Plume Dandy

a goodbye letter

2011-11-14T13:29:00.003-05:00

To all my faithful readers (most of whom I am related to):

I will no longer be blogging here at Plume Dandy. I have decided to start fresh. My new blog Camp Sprinkel can be found here. I hope you will follow me!

xoxo
Katharine

EK's woodland fairy party

2011-10-13T17:00:00.009-04:00

I have been obsessed with having a woodland fairy party since I saw this picture this summer:

This was a party done by Kate Landers Events (check out her website here). While, I did not have the same budget as the party shown above (I'm just assuming!), I did use it as my inspiration. I ordered the same invitations from Paper & Pigtails.

It came as a PDF file for $12.50, so I just customized it and then sent it to the Kinko's to have it printed on thick cardstock. Then, I bought chocolate brown 5x7 cards from Paper Source ($4.25 for a pack of 25) and glued the invitation (which I cut down a little, so there was a tiny chocolate border all around) on top. Then I put them in red 5x7 envelopes (also Paper Source, $4.25 for a pack of 10). So these ah-mazing invitations that looked like they cost a fortune, were only a little over $1.50 each.

The decorations were super easy to do (especially this time of year and because the "woodland" theme is so big now). I made a fabric pennant banner and a happy birthday banner out of some cute fabrics I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics. I used double-sided fusible web in between two pieces of fabric to create double-sided stiff fabric that I could cut shapes out of (i.e. triangles for the pennant banner and letters for the happy birthday one). For the pennant, I just used fabric glue to glue the triangles to the back of the ribbon.

For the happy birthday one, I just fabric-glued all the letters together and used some packing tape to adhere it to the mantle and then just tied some raffia on the ends.

For the food table, I bought a cheap green table cloth from the Target. I put a small wood crate upside-down in the middle of the table and covered it with a fake moss runner from Michael's. The moss-covered planter and the moss rocks were from JoAnn Fabrics. The woodland creatures and nest were all ornaments I found at Michael's. The mason jars were filled with water, a floating candle, and tied with raffia. The night before the party, my little sister got the idea to tie the red and white baker's twine around the cardboard E. How cute is it?!

Most of the platters, I already had, but I did buy 2 wood rounds to use as well. Here's a couple other shots of the table:

The menu for the party was:
Chicken salad (with almonds and dried cranberries) on croissants
Roll-up sandwiches
Chocolate chip (some white, some semi-sweet) stuffed raspberries
Pretzel sticks (...because they look like twigs)
Cups of white-cheddar popcorn
Pumpkin raisin muffins
Balsamic and blue cheese mushrooms

I made sparkling pomegranate lemonade for the kids (part lemonade, part sparkling pomegranate juice) and fall punch for the grown-ups.

Lots of raffia and burlap made everything look cohesive.

When the guests arrived, I had fairy skirts and wings for the girls and gnome hats for the boys.

The fairy skirts I ordered from the casual princess on etsy. My mom found the large pink fairy wings at the dollar store and the smaller ones in the dollar section at Target.

The gnome hats I made myself out of felt and fabric glue.

For activities, I had a craft table set up where the kids could make their own fairy wands and decorate wood picture frames. I had a bunch of woodland stickers, markers and ribbon.

Emerson really wanted to play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, but since that didn't really go with the theme, we made our own game:

My favorite part (and I'm sure Emerson's!) was the dessert table. We ordered the toadstool cupcakes from a local bakery (Kirsten's cakery). They were adorable (and delicious!)

Emerson helped me make the donut hole acorns, pink chocolate-covered strawberries, s'more pops, and chocolate-dipped pretzel rods the day before.

The donut hole acorns were just glazed donut holes, dipped in melted chocolate, dipped in chocolate sprinkles, and then half a pretzel stick stuck in top. SO amazing!

Here are the s'more pops. Just a jumbo marshmallow on a lollipop stick, dipped in melted chocolate, and then dipped in crushed-up graham crackers.

The pretzel rods and strawberries were both dipped in that colored melting candy from Michaels. Super easy!

The donut hole tree was just a styrofoam tree from Michaels, donut holes from the Dunkin' Donuts down the street, and a whole bunch of toothpicks!

Here's the whole table:

Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, especially the birthday girl. She told me it was her favorite party she'd ever been to! I sent the kids home with little goodie bags (I learned my lesson from Ava's party!). The big kids got little notebooks and big chunky woodland pencils and woodland creature masks (for the boys) and barrettes (for the girls). The babies got little hedgehog finger puppets.

It was A LOT of work, but on the plus side, now my house is already decorated for fall!

Happiest birthday, Emerson Kate!

2011-10-10T11:49:00.008-04:00

Five years ago today, my sweet baby Emerson was born. She is the kindest little person. She is an old soul. She is smart and funny. You never know what's going to come out of her mouth, and I love that!

This milestone has been very emotional for me. Three days after Emerson was born she was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot. It is a heart defect in which, in Emerson's case, part of her heart had a hole and the other part had a large obstruction.

We met with doctors from Children's Hospital and they told us she would need open heart surgery to correct the defect. The surgeon told us that there was a 1-2% chance of serious complications during the surgery. He also said that, without the surgery, there was a 100% chance she wouldn't live to see her 5th birthday.

We obviously elected for the surgery. She was 8 weeks old. It was, without a doubt, the most excruciating thing I have ever gone through.

But here I am today, celebrating 5 years with this amazing little person who continues to inspire me every day.

Happy little trees

2011-10-04T18:40:00.001-04:00

I'm in full-on woodland fairy party mode this week. One of my "craft projects" for the party besides the fabric pennant banner and the felt gnome hats (I've mentioned before that I'm insane, right?) are these little paper trees that I have convinced myself we need at the party:

I didn't have one of those little machines that can cut out those cute little petal shapes, so I ended up just cutting out rectangles from craft paper in various colors/patterns/textures that I got from Michael's. I did use her method of using a pencil to curl the little pieces before I hot-glued them on.

Here's a progress picture:

And here is the final product:

It looks less Christmas-y in person. There's a lot of light pink in there! If I were going to make one for Christmas, I think using a bunch of metallic papers would look cool!

Anyway, more party details to come!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

she's crafty

2011-09-25T22:23:00.007-04:00

I've had a very crafty DIY weekend. Saturday morning I went to the antique consignment place nearby, and bought a cool desk & chair set for $29 and an old window for $15. I had actually gone there to look for a dresser for our guest room (in the basement, which is almost done!). There were no dressers to be had, but I'm really excited about my two purchases. I will devote separate blog posts showing their transformations. While on Pinterest all weekend, trying to gather some inspiration for what to do with my new found treasures, I kept stumbling upon all these cute wreaths. Not like traditional greenery wreaths for the holidays, but like cute indoor, all-year-long kind of wreaths.

This one caught my eye when I was looking for what to do with my old window:

I followed the picture's link and it took me to Kelly Hicks Design, where she shows step-by-step how to make this pretty ruffle wreath. It actually seemed super easy, so I decided I wanted to make one, but with a few tweaks. Then, I saw these on Pinterest:

So, I ended up kind of combining all of them. I used Kelly Hick's wreath method exactly, except that I used gray felt instead. Then I made some felt rosettes and hot glued them onto the wreath when it was done. Here's how it turned out:

I'm not exactly sure where it's going to go, or why with all of the other things I need to be doing, I spent an evening making a wreath that has no definitive home. Regardless, I'm really proud of how it turned out!

fall finds

2011-09-20T16:01:00.009-04:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that this, hands down, is my favorite time of year. After a sticky hot summer, I love the crisp, cool days of fall. Fall has the best weather, the best smells, the best seasonal drinks from Starbucks, and by far, the best clothes.

So for this fall, I have decided the following would make excellent additions to my wardrobe:

1. a pair of wide leg, high-waisted jeans (like these, "Hutton" jeans from Citizens for Humanity)

2. a tie neck blouse (like this one from Marc Jacobs, but definitely not this exact one since it's over $300, and my husband would die, and not like Rachel Zoe die, but like actually die!):

3. a pair of pointy flats like these from Alexander McQueen (they look polished, but I can still sprint through a parking lot after a two-year old, if needed)

4. a pair of great boots (I bought these Frye Dorado boots and super love them!):

5. a pair of moccasins (like these from Minnetonka):

6. A fun fall-colored jacket (mustard, plum, pumpkin, etc.). I like this one from Anthropologie:

So....what's everyone else buying for fall?

Some DIY bedroom art

2011-09-12T14:52:00.001-04:00

Awhile ago I found this on Pinterest:

I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew I loved it. So the other day when I was at Michael's buying stuff for Emerson's upcoming woodland fairy party, I bought a blank canvas (16" square, I think!), some acrylic paints (light gray and a chartreuse) , some letter stencils, and a paint brush. I thought I'd make some sort of art for our bedroom. It is in desperate need of something (anything!) on the walls.

It was gorgeous outside today, so while Declan and Finlay were napping, Emerson and I spent a couple hours outside in the driveway painting. First I painted my canvas with some leftover chalkboard paint I had. I wanted a dark background and thought chalkboard paint would look a little more distressed and interesting than just painting it black. So after that dried, I used the Martha Stewart stencil kit and letter by letter, painted the song lyrics to our wedding song. I wasn't able to fit the whole thing, in part because I put our wedding date in the lower corner, but I love how it turned out. When I went back to find my inspiration photo, I found the blog where the photo above originated. It turns out the words she used are her wedding song lyrics too. Here is the link.

So here's how mine turned out:

So, I know it's totally different, but you can see where my inspiration came from. I'm so happy with how it turned out! I'm going to hang him in my room soon along with some frames I just ordered from West Elm. I'll post pictures when it's all put together!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The last double stroller I will ever buy....I swear!

2011-08-29T15:42:00.001-04:00

I have now purchased 5 (yes, 5!) double strollers. I realize this qualifies me for some sort of stroller-addiction support group. I wish I could say that I'm one of those people paid to test out different double strollers and that after a week test-driving each one around town, I get to write a concise little blurb about its features, pros, cons, etc. and then give it a little star rating. But sadly, I am not. I have purchased 5 different double strollers, all hoping one will be better than the next. First, it was the Peg Perego Twin Aria.

I bought this one when Emerson was a baby. I thought she and Ava would ride side by side nicely. We would ride through stores while Ava smiled lovingly at her sleeping baby sister next to her. It was such a beautiful image in my head. The only problem was that a two year-old bouncing up and down and screaming on one side, makes it very hard for an infant to take a nap quietly on the other. Also, I couldn't get it through a single doorway.

When Ava was a little older, I decided we needed a sit-n-stand stroller!

Emerson could sit in the front and Ava could either sit on the back, or hop on if she got tired. I somehow forgot in the purchasing of this stroller, that Ava wasn't the kind of child you let stand on the back or sit if she got tired. She was more of the 'keep buckled in a 73-point harness' kind of child. The back of the sit-n-stand did have a strap, but it took her about 20 seconds to figure out how to Houdini herself out of it.

When Declan was born, I decided we needed a Graco Quattro Tour something-or-other.

It was this monstrosity of a stroller. The one pictured above is this year's model. The 2009 model was twice as big, I swear! It's a tandem stroller, so it did fit through most doorways. But it was really big and heavy folded up, making it almost impossible to get in and out of my car. It was nice in that, Emerson could be buckled up front and Declan's infant car seat could strap in the back.

When Finlay was born, we needed to have the entire 3rd row in the car up, so I was no longer able to fit this giant stroller in my car. When I saw that Babies R Us was having a trade-in-stroller event, I decided to trade it in on the new Sit-n-Stand. It was just like the old one, except the back part could also be an actual seat. Since they are only 18 months apart, Declan was definitely not ready to stand on the back, without being strapped in.

This stroller was great, with the exception of the fact that it will not fit in my car behind the 3rd row. So it has to ride shotgun. This is fine unless 1. My husband and I want to go somewhere together or 2. I have to park next to another vehicle in the parking lot or 3. Even though when I parked, there was no one next to me and I could open the door all the way, when I return to my car, a car has parked so close, that I cannot manage to get the stroller back in the car.

So, Friday after reading a bunch of reviews and test-driving it through the store, I bought this guy:

So far, so good! It folds up small enough to get it in the back of my car, it's lightweight, but not flimsy and Declan can't figure out how to get out of it! It has underneath storage and little pockets in the back for keys, wallet, phone, etc.. It steers great, fits through a standard doorway, and is easy to fold up. It has sun canopies and came with a rain cover. It wouldn't have worked as well for an infant, but now that Finlay is older, it's perfect! She and Declan rode side by side today with no problems! They even shared part of a sugar cookie! It doesn't have cup holders for the driver or any kind of tray for the occupants, but I consider it fitting in my car to be a much more important attribute than cup holders! Plus, I'm sure I can buy a cup holder attachment and probably MacGyver something out of a bungee cord and a snack trap for the kids!

So hopefully, this will be THE one! I try not to think about the fact that for all the money I have spent on 5 strollers, I could have been on Pimp my Stroller and had Exhibit custom make me a double Bugaboo with iPod speakers and a juice box fridge!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

C'mon, Irene!

2011-08-27T23:32:00.001-04:00

In case you've been living under a rock, there's a hurricane affecting much of the east coast. I'm not really one to give in to all the hoopla. I haven't nailed plywood to anything. I haven't filled my bathtub with water. I don't have cases of batteries and canned goods on hand. I figure if we have milk and diapers, we can make it work.

While everyone was raiding the grocery store this morning for water and batteries, we were hosting Ava's birthday party at the local bouncy house place. I was worried that the storm was going to force us to cancel leaving us with a heartbroken little birthday girl, but everyone came out and I think Ava had fun! Jay and I stayed up super late last night working on the favors. Not being a fan of crappy made-in-China goody bag favors, I made all the girls CDs full of some of Ava's favorite songs. I made little CD cases tied with handwritten notes thanking them for coming. I was really pleased with how they turned out! And then I witnessed this conversation go down at the party:

Mean girl (pointing to CDs): "What the heck are those? Where are the goody bags?"
Ava: "We don't have goody bags, we made CDs"
Mean girl: "Why did you make CDs?!"
Ava looks at me, looks at mean girl, eyes well up with tears
Mean girl: "What's on the CDs?"
Ava: "just some songs I like"
Mean girl: "Oh.... Well is there at least some Selena Gomez?"

This is when I stepped in, told the girl that I had made the CDs, that I had put on some good songs and that NO, there was no Selena Gomez. Seriously? I had no idea mean girls started so young! WTF! I have never wanted to slap someone so much in my life! This little seven year old made me, for a split second, question my choice in favors! And I'm 31! I can't even imagine what it was doing to Ava! But Ava is a tough cookie, she didn't let that tear welling up in her eyes fall. She didn't give that girl the satisfaction. She just walked away and started handing CDs out to the other more appreciative guests. I was so proud of her!

