Summer foliage

I've said it many times, but let me say it again: I am not a gardener. I have no green thumb. That said, I am proof that even the most unknowledgable person can have some flowers and plants - even vegetables - in their garden. It is still growing, but we have some nice color and pretty flowers now. A few rabbit-damaged but still alive tomato plants, a couple bird-ravaged blueberry bushes, a couple pumpkin plants (can't wait for October!), yummy-smelling lavender, and lots of bushes and flowers whose names I will never know. (Sorry Mom!) The bottom line, though, is that it makes our yard a nice place to be. I even picked a couple flowers to bring inside so we can enjoy them in the house as well.

I don't mind pulling weeds and watering plants, especially when I have such a handsome helper.

Before...and After in the yard

Sometimes it is so good to remind ourselves of how far we've come. Here's what our back yard looked like when we moved in:

The first thing Kevin did - before unpacking a box - was tear down this fence. Countless hours later, here's what the same spot looks like now:

A nice improvement, don't you think?

Etsy shop - Nella Designs

Check out this cute shop on Etsy: Nella Designs. It has cute note cards, invitations, mailing labels, and other prints. My sister is always complaining about the lack of decent cards in Spain, so I hooked her up with this cute variety pack to get her through the year. It looks like it's sold out now, but there are lots of other fun options available.

This Week's Menu

Salmon with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Spinach
Rice

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs
Salad
Potato wedges

Penne with Vodka Sauce
Salad
Breadsticks

Five Senses Friday

I got the inspiration for this post on this lovely blog. There are so many ways to focus on the positive and wonderful things in life. This is just one more. Why not try them all?

Touch
- a refreshing breeze coming through the windows to cool down the house at night
- the scratchy grass on my bare feet
Hear
- the little boy talking to himself as he flips through a book in his crib in the morning
- K turning on the shower, which is my cue to get out of bed
Taste
- sweet oreo gelato from the farm
- ice-cold refreshing lemonade on a hot day
Smell
- mint from my herb barrel (sometimes I just pick a leaf to smell the yumminess)
- dryer sheets
See
- little boys playing baseball in the little league field in our back yard
- an airplane flying high in the sky (and the little boy looking up and pointing)
- orange lilies blooming in the yard

What do you touch/hear/taste/smell/see today?

Business Time

My sister sent me a link to this a while back, and I watched it while I was trying to make dinner. Multi-tasking. Ugh. I wasn't in the right frame of mind, and I just thought - I don't have time for this. Thankfully, my husband watched it later, and then proceeded to share it with everyone he could. So I got to see it again when I was more relaxed and in the mood. It cracks me up!

So if you have a few minutes and the right frame of mind, give this a listen and enjoy a little laughter.

Crate & Barrel Best Buys

I flipped through my Crate & Barrel Best Buys catalog the other day, and I started making my Christmas list. Is it too early for that? I don't really need these things, but some of them are just too darn cute! Here are some of the items that caught my eye:

Two-tiered fruit basket
Cute little vases*

Stemless wine glasses

Fun multi-colored server*

Cake platter

Great green bowls

*not shown above

Dancing!

I read this article in the NY Times and discovered this youtube video (you need to make sure you watch it in higher quality). It is so silly and simple and yet for some reason it made me smile and even cry a little. I guess it's a reminder of how small the world is and how the same human spirit exists everywhere. It's also really amazing how beautiful the locations are. Check it out!

Parades, Somersaults, and Strawberry Shortcake

This week's Three Beautiful Things:

1. The little boy is exploding with words. We took him to the 4th of July parade in town, and it was so much fun to watch him point and name everything. Tie tuck (fire truck), doggie, neigh (horses), baby, lots of colors (yeyow is still his favorite, but he likes purple too)... And then the dancing!

2. The boy and I did somersaults in the back yard. I was dizzy afterwards, but it felt so good to roll around in the grass for a while.

3. We bought fresh strawberries and biscuits from the farm and enjoyed super yummy strawberry shortcake.

Love

Last night after dinner, the little boy and I wrestled on the kitchen floor. Basically he kept trying to climb me, and I'd tickle him down. We laughed and laughed. During moments like these I am truly overwhelmed by how much I love him.

Funky Family Shot

A friend of ours took this picture with his new Mac. It's spontaneous, colorful, and fun. I love it, and I think it captures the happiness in our little family.

