In our perfect world, my husband or myself set aside a chunk of time to sit with Pea (and now Coco, too) and work the site, but since we actually reside in reality most of the time, we are digging on the site because it’s something Pea can do by herself. And you know what? I have no guilt over that. What’s better? A half-hour in front of the boob tube? Or a half-hour learning to read? Because that’s what she’s doing. Learning to read. And that’s not an overstatement. I promise.   

Ever since my daughter’s teacher sent me a link to this place, I can’t get it out of my head. Every little detail about this place is just perfection. From the concept to the projects to the design to the location to the website. I just want to crawl back into my childhood and walk into this place and start over…

Next best thing? Taking my girls there the next time we are in New York visiting my dad. It’s going to be our first stop.

Sorry, dad.

I’ve been thinking about this project for months now, and I think it’s about time I tackle it. I love horses. The girls love horses. Who doesn’t love horses? And want their own stampede galloping across a wall in their home?

Pea’s current obsession is “The Sound of Music.” She knows all the songs, she loves to tell me about how beautiful the mountains are. But her absolute favorite thing about this film is the scene where Maria and the kids are putting on a show for their father with the puppet theatre and the marionettes. She watches that scene over and over. She’s always had an affinity for puppets, but the enormous puppet theatre (hello, Daddy? You up for that one?) coupled with the puppets that actually dance has her completely spellbound. So this project is upcoming this very weekend: our very own marionettes. I’ve been tossing the idea around in my head for some time, but in light of recent destructive events at the hands of my little tyrant, I tabled it for a while. But there are some things – her things – that are precious, so why not? The link to the craft site these puppets come from is one that I’ve linked to before, and you should bookmark it. The girls and I have attacked many of these projects with gusto, and they are fantastic. The site was dormant for a while, although that didn’t stop me from religiously checking in to see if there was something – anything – new. And hey! What do you know! Today? There was! These little photo magnets that I’m dying to make for Pea’s locker at school.

This weekend it still feels like summer, but I think this is going to be the last of it. And as I’m dreaming of cooler days ahead, I totally get into the mood to attack my long list of projects: hats to knit, furniture to paint, floor pillows to sew. Yes, more things to add to my To Do List, but these things? Are good things.

And I love it.

And on occasion when I had an appointment that I remembered about, there was this great little drop-in childcare place in close proximity to us. I’d swing by, run the girls in and head to wherever it was I needed to be. But about two months ago, they suddenly closed down. Forever. Something about the economy coupled with last spring’s Swine Flu epidemic. And then we lost our last babysitter to grad school. In Wisconsin. And we knew that with my husband’s travel schedule and my weakening nerves we had to do something.

And so we did.

We brought in Nici. From Austria. She’s our au pair. And before you go getting all “oh, isn’t she fancy with her nanny,” let me say this:

Nici is not a nanny.

She is an au pair. An 18-year old girl from Austria who wants to experience a year of life in the U.S. and so in return offers our family childcare assistance during times when we need it. Which for me, really amounts to an extra set of hands to replace the set that I lose when my husband gets on that plane out of town. But she’s so much more than an au pair already, she’s a family member. She’s a big sister to the girls. She joins us at all of the events that we attend, she knows all the kids (and parents) at Pea’s school. She eats with us, she relaxes with us. It’s been amazing. We are so grateful that she is here. Honestly, I could not do this without her. I know there are those of you who do, those of you who have no choice, but we do have a choice and this is the one we’ve made. For our family. And it’s working. And we are thrilled to pieces.

And so, consider yourself up-to-date. And now, moving on…

Pea is a tyrant these days. Constantly yanking her little sister, hitting her, stealing things from her and just generally terrorizing the entire household. I am at a complete loss! I think this is normal for her age? And for sisters so close to one another in ages? I found these little responsibility charts at the local toy store by Melissa & Doug, and thought perhaps they’d help us gain a little control. Kind of manipulate the situation a bit. I think they might be working. It’s been one week and she’s eager to put her ‘way to go!’ and ‘awesome job!’ magnets next to her completed responsibilities at the end of the day. It’s become an integral part of our nighttime ritual.

A big one: ‘keep hands to yourself.’

We have some big changes going on around here. And no, I am not pregnant. Not going to happen. Two hands, two kids, remember? More on those changes in the coming days…

We’re back in school. I have a pre-kindergartner now. Five days a week. Five! And a new play-group on Fridays that both girls have been invited to join. And our first official camping trip this weekend with some of our friends and all of their kids. It’s going to be a rowdy, raucous and sleepless weekend.

We can’t wait…

Girls: Mommy, can we go downstairs and play?

Mommy: Yup. Just make sure to play with one toy at a time, when you’re done with it, put it away and take out another. It’s more fun that way.

Girls: Okay.

(cue the sounds of toys, dolls and art supplies being thrown all around the room; oops, there goes the dollhouse… crash!)

Mommy: Oh. My. God. What the? Who the heck is going to clean THIS up?

Girls: YOU are!

Mommy: Oh no, you are sooooooooo mistaken, my little mess-makers. YOU are both going to clean up this mess. Or else…

Girls: Or else? Or else what? We’re going outside!

Mommy: Stupid toys. Barbie shoes – why so tiny? Pfft. Who the heck needs this many books? And Legos? Why so many pieces? Ouch! I just stepped on one! Jeez, I freaking hate this. What? I have nothing better to do than to clean up after these people? Really? Come on, guys! Team players! I’m not your maid! Or your servant! Stupid toys. That’s it. I’m done. And another thing? Husband? While we’re at it? Put your stupid belt away and stop peeling off your socks and leaving them on the floor! Just grow up! This is not my life’s work! To clean up after you, either! What, I have three kids now?

(This last part? Is spoken to myself, with the muffled sounds of my girls running around outside, in the backyard. Not helping me clean up their junk. My husband? Is making monster sounds, chasing them. I, in all of my OCD-ness, am inside, organizing toys, finding missing pieces, taping up ripped pages in books, etc.

So, I do what any mother would do, or at least what I’m told any mother would do: the next time the mess is made, I threaten to take the toys away if they are not put back in their place at the end of the day, and put them in the Sunday Bag. Which means you will not see them again until Sunday. Got it? Sunday. And then, I do, again, what any mother would do. And I follow through. I stomp around the house, pick up the ignored and discarded toys, place them in a sac and throw them in a clever hiding place, much to the girls’ pleading of, “no! Not that one! It’s my favorite!”

And then? Well, you can guess how this ends, right? NO ONE REMEMBERS THOSE TOYS IN THE SUNDAY BAG EVER EVEN EXISTED.

Stupid Sunday Bag.

So, I have since gone through all of the toys in the house, found all of their parts and pieces and taken a careful inventory. Kid not old enough for it? Stored for later use. Kid not interested? Donated to a worthy organization. Kid outgrown it? Passed down to a friend with a younger child. And on and on. Now? Streamlined. Toys, games and books that I have deemed fit for our home, our needs, our tastes.

This story is ending up a lot longer than I’d planned, but here is Chapter 2:

Meaghan (love the spelling!) sent me an email earlier in the week, suggesting that I check out a book on Amazon that she just received called “Cool Spaces for Kids.” She thought I’d like it. And she was right. UPS dropped off my copy this afternoon, and I cannot put it down. In fact, Pea and I just spent the last hour pouring over the pictures, talking about which projects we should tackle, and when.

The premise of the book is basically the same rule that we are trying to live by these days: less is more. Imagination is good. And children should have special places – just for them – in and around the house. A place all their own.

Interesting timing, since:

my husband and I have discussed the empty flower bed in the side yard, and how we’d like to teach the girls about food by having them grow their own vegetables. We’re starting with lettuce and cucumbers (this is covered in the book);

I have been dreaming of clever (and attractive!) ways to incorporate a window seat into the stairwell on the girls’ bedroom level, just under a window that overlooks the mountain across the street (also covered in the book);

pup tents… I have had plans for erecting a couple for the girls, out in the backyard, this summer (yup, it’s in the book);

and lastly, a conversation with my husband, as we drove him to the airport this morning, about a project I’d love for him to take on: a toy storage box with a chalkboard top, for the great room. That’s where we spend most of our time entertaining, and although currently there’s nothing in there for the girls, save two cabinets full of books, the room always ends up scattered with toys at the end of the day, so why not an attractive way to house them? I showed him a picture of one, from a shop that I like. He said no problem. Upon returning home from the airport? The new book I spoke of above was at the front door, and in it is a project for this very table. And with casters! (Which I had also requested on the one my husband build for us, I think they’re not on the one for sale above. Not that it matters. Because my husband is making us one! With casters! Lucky us! And, see? It’s in the book!)

So, in a nutshell: cool book, great ideas, all easily (I think) doable. And reasonably priced to complete, as well. Fits right in with my – our – new philosophy on home style and lifestyle…

Simple. Elegant. Sophisticated. Kid (and dog!) friendly. DIY (on occasion). Not going to break the bank (always good).

I think we’re going to be busy this summer…

Enjoy your weekend. We’ll be writing up hardware store lists, ourselves…

Oh, I almost forgot… Thanks, Meaghan!

Oh, well. We can’t all be as OCD as me…

But this whole school closure thing has irked a lot of people, not just us. Not only were the schools closed, but events were canceled and postponed. Parents couldn’t get to work because someone had to stay home with the kids, since no one would use the drop-in childcare facilities. Remember? They told us not to let our kids congregate? Well, parents took that to heart. I can’t tell you what that kind of advice in this current economy did to the psyche of our friends and neighbors. It wreaked havoc on our town, and in the end it was all for not much. Better safe than sorry, you say? Well, this was way past that. It was panic and the level was disturbing. Grocery shopping last week? There was a run on nearly every staple in the store. And soap? Good luck finding a single bottle that said “Antimicrobial” on it. Or any other, for that matter. Some idiot on NPR was suggesting that we all follow his lead and stock up on the necessities just in case we needed to be in confined to our homes for a month or so, while this all got sorted out. In line at the post office on Wednesday, behind a mother with her two school-age kids? I had to turn my head and bite my cheek to keep from laughing out loud at this woman’s exchange with her kids. “Don’t touch that. Get your hands away from your face. Cover your mouth. No, I said don’t touch that. No. Stop it! Okay, that’s it. Give me your hand. Maybe if I’m holding it, you’ll stop touching.” Get a grip. They’re kids. They touch things. Gross things. Disgusting things. In fact, we all touch things. Here, have some of my Purell and then get back to living your life…

So, we spent most of our week off eating Mexican food, barbecuing in the backyard with friends and sewing up summer dresses and skirts and making fabric flowers to adorn plain white Hanes boys’ tanks and tee-shirts with (these shirts comes in packs of 5 in the boy’s dept. of Target, about $6 a package – you can’t beat that!)… It was fun and productive and I’m delighted to learn that I can do these things. And do them well. I have found sewing and knitting to be very, very good for my soul. I’m sure my husband is just delighted that the very nice sewing machine he bought me for my birthday years ago has finally come out of hiding and been dusted off. I’m glad to prove that this was not a whim – yet another thing that I thought I wanted to do, said I wanted to do, but in the end never did. I did it. So, yeah, me!

Coco is talking up a storm these days, and I’m so glad that her big sis is back on schedule so that she and I can have our mornings, three days a week, back for ourselves. It’s our time alone, the two of us, when she has my full attention. It’s hard when her older sister is here. She’s a whirlwind of constant motion. Always into something, doing something, talking. Coco not only cannot get a word in edgewise, but I feel that she sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. She’s so mellow and easy-going, that she just doesn’t ask for much. She’s content to be playing off in the corner on her own. And while I love that she can entertain herself, I adore the times with her when we get to play with her fairy castle and read books and chase each other through the yard. Bonding at it’s best.

So, we have some new basketballs that my husband took the girls shopping for yesterday, and Coco and I intend to put her new pink one to good use this morning. We’re going to put on our sneakers, load up on the sunscreen and head out into the morning chill for Coco’s first official game of “H.O.R.S.E.”

Happy Friday!

I went with the pink and orange swirl invitations, so at least I knew what my color scheme would be. And when her husband saw the invitation and proclaimed “we love orange and pink together!” I knew that I was on the right track.

And since this is a shower for baby #2, I didn’t feel the need to get into the real baby shower extravaganzas that we’re all familiar with when we’re pregnancy with our first. No diaper cakes, pin the diaper on the baby, etc. I opted to keep it low-key. A brunch. But being that I adore a good project, I had to throw something in there that would get our creative juices flowing. I had a few ideas floating around in my head. In the end, it came down to a tie between picture frames and onesies. I let Pea choose. She went with the clothes. But more on that later…

A quick trip to Target garnered quite a bunch of goodies that fit in perfectly with the overall shower’s look. As the centerpiece, I went with a pink storage bin with a chalkboard front on it. Obviously, something the new parents will find handy in the coming days, once it’s life as a centerpiece has come and gone. It can be used as a portable diaper caddy (loaded up with diapers, wipes and cream), or for toys or books. See? The gift that keeps on giving. And then, I loaded it up with 20 Circo onesies. (I went with the all-white 5-packs, one in each size: 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months and 9-12 months.) Centerpiece / project: I rolled the onesies up, one at a time, and tied a pink bow around them. On the chalkboard, I wrote “Design a Onesie.” And then in two little pails, I threw in some fabric markers and glitter fabric pens. I’ve used this activity at all of the showers I’ve hosted, it’s always been a huge hit. It brings people out of their shells, and it garners the new mom an additional however-many onesies (one per guest) that she’s going to need. Don’t you remember those first months? Ten outfit changes a day? (The Circo onesies are far better than the Gerber ones, which I’ve always found to be too tiny to begin with, and then shrink additionally. Bringing me to my next tip – launder the onesies first, then roll ‘em up.)

The menu is simple. Since it’s brunch, I went with two stratas… One vegetarian and the other Italian-style, with bacon. These are brilliant because you can prep them the night before, leave them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, and then cook them off the morning of the event – they generally take about one hour, and they can feed an army. Then we’re having individual berry cups with Limoncello yogurt dollops (homemade and so easy, but always sure to impress), assorted breads (as in banana, zucchini, store-bought) and then Izze sodas and bottled waters. For the sodas, I went with the Clementine and the Pomegranate flavors, so that I could stay with the overall pink and orange theme. A minor detail, but so charming, I think. Pea and I spent the morning rolling up orange plastic-ware in orange napkins and tying pink bows around them.

I’m giving the mom a pair of adorable pink and orange polka-dotted pajamas and a frame in pink and orange that Pea made, with a photo of her son in it (he and Pea are classmates and destined for marriage, according to her son).

The whole thing, from grocery store to Target and all points in between, and home again, prepped and loaded into the car, took about 6 hours. And I’m so tickled with how it all turned out. I really think that simple is the way to go. I wish I could post some photos, camera is still M.I.A. But I’m sure to get some shots tomorrow, and will pass them along.

Happy weekend!

Out of context, perhaps? Not really. My mother is the original Francophile. And although she did teach me about almost all things French, I have seriously bypassed her in the Francophilia arena.

I want to be French.

Alas, I am not. And never will be. So…

I fill our home, our toy-boxes, our bookshelves, with all things French. I can’t stop.

And amongst French children’s items that I am feverishly collecting right now are Petitcollin dolls.

I am obsessed.

And let me tell you, they are not easy to find. Sure, there are a few from the last of the French doll manufacturers that can be found easily, on a site such as Amazon. (See the deluxe gift set, sold for under $50. A serious bargain and a guaranteed hit for a special little girl’s birthday…)

But the best selection I have found thus far is on an adorable site called Kangarooboo.

I am particularly fond of the Petit Calin Nounours dolls, in their fuzzy little winter ensembles with the little lamb ears.