So now that the party is over, we are all hunkered down here, waiting out the storm. So far, we still have power. Which is awesome! We still do not have Internet due to a storm earlier in the week. The Verizon man was due to come out tomorrow, but due to the hurricane, he called today to reschedule. He said he could come out on the 30th instead, September 30th. After a rather humorous conversation between said Verizon man and my husband, we may be switching service providers!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

it's like three of my favorite things had a baby

2011-08-16T20:02:00.004-04:00

What do you get when you mix bright colors, bicycles and a Target collaboration? You get this guy:

It's the new Missoni for Target bicycle available September 13th for $399. I'm seriously in love with it. It's so pretty, I don't know if I want to actually ride it or I just want to hang it in my house somewhere . They also have 399 other items coming to Target stores nationwide, but I only have eyes for this guy. For now.

The only problem...

2011-08-16T09:38:00.046-04:00

with trying to write a blog about life with four kids is that life with four kids makes it hard to write a blog. So here I am, over a month since my last post. I don't even know where to start. We took all the kids to Mexico. Our trip was kind of like childbirth. I'm glad I did it, but I'm glad it's over. Then we celebrated our sweet Finlay's first birthday. So bittersweet! Every day I find myself torn between being excited for her and all of her new milestones and being sad that it means the end of her being a baby. Jay and I also got to take a little trip sans kiddos. Jay had to go to Vegas last week for work and I was able to join him for a few nights. The kids were split evenly between grandparents and a good time was had by all. Now we are in the midst of back-to-school chaos and Ava's 7th birthday which has inexplicably become 5 days away.

To fully recap the last 38 days (since I last blogged), here is a photo summary:

Finlay's 1st plane ride

Emerson's 1st plane ride

trying to entertain Declan on the plane (i.e. stuff with snacks)

Towel Art

Dec took up ping pong

But found it exhausting

Big fans of Zacharitas (Mexican Frosted Flakes)

funny faces

1st Shirley Temple

1st taco

Emerson being serenaded

tan baby

this picture made the whole trip worth it

so well-behaved on the flight home

1st swing ride

the most serious anyone has ever looked on a swing

that's more like it

finlay and feet

"all the sprinkel babies"

standing up

still just 2 teeth

last picky sticky picture

dessert table at the party (minus the 2 pink lemonade mini bundt cakes that Declan swiped)

party food

1st bow

yes, we match. no, it was not planned.

1st cupcake

1st time I've been anywhere that required a hand stamp in 8 years

Vegas room dance party

Don't judge. We don't get out much!

i'm too excited to sleep

2011-07-07T21:44:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow morning the entire Sprinkel clan is en route to Mexico for 6 days. It will be the first time we have flown with four kids. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit scared. Maybe the stars will all align and everyone will sit nicely for the duration of the three-hour flight. Maybe no one will cry, no one will scream, no one will poop. Maybe no one will fight over the window seat. Maybe the novelty of the airplane won't wear off before the plane even takes off. Maybe Declan will obey the fasten your seat belt sign. Maybe no one will be sitting next to us and Finlay will get her own seat. I realize the chances of all of these happening are slim to none. But no matter what happens, how bad it goes... I will be here tomorrow afternoon:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

mini me

2011-07-07T15:50:00.003-04:00

Every so often, I'll walk out of the house after finally getting myself and the kids together and dressed, to realize that one (or more) of the kids and I are dressed alike. I don't really know how it happens or how I don't notice it until the minute we are out in public, but it happens a lot! Like maybe I'll get Emerson dressed in cropped skinny jeans and a navy and white striped tee and then subconsciously, when I go to get dressed, I'll gravitate towards an almost identical outfit in my own closet without realizing that I just put the same exact thing on my daughter not half an hour before.

So, the other day when I was in one of my favorite kid stores, I saw this pair of yellow leather shoes for Finlay. I couldn't put them down, they were so sweet. And even though I was only there to get birthday gifts for my friend's twins, I had to buy them. It was later when I got home that I realized why I loved them so much.

I had bought myself a very similar pair a couple weeks ago.

Colorado bound

2011-07-06T10:54:00.010-04:00

A couple months ago I decided I wanted to go visit my two sisters in Colorado and finally get to meet my sweet baby niece (who turned 1 last month!). So, I called my mom and said, "Hey, wanna go to Colorado?" I think she thought I was kidding. Another one of my crazy spontaneous ideas that I never really follow through with.

But fast forward to last weekend and there we were with my little sister, Emily in tow to our girls' weekend in Colorado. I booked our tickets online, found hotel rooms, and rented us a car. The plan was to fly into Denver and then drive to Salida and spend the night. We would get up in the morning and go white water rafting with my sister Corbett, who is working as a raft guide for the summer. Then we'd drive that afternoon to Colorado Springs where we'd stay two nights and get to hang out with my other sister Amanda and her daughter, Aisley. Then we'd drive back to Denver Monday morning and come home. We had it all planned. I had all my confirmations printed out, my mom had the weekend's weather forecast printed out. We brought a GPS so we wouldn't get lost. We were nothing, if not prepared. The drive from Denver to Salida was supposed to take 2 hours. No problem! 2 hours is nothing! Well, once you factor in that we arrived in Denver at 8:05pm (so already 10:05 pm east coast time), then had to get our bags, take a shuttle bus to the rental car place, wait in line for 45 minutes, it is now almost ten o'clock before we have even started our drive.
We opted not to drive through Colorado Springs but to go a more "direct" route. Turns out going through Colorado Springs would have meant being on a multiple-lane highway for the majority of the route. Instead we spent a little over three hours on a pitch black, one-lane highway through the mountains. A route mostly frequented by truckers it turns out, who were not so pleased that our rented Jeep Patriot was not maintaining the 65 mph speed limit on the windy uphill roads. If the bright blaring lights of tractor-trailers on our bumper weren't enough, there were also the uplifting road signs such as:

and:

So while this is all going on, my mom is in the back seat unbeknownst to me starting to get very car sick from all of the twisting and turning. So when she says, "sorry, but I need you to pull over", I'm thinking "ha, right! I am so not stopping the car and getting eaten by a mountain lion or worse, getting kidnapped by some crazy mountain dweller who's going to make jewelry out of my bones to sell at the next local flea market. So, I finally find a spot of the road with a shoulder, instead of a 50ft. drop and pull over. As she's getting back in the car, a car pulls up behind me and a friendly member of the local law enforcement is walking up to my car. I explain that my mom was just a little car sick and we're fine. We continue driving and I cannot even explain how tired my eyes are at this point. It is amazing we made it there in one piece. Note to self, next time I will stay in civilization until daylight.
We finally made it a little after 1am (that's 3am, our time now!). And even though the lobby of the place looked like this:

I've never been happier to be anywhere, ever! Seriously, I really thought I was going to die. The rest of the weekend went much smoother. We went white water rafting Saturday morning and I don't know that I've ever had so much fun! I had a perma-grin the entire time. I probably wasn't the best paddler, but I attribute that to the fact that I was laughing so hard when we went through the rapids that it was hard to breathe, much less do anything remotely coordinated. Here's a picture of us post-adventure:

We had so much fun together. It was one of those trips that before it was even over, we were planning when/how we could all see each other again.

fun (and super cheap) father's day gift

2011-06-19T11:22:00.002-04:00

This is what the kids gave Jay for Father's Day today. It was so easy to make and can be tweaked to any occasion and number of kids. I just made the signs on the computer and took pictures of the kids outside holding each one. Finlay did more eating than holding, but it made for a really cute picture! Also, if you didn't want to use the signs, you could have the kids hold those big cardboard letters that they sell at craft stores to spell D-A-D or whatever you wanted. I looked for a frame with four openings side by side, but couldn't find one. I ended up finding this frame at Michaels for $24.99. I love the way it turned out!

@#$& happens

2011-06-11T20:19:00.002-04:00

There are certain things no one tells you when you are considering having children. For one, no one tells you what pregnancy is really like. Yes, it's beautiful, creating a life and feeling your baby kick and all that. But it also, well, sucks sometimes. No one tells you that your entire body becomes pregnant. From your hair to your fat, little swollen toes. Every inch of your body changes during pregnancy. Some things grow (your ass, i mean belly), some things shrink (your bladder), and some things go away completely (your memory and general ability to form sentences). This, by the way, is why I've never believed those women who went to the bathroom one day, and BAM, out pops a baby!

Anyway.... none of this is my point. My point is that everyone tells you how much having kids will change your life and how much you will love these little people you create. But no one tells you that after you become a mother, there are days you wake up when NOTHING goes according to plan. I mean, so not according to plan that it doesn't even slightly resemble the day you had envisioned. I intended to spend my morning with a few high school friends and their children. We were going to finally all get together and let our kids meet and run around crazy for a couple hours. Then Jay and I were going to take the kids to the pool in the afternoon, followed by a local strawberry festival. We were going to make a yummy dinner, put the kids to bed early, and watch a movie, just the two of us.

Around 6:30 am, my plans changed. Declan crawled into bed with us, burning up with a fever and covered in puke. After checking his temperature, giving him medicine and stripping his bed, I went downstairs to find that our kitchen had been overtaken with ants. Not one, not two, but several thousand ants. While Jay headed to the Lowe's to buy super-duper ant killer spray, I wiped down every surface I could find trying to get rid of the ants. Our kitchen counters, by the way, are the same color as ants. And these ants aren't just any ants, these are crazy ants who fly and swim. They are resistant to Chlorox wipes, water, and super hot water. Finally I pulled out the Dyson and started sucking them up. I felt like one of the Ghostbusters. This seemed to get rid of them, but for all I know they are just bulking up on the goldfish crumbs that live inside my vacuum and they're going to come back bigger and stronger tomorrow.

After the ant infestation was under control and Declan was content upstairs in our bed watching a Dino Dan marathon, Jay and I took turns running errands. I went to the grocery store, he went to the Sam's Club and the gas station. Tag team parenting. One parent left the house, while one enforced the Declan-upstairs/Girls-downstairs quarantine policy. Not exactly the day of family-togetherness I had planned.

Being a parent forces you to expect the unexpected. Expect that the first time post-baby that you take a shower, get dressed, and put on make-up before 10 am, your baby will projectile vomit on you on the way out the door. Expect that your babysitter will cancel the morning of your first date-night in six months. Expect that your baby will poop up his back and in his hair only if that was your last diaper.

But honestly, it's those hilarious and ridiculous moments that make the best memories. I don't remember the days where everyone woke up happy, made their beds without having to be asked and played nicely all day. But the day I had to make a diaper out of a Shamwow in a parking garage in Northern Virginia, that is a day I look back on and laugh about. It will also make a really great story to tell Declan's first girlfriend.

school's out for summer... kinda

2011-06-07T10:47:00.017-04:00

Remember when we were kids and the end of the school year meant no more school work? When we could spend all summer at the pool or rotting our brains in front of the TV, if we wanted? Then teachers spent the entire month of September re-teaching us what we learned in May?

Apparently, not anymore! A packet came home from Ava's school last night. Ava is supposed to spend a minimum of 15 minutes a day reading, either with a parent or alone. Her teachers sent home a list of recommended authors and a chart to keep track of her reading. She is also supposed to set aside a half hour each day to work on reading, writing, and/or math. She is also expected to keep a summer journal to write down her "activities, experiences, thoughts and feelings". These journals will be shared with her class in the fall.

While I think it's great, Ava may have a different opinion. SO...I'm going to make her a little summer reading kit to get her excited.

First, I ordered a bunch of books from Amazon from the recommended authors. Here are a few:

1.Pretzel by Margaret Rey

2. Mirandy and Brother Wind by Patricia McKissack

3. The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Blume

4. A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
5. Lemonade for Sale by Stuart J. Murphy

I also ordered this workbook:

Summer Bridge Activities: 1st to 2nd grade

And this book just for fun:

642 Things to Draw

I also thought I'd get her a cute tote bag for the library like this one:

Little Library Tote by Bushel and a Peck Paper - $20

Or this one:

"For The Love of Books Tote Bag" by The Little Fox - $19

Then maybe a few little extras like this cute pencil case:

Woodland Animals Pencil Case by Pocket Carnival- $14

Maybe, some bookplates:

Little Owlets Bookplates by Marmee Craft - $7.50

And some cute little notebooks:

Sweet as Pie Pocket Notebook Three Pack by The Black Apple - $12

This would also make an adorable birthday gift! Maybe I should make little reading kits and save them for when we get those last minute birthday invites.

summer fun

2011-05-31T10:17:00.010-04:00

I've been seeing all sorts of summer to-do lists lately. Like this one:

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and this one:

[source]

and this one too:

[source]

So I decided to use part of our kitchen chalkboard wall and make one for our family. Here's how it turned out:

It is fun for the kids to see all the things they get to do this summer and it will give me some inspiration when everyone starts whining about how bored they are!

a closet mini-makeover

2011-05-30T19:39:00.019-04:00

Last week, I read this blog entry from my friend Letia over at Downtown Digs in Diapers about her closet overhaul. Here's her before:

and her after:

Awesome, right? This was just the kick in the pants I needed to finally tackle my own closet. So I looked on Pinterest (totally obsessed, by the way!) and found a couple closets that I love. Here's one of my favorites:

I love the wallpaper, the shelving, the chandelier, everything! So, I decided I was going to completely renovate my closet. It still has the poorly-planned out builder-installed wire rack system that I loathe. Like, seriously detest! I was going to rip that out, repaint or wallpaper the closet, and then install a beautiful yet functional wood shelving system with multiple bars, shelves and a wall of shoes. Everything was going to finally have a home.

Here are some before pictures of my horrendous closet:

So, first step....remove all of my stuff from the closet. After the Semester at Sea t-shirt incident of 2003, I have learned not to touch Jay's stuff. As much as I would like to throw away most of his clothes and start over, I decided to leave that side of the closet for him to deal with.

So I took all my stuff out and laid it on the floor. You know how you don't realize how much stuff you own until you move? Well, I had no idea how many clothes I owned until I started laying it all out on the floor. It's probably a good thing Jay wasn't home for this process. The amount of times that, "ooh...I forgot about this!" came out of my mouth was disturbing. Here's a look:

For, those of you wondering...yes, I keep a level in my closet, along with an entire reusable grocery tote full of assorted tools, nails, screws, etc. And yes, those are snowboard boots and no, I have never snowboarded. In addition are 2 bags full of Finlay's baby clothes that I can't bring myself to part with. Why? Because I am planning to make a quilt out of them! No, I do not know how to make a quilt. But I did buy a sewing machine on Black Friday! It too lives in my closet, and has yet to make it out of the box.

So after emptying the closet, it looked like this:

This is about the point in which I called Jay and said I wanted to re-do our closet. I told him about my big plans to paint, the wood closet systems I had found, my wall of shoes. Imagine how much time we'll save in the morning! To which, he responded, "I just called the patio guy. I'd rather spend the time and money working on the backyard". Hmmmm...well, he did have a point. It's not like the whole family is going to spend a nice day in my closet.

The only problem was that the idea of putting all that stuff back into that closet made me want to cry. So after it sat there for almost a week, I decided to make a few minor adjustments to the closet that didn't cost a lot of money but that would tide me over until we can do a major over-haul.

I bought a hamper, a couple fabric bins and 2 inexpensive shoe shelves. I ripped the lower wire rack off the back wall. This way the clothes on either side could run all the way to the wall. I decided to hang the two shoe racks on the back wall. I hung a hook above the hamper to hang the dry cleaning bag. I also hung a shelf in the closet to keep Febreeze, stain remover spray, and a lint roller.

While it's not the closet I envisioned, I think it looks a lot better and more importantly, is much more organized. And I only spent a little over a hundred bucks!

So, I think it was a good compromise. I got a more organized closet and a wall of shoes. Jay got to spend the weekend working on the backyard, instead of inside hanging a closet system. And the kids will get a pretty landscaped backyard with a patio to play on, with the money I could have spent on a closet. I'm so proud of myself, I might just have to buy myself a new pair of shoes to fill that spot on the top rack!

While the Jay is away....

2011-05-25T10:18:00.009-04:00

...I am sure to redecorate or rearrange something. It's a sure thing! In fact, he is no longer surprised in the least to come home from a trip/round of golf/random Tuesday at the office to find that a room is entirely different than when he left the house. Some might say I am a complete lunatic, I think of it as insurance that he will never get bored!

So, in addition to the freakishly clean house and the living room makeover, I also changed some things in our master bedroom. Here's a look at the before picture:

I took down the curtains, stripped the bed, removed the painting, and the lamps. Those end tables aren't there anymore either, because they were moved a couple weeks ago down to the family room. The ones from the living room were moved up in their place. I purchased a set of the organic ikat-stripe sheets, a white frayed-edge quilt, and a pair of feather gray organic matelassé shams from West Elm. I added a DwellStudio for Target pillow that used to be in the living room. I purchased two matching glass lamps and shades from (where else?) Target. Here's a look:

I also moved a desk (the beat-up one from Ava and Emerson's room) and the IKEA expedit bookcase over into my sitting room. To cover up the marker-stained, sticker-covered top, I might sand it down and paint the top with some chalkboard paint (that I have leftover from the kitchen wall). We'll see!

My thought process was that if I had a desk and a large storage area in my dressing room, I could use it for all my craft stuff. I put everything into containers (with labels) and now it's super organized. Everything has a home, so now when I'm done being crafty, it can go back to its home.

The floral slipper chair and black dresser had to then move into the bedroom.

I still have nothing on the walls and no curtains, but I'm getting there. I did buy this mirror from Target for $19.99 that I plan to spray paint white.

I'll post pictures as it comes together!

third time's a charm?

2011-05-25T09:23:00.014-04:00

One of my projects while Jay was out of town a couple weeks ago, was my living room (i.e. the room no one uses). When we first moved in, I decorated it to look like this:

Then I decided to paint it (post about it here) and get new lamps and it looked a little something like this:

Then one day, I decided I was over black frames. All of a sudden I thought the black frames looked too harsh against the bright turquoise wall. Yes, black frames were out! I decided that the room would so much fresher and lighter with white ones. So I spent part of my mother's day spray painting all my black frames white. Since I realize it is slightly out of character for me to not run out on impulse and buy twenty new white frames, I figured you guys would need to see proof. Here you go:

In addition to spray painting all the black frames, I also painted a few really inexpensive wood frames and finally got around to spray painting Finlay's owl friend for her wall.

Once, I hung the frames back up (with updated pictures), I added some new curtains from West Elm. The cotton canvas printed tortoise window panels were only $39 a piece for 108" panels! I hung one on each window. Then, I added my silver metallic pouf I scored from Calypso's line for Target. I got two gray & white pillows from etsy and an aqua throw from Target (to cover up the giant rip in the couch from the dogs a couple years ago). I got a little espresso wood side table for $49 and the lamp shade on clearance for $4.99 (both from Target). I used one of the leftover ladder bookshelves from the family room and put some books, frames, candles, etc. On the opposite wall, the dinghy white IKEA chair got a coral and white Calypso for Target pillow. The dark bookcase moved next to the chair and houses more books, candles, decorative objects, etc. I hung a silver mirror that used to be in the family room and bought a new lamp and shade from Target. I ended up adding a couple more white frames to the wall (that I bought). You really can't tell the difference between the ones I bought and the ones I painted! I also put a little square basket next to the chair to hold a couple of Finlay's toys. It's nice to have a couple toys for her in each room, so I can just plop her down on the floor with one if I need to run in another room to break up a fight/clean up a spill/console a certain someone who has launched himself off of the table for the zillionth time!

Anyway....here is the final product. I LOVE it! I think it is still bold with the wall color, but looks so much crisper and lighter. The only thing I need to do at some point is get a new rug. I have a simple jute one in mind.

It has a very tranquil feel to it now. I've been spending more time in there lately, reading, playing on my laptop, etc. I think it's my new favorite room. It's close enough to the family room to keep tabs on the kids but far enough away that I can actually concentrate on a book without getting distracted by whatever the Fresh Beat Band is singing about!

Oh happy day!

2011-05-20T11:38:00.004-04:00

Last week while I was playing "single mom", I decided my house was in need of professional help. With four kids, three dogs and two former slobs-turned-parents, our house is always a wreck. Even on a good day (i.e. we're about to have visitors) there are piles of laundry shoved in closets and don't even get me started on the bathrooms!

So, after two days of cleaning and straightening, our house was clean enough to be cleaned by a team of professionals. The woman at the cleaning service said that based on the size of my house, it would take about two hours, maybe less for a team of four people.

I don't know if I've ever been so excited! Like first kiss/new shoes/finding a hundred dollar bill-giddy! It took them a whopping four and a half hours and cost over $400, but it was totally worth every penny! Best part, we have maintained it for the last 8 days! It's so much less over-whelming to try to maintain a clean house than try to deep clean a dirty one!

Also, changed some things around in the house while Jay was gone. Some new bedding here, some new curtains there. I figure, he can't get mad if he comes home and loves the final product, right?

I'll post pictures soon of my updates!

Derby Day

2011-05-07T19:26:00.015-04:00

I've never been to the Kentucky Derby and I've never had a mint julep. But I may have to make Derby Day a tradition in the Sprinkel household. First, we decided everyone had to find a hat to wear (even Finlay).

Next we made drinks. Orange crushes for Jay and I, Sprite and OJ for the kids.

Next we all picked our horses. Jay picked Mucho Macho Man (of course). I picked Nehro (I liked saying it and it's jockey wore a cute outfit). Ava picked Pants on Fire (I think in part for the fact she could walk around screaming "liar, liar, pants on fire!"). Emerson picked Animal Kingdom at the last minute. She was previously going with Derby Kitten (or "dirty kitchen") but they weren't talking about it enough during the pre-race coverage on TV, so she changed her mind. We picked Stay Thirsty for Declan and Midnight Interlude for Finlay. We put $5 each in a pot. Winner takes all. We decided if none of our horses won, we'd purchase a family gift with the winnings.

Here are the girls anticipating post time!

The race was off and we jumped up and down screaming for our horses. But in the end, Emerson was victorious! Here's a look at the big winner:

She was so excited (and surprised)! Everyone took it really well....

almost!

to each his own

2011-04-18T10:29:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I get caught up in "mom mode" and forget to appreciate the awesomeness of watching these little people do things their way.

On Saturday morning, instead of getting annoyed that Declan decided to separate out the cheerios from his milk, I decided to snap a picture.

I love that he is becoming his own creative, free-thinking little man. I don't want him to follow the crowd or do everything his friends are doing. I want him to be an individual. I love that instead of seeing a table, he sees a stage. Instead of a couch, he sees a bungee jumping platform. Instead of a rolling pin, he sees a sword. I love that when strangers say hi to him in the grocery store, he roars like a dinosaur.

He is a daily reminder not to take life or myself too seriously! LOVE that kid!

inspiration from Nate

2011-04-16T10:32:00.018-04:00

Last week I was watching The Nate Berkus Show and at the end, he said something about how moving your couch and switching the placement of your lamps can give your living room a whole new energy. Because of where our TV is hung in relation to our fireplace, our giant sectional can really only face one direction. It was kind of centered in the room, away from the wall so you could walk behind it. The only problem was that it created a lot of dead space that no one really used. Except the kids when they are running laps around the living room. I forgot to take a picture before I went all crazy and starting moving the furniture out of the room. Here's an old picture that kind of shows the couch.

So since the couch can't face any other way, I decided to push it back against the wall. Then, I took the nightstands from our bedroom and put them at either end of the couch. I took the white CB2 lamps from the living room and put them on top. The two ladder bookshelves that were flanking the TV were moved out. I brought one back in and put it on this little wall.

The TV looked really naked on the big giant wall by itself. As soon as Jay saw it, he was online looking at 55" TVs. But all it really needed was some sort of entertainment center/console to hold the components and some books and decorative objects. We liked this one from West Elm:

It was on sale for $279 which was great, but it was only 40" wide and on the 17 foot wall, we decided it might look a little silly. We also liked this one, also West Elm:

It was a bit more expensive ($399) and since the TV is already hung on the wall, we thought it was a little low (only 16" tall). And since I am THE most impatient person on the face of the earth, and I want what I want when I want it, I also didn't want to wait to have something delivered. The nearest West Elm is over and hour away plus nothing would fit in my car with 4 car seats in it. So..... we decided to take a family trip to the IKEA. We figured they were bound to have something that would work and since everything has to be assembled we could probably squeeze the boxes in the car somewhere.

***Sidenote: Jay and I decided if we every think we want a 5th kid, we should have to take everyone to the IKEA first. It is always a nightmare. We usually put Ava and Emerson in the kid playroom and I baby bjorn Finlay and we put Declan in the stroller. Usually about half way through one or both of them is screaming. This time it happened pretty much instantly. Even bribing Declan with Swedish Fish didn't work. And everyone usually rides home cramped in the car with boxes on all around them. It makes for a good day! ***

So we get home and take all of the pieces out of the boxes. Here's what we had:

After about 45 minutes, we had this:

Just like when Jay sees an empty wall he needs a bigger TV, when I see an empty shelf I need to buy more "coffee table" books. Good thing I keep an Amazon wish list for these types of emergencies! So this is how it was looking a couple days later.

It still needs some love, perhaps some actual pictures in those frames. And definitely some more books. We also decided to finally (after 2+ years in this house) to hang something on the walls. I blew up 4 pictures of the kids and put them in 16"x20" frames. Here's how they look!

Here's a better shot of the whole room:

I think with some time, it will all come together. The couch needs some throw pillows. The console/media thingie needs some more "stuff". Maybe a big leafy plant in the corner. Eventually, the orange chair might get moved to the basement and maybe an upholstered print slipper chair in its place. I could go on and on! But, here's what I was thinking for throw pillows:

The 1st and 3rd are from Posh House Originals on etsy. The 2nd and 4th are from milk&cookies Canada on etsy.

Even though the room isn't complete, it does have a whole new energy. I'll post pictures as it progresses!

2 adults, 4 kids, 3 dogs & 4 frogs???

2011-04-15T20:04:00.004-04:00

Earlier this week, Ava's teacher sent out an email to all the parents asking if anyone would be willing to take care of their class frogs over Spring Break. I (of course) volunteered! The girls have been asking for one of these mini frog aquariums for months, so I figured this would be a good trial run to see if they could handle the responsibility. So, wish us luck! I really don't want to tell a classroom full of first-graders that I killed their class pets.

just to brighten things up

2011-04-14T14:10:00.002-04:00

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It's finally starting to feel and look like Spring around here. Today when I looked at my blog, I thought..."ewww...it's so dark and wintery". So here it is, all brightened up! Enjoy!

p.s. Today my project is going through all the baby clothes in the attic. I was inspired by an episode of Hoarders last night!

trying something new

2011-04-12T17:01:00.009-04:00

Last week, Jay came home bearing gifts. The first was a new can opener, because our old one ...well, sucks! There's no nice way to put it. It's just awful. I don't know where we got it, or how long we've had it, or why we have complained about it for years but never replaced it. I mean, how much does a can opener cost? Like 8 bucks?

The second was this cookbook from Giada De Laurentiis.

Jay said I'm always saying I could eat Italian food every night (which is true!). I think he's just trying to get me to cook. But regardless of whether it was meant as a sweet gesture or a big hint, I decided to make something out of it for dinner tonight. I decided on Chicken Cacciatore.

So I headed to the grocery store with Emerson, Declan, and Finlay. First stop once inside, Starbucks. Armed with a venti latte (for me), a piece of coffee cake (for Emerson) and a rocky road brownie pop (for Declan), we start shopping. I do not even make it to the produce section (which is the first section, by the way) when Declan had Houdinied (yes, that's a word!) himself out of the cart and is now running through the store grabbing a banana, an apple, a box of Fruity Pebbles, an apple corer, and a bag of rice noodles. Seriously? I can't make this stuff up! I grab him and try to put him back in the cart. He starts hysterically crying/screaming/snotting all over himself. Several grandmas come over and try to help. The first one offers him a grape lollipop which he smacks out of her hand. The next says, "oh, we've all been THERE!" The third offers to block the aisle he is running down with her cart. Finally, I decide that he is not going back in the cart. Well, actually, he kind of decided that. I just went along with it, out of desperation. So we do the rest of our shopping with him walking/running behind the cart with an open box of sour cream & onion bunny crackers. At least he picked something organic, right?

When we get home and I'm unpacking the groceries, I notice that the chicken breasts that I thought I grabbed at the grocery store are actually chicken wings. So instead of the traditional chicken thighs and breasts usually found in Chicken Cacciatore, ours has thighs and wings. Oh well! Here's a look at my chicken browning:

Next I added my chopped onion and red pepper:

Here's my new can opener in action, opening the diced tomatoes:

I put the final product in the crock pot to keep it warm until dinner time. Here's how it was looking:

And here's a look at Declan entertaining Finlay while I was cooking:

Hard to believe this is the same kid from the grocery store!

times they are a changing

2011-04-05T13:10:00.000-04:00

This has been Finlay's bed for the last (almost) eight months. When I found this bassinet on Gilt for $269 last summer (instead of its usual $399 price tag), I was immediately sold! I knew it would spend a good deal of time in our bedroom, so I wanted something pretty to look at and not plastic or covered with pastel teddy bears. Jay said it was a waste of money and she'd only use it for a few weeks. Ha! I really only thought she'd spend four of five months in it, but Declan seemed content in his crib. So we decided not to mess with a good thing. But as she inches closer and closer to Cariboo's recommended twenty two pound weight restriction, we decided to bite the bullet and move her to a big crib. So Saturday night was the big night! She looks so small in a normal size crib. It's hard to imagine that the other kids were in one from the time they came home from the hospital. The crib was the last thing to go in Finlay's room, so here's the room all put together:

Here's the happy girl in her new bed:

you know how i love a good collaboration

2011-04-04T14:13:00.005-04:00

Before I update you on all the happenings at the Sprinkel household, I had to blog about the newest Target collaboration. Calypso St. Barts is introducing a line of women's clothes, accessories, home decor, even girls and baby clothes at Target on May 1st. Prices range from $1.99 to $74.99. I have my eye on the gold metallic poufs seen below for $59.99. Here's the ad from this month's issue of Lucky Magazine.

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Here's a couple of the other items from the line:

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So cute and just in time for summer!

a note from mom

2011-03-29T09:52:00.004-04:00

I'm a big stationary person. Not like a big person who sits around all day, but a person who loves stationary. I love pretty note cards, invitations, and thank you notes. All the kids have personalized stationary. I always order fun birthday party invitations, even when the bouncy house/little gym/pottery studio provided their own. So, why until last week was I scribbling notes to Ava's teacher on sheets of computer paper torn in half? I don't know either. So, I ordered myself some personalized notepads from sarah + abraham. My name is printed at the top and my phone number and email address are printed at the bottom. Simple and cute! Plus, even if the note is about why Ava forgot her homework or why she's wearing two different shoes, it makes me appear organized and together.

new soup for you!

2011-03-25T20:04:00.004-04:00

Last night, I made dinner. A real dinner, that didn't involve the microwave. I found this yummy tortilla soup recipe on momfilter. I made a few minor adjustments, like shredding a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store instead of cooking the chicken myself. I used 1/2 of the amount of chipotle they called for. I also used oregano instead of epazote and monterey jack instead of chihuahua cheese. Considering that I rarely (ok, never) attempt recipes that require charring a pepper over a gas burner or breaking out the blender, I found it to be surprisingly easy. There was a point in the recipe where most of the ingredients go into the blender, and it made me question exactly what size blender the person who wrote the recipe has in their kitchen. Because I had to blend it in batches. But in the end, it turned out really well! Like, not only did the kids eat it but they asked for seconds. In fact, my husband is eating it right now for breakfast. It's that good! Emerson even called it world famous.

fun find

2011-03-22T16:50:00.001-04:00

There isn't a week that goes by that I don't wish that Cookie Magazine still existed. It was like a bible for cool moms. It had awesome clothes, gear, toys, and decor for kids. It also had recipes, family travel ideas, and stylish un-frumpy mom clothes. It also usually had an effortless-looking celebrity mom and her kids on the cover and a fun article inside with all her favorite kid picks.
As my husband and I toss out ideas about where to take our family this summer on vacation, I found myself missing those issues of Cookie and digging up the ones I have saved. Today, while trying to find an old article online, I stumbled upon momfilter, a blog written by Pilar Guzman and Yolanda Edwards, the founding editors of Cookie. Besides themselves, they also have a lot of awesome contributors, most of whom, in addition to being writers or photographers or editors, are also moms themselves. While it won't fill the void left by the former magazine, it will make it into my rotation of regularly-visited blogs. Definitely check it out!

extreme room makeover...again

2011-03-22T14:25:00.003-04:00

I am almost finished with the girls' room. It needs a few finishing touches to make it a bit more cohesive, but it's definitely getting there. The whole reason for their room updates was because awhile back, Jay and I contemplated moving. We found this big old (like 1850 old) house and decided we were going to up and move and completely redo it. Well, after much debate, we decided to stay put... for now. During the "we're totally moving" phase, I had completely designed Ava and Emerson's room in my head. So, although content with the non-moving, I was slightly bummed about not getting to decorate a whole new space for the girls. So, after breaking it gently to Jay, while throwing out key phrases such as "I'll do all the painting", and "I won't spend a lot, I promise", I got started a couple weeks back.

First, I removed all of the toys, books, crap kids hold onto, etc. Then, I took out the bookcase (which was falling apart), the dresser (which was going in Finlay's room), and the desk (which was a huge eyesore thanks to years of crayons, markers, and stickers). The only thing that stayed put is the bunkbeds. And not because I love them (because I actually think they'd be much more at home in Declan's room). But I did promise to not spend a lot. I patched the holes, dings, and dents and then painted the room Benjamin Moore Pigeon Gray (it's a smoky lavender gray). Here it is:

I bought a white Malm dresser and a dark charcoal flip out loveseat (Solsta) from Ikea. Then I bought a basic white 3 shelf bookcase from the Target. I put all 3 together with a little help from Emerson. She collected the boxes and turned them into a small village for her stuffed animals.

Here's a look at the new sofa:

Next up I decided to tackle the wall above the couch. I bought a bunch of white frames and laid them out on the floor until I came up with a pattern I liked. I got the lime silhouette print from A Vintage Poster. The fabric letters are from Anthropologie. The vintage pink pink photograph is from Gabrielle Kai on etsy. The top middle square frame is actually wrapping paper from Paper Source. The print of the little girl drawing is from Sarah Jane Studios on etsy. The two 5 x 7 prints side by side are from DUDADAZE on etsy. The one on the left says, "She believed that the world looked better upside down" and the one on the right says, "She believed in spontaneous dancing". Finlay has the 3rd one in her room and it says, "She believed in make believe". The center bottom frame is a card that Ava made for Emerson one day that says "You uer my fred". The b&w photos I took of the girls outside last week. Here's how it turned out:

The bedding is the Waterfall Ruffle Duvet Cover & Shams in pink from Urban Outfitters (although it's a bit more peach in real life). The lighting is a little off in this picture, but here it is:

Here are some other pictures from around the room. First, the bookcase, with baskets (one to hold hair stuff and the other for miscellaneous trinkets) and magazine organizers (to hold coloring books and such) from The Land of Nod.

Here's the dresser I put together. I got a jewelry organizer from Marshalls and two cloth jewelry boxes from The Land of Nod. The clock radio/CD player is from Target and the lamp and shade are both from IKEA a couple years ago.

Here's a shot of how it all looks together. The curtains are from Z Gallerie and the giant magnetic heart is from Urban Outfitters. The lamp and shade came from Target and the pink toy buckets that were in their room before are from The Land of Nod. The pillow is from CB2.

I'm still looking for a couple elements to pull the room together. Maybe another set of shams on the bed. I'm thinking of a gray and white ikat pattern maybe. Also, would love to replace the toy buckets at some point and maybe get some prettier under-the-bed storage, since you can see it. I love these from Restoration Hardware baby & child, but they cost more than the couch.

Please forgive me!

2011-03-16T12:59:00.008-04:00

It's been 46 days since my last confession blog post. Sorry! Here's what you missed:

12 swim lessons
4 basketball games
2 gymnastics classes
3 field trips
1 overnight Girl Scout trip
1 parent/teacher conference
1 trip to Mexico (us)
1 trip to see the grandparents (the kids)
1 baptism
1 new baby ("Osbert" was born on March 5th, but he prefers to be called Bryson now!)
1 birthday party
2 date nights
3 playdates
2 new teeth for Finlay
2 lost teeth for Ava
3 doctors' appointments
1 room painted

and...

46 trips to the Starbucks (just kidding! I was in Mexico for 4 days--so it was really more like 42)

So, now that all of that is out of the way...my upcoming projects are:

finishing decorating the kids' rooms
switching Declan from a crib to a twin bed
painting the laundry room
making our backyard more functional and less of an eyesore

I could add a million other things to that list, but I'm trying to simplify and just work on stuff I have an actual shot at crossing off. First, up the girls' room. I'll post details and pictures soon!

Declan's Dino Party

2011-01-29T21:47:00.017-05:00

Today we celebrated my little man's birthday. I have been planning his birthday party for what seems like months, so I am thankful that it was a success...and that it's over! I have realized that I am not one of those moms that can take the easy way out. When it's time to sign up for who brings what to the class parties, I physically cannot bring myself to sign up for the plates and napkins or the jug of juice. No, I am the mom who volunteers to make the cupcakes or the goodie bags. I love a good party, but what's more, I love all the details that make a party really special. I obsess over the menu, the decorations, the favors, the dessert, the outfits...every inch of it.

So here is the breakdown of Declan's party, inch by inch.

Menu:

For the menu, I wanted it to be really kid-friendly foods. So we decided on the following:

-Spinach & Artichoke dip (ready made from the grocery store)
-Homemade salsa & mexican dip with tortilla chips (by my mama)
-Chicken nuggets (from Chick fil-a)
-Mini hamburgers (frozen section at Sam's club)
-Mini bagel dogs (also frozen section at Sam's club)
-Turkey pinwheel sandwiches (courtesy of my mother-in-law)
-Mac-n-cheese (frozen from Sam's club)
-Fresh fruit salad
-Veggie cups
-Pasta salad
-Pretzels
-Goldfish
-Chips
-Cake pops
-Vanilla cupcakes (made from Sprinkles mix) with the Sprinkles buttercream icing recipe

The nice thing about the menu that we chose, was that there wasn't a ton of advanced preparation. We made the pasta salad and sangria Thursday night. We made the cupcakes and cake pops Friday night.
So I've been wanting to make cake pops ever since I stumbled upon Bakerella's blog a couple years back. I decided to take a very simplified variation of her amazing creations. Basically you bake a store-bought cake mix according to the directions, let cool, crumble with your hands, add 1/2 container of icing, form 1 inch balls, and then dip into melted chocolate and then decorate to your liking. We used a devils food cake mix, chocolate icing and then blue candy melts (from the baking section of the Michael's) to coat the cake pops, and assorted colored sprinkles.

They weren't as neat and pretty as I had imagined in my head, but for our first time, they turned out pretty good. Plus, they were sooooooooooo delicious! Here's a closeup:

I think one of my favorite parts of the menu were the little veggie cups I made. I got little orange plastic cups (the size one might have used to make jello shooters in college) and filled the bottom with ranch dressing and then stuck two celery sticks and two carrot sticks in each one. They were great for the kids: super portable and not messy! See:

Decorations:

This banner by Sassy Photo Creations that I found on Etsy hung in the morning room. She also made the cupcake toppers, food tags, and the favor bag stickers.

I also made a photo montage of Declan using my favorite pictures of him throughout the past year. Isn't it cute??

Favors:

I decided to set up a candy buffet of blue, green, and orange candy that the kids could scoop into little treat bags to take home with them.

I also made each kid an initial tote bag filled with dinosaur coloring books, a mini crayon rollup made out of Michael Miller's dino dude fabric (made by My Sunshine Designs on Etsy) and a package of dinosaur-shaped magic grow capsules. The two babies in attendance went home with these mini ribbon loveys in the same fabric (made by The Posh Tots on Etsy).

Everyone seemed to have a reaaly good time. And, like any good party, by the end of the evening, Declan had stripped off his cute T-Rex shirt (available here), slapped on a tie and looked a little something like this:

weekend fun

2011-01-27T15:17:00.011-05:00

This past weekend, Jay went on his annual snowboard trip. This is when he will loudly interject that it is not annual, since he didn't get to go in 2009 (because I was giving birth to Declan) or 2010 (he instead opted to go to Miami for the Superbowl, leaving me 9 weeks pregnant with 3 kids in a blizzard). Anyway....so, while Jay was here for 6 days:

I stayed home and played single mom. After approximately 24 hours of going at it alone, we headed to my moms. I hate being in our house at night without Jay and I figured it would give me some time to hang out with my mama. And I'd get some help! So I figured I'd just plop all the kids and take a little road trip. I vastly underestimated the amount of crap stuff that four kids require to go... well, anywhere! Here are some pictures of the car:

I also forgot what happens to kids when you try to get them to sleep somewhere other than their rooms. The girls, who should have been fine seeing as they share a room at home, maintained a midnight- 6 am sleeping schedule the whole time we were there. And poor Declan, cried to the point of vomiting every night before I had even left the room. Finlay took pity on me one night, thankfully, and slept from 11pm-6am. Here's a picture of her in the morning looking all bright-eyed:

We did have a really good time though. We took the kids one day to an indoor play place filled with moon bounces and other inflatables. The girls suckered me into trying to win them something out of the claw machine. I spent $8, but was eventually able to score a stuffed pig for Emerson (whose arm promptly fell off an hour later) and a miniature Strawberry Shortcake doll for Ava.

We also hit up a few cute little boutiques while I was there and I scored some stuff for the kids. My favorite is this cozy sleeping bag by aden + anais.

It's made of four layers of muslin, the same stuff their amazing swaddle blankets are made from. It keeps babies super warm without needing a blanket but unlike those fleece versions, it's super breathable, so they don't overheat. They also make a classic version for warmer months, that's a little bit lighter weight. I thought it was genius, so we bought one and Finlay's been sleeping in it ever since.

I also got to go to the J.Crew outlet, which is the only one around that carries crew cuts. I got the kids some super cute stuff for spring. I even got myself some shorts and a big floppy straw hat for our upcoming trip to Mexico!

By Sunday morning, the kids were falling all over themselves so we had to leave. And I figured my mom probably wanted to put her house back together after Hurricane Sprinkel had rolled through.

bike dreams

2011-01-18T11:07:00.009-05:00

The kids are out of school today, thanks to the freezing rain storm we had overnight. So, we are spending a nice cozy day indoors. The kids are still in their pajamas and watching cartoons, while I am window shopping on Etsy. I stumbled upon these glasses, which I LOVE:

set of 4 turquoise bike old-fashioned glasses by Vital- $35

It got me thinking how much I love bicycles. Not the kind with the brightly colored Spandex-clad riders that you get stuck behind when you're running late. More like the retro beach cruiser kind. I'm a sucker for anything printed with an old school bicycle (or tricycle or unicycle). So here are some of my findings:

Bicycle Wall Decal by WowWall- $48.88

Yellow Giant Tricycle tee by wearendo - $20

red and blue decorative glass bike plate by juliesadorabowls - $22

Pink Dreams 5x5 print by GabrielleKai - $15

Set of 12 Retro Bicycle notecards by RueRenee - $16

it's in!

2011-01-18T10:14:00.006-05:00

While Finlay slept soundly in the swing, recovering from her croupy seal cough, the rest of the Sprinkel family put on their winter coats, hats, and gloves and went out to clean/play in the garage. Jay and I put together one of those metal Gorilla racks for some extra storage. Here's a picture:

So my garage looks NOTHING like any of my inspiration pictures, but I attribute that in part to the fact that my garage, unlike those, isn't fully dry-walled and doesn't have a shiny painted floor. Also, take into account, it was about 25 degrees yesterday and we had 3 kids and 1 dog running around during the organization extravaganza. Also, it was too cold to open the garage doors, so we didn't have the luxury of taking everything out and sorting through it in the driveway. But in the end, everyone had fun and most importantly, my car fits! Here's proof:

garage overhaul

2011-01-16T08:44:00.009-05:00

So, even though it was on my November to-do list, our garage still looks like this:

Ok, this isn't our actual garage. This is a picture from an episode of Hoarders. But, really ours is not much better. So I've been looking for some organized garage inspiration. Here are some of my favorites:

While, I do not really expect my garage to end up looking like any of these images. I would like to be able to pull one car into our three car garage. I'll post pictures of my progress.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

2011-01-14T13:04:00.003-05:00

Finlay is 5 months old. 162 days to be exact. That is, 162 days that I have not had more than 5 hours of sleep in a row. Every night I go to bed with this tiny glimmer of hope that tonight will be the night. Finlay was finally starting to stretch out her feedings and sleep a little longer each night. So, when I crawled into bed around 11:30pm, I had relatively high hopes of getting a good night sleep.

12:15- Finlay starts to whimper, I get up and give her a pacifier
12:27- Finlay starts to cry, I get up and put her in bed with me, feed her, and start to doze off
12:45- Emerson comes in our room, with vomit in her hair saying she has thrown up in her bed. Since I'm still nursing Finlay and can't get up and Jay is still (somehow) asleep, I tell her to go sleep in her sleeping bag on the floor. She asks if she can change her pajamas first.
12:57- Finish feeding Finlay, put her back in her bassinet, go check on Emerson, strip her bed and put laundry in the hall and go back to bed
1:17- Hear Emerson crying, tell Jay to go check on her, Jay goes into the hall and comes back in. Says it's not Emerson, it's Declan.
1:22- Declan stops crying
1:47- Finlay starts to cough and whimper, Jay gets up and gives her her pacifier
4:14- Finlay starts screaming, it sounds like a baby seal, I get up and walk her around the room to try to calm her down, end up feeding her again
4:52- get Finlay asleep and in her bassinet
7:14- wake up for good

I took Finlay to the doctor, turns out she has croup. This explains the baby seal noises. The doctor said the next couple nights might not be fun. I start laughing.

new year, new me?

2011-01-08T21:14:00.007-05:00

Like everyone else, I made a few New Year's resolutions: lose the rest of my baby weight, exercise more, keep my house clean, drink more water, spend less money, blah, blah, blah. I was doing really well too! I have only been to the Target two days this year. I have only been to the Starbucks once. I've replaced my usual Diet Pepsi and Red Bull intake with water. I've been trying to eat really healthy too. I made a really healthy salad for dinner while the kids ate piles of yummy-looking mac-n-cheese. I sipped on my water while they ate their buttery popcorn during the movie tonight. After I put everyone to bed, I sat down with my computer to get ideas for Declan's upcoming birthday party when I spied out of the corner of my eye a shiny gold box in the corner under the Christmas tree. It is a box of Godiva chocolates. It has been sitting in the same spot, untouched, for seven days now. But tonight, it seemed especially tempting. So, when Emerson came down to tell me that she wanted a little snack, I cracked. I told her to run and grab the box. We tore open the cellophane wrapper and her eyes widened at the sight of the giant box of chocolates in various sizes, shapes, and colors. Emerson ran upstairs to get Ava, wildly shouting random words like "Mom", "candy", "us", "eat", and "hurry". Then the three of us sat around this lovely foil covered box and took turns picking up chocolates. We tried to guess what was inside. Ava was sure one had mushrooms inside. Luckily, she was wrong and it was chocolate ganache. I'm pretty sure we all have belly aches now and I really have no desire to even look at anything chocolate again, but we had fun. Here's a look at the damages:

a shower for Osbert

2011-01-04T00:27:00.009-05:00

One of my best friends is pregnant with a little boy we are (for now) affectionately calling Osbert. I have friends with kids. I have sisters and sister-in-laws with kids. I have people I have become friends with because of our kids. But this is the first of my tight-knit little group of friends from high school to become a mama. And I couldn't be more excited! We threw her a baby shower this weekend and here are some of the details:

Menu:

Hummus Bar (5 varieties of hummus and pita chips, crackers, veggies & pretzels for dipping)
Rosemary chicken salad (courtesy of Jay) with rolls & pita pockets
Warm Spinach & Artichoke dip
Multi-grain tortilla chips and yummy homemade (by my mama, not me) salsa
A mushroom flatbread pizza (from the frozen section of the Trader Joe's)
Edamame
Medley of olives
Lemon squares
Chocolate & yellow cupcakes (from the Sprinkles mixes)
Various bowls of munchies including chocolate-covered edamame, yogurt-covered pretzels, and fruit & nut brittle
Wine, Mimosas, Sangria, and some sparkling juices for the mama-to-be

Decorations: The house wasn't overly decorated in baby-shower garb. It was freakishly clean (thanks to an impromptu visit from my amazing mother). I did make this flag bunting to hang from the mantle.

In lieu of a guest book, we had people stamp their finger and sign this print from etsy:

Activities:
I'm not a big games-at-showers kind of person. Ok, that's a lie! I really really really hate shower games. I think if someone had pulled out a piece of crepe-paper at my baby shower to guess the circumference of my belly, I might have left. Or cried. Probably both! So, while we wanted everyone to be entertained with an "activity", I was not about to subject my friend to any sort of shower game. Instead, we had guests decorate onesies for little Osbert. Everyone got really into it. Some were funny and some were sweet. I hope my friend will smile each time she dresses little Osbert in one of our homemade onesies. Here's a look at the onesie station:

Favors: Reusable tote bags found here

The shower went really well and baby Osbert ended up with a ton of stuff! Here's a look at his pretty mama (on the far left) and the rest of our little clan:

My top 5

2011-01-03T21:06:00.017-05:00

The past two weeks have been insane. Far surpassing the level of crazy that has become normal here. Christmas was a blur. A wonderful blur of family, food, traditions (both old & new), a serious amount of loot, and even a little snow. My husband has this thing of always asking what was my favorite part. My favorite part of a movie, my favorite part of a trip, my favorite part of dinner. So, here are my favorite parts of the holidays (in no particular order):

#1: The fact that I justified NOT wrapping gifts until Christmas eve because Declan would surely have ripped them all open if I had them sitting pretty under the tree, right?! Um...apparently not! Because when I placed gifts in front of him to open on Christmas morning with my camera in hand and an eager grin on my face, this is all I got:

No furiously unwrapping, No squealing with delight at the presents I had spent months hunting for. Nothing! Oh well, there's always next year!

#2: My Christmas present to Jay. I had my favorite picture of all six of us sent to Modern Bird Studios to create this one-of-a-kind piece of art that I am seriously in love with. It's now hanging in our family room where I get to look at it every day. Here it is:

#3: My Christmas presents from Jay. It's a two-way tie between my new iPad and my new Givenchy messenger bag. LOVE them both! I'm talking take them to bed and cuddle with them-love! Here they are:

#4: Watching my husband read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to all four kids (in their matching Christmas pj's) on Christmas Eve.

#5: The kids posing with their favorite Christmas gifts:

Ava with her Nintendo DSi

Emerson with her dollhouse from Land of Nod

Declan with his Hape airplane

and Finlay with her Twilight Turtle.

Jay and I (and maybe Ava) are probably the only ones who will remember the Christmas of 2010, but it truly was a magical time here at Camp Sprinkel.

securing his spot on the naughty list

2010-12-24T14:53:00.006-05:00

I took Declan with me to the grocery store this morning to grab a few things for Christmas brunch. He got to ride in the race car cart all by himself and was especially well-behaved, even at the end during the checkout process. When we got to the car, I realized the explanation for this good behavior. He had swiped a full size BabyRuth and was sucking the chocolate out through the wrapper. Here's a picture of my little klepto, complete with his chocolate-smeared devilish grin:

happy birthday to me...

2010-12-08T20:08:00.004-05:00

Today is my birthday. Today I went from being thirty to being in my thirties. Totally different, by the way! I think on the eve of every birthday I imagine the utterly blissful birthday that will surely come the following day. Nothing will get lost and no one will raise their voice. There will be no crying, no red lights, no temper tantrums. There will be cake for breakfast and champagne for dinner. I will get fabulous presents in all the right sizes and colors, parking spaces up front, phone calls from long-lost friends, and free coffee from the Starbucks.

Instead, I was awoken by Ava looking for her uniform. She couldn't find it anywhere. She had looked, she promised. I inch out of my bed, careful not to wake the baby who had been in bed with us since 3:45 a.m.. I put my glasses on and stumble into Ava's room only to find her standing there with her uniform in hand. She had found it. Awesome! Then Emerson can only find one shoe. There is nothing to pack for the girls' lunches and Ava won't take leftover pizza, so I have to find my checkbook to write her a $3 check (because her school doesn't take cash) so she can buy lunch. I have to put said $3 check in an envelope inside a folder inside her bag. This is the protocol, unless you want to receive a nasty post-it message. This I know from experience. The problem is, I am out of envelopes. I live in a house of little people who like to write "letters" and put them in my envelopes and draw postage on the front and put them in the mailbox out front (with the flag up of course)! So I have to put my $3 check in one of my nice stationary envelopes, which probably costs about $3. Awesome! By the time we get out the door, I am approximately 20 minutes late to Emerson's school. I then get to the mall for my relaxing day of birthday browsing with Finlay and Declan, only to find that Finlay is screaming and hungry. I pump in the parking lot, while Declan watches Charlotte's Web. He thinks Wilbur is a dog and yells "DA!" everytime he appears onscreen. Which is a lot! As I finish pumping, I glance up and notice the security camera above me, which probably has had a nice view for the last 15 minutes. Again, awesome!

The one shining star in my morning is this:

It is a birthday card from the Starbucks. It is a voucher for for a free birthday drink. Any drink, any flavor, any size, with any additional number of espresso shots. Just for me, because it's my birthday. I get so excited taking a picture of my free birthday drink card, that I leave it on the counter and forget to bring it to the mall. All in unison now...."Awesome"! Lucky for me, my mother and mother-in-law both sent me Starbucks gift cards for my birthday. Maybe my obsession with the $5 latte has gotten out of hand. It's not like I want this for my birthday cake next year:

Ok, I kind of do! But whatever...

I did end up having a great birthday. I went out to dinner with my amazing husband and 4 kids. (Boy were they surprised at the restaurant when the "5 plus a baby" they had on the books ended up being 2 adults, 2 kids, a toddler needing a highchair and a baby!) Everyone was relatively well-behaved at dinner. And we came home and I got to open presents, which were all in the right color and sizes, thanks to that aforementioned amazing husband (and the Anthropologie wish list I created online).

'tis the season

2010-12-06T20:27:00.008-05:00

Christmas is in full swing at the Sprinkel household. We have (wait for it...) four trees up and decorated. I raided some friends' magnolia tree and even made a wreath. It was my first wreath making experience but I'm pretty happy with the result. See?

But my favorite part might be the advent calendar. Here's a look at the final product:

The girls are having so much fun with all the activities. So far we've written letters to Santa, watched a Christmas movie, drank hot cocoa (with jumbo marshmallows), decorated the (real) Christmas tree, and made Christmas cookies.

Here's a picture of them (heavy-handily) decorating sugar cookies:

There's lots more fun to be had this week. Tomorrow's going to be a surprise for the whole family, since I've completely forgotten what I wrote on Day 7's card!

a little shoutout!

2010-11-23T15:00:00.010-05:00

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

This goes out to the woman this morning at the Michael's.  When Declan and Emerson were fighting (loudly and with brute force) over a plastic car and I am waiting to check out, rocking Finlay in my arms, holding back tears, while she screams uncontrollably at the top of her lungs, this woman gets out of line, comes over and says, "here you go next".  A new register had just opened and although they called, "next person in line" and I was probably the 12th in line, she took my double stroller and pushed it over to the register and said, "don't worry, I remember those days".  And that was all!  In a store full of people exchanging dirty glances and telling me that I really had my hands full (which, by the way, is not helpful in the least!), this woman saved me.  I looked for her in the parking lot after I had gotten everyone in the car and Finlay's crying had subsided, to thank her, but she was gone.  I promised myself as I sat in my car, sobbing, that the next time I saw a mother who "had her hands full", I wasn't just going to stand there, I would help.  So thank you lady in the Michael's, whoever you are!

2011 DIY projects

2010-11-23T14:12:00.012-05:00

My first project of the new year is already all planned out (in my head)! I stumbled upon these amazing fabrics last night by Laurie Wisbrun:

I want to find an awesome chair that I can paint a glossy white and then reupholster the cushion with this fabric:

Get it? Chairs on a chair! LOVE it! Any of these fabrics would also make fun throw pillows! Now, I just need to learn how to sew! Maybe I'll add that to my 2011 to-do list!

day twenty two....

2010-11-22T19:46:00.005-05:00

I would love to tell you that the reason I haven't blogged in three days is because I spent all weekend at the gym, but the truth is, here at the Sprinkel household, we have been furiously preparing for Thanksgiving. After a busy weekend of cleaning and doing what seemed like at least twenty loads of laundry, I think we are almost ready. The menu is planned, the table is set, and most of the shopping has been done. The carpet cleaners are coming in the morning. The first of the food preparation began tonight with some candied pecans, followed tomorrow night by the making of the cranberry sauce, Wednesday is pie day, and everything else gets done Thanksgiving morning.You would think after all that my only plans Friday would be to sit on the couch and eat left-overs, but no...in my classic over-achieving style, I have to work on the ten red and green tutus I volunteered to make for Ava's girl scout troop. Each girl gets a bear to dress and then the bears get donated to the Salvation Army to give to under-privileged children during the holidays. I also have to start making the advent calendar. Last year, I made a wall of 24 aluminum buckets filled with goodies, similar to this one from Garnet Hill:
The only downside to doing this again this year, is that filling 24 baskets with goodies for four kids gets pricey. Plus, I want them to appreciate the meaning of Christmas, not just the presents. So this year, I am looking for an advent calendar to fill with festive activities we can do together. Here's one I saw on Ohdeedoh:

I also found this one on flickr:

Seriously? How awesome is that?? So, I think I'm going to try to make some combination of the two. I think I'm going to cover a piece of cardboard with fabric and then attach my envelopes to it. I found some festive fabric on etsy. I ended up ordering this one:

I looked up some activities to put in the envelopes. I'm also going to mix in activities we had planned anyway, like Ava's school Christmas concert. Here are some of my favorites:

go ice skating
watch a holiday movie
make Christmas cookies
wrap presents
decorate the tree
make a gingerbread house
make popcorn garland
drive around and look at Christmas lights
get your picture taken with Santa
attend a tree lighting event
sing Christmas songs
drink hot cocoa and read a Christmas book
buy gifts for Salvation Army Angel tree child
make paper snowflakes
put lights on the outside of the house
write letters to Santa

I'm really excited and I think the kids will love it too! I'll be sure to post pictures of my advent calendar making process. If anyone has any activities I can add to the list, I'd love to hear them!

you asked for it

2010-11-18T13:43:00.005-05:00

Here are the girls' passport pictures from the other day:

The sweet one

The funny one

The mug shot

And since I don't want to leave Declan out, here's a picture of him from the other day eating his polar bear cookie from the Starbucks. The red icing from the polar bear's scarf made him look like The Joker from Batman:

day seventeen...

2010-11-18T13:17:00.002-05:00

Or the day I will forever remember as the day I found my first gray hair. I was in the bathroom at the salon changing into my little waffle knit robe getting ready for my first facial in about six years. I told the esthetician it had been two. I have no idea why. Like she was going to judge me less if I had gotten one two years ago instead of six. Jay had given me a gift certificate last Christmas and it expires after a year, so I figured I had until December 23rd of this year (I'm assuming) to take advantage of it. So there I am, inspecting my pores in the mirror when I catch a glimpse of it, my first gray hair. A little early birthday present to remind me that I am about to go from being thirty to being in my thirties. As I think back ten years ago, approaching my 21st birthday and the night of debauchery that followed, I think how much I have done in the last 10 years. I finished college (not in the degree-obtaining kind of way, more in the ok, I'm done, let's do something else kind of way), I got engaged, married, had 4 babies, got three dogs, bought two houses and sold one. And that's just the big stuff. When you take all of that into account, I guess I should be glad it was just the one.

day sixteen...

2010-11-16T23:49:00.003-05:00

Tuesdays are usually pretty lazy days around here, since we don't have to be anywhere until we pick up Ava from school. We usually end up lying around in our pajamas for most of the morning, maybe catch up on last night's episode of Gossip Girl, eventually venture out to the Target for a latte. This morning started off like any other Tuesday, until I realized that we had absolutely no food in our house. Declan ate animal crackers for breakfast. So, I had to take Emerson, Declan, and Finlay to the grocery store... in the rain. I was prepared for disaster. I decided to put Finlay in the Baby Bjorn so that I could actually put food in the cart, and Emerson and Declan got in the front of the car cart. We weren't even inside yet, when the bickering started over whose yellow plastic steering wheel was whose. I stop at the Starbucks to grab my daily Peppermint Mocha, when I spot the giant frosted polar bear shaped cookies that you can only get during the holidays. I ask for two and fork over $3 a piece. Best six dollars I've ever spent. Ever. An hour and a half and $184 later, I had bought enough food to sustain my family of six for at least a week, plus grabbed some Thanksgiving essentials that come next week will be scarce. All without a single peep from the front of the cart.
The rest of the day seemed to go just as smoothly. I was on time to pick up Ava from school. I took all four kids in the haircut place after school so Ava could get her hair cut. Between losing one of her top front teeth last week and her scraggly hair, she was starting to look like one of those kids from that 20/20 special on Appalachia. So now she has a cute little bob! Emerson got her bangs trimmed too and Declan, he got a lollipop! (I refuse to cut his hair!) Then since everyone was looking so presentable, we headed next door to the Kinko's for passport photos. Finlay's picture is sweet, Emerson's is funny, and Ava's looks like a mug shot. So their pictures pretty accurately reflect their personalities!
We came home and much to the surprise of my husband, I fixed lemon roasted chicken with olives and capers, lemon orzo, and a yummy salad. And it was actually good! We packed lunches, laid out clothes, and read books. I even got to take a bath. All because of the good people at Starbucks and their polar bear cookies!

half way day...

2010-11-16T00:12:00.002-05:00

It's day 15 of my challenge. It's time to assess where I am with my giant to-do list. I think my list can be divided now into four groups: things I've done, things I will get done, things I'm doing better with, and things I should give up on.

Done: finished my dressing room, decorated for fall, cleaned my office, organized everything in the attic, finished my book club book, and took Finlay's 3 month picture.

Will do in the next 15 days: plan/cook Thanksgiving dinner, finish my Christmas shopping (I only have 4 people left), clean out garage, back-up photos, read one more book, keep blogging once a day, get a Christmas card picture, schedule doctor appointments and write them down everywhere, get passports and find some fun (cheap) things to do with the kids.

Getting better with: drinking more water, reading to the kids every night, laying out clothes & packing lunches the night before, not leaving the house in workout clothes and no makeup (I've been picking one or the other), fitting into pre-pregnancy jeans (only 2 pairs left that don't fit), my weekly budget and washing my face before bed.

Give up on: making my bed every day (I'm 1 for 15), going to the gym every day (or ever), limiting my Starbucks and my trips to the Target (who am I kidding? I love it there!), planning out dinners in advance, time-sucking websites and the laundry!

I feel pretty good about my progress. I've gotten a lot done. And I'm slowly starting to become a little more organized, a little less stressed. The point is that I'm trying, right?

day fourteen...

2010-11-14T19:19:00.023-05:00

Today we attempted to take the Sprinkel family Christmas card picture. I knew it would not go well and my chances of getting the perfect picture on the first try were slim to none. So even though Declan's tie hasn't arrived yet from Etsy, I thought we should try anyway. We got one half way decent one, but I'm convinced we can do better. Check it out:

These are the funniest of the outtakes from today:

And my personal favorite:

And these are the best outtakes of Christmas pasts:

day thirteen...

2010-11-13T12:28:00.004-05:00

Wish me luck! Not because it's day thirteen, but because Jay and I are taking the kids to Tyson's Corner for our annual pre-Thanksgiving shopping trip. I need to pick up some new Christmas decorations from West Elm, because as soon as the plates are cleared from Thanksgiving dinner, it is officially Christmas time at the Sprinkel house. We are putting up our trees (yes, that was plural) the day after Thanksgiving this year. The holiday season always seems too short, we decided. So instead of waiting until the first or second week in December to decorate, we are getting on it this year. Black Friday isn't when we start thinking about Christmas, it's when Christmas will be in full swing here! There will be trees, lights, ornaments, cookies, eggnog, and some ABC Family movies to boot. Even though I'm almost done my shopping, I think I will head to the Target at 4 a.m. this year just to get me in the mood. I mean, why not? Why did we have all these kids if we weren't going to do Christmas Griswold-style!

day twelve...

2010-11-12T17:08:00.008-05:00

I had a pretty good day today. It started with a coffee date with one of my best friends. As we chatted and sipped our warm beverages, I remembered what fun it was to have an adult conversation. One of my main reasons for wanting to write a daily blog was because I need a creative outlet that I don't always get being a stay-at-home mom. I want to stimulate that part of my brain that comes from developing the random thoughts bouncing around in my head into something tangible, something I could see. It's not always easy to commit those thoughts to paper or in this case, screen. Sometimes I feel that in the six years since I started having babies, that my brain has turned to mush. I have come to realize that while the part of my brain that can form complete sentences and have intellectual conversations without losing my train of thought have become a little rusty, I have instead been developing other parts of my brain.

For one, I have vastly improved my problem-solving skills. I can fashion a diaper out of a roll of duct tape and a Shamwow in a pinch. Or if Finlay's hungry at the exact time I have to leave to pick up Ava from school, I can plug my breast-pump into the cigarette lighter, pump while driving, get out at a red light, prop Finlay's bottle up with a rolled up blanket, and she can feed herself while I drive. Also, my navigation skills have improved. I have learned how to get anywhere in town without having to pass a McDonald's or an ice-cream shop. I can also get to all the stores I need to in the mall, without passing the indoor play-ground or the Build-a-Bear. I have also improved the risk analysis part of my brain. For example, if I leave Ava in charge to take the world's fastest shower, the damage they could possibly do to the house or each other in two and a half minutes is minimal, right? I also use cost benefit analysis on a daily basis, as in, if I give Declan my iPhone to play with and he breaks it, was it worth it for the five minutes of peace and quiet I got before he threw it across the room. And answering questions like "what are ghosts made out of?" and "how did Finlay get in your belly?" have kept the creativity/ improvisational part of my brain sharp.

While, I do find myself forgetting what I walked all the way upstairs for or what phone number I just dialed, I have developed what I like to call my McGyver-mom skills, the skills that can keep four kids alive for a good week with just the contents of my diaper bag if we ever got stranded in my car in the middle of winter. And that to me seems more valuable than being able to discuss what might be going on in the world. I mean, if something huge happens, I'll learn about it from Moose and Zee, right?

day eleven:

2010-11-11T14:02:00.003-05:00

Confessions for day eleven:

-I did not have to be anywhere until 11 a.m. today and I still managed to be late
-I wore workout clothes
-It's a good thing I wore workout clothes because I spent the entire hour of Emerson's first gymnastics class chasing Declan around the gym because I forgot to bring him a stroller (because of previously-mentioned lateness)
-I feel as though I've worked out now, so I will not feel guilty today about not going to the gym
-Instead of going home after gymnastics class, to put my clearly-exhausted toddler down for a nap, I chose to go to the Target for a coffee (and groceries...but mostly for the coffee)
-I asked for an extra shot of espresso
-I bought a lunchable at the Target, so I don't have to pack Ava's lunch tonight
-I am writing this blog entry on my laptop in the car, which is parked in my driveway so I can get wifi, because the kids are confined to their carseats and watching a movie, with their snacks and sippy cups and it's the first peaceful moment I've had all day!

day ten...

2010-11-11T10:34:00.011-05:00

Yesterday was day ten and I spent most of it on a mission at the mall trying to find the perfect four outfits for the kids for our holiday card. Yes, ordering online would have been much easier, but not faster. And when I get it in my head that I want to do something, I want to do it immediately! Well, since Ava and Emerson are in school all day on Wednesdays, I took Declan and Finlay for a day of shopping. Here's what I purchased for Ava (left) and Emerson (right):

Trying to find something for Finlay and Declan did not go as smoothly. I did end up finding this bodysuit and tutu/pant combo for Finlay. :

For Declan, I bought this sweater that I do not love. Even paired with skinny jeans and his new Clarks, it's a little more "ski chalet" than I was going for.

I'm thinking of maybe going with black skinny jeans, a white button down and a festive necktie, loosened up a bit. Here are some options I found on etsy:

Now I just have to get all my kids bathed, dressed, and in good moods...at the same time! Stay tuned for the outtakes! If they are anything like last year's they will not disappoint!

day nine...

2010-11-09T19:07:00.007-05:00

When decorating my new dressing room, I envisioned sitting at my vanity doing my makeup while the kids danced around in front of the mirror playing dress-up. Never did I imagine it would come true so soon. Here are some pictures from our impromptu-dance party this morning:

day eight...

2010-11-08T19:56:00.004-05:00

I was having a terrific morning. The kind of morning where I left the house on time and had everything I needed with me. I had dropped off 2 dozen cupcakes at Emerson's school. Her teachers had been impressed with my creativity. I had picked up the dry cleaning. I had dropped off my new jeans to be hemmed and talked her into letting me pick them up on Wednesday instead of Thursday. Then, in the elevator on the way up to the Target, a fellow mom with her toddler in tow, turns and asks me how old my son is. I smile politely and answer that he will be two in January. She says, "Oh...I would have thought older, based on the lollipop"! Ouch! Yes, I gave my son a lollipop! Quick, someone call Social Services! He was being squirmy and not wanting to get into the cart, so I pulled out my stash of "emergency lollipops" and gave him one. I do not know the origins of the lollipop, but I venture to guess it was created by the mother of a toddler. They are genius! I have yet to see any temper tantrum that does not immediately cease at the sight of one! So, yes lady, I gave my son a lollipop! I am sorry that my son is not as well behaved as yours and that you have never had to stoop to such measures in order to get through your daily to-do list. I bet if my son had been standing up in the cart, facing the wrong way and screaming at the top of his lungs, you'd be judging me even more!

Why are moms so judgmental of one another? We know exactly what it feels like to have the kid throwing the temper tantrum in the middle of the store! And yet, we are the first ones to give a dirty look when it's someone else's child. Aren't we all just doing our best trying to raise happy, healthy, well-rounded little people? Are one mother's methods really better than another's? Why can't we just give each other a break? Why are we always trying to one-up each other? Why don't the stay-at-home moms cut the working-moms some slack? And vice versa. So I didn't breast-feed my kids for a whole year. So I bought my kids Halloween costumes online instead of hand-making them. So my kids eat McDonald's sometimes and not everything organic. So I wipe them down with baby wipes instead of giving them baths. Just kidding! (Most of the time)

So instead of throwing stones, lets try uniting in solidarity and appreciate that we are all doing the best we can at the hardest job there is.

day seven...

2010-11-07T12:35:00.003-05:00

It's day seven of my thirty day challenge. We are one week in and I figure it's time to get started on some of the bigger projects on my list. My husband left at 9:45 am for a one o'clock football game that is approximately nine miles from our house. Hmmmmm... So I am left with five loads of laundry to do, four kids, three dogs, two dozen cupcakes to make, and one giant to-do list! So what do I decide to tackle? The attic, of course! I have pulled all twelve bins of clothes down and am attempting to go through it all, and only put back what I am going to use again. The rest is going to the goodwill today. Or more realistically, sometime next week. I did find time to take Finlay's 3 month picture (only a day late!). After the attic, I am going to make the cupcakes, order some pizza for dinner, pack lunches, layout clothes, give baths, read books, get the kids to bed, drink a glass of wine and read some of my book. Just in time for my husband to get home from the one o'clock game!

Today is brought to you by the letter 'R'

2010-11-06T10:01:00.004-04:00

I just realized that Emerson will be learning the letter 'R' at school next week and I have volunteered to bring a snack for the kids that begins with 'R'. When I signed up for said letter, I thought it would be a piece of cake. I mean lots of words start with 'R'. Words? Yes! Foods that four-year-olds will eat? Not so much! Still it has to be easier than two years ago, when I got stuck with the letter 'U'. I ended up making Upside-down pineapple cake.

So I googled foods that start with R and got the following: rice, rolls, raisins, roast beef, Ramon noodles, Reese's pieces, relish, raspberries, red grapefruit, ricotta cheese, rhubarb, and radishes. Really? Of those, probably only raisins and raspberries will go over well. Unfortunately, Reese's pieces gets eliminated because the school is a nut-free zone.

As I try to rack my brain for any recipes of things with raspberries or raisins that will please the palate of a preschooler, I think what if I just make something red! And then BAM! RED VELVET CAKE! Ha! I'm going to make red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and a raspberry on top of each one! Brilliant! Time-consuming, but brilliant, nonetheless! Of course not as brilliant as the mom who choose 'V' and just brought in boxes of vanilla-wafers. Damn her!

day five...

2010-11-06T09:40:00.002-04:00

It is actually day six now, because I didn't fit in a blog entry last night. But Jay and I did do something last night that has rarely never been done before. We took four kids (none of which had naps) to the mall around dinner time to window shop for Thanksgiving stuff. We put Declan and Finlay (the little ones) in the double stroller while Ava and Emerson (the big ones) walked. We took them in Crate & Barrel and Williams-Sonoma and nothing got broken, no one threw themselves on the ground, no one even cried. We got them pretzels and a frozen lemonade and I got myself a peppermint mocha (I have spent $19.32 at Starbucks so far this week, for those of you keeping track) and we walked around as a happy little big family. We even went in the Sony store and watched the 3-D TV that my husband is trying to convince me we need. We grabbed a pizza and a bottle of red wine on the way home and put the kids to bed and had a nice quiet little evening, basking in our parental accomplishment of taking all of our children out in public at the same time and no one getting hurt.

day four...

2010-11-04T17:56:00.006-04:00

I thought I should provide proof that I did indeed get my bed made today. So there it is! While I was up there I also got 4 loads of laundry folded and put away and I put the finishing touches on my sitting room-turned dressing room. This room off of our master bedroom has been a number of things since we moved in, mostly because we weren't exactly sure what to do with it. It's been an office, a sitting room, and a make-shift nursery. Now, it is a dressing room and it might be my new favorite space in the house. My husband got me the parsons vanity table from West Elm for our anniversary last month and that kind of set the room in motion. We bought a big floor length mirror from IKEA for the corner for $99. The little black dresser I found at an antique store for $45. The two long shelves are from IKEA and the set of three small shelves are from Target. The upholstered chair I randomly stumbled upon at Pier 1, along with the fluffy floor pouf. The charcoal and teal floor cushions and the gray two tier table are from Urban Outfitters. The various hooks and jewelry holders around the room are from Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.It was fun to decorate a space in the house that I didn't have to worry about being too girly. I think my favorite part is the floor cushions. I remember as a kid, always wanting to watch my mom put on her makeup and so I really wanted a place the kids could lay around and hang out while I got ready. I also love having all my jewelry out where I can see it. I think it's going to help inspire me not to leave the house in my yoga pants.

Here are some pictures:

day three...

2010-11-03T21:23:00.004-04:00

My list-related accomplishments today are laughable. Instead, I chaperoned Ava's 1st grade field trip to the zoo. There's nothing like a day with six-year-olds to help you not take life or yourself too seriously. They skipped everywhere instead of walking. They screamed with joy when the school bus went over a speed bump. Their enthusiasm was contagious. Their biggest worry was whether or not they were going to have time to ride the carousel before it was time to get back on the bus. (Don't worry, they did!) I'm not giving up on my list or my pursuit to be a better, less-stressed, more organized mom, but it is nice to gain a little perspective and realize that sometimes it's the little things in life that are important. I don't need to beat myself up because I didn't make my bed or clean anything today. Will my daughter look back on today and think I really wish my mom had cleaned out the garage? No. Will she remember spending the day with me at the zoo? Maybe. Will I smile the next time I go over a speed bump? Absolutely!

day two

2010-11-02T22:35:00.002-04:00

Perhaps I was a wee bit ambitious when I started my 30 day challenge. Maybe I should have started out by trying something simpler, like taking a multi-vitamin every day for the next thirty days. Or picked one thing on my list to tackle each day. Like one day, I'd try to get the bed made. The next day, maybe attempt the gym. So, lets get out of the way, the things that did not happen today. I did not make my bed. I did not go to the gym. I did not do any laundry. I did not clean out any attics or garages. But you know what? I had a good day! I cleaned out my office. I got to watch Gossip Girl during naptime. I drank 6 glasses of water. I was on time to pick up Ava from school. I got dinner on the table and we ate as a family. I read a book to the kids before bedtime. I voted. I got my first peppermint mocha of the season. Clothes are laid out and lunches are packed. I washed my face and I fit in a blog entry. I'm getting better!!!

day one..

2010-11-01T22:54:00.003-04:00

Well, I will say this, it could have gone better. The morning started out very promising. I woke up and got dressed (not in workout clothes) and did my make-up in my almost-finished dressing room. I got everyone up and dressed and out the door and dropped off my daughter, Emerson only six minutes late for school. Everyone else was late too though, so it doesn't count. I headed to the Target, not for my usual coffee and meandering, but on a mission for construction paper and stickers for the Girl Scout meeting I had to run this afternoon. Once inside, I held strong and avoided the Starbucks. But then I got sucked in and bought 2 pairs of leggings for myself, 3 pairs of footie pajamas, 3 pairs of knee-highs, a nonstick loaf pan, and Christmas gift tags. When I got half way home, I realized I didn't buy enough construction paper and the nine dollars I spent in stickers never made it in the bag. Awesome! Now off to the Michael's, where I buy more stickers, more construction paper, a package of cardboard coasters, some Christmas ribbon, and a coffee mug that was only a dollar. I did manage to make a big pot of chili in the crockpot for dinner later and get all the stuff I needed for the Girl Scout meeting together and in the car. Except for the book I was supposed to read, which I had to turn around and run back for. I got to Ava's school to meet my husband only 12 minutes late. But he was also late, so that doesn't count either. The time I had carved out after the meeting to take the kids to the gym, was spent in the school parking lot waiting for jumper cables, because my car died. Again, awesome! We did make it home eventually . The kids ate their chili with minimal complaining, while I made some zucchini bread (in my new loaf pan!). We gave baths, read books, laid out clothes and packed lunches. I even got to wash my face and blog before bed. Bed! I forgot to make the bed!

a little fall DIY

2010-10-31T22:07:00.006-04:00

One of the items on my rather ambitious November to-do list is to decorate my house for fall. So the other day, armed with a dozen pumpkins and gourds in various sizes, a few cans of spray paint, and some puffy paint, I attempted to recreate one of the many things I've seen and loved on Young House Love's blog. Below, is a pumpkin that I puffy painted dots on just by following the natural lines of the pumpkin and another that I puffy painted an 'S' on.

Next, I spray painted them white. I also spray painted a couple other smaller pumpkins in a yellowy orange color and a cool black cherry color. I made a runner for my console table out of burlap and wrapped some twine around a glass vase to add to the rustic, fall feel. Here's how it turned out:

girls night with woody & buzz

2010-10-29T23:38:00.002-04:00

While I did not get very much (er...anything) crossed off my to-do list today, I did get to do something different with the girls tonight. I spent the evening with Ava and Emerson at Toy Story 3 on Ice, which is in Baltimore for the weekend. The girls loved it and I thought the adults around me all seemed to be enjoying themselves too. I did get suckered into buying not one, but two $10 snowcones because they were served in alien souvenir cups. But the looks on their faces watching the show were priceless and totally worth it!

detour

2010-10-29T13:49:00.008-04:00

So, I'm gearing up to start my self-imposed 30 day challenge on Monday and instead of getting a few things knocked off my list early, I seem to be adding things to my list of what I need to get done during the month of November in order to come out the other side, a less-stressed, more-organized and together me. Last week I had sent back a pair of boots to Piperlime that I had ordered for Declan and had requested them in a bigger size. They call today and tell me that my adorable boots I had picked out for him in July are no longer available in the next size up and sorry about my bad luck! Here they are:

So cute, right? Well, now I have to find him new boots! I can go with Uggs, which are nice because they slip on and don't require socks (good for running out the door). On the down side, they're don't have the personality that the 1st pair had. They are also $90, as opposed to the first pair which were only $49! My other option is a pair of Clarks Wallabees, which are super cute and closer to the original pair (minus the orange laces!) and more reasonably priced at $50. They also come in sand suede. Hmmmm......

my 30 day challenge

2010-10-28T22:34:00.004-04:00

I know, I know.... I haven't blogged in a long time. I have an excuse. Actually I have four excuses ranging in ages from 2 1/2 months to 6 years. But, it's time! I really do like to blog. I enjoy it. I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I finish a post. But, alas...it is not at the top of my priority list. It hovers near the bottom with going to the gym. But all that is about to change. I feel as though I am in need of a total life makeover. I feel like I am always just a step behind. I am always late. I am always tired. My house is always a wreck. I am always searching for something. I always have a to-do list that takes up 3 pieces of paper (front and back). My bed is never made. Dinner is never thought of until 10 minutes before it is served. The laundry is never caught-up. My beauty routine in the morning rarely consists of more than brushing my teeth and putting in my contacts. I wear yoga pants but don't go to the gym. I have approximately five unfinished projects going on simultaneously in my house. I need to get it together. This is my life, it's time to figure out how to live it. I need some order, some organization, some balance. So I am challenging myself to try to get my life together in the next thirty days. Starting Monday. You can't start a new routine/life-changing regimen on a Thursday night. Everyone knows you have to start on a Monday or on the first of the month. Well, lucky for me the first of November is also a Monday. They say it only takes 21 days to form a habit. I consider myself extra stubborn, so I feel that I need an additional 9 days. So, hence my 30 day challenge. Here are a list of things I would like to accomplish during the month of November:
1. Finish transforming the sitting room attached to my master bedroom into my fabulous new dressing room
2. Decorate my house for fall/Thanksgiving
3. Plan/shop for/cook/enjoy Thanksgiving dinner
4. Clean out garage so I can once again park my car in it
5. Take everything out of the attic & organize/label/donate/etc.
6. Clean/organize my office
7. Back-up all photos onto an external hard-drive
8. Wash/dry/fold/put away all laundry in the house & then do a load every day to maintain
9. Make my bed every day
10. Go to the gym every day
11. Plan & shop for dinners a week in advance
12. Finish my Christmas shopping so the month of December can be filled with decorating, cookie baking, cheesy-Hallmark channel movies, and driving around looking for the tackiest light displays instead of last-minute, anxiety-induced trips to the mall
13. Read my book for book club plus one additional book
14. Write at least one blog entry every day
15. Read to my kids every night before bed
16. Wash my face every night before bed (hey... no judgement!)
17. Only leave the house in work-out clothes and no make-up if I'm headed to the gym
18. Fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans (even the skinny ones)
19. Give myself a reasonable weekly budget and stick to it
20. Update passports
21. Schedule doctor appointments for the next 3 months
22. Write down all school activities, appointments, etc. in my planner and iPhone and chalkboard calendar
23. Spend less time on facebook and other time-sucking websites
24. Limit my weekly Starbucks expenditures to $20 (again...no judgement!)
25. Take kids for more brisk walks outside and less trips to the Target
26. Find more free things to do with the kids (i.e. story-time, apple-picking, crafts)
27. Take Finlay's 3 month picture on November 6th instead of days (ok, a week... and a half) later
28. Take a Christmas-card worthy picture of the kids
29. Pack kids' lunches and layout their clothes the night before
30. Drink more water

So that's my list. I could have probably kept going, but I figure 30 things in 30 days is ambitious enough. I will blog daily to update you all on my progress. Wish me luck!

mad about mad men

2010-08-02T11:47:00.009-04:00

Even if I wasn't completely enthralled by the characters and storyline on Mad Men, I would watch it just for the genius set design. Its mid-century modern decor is as captivating to look at as Don Draper himself. It does for design what Gossip Girl does for fashion. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Creative Office at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce (season 4)

Betty's Living Room Renovation (season 3)

Roger Sterling's new office in the Time & Life Building

my fall shoe picks

2010-07-28T11:47:00.015-04:00

Fall is my favorite time of year, with its crisp air, colorful foliage, smells of apples, nutmeg and cinnamon, back-to-school shopping, and of course the return of the pumpkin spice latte. I love curling up with the September issue of Vogue and making a mental wishlist of everything my closet is lacking for the upcoming season. I have already evaluated my shoe needs and have narrowed it down to 5 (relatively) reasonably-priced pairs for fall.

#1: Over-the-knee boots:

Eric Michael 'Vogue' Boot in Black - $249.95

#2: Distressed Motorcycle Boots

Jeffrey Campbell Brit Wrap Strap Booties in Brown- $230

#3: Stacked Platform Sandals

DV by Dolce Vita 'Jezabel' Sandal in Natural - $89.95

#4: Clogs

Marc by Marc Jacobs Ruffle Platform Clogs in Dark Grey Goat - $330

#5: Mens Oxfords

Seychelles 'Bismuth' Bootie in Olive Green - $119.95

Alexa Chung for Madewell

2010-07-17T21:58:00.006-04:00

I heart Alexa Chung. She always looks effortlessly cool, making peter-pan collars and full skirts look fresh and stylish. Her new line for Madewell, J. Crew's hipper, edgier younger sister, comes out next month and will be a huge factor in motivating me to lose my baby weight. Here are a couple of the looks from Alexa Chung for Madewell:To view the entire line, check out elle.com.

Countdown...

2010-06-17T09:07:00.004-04:00

This Sunday marks my 30th week of pregnancy. In my first pregnancy, this would have meant writing thank you notes for my baby shower gifts, washing everything I could get my hands on in Dreft, playing classical music through headphones stretched around my growing belly, packing my hospital bag, taking child-birthing and breast-feeding classes, installing the infant car seat in my car, and relaxing on the couch with my feet propped up on pillows while my husband ran to the 7-11 to get me root-beer and pints of Ben & Jerry's.

Oh, how things have changed in six short years! The remaining ten weeks of this pregnancy will be spent doing all of the things I should have been doing for the last seven months in addition to all the things I will be too busy to do right after the baby is born.