Time-Saving Tips on Keeping a Clean House

I don't really believe that a clean house is a wasted life. Actually, I very much enjoy coming home to a clean house, and it absolutely affects my mood if there is too much dirt or clutter around. I can relax more in a clean house. That said, I also prioritize some cleaning tasks further down on my perpetual to-do list, so if you come over to my house and see dust on the TV or a cobweb in the corner, don't take it personally. I just decided that playing with my son or spending quality time with my husband or reading a book or any number of things were more important than taking care of those things.

I am a little different than my husband. He is fine with clutter but likes things clean. Things like under the toaster oven and behind the refrigerator - when he cleans, he cleans. When I clean, I tidy. I usually don't have time (or don't choose to spend the time) to truly clean. He has suggested that perhaps we should get a cleaning service to come once or twice a month to do the heavy cleaning - bathrooms, etc. Perhaps it shouldn't, but this bothers me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's that I feel like I should be able to do it all myself, and it's a little bit about not wanting to spend money on it, but I think it's primarily that I want to be able to do it myself. I don't want somebody else in my house, cleaning my toilets and dusting my shelves.

So I'm going to keep doing my best to keep the house as clean as possible. Here are a few time-saving tips I've run across to help manage this within a busy schedule:

1. Declutter! Simplify! The less stuff you have, the less to put away, the less to keep clean. A never-ending process. Go through your house with a trash bag every now and then and see how quickly it fills up!
2. Go through your mail the second you bring it inside. 95% goes right in the recycling bin - the bills go on the desk or file cabinet.
3. When you swap out towels in your bathroom, use one to quickly wipe down the countertop, the toilet, or the dust that collects on the edge of the bathtub.
4. Have a schedule for laundry. This will depend on your family's needs and schedule. For us, it means three loads of laundry on Fridays and one on Sunday. Doing it at consistent times helps me keep up.
5. Keep cleaning supplies handy. I don't do this now, but I'm going to add a toilet brush to every bathroom. Having only one means that it's far away from a couple bathrooms. Keeping the cleaners handy is a little tougher with a toddler, but I'm going to figure that out, too. If the supplies are there, they'll get used more.
6. Have Mom visit more often.
7. Clean as you cook. When I can, I am cleaning or organizing the kitchen as things cook.
8. When you go upstairs, take something with you.
9. I try to take 10 minutes at the end of the day to straighten up - put toys in bins, fold throw blankets, in general put things back where they belong. If it can't be clean, hopefully it can be tidy.

Here's a post on Unclutterer that discusses this, including many comments that say that hiring a cleaner is worth it. Maybe one day, but for now I'm going to do the best I can myself.

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough!

Stop what you're doing, play this video and dance around the room. Now!

(Wasn't Michael cute back then? I had a poster of him above my bed in elementary school. I remember so clearly the night that the Thriller video premiered. I fell out of love with him as he changed over the years, but it is fun going back in time. He did create some pretty fantastic music back in the day.)

Cloud Atlas

I like reading all types of books. I like fun chick-lit like "Bridget Jones Diary" or "In Her Shoes". I like more serious books, especially those that help you learn about another time or another place, such as "Atonement" or "The Kite Runner". I like period books such as "Pride and Prejudice" or "March". I like classics like "East of Eden". I like baseball books and history books and even some non-fiction occasionally. I am not ashamed to admit that I love Harry Potter and was so sad to read the last book. A few of my other favorites are listed on the right-hand column.

I recently finished a book entitled "Cloud Atlas", by David Mitchell, and I would definitely recommend it. It starts out slowly, and it can be difficult to read at times, but hang in there, because it is fascinating. I sometimes read books that, while entertaining, I feel like I probably could've written. Simple, even predictable. And I enjoy that sometimes. But sometimes I like to be challenged, and I love reading a book that I know I never could've come up with in a million years. David Mitchell is a creative genius, and I love getting to read something that is this imaginative.

I am not sure if I can try to describe the plot. It is actually made up of six nested stories, each linked to the next, and each story is a completely different genre. Here's a review from The Washington Post that can provide a summary and description. It might not make much sense, though. But if you're looking for a book that is thought-provoking, interesting, imaginative, and entertaining, look no further.

"Souls cross the skies o' time. . . like clouds crossin' skies o' the world."

Tomato Update and Herbs

Look! My first tomatoes! The rabbits did a bit of damage, but they haven't destroyed the entire crop. I still have 7 plants surviving. And my first cute little green tomatoes! So exciting.

