tipping the scale in my favour?

Something about today has put me in a good mood. This is a nice change considering I’ve been in FOUL HUMOUR for several weeks now. Weeks I tell you.

What is it about today though? Can I quantify what has made me actually feel optimistic about what lies ahead (”what” = life in general)?

1. it’s no longer fucking hot. Sorry, that deserved a swear. For the next two days the temperatures will be “reasonable” — and by reasonable I mean under 30C. Thank God. I actually switched off the a/c and opened the windows this morning!

2. my baby turns 6 months old today. We have moved through the infant stage and are now entering (what I call) the baby stage. A baby who in the next several months will become mobile and will no longer be nursing (i.e. attached to me). More on that in a later post.  Oh shit (again!), now I’ve started crying.

3. The door to any future children coming from my marriage has been permanently, um, severed, if I may say so. Oddly enough I am not as sad about this as I thought I might be. I’m actually greatly relieved. I have 3 beautiful wonderful smart funny quirky awesome daughters and I want to enjoy them without fearing that another may come along and throw my universe into a tailspin again.

4. the childcare situation seems to be levelling out and proceeding on an even keel for now. As of next Tuesday and lasting until September I no longer have to cart the kids to daycare. Friday will be Maja’s LAST day of daycare. I may cry. Oh who am I kidding, I WILL cry. As a matter of fact, I’m crying now. Still.

5. some fabric and a pattern I’ve been eyeing for months now finally arrived. Mostly because I took the plunge and actually ordered it last week instead of just seizing it up online — so the delay was totally my doing. I’m optimistic that I will be able to start sewing some more now in the evenings. Not that anything has changed much, except my optimism. I even ordered the accompanying zippers. Wonder of wonders.

6. I got some new sandals which I love and they have a heel and they’re strappy and they’re cute and they make me feel cute. Which goes to say that these sandals have some kind of magic to them.

camping trip #2 — structures

This past weekend we had a great camping trip at Cape Henlopen State Park. I chose this particular park because of it’s proximity to the beach. I do love me some going to the beach — waves, ocean, sand, sun. Funny thing, though, is that I don’t actually go IN the ocean because I’m convinced there are sharks that are going to eat me and I don’t spend time IN the sun because I don’t want to get a sunburn. So, I love the beach from my dry beach towel in the shade.

Speaking of shade, we invested in a little beach shade tent for this trip. Sure, I can rent an umbrella at the beach… but this is way cooler and in the long run much cheaper. The shade tent will come in handy for our week in Cape May as well as any other trip to a sunny location that we’ll want a little shade at.

Our little beach tent (it’s a Coleman Road Trip Beach Shade). Look closely and you can see Pippa hanging out in there.

Here’s a better view of the inside. You can easily get 2 beach towels in there and still be in the shade.

The flap zips up, too, so you can create a change room!

Now, on to the camping tent itself. We bought the North Face Mountain Manor 8 tent. It’s huge.

This is the interior of the tent. Going from the left, we have a double air mattress, then the pack’n'play for Pippa, some floor space, and the two sleeping bags on their foam mats for Maddy & Maja. At night I also bring in a chair so that if Pippa wakes up I can sit and nurse her. The tent is tall, too, and I can easily stand upright in it (I’m 5′8″).

I’m very happy with this tent and I’m glad we invested in it. It has 2 room dividers, too, which as you can see from the photo we have rolled up. Eventually the girls will want their own space and at that point we can roll the dividers down. And when it gets to the point where the girls will want their own tent… well, then Richard and I will enjoy having a huge space for ourselves. Woot!

p.s. Coleman & North Face did not pay me in any way, shape, or form to say any of the above.

all my babysitters

At the end of May I had a chance to go up to my parents with Pippa for a little visit to celebrate some birthdays.

I had many loving hands to help me with Pippa!

Cousin Anna and Pippa

Omi and Pippa

Papa and Pippa

Cousin Kathryn and Pippa

Kathryn and Anna were amazing. They totally took over caring for Pippa — carrying her everywhere, changing her diaper, playing with her and entertaining her. What a fabulous duo of cousins they are!

the very young and the very old

Pippa and Papa had a chance to meet each other at the end of May. I think they will get along just fine.

a child’s hair

I kid you not, this is the same child with the photos taken 3 days apart. Surprising part was that she REQUESTED the braids with no suggestion or input from me.

Yeah, don’t even ask me about Jillian Michaels who you can see in the background of that upper photo. Yes, I got the DVD. Yes, I did the workout 2x. No my rear is not any smaller. Yes I have lost 1.5 lbs. But I have not had a chance to hang out with Jillian in several days. Don’t ask.

daydreaming

I have spent much of my day daydreaming.

I have spent much of my day wishing that I had more time in the evenings to do what I would like to do. That I had more time to play with my kids and not wonder about the dirty kitchen floor. That I had more time to go to museums and concerts and play in the park and make (and eat) ice cream and smell the flowers.

Oh, that reminds me that my tomato plants in the backyard are getting huge and need some help — staking, tying to the trellis kind of help. Did I tell you yet that one of my plants has some blooms? Tomatoes are not far behind!!!! I went into my backyard for the first time in a week last night, in the dark at 10pm, to get some mint. This is sad.

I bought two basil plants yesterday at the farmer’s market: lime basil and cinnamon basil. I need to plant them… someday.

I’d like some time to sew. I took a zipper out of one of my skirts two weeks ago thinking that I would be able to reset it … it’s lounging in my sewing cabinet.

I’m enjoying my CSA. There are many greens in my CSA, as I mentioned yesterday. I have plans.

That is all.

hungry hungry hungry

It seems that all I do these days is think of food: where to get it, what to get, and what to do with what I get.

I’m not sure if I think of food because I’m hungry or if because I’m hungry I think of food… maybe a little of both.

We joined a different CSA this summer: Lancaster Farm Fresh. It’s all veggie, no meat, no cheese, no eggs etc. Based on what we got in our first delivery last week I have to say that I’m really glad we only went with a 1/2 share! It was more then enough. Last week we got: 1 bag parsley, 1 bag watercress, 2 small heads lettuce, 1 large head lettuce, green onions, strawberries, and 1 bunch of kale. Ooof.

We ate a lot of salads. yum.

I found that this week I’m looking forward to the share because we’re supposed to get garlic scapes! I have never touched a garlic scape before… so it should be entertaining to see what I’m going to end up doing with them. And a bag of dandelion leaves. I had a dandelion salad once about 25 years ago that my dad made… and I do not (sorry dad) have fond memories of the salad. It was bitter! I’m hoping that my tastes have matured somewhat and I may enjoy a dandelion salad. We’ll see!

Of course allllll of this coincides with the onset of summer and shorts and once again I’m feeling the need to lose the baby weight. An ongoing battle. So, I’ll be trying to make some delectable salads, up the fruit consumption, down the pasta consumption, maintain the chocolate consumption, down the juice consumption… and maybe find some time to throw in a little bit of exercise? To that end I just ordered the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred video! Ohhh, this is going to be very entertaining. Very.

camping with the kids (picture heavy post)

In a fit of … oh, temporary insanity?, we decided to take the girls camping this summer and our first trip into the wilderness was the middle of May. As this was our first camping trip with the girls, we teamed up with two other families – 3 campsites totaling 13 people.

We headed out on Saturday morning to Locust Lake State Park where we were going to spend 36hrs with nature. In a tent. With no heat.

The car is packed and we’re on the way.

We set up our new home

And then proceeded to do the important things that one does on a camping trip:

Eat

Take walks (well, some kids walked)

Enjoy the scenery

Do things to the lake (play in it, throw rocks (and sometimes a Frisbee) in it:

On to the big question: Did we get any sleep?

Surprisingly, yes. I wish I had taken a photo of the inside of our tent — and I will try to do that on our next trip — we had a cozy setup. Richard and I, because we’re old, splurged on an air mattress. I ended up getting an Eco Aerobed – it deflates to a really compact size and has a rechargeable cordless pump. That was on one side of the tent. On the other side we had Maja and Maddy sleeping on foam pads (they’re young, you know – they can take it) with their sleeping bags. Pippa was bundled up in her pack’n’play which was in the middle of the tent. AND there was still floor space and room for a chair so if Pippa woke up in the middle of the night I could sit and nurse her.

So, how did they do sleeping in the cold? And by cold I mean the temperature at night went down to around 40F (9C). I was most worried about Pippa – a cold baby would have meant that I would be up a lot. So, she was dressed in the following: a onsie, a long-sleeved sleeper, a fleece sleeper, a fleece sleep sack and then inserted into the stroller BundleMe (her sleeping bag!) with a wool blanket on top. She was probably as round as she is tall. And a hat. She only woke up 1x!! yea!

Maja and Maddy were exhausted by the time we called it a night (9pm). The biggest issue we faced was that I made a major tactical error and thought that they wouldn’t want their nightly dose of warm milk. WRONG WRONG WRONG. I had 2 very upset very tired children in the tent demanding their warm milk. I had packed their sippy cups… but the milk was one friend’s cooler, locked in their car, and the stove was at the other friend’s campsite with the propane tank taken off for the night. Anyway, with great understanding and sympathy from these other two families, my girls did get their warm milk. Sigh.

What exactly do you DO with kids on a camping trip?

Well, this was our first trip and we went with two other families, so my kids were easily entertained by the other kids. We took a lot of “hikes” – one in the afternoon between lunch and dinner, one after dinner, and one the next morning after breakfast.

The first walk had a theme of finding objects for a craft project: making rock pets and dreamcatchers. Our friend Julie was ultra-prepared with all sorts of crafty things to make pet rocks: paint, googly eyes, stickers… etc. and for the dream catchers she had string and feathers. The kids hunted for rocks and twigs during the walk and when we got back to the campsite they did their craft project while dinner was being made.

After dinner, during clean-up time, the kids went on another walk to see the sunset. When they got back we had a campfire built and we proceeded to roast marshmallows, make smores, and hang out.

The next morning after breakfast while the moms were tidying up, the dads took the kids to the playground where they played catch and played on the equipment. The moms finished doing our thing and joined them for another walk. Then it was back to the campsite for lunch and packing up to go home.

What did I learn?

For me, I think that having my own cooler and stove, even if we go with a group, is crucial.

Both adults need to have their own set of car keys. Inevitably I would need something out of the car and Richard had left for a walk or to go get firewood or something. Argh.

Especially when you’re camping with younger kids: have a strategy on how to entertain the kids while things are getting set up. For example, have one parent take the kids on a walk or to go get firewood while the other parent sets up the tent, that is, unless you LIKE having “help” while you’re setting up the tent.

Get the interior of the tent set up for sleeping before everyone gets tired and before it gets dark. Also, if you want it to stay that way (i.e., relatively tidy and with stuff easy to find) then make sure they understand that the tent is NOT a playhouse.

So, go out there. Have fun. If you had asked me 4 years ago to go camping with ONE child I would have said you were crazy. But yet, here I am trying it out with my hubs and THREE kids. And really, it was fine. Don’t get overwhelmed by it all and remember all you REALLY need is: something to sleep in (tent, sleeping bag), something to eat (and implements to prepare it), and a willingness to “rough it”. Everything else is icing on the cake.

home redecorating: new rug

And tada! The new rug:

We used Flor tiles. Lamb ewe and Gotland stripe. Happy.

Christmas in May

Do you ever have those days when your desire for material goods overshadows your happiness? Or, I guess it would be more accurate to say that your desire for material goods takes over your life and you don’t realize that you can be happy without it? Not sure what I’m talking about? Let me help you out – the sentence usually starts with:

If I had [object of desire] then my life would be so much easier / better!

Not recognizing, of course, that your life is actually pretty good without it. You’re just being greedy.

I can not tell you how many times I’ve said the above words. I freely admit that I love gadgets and material things. I like things that make my life easier. Even if I don’t really need it. I am a greedy person. [ahh, it feels good to say that!]

In the past year I’ve had these thoughts:

If I had an iPhone my life would be so much easier! I can check my email while I’m nursing Pippa. I can make a grocery list while I’m nursing Pippa. I can make phone calls, check the weather, stay on top of my to-do list, plan dinner, check my calendar, go shopping… while I’m nursing Pippa!

I got the iPhone in February. I nursed Pippa a lot. I am happy. If it hasn’t made my life easier, it has at least made it more pleasant. Or me more pleasant. Which makes other peoples lives easier. And more pleasant. Yes? I am still looking for the app that changes diapers. I have not found it but I’m sure it’s there. Maybe I just need an app that will schedule the diaper changes for me. HA!

If I had a new rug on the first floor my life would be so much easier! I can put Pippa down on the rug. It will be so much quieter down here. It will feel homier. I will be so. much. more. relaxed. My first floor will be nearly done with regards to decorating!

The FLOR tiles arrived on Monday. They are installed. I am in love. My house is much quieter. It is definitely more relaxing to be downstairs.

If I had a Thule box for the car my life would be so much easier! I can fit everything in the car when we go to the shore. I can fit everything in the car when we go camping. Car rides will be much more pleasant. It will keep the kids from screaming.

We got the Thule box on Monday. It is awesome. Best part is that we will use it this weekend when we go camping for the first time with the kids. And if it doesn’t make the car rides more pleasant because we will be less cramped inside the car and the kids won’t scream as much… well, I suppose I could always put one of the kids up there. That’s probably illegal.

And then, as if life on this past Monday couldn’t have gotten any better… we got an iPad. Yes. For FREE. Mostly. We won it in a raffle – so I think we spent $10 on raffle tickets. An iPad for $10. Oh yeah.

It was like Christmas in my house this past Monday!