The biggest and most daunting of all of these projects is the completion of my basement so that I once again have a guest room (and bathroom) as well as significant more living space. And by living space, I mean space to throw all of the kids toys so I don't have to see (i.e. trip over) them on the main floor. So my husband has 10 weeks to turn the dusty, half-drywalled concrete-floored basement dripping with exposed wires into a functional living space, complete with walls, carpet, lights, and running water. Hmmm......

The addition of a fourth baby has also caused a little rearranging of room assignments. My girls are now sharing a room with bunk beds, which is going quite well considering their polar-opposite personalities. My son had to move into one of the girls' old rooms, so his room is bright pink except, of course, the large white patches of spackle adorning the walls. The baby's room is a temporary guest room, which until the basement is done, I can't even begin to decorate.

Not to mention, the fact that this baby is due right around the time that I need to be throwing my daughter a six-year-old birthday party and going shopping for back-to-school supplies.
So... this calls for some organization on my part. And thankfully after three pregnancies of zero nesting-instincts, I have so much motivation and crazy cleaning-sprees this time around I might actually get all of this done.

I just booked a paint-you-own pottery place for my daughter's birthday party, a full week before her birthday just in case this baby wants to make her debut a little early. I ordered invitations online that should be here any day. I have begun buying her gifts online and stashing them in my closet.

I have gone through all of her school uniform clothing and gotten rid of anything too small, stained or "accidentally" cut with her kid scissors. I have ordered replacement pieces as well as washed everything that will still work for next year. I have put everything in a large plastic bin along with her lunchbox and backpack. I am going to start buying the items on her school supply list now and putting those in the bin, to save myself a giant trip at the end of August when I'm nine months pregnant. I have bought my rolls of clear contact paper for her book covers now while they are abundant instead of waiting until August where they are so scarce, grown women are mowing each other down with their shopping carts just to get their hands on some.

So, I am not able to prop my feet up every night and read baby books and play Vivaldi to my baby in utero. So I don't have a nursery put together and I'm not even sure where in the garage the infant car seat is. So I don't have a bag packed for the hospital or even a name picked out. I have ten weeks! And in crazy pregnant-women warp zone time, that's an eternity! I'll get to it all! Two weeks ago, I stayed up until 2 a.m., organizing my closet. And last week, I taught myself to knit in a half hour watching youtube videos. I can do anything! Well, besides tying my shoes or walking up a flight of stairs without getting winded. Or shaving my bikini line without the help of several strategically-placed mirrors. Or sleeping through the night without peeing eight times. But other than that, I can do anything! There's nothing like a pregnant woman on a mission!

Kindle: friend or foe?

2010-06-07T17:54:00.003-04:00

I have loved reading since before I can remember. Some of my greatest childhood memories consist of hours spent at the public library, the agonizing decision on which books would make it into my little tote bag. I would read in the car, in my bedroom, outside in a tree. I even turned my closet into a reading nook when I was eight. I took everything out of it, put in a desk lamp and lined it with a sleeping bag, and spent hours and hours reading in there. I was the kid who took a flashlight to bed and read under the covers, until my mom busted me and made me go to sleep.
My love of books has continued well into my adulthood. My favorite place in the world is a bookstore. There's something exhilarating about it. The best book you've ever read, the book that changes who you are or how you look at the world could be just waiting for you to stumble upon. I could sit for days in a bookstore, in one of those cushy armchairs with a coffee in hand and read until my hearts content.
So naturally, the invention of the wireless reading device (i.e. Kindle, nook, Reader) has never resonated with me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I get the concept. I get that having a little device I could keep in my purse with 1500 books at my disposal sounds like a good idea. It's convenient. And as a mom of almost 4 kids, I am all about convenience. But there is just something about it that makes me feel dirty. Like I'm cheating on books, real books, with paper pages that get musty with age or crinkled after a day at the beach. I can see how downloading a book in a matter of minutes is so much easier (and cheaper) than going to the bookstore. But that thought just makes me sad. I wonder how all of these great authors, that sat by candlelight with a pen in hand and jotted down what would turn into some of the greatest literary works, would feel about me downloading their masterpiece to my Kindle. Is that the way The Great Gatsby or Anna Karenina was meant to be read?
So, I am resisting technology. I am going to stand my ground. I believe that the electronic reading device is a fad, one that we will look back on in a few years and laugh about. I believe that books will come back into style. Everything truly great does, right?

Picky Sticky

2010-05-07T16:52:00.005-04:00

Since almost everyone I know is either pregnant or has just had a baby, I've been on the lookout lately for cute baby gifts. I received this one recently, and thought that it was a really fun idea. Picky Sticky makes cute number stickers that you can stick on the front of a plain onesie in order to take monthly milestone pictures of your new baby. They have a bunch of different styles and they are only $14.99 for 13 stickers (0-12 months). Pair with a couple packages of onesies in various sizes and you have a really easy shower gift!

making your own little wonderland

2010-02-03T11:31:00.017-05:00

There are few literary characters envied more by little girls than Alice in Wonderland. With the upcoming release of Tim Burton's sure-to-be breathtaking version hitting theaters next month, there will be a whole new generation of children mesmerized by the whimsical wonderland.

Here are a few items to help give your little one her own little wonderland:

Alice in Wonderland print set by theblackapple on etsy.com

Toadstool table & chair set

decoylab bamboo teapot clock at Fawn & Forest

Mushroom Pouf at Anthropologie

made by mosey flutter mobile in crimson at Fawn & Forest

White Rabbit pillow cover by Nuka on etsy.com

One-lump-or two lamp at Anthropologie

Cute Kid Find

2010-01-19T20:13:00.005-05:00

NEWSFLASH: Kids aren't exactly environmentally-friendly! They leave lights on. They waste food. They leave the water running. They unravel entire rolls of toilet paper for fun. They would rather go buy new clothes than do laundry. Oh wait...that one's me!

Well...help show your little one how to be a little more green by eliminating plastic sandwich bags, plastic wrap, and juice boxes from their lunch everyday. Goodbyns lunchboxes have 5 compartments and include an 8 oz. drink bottle. They also come with 275 stickers so they can be personalized. Available in Blue or Green at Uncommon Goods for $30.

Bachelor Pad

2010-01-12T20:10:00.005-05:00

Cheesy reality dating show lovers rejoice! ABC announced that a new show will feature former contestants from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette living together in a house. Twenty contestants will compete against each other, with one person leaving at the end of each episode. Chris Harrison has signed on for what is sure to be the most dramatic season ever, full of hot tubs, catfights, tequila shots, steamy hookups, and hopefully a little crooning from an aspiring singer/songwriter. The Bachelor Pad airs late summer.

new year, new projects

2010-01-07T19:52:00.007-05:00

There is nothing like the start of a new year to give you a fresh outlook on all the things in your life you'd like to change. For me, it was my house. Tackling rooms left unpainted, finally sorting through the endless plastic bins of baby clothes in the attic, clearing the linen closet for room for...well, linens! After the attic and closets were overhauled, I was forced to deal with my dingy-white living room. Here's a before picture:

So, not wanting to trade in my curtains, which I just purchased last year from Anthropologie, or my rug from CB2, I knew I had to pick a color which worked with my existing color scheme of black, white, and yellow. Then I came across this picture on Apartment Therapy:

My quest for the perfect shade of turquoise led me to Benjamin Moore's Poolside Blue. Once the room was painted, everything else kind of went back where it was. I added a little more spunk to my previously-dull photo gallery wall. I found a yellow and white Trey Speegle plate at Anthropologie that I hung on the wall, as well as the yellow chair print I found on Etsy. I am adding two white ceramic lamps from CB2 on the end tables flanking the sofa (which haven't arrived yet!) Aside from the lamps, the room is finished. Take a look:

Here's the opposite wall:

I feel so productive this year already!

monster mash

2009-11-19T16:12:00.005-05:00

Whoever said that two heads are better than one, has not had to share a pillow with a three year old. But at 4 am, when you awake to a child just inches from your face claiming there are monsters under her bed, you can either walk her back to her room and try to convince her otherwise or you can just slide over and hope she'll lie next to you sweetly and fall back asleep. I choose the latter and spent the next two and a half hours with a squirmy, cover-hogging little chatterbox. It is no surprise that I have spent a good portion of my day researching monster-repellents online. Enter Scare Me Nots, quirky little plush creatures designed to scare away monsters. Their Velcro tails allow them to hang from door handles, closet or curtain rods, and chair backs. Their tails can also be placed between the box spring and mattress allowing them to hang upside down and see under the bed. The Scare Me Not crew includes Guardian Gus, Fearless Fred, Defender Dave, Watchdog Wally, Valiant Valerie, and Protector Patty. Available at www.scaremenot.com for $24.95 each. A small price to pay, considering I think I spent that at Starbuck's this morning just to wake up.

damn the man

2009-11-11T23:33:00.012-05:00

Maybe it's that I'm sick of hearing about the corruption of corporate America and the Bernie Madoff's of the world or maybe it's that I'm attempting to be a little thriftier this Christmas, but I'd rather give my money to the little guy this year. Instead of hitting the mall this year to tackle your holiday shopping, try Etsy.com instead. An online marketplace with sellers in over 150 countries, Etsy offers everything handmade you could ever imagine. And then some!

Here's my Etsy gift guide to help with your holiday shopping list!

For your mom:

sprinkled with brown floral scarf - $48

For your dad:

necktie wallet - $28

For your husband:

secret message cuff links - $85

For your sister:

gold oak leaf necklace - $26

For your best friend:

yellow reeves feather headband - $20

For your nephew:

appliqued toddler tee with deer head - $21

For your niece:

nadia mae - $42

For your child's teacher:

teacher's gift personalized note cards - $15

For your friend's new baby:

custom crochet brown owl beanie - $29.95

it's that time...

2009-11-04T21:56:00.015-05:00

It's barely November and already the aisles are filling up with all things Christmas. While it's too early to start decorating my house and too early to start buying gifts (which in attempt to hide, I will invariably lose instead), it is not too early to start thinking about what to wear to the dreaded office holiday party. You want conservative but not boring, you want sexy but not slutty. Here are my picks for the perfect holiday party dress:

Ann Taylor ponte v-back sheath dress -$150

Rebecca Taylor The Socialite dress - $295

Adam metallic tweed dress - $395

Banana Republic silk color-block dress - $152

See by Chloe Animal-print silk jacquard dress - $555

where the wild things sleep...

2009-10-18T20:40:00.011-04:00

Seeing Where the Wild Things Are this weekend made me remember just how much I loved the book as a child. It also got me thinking how adorable some elements from the film would look in a child's room. Here are a few that are sure to invoke some wild rumpus:

Where the Wild Things Are inspired mobile - $30 on etsy.com

Organic Forest Duvet Cover - $74.99 (twin) at West Elm

Where the Wild Things Are Pillow: Wild Scales - $32 at Urban Outfitters

Wild Thing Max 8x10 Print - $16 on etsy.com

Where the Wild Things Are Movie Still on stretched canvas- $48 at Urban Outfitters Silent Forest Print -$599 at Crate and Barrel

Where the Wild Things Are Pillow: Forest -
$32 at Urban Outfitters

stella sneak peek

2009-10-15T16:59:00.004-04:00

In the latest issue of W magazine, Stella McCartney shares more details on her clothing line for Gap Kids set to hit stores in a few weeks. Pictures of the photo shoot for her collection provide us with a sneak peek. The one-time only collection includes everything from cashmere infant blankets to organic cotton tees to Fair Isle sweaters to monster-clad days of the week underwear. There are brushed cotton blazers with silk lapels, military jackets with gold thread embroidery, a silk dress adorned with tiny flowers, a tulle tutu, a sensible navy peacoat, canvas sneakers, a sweaterdress, and a plum wool princess coat with pleated skirt. Like her signature line, she uses high-quality, cruelty-free fabrics, insisting "fabric is so important, especially on a child, as they are so aware when things are scratchy". Prices range from $14 to $128.

hat happy

2009-10-14T21:50:00.018-04:00

Maybe it's because my 3 year-old just cut off the entire left side of her hair with her "kid scissors" or maybe it's because the weather's finally getting brisk, but I am obsessed with hats! Fedoras, cloches, beanies, berets, you name it! Here are just a few I'm pining over:

did internet kill the magazine star?

2009-10-05T16:15:00.003-04:00

First Domino (sniff... sniff) and now this! Cookie magazine is the latest Condé Nast publication to announce that it will be closing its doors. In the day of the Internet and the world of blogging, it seems less people are turning to magazines for information and inspiration. I have been a subscriber of Cookie since its debut issue and have loved perusing its pages for cool kids' clothing, decor, and gear. While I love the Internet as much as the next girl, there is something special and exciting about going to the mailbox and finding a magazine, especially one that seemed so tailor-made for me. It will surely be missed!

cheap choos

2009-10-04T19:44:00.004-04:00

I love a good collaboration. The latest is a line of clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry, and menswear that Jimmy Choo is doing for H&M. It debuts at H&M stores on November 14th. Get a sneak peek here!

chloe for kids

2009-09-28T16:29:00.005-04:00

So usually I would say that paying two hundred dollars for an outfit for a three year old seems asinine, but in this case I would trade in 4 outfits from Gap Kids for one of these adorable dresses from Chloe.

i heart purple

2009-09-27T21:32:00.020-04:00

So it's not just for eleven year old girls anymore. Purple is everywhere these days.... from wall colors to eyeshadow to ankle boots to cocktail dresses. Here's what I'm loving right now:

i love my job, i just hate the dress code

2009-09-24T13:25:00.006-04:00

I know sometimes when you've been up all night because your baby is getting a tooth or your 2 year old is convinced that there's a monster in her closet and spends the rest of the night wedged between you and your husband in your bed (sideways), you wake up in the morning with absolutely no desire to look presentable. But the everyday wardrobe of cargo capri pants, t-shirt you've had since college and flip flops has got to go ladies! Why must our sense of style be compromised as soon as we give birth? I've often heard people say that you shouldn't wear something when you're pregnant that you wouldn't wear if you weren't. So how about dressing how you would if you were the same age but didn't have kids? It takes the same amount of time to get dressed, no matter what you put on. If you want to wear jeans and a t-shirt...fine, but make the jeans skinny and put on a t-shirt with a little shape. Ditch the flip flops and put on some ballet flats and a scarf. Viola! Same amount of time, same comfort level, but considerably cuter. A long tunic and leggings is as comfortable as any pair of sweatpants. Celebrity moms do it all the time. Why? Not because they have more money or more help. But because they are being photographed! So pretend there's a paparazzi at the playground or chant "what would Heidi do?" as you get dressed in the morning. Whatever it takes! Trust me, you'll feel better and be more productive if you look more put together!