We also bought a half-barrel planter to grow fresh herbs. The picture below shows what I now have right outside my side door. My tex-mex pasta salad had fresh cilantro, I threw a few mint leaves into my lemonade, and I'm going to use some of the basil on a pizza tonight. What a treat!

Happy 4th of July!

Boston is absolutely the best place to be on the 4th of July. The Boston Pops concert and fireworks on the Esplanade is amazing and so much fun. It might be a few years before we decide the little boy is old enough to handle the crowds, the excitement, and the long day. In the meantime, we'll celebrate at home and watch the local fireworks. Maybe put the Pops on the TV. Hope you all have a happy long weekend!

Survive the Evening Routine

I've come to terms with the fact that life with kids is a series of evolving routines. From the very beginning days with a baby, the evening timeframe can be a challenge, and it doesn't really get easier as they get older (at least it hasn't for me!). My little one is only a year and a half, so I know I have many more challenges ahead of me.

Here are some of the things I do to survive.

1. Leave work early. I'm thankful that I have the flexibility to do this. I am able to pick up my son from day care and get home early enough to allow for some play-time before dinner. Which leads to #2.
2. Ease into it. I can't come home and jump straight into the work of making dinner and completing my other nightly chores. Having some time to get into some play-clothes and play with the boy for a bit helps complete my transition out of work and into home.
3. Focus. I am getting better at not multi-tasking, at least in some cases. I know that quality-time with the boy is way more important than getting my chores done, so I make sure to focus on one thing at a time and not try to do everything at once. In particular, I must have play-time with the boy and plenty of time where I am completely focused on him.
4. Plan ahead. I've posted about this several times now. I write out my weekly menu over the weekend, so during the week, I don't have to think about what I'm making for dinner that night. That takes out so much of the stress for me.
5. Be consistent. We've always been pretty consistent with the boy's nighttime routine, so he doesn't put up any fuss with bathtime or bedtime. (He's only 18 months old, so I know this can change at any moment.) This is not only less stressful for him, but for me too! Knowing my evening routine helps me manage my time. And since the little boy goes to bed so easily, the rest of my evening is low-stress as well. I have plenty of quiet time at the end of the day.

Here's what my current evening routine looks like (all of the times are "ish"):
5-5:15PM: Get home with the boy. Play! Outside if it's nice.
5:45PM: Prepare and serve dinner for the boy.
6:15PM: More play-time. Try to do more low-key things like puzzles and books, but sometimes the boy just has to dance.
6:45PM: Bathtime, Pajama-time, Storytime.
7:15PM: The Boy's bedtime.
7:45PM: K and I eat dinner.
8:30PM: Clean the kitchen, prepare lunches, check email, other various chores.
9:00PM: Eat ice cream and watch a little TV. Head to bed to read. (Ratio of TV to reading often depends on whether or not there's anything on TV I want to watch - I've been reading a lot lately.)
10:00-10:30PM: Lights out.

*Here is the post on Real Simple that inspired the format of this post.

BBQ!

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit."

--Aristotle

One of my resolutions this year was to focus on nurturing my existing friendships and making new ones. It's common knowledge that people with larger and more active social networks are happier people. I haven't typically been the social butterfly or the one to initiate gatherings, so I've vowed to make it a priority. In particular, I want to expand my local circle of friends.

I am going to have a barbeque. Nothing fancy - burgers and lemonade and an excuse to get people together. I'm putting this out here so that I feel obligated to follow-up on it. It would be too easy to just let the summer pass by without making the effort. Sometimes just saying your goal out loud to someone else helps motivate you to follow through. So there it is - next month - cookout at my house. Details and results to be posted later.

Travel Tray, Float

This travel tray is my latest recommended kid item. We had a relatively long stint in the car on our latest vacation, so I purchased this tray to facilitate some play-time in the car, and it was so worth it! The little boy was able to "read" a stack of books, put together a puzzle, and keep his snack/drink accessible.

It's not perfect - I think it should have a barrier preventing things from falling back towards the car seat - but it's the best out there, I like that it's soft, and the boy loved it! It will definitely be used on any longer car trips going forward.



If you're in the market for something to use with your baby in the pool, this float is great! Very easy, sturdy, gives a little extra protection from the sun, has space to put a couple toys or bowls... Most importantly, the little boy loved it!
(Age: 9-24 months.)

Pictures Say It All

Vacations are oh so great. Hard to call the time relaxing with the little ones, but we could definitely call it lots of fun. This picture says it all: