the opinions are my own.