New Friends

Lately the afternoons at home with the kids have been really hard. As in GIVE ME THE CLASSIFIEDS NOW so that I can go to work and be far far away. They are even hard on the days when they have school which means 1. I've had some refuel time alone and 2. We haven't even really spent much time together yet.

Nevertheless they are awful. Everything is a major battle, nobody wants to do anything (even fun stuff like wandering around the zoo), Clare and Wesley fight, the kids tear up the house, there is lots of whining, and I just want to cry. Cry a lot. Drink some wine. Plug in my iPod. And lock myself in the bathroom. But I can't so instead I find myself yelling and being really hort. With this in mind, I am trying to do more things in the afternoons with structure or friends so that I can get out of the house and not isolate myself with two terrors.

Take a look at the picture above. They look happy right? New friends, the botanical gardens, swings, flowers, fountains, snacks, a gorgeous Spring day, and the Farmer's Market afterwards. The actual play date itself was fabulous (well, a little more mama chatting time and a little less chasing Wesley would have been nice) but the to and from part was total hell.

They were evil to get out the door, to put on shoes, and to walk to the car. When we got in the car I cried and they fought over the Diego book. Afterwards they screamed for their Daddy all of the way home, threw a miniature horse at me while I was driving, and demanded water after throwing their cup on the floor.

When we pulled in the driveway Mario was already home. I headed straight to the bathroom and locked the door...I forgot to grab the bottle of wine on the way though. They frazzle me so much lately and I can't seem to figure out the best mixture of coping. It makes me wonder why I signed up for this particular job in the first place...I wasn't very good at it today and I kind of wish they would fire me.

But to end on a cute note instead of a dreary one.

Clare: This is a castle rock for princesses!
Nate: I think it's a pirate ship!
Clare: What's your favorite color? Mine are orange and green. I don't like pink and purple anymore.
Nate: My favorite is blue but I like orange and green too.
Clare: What's your favorite color ice cream?

and on and on and on...enamoured doesn't even come close to describing it.

Wet.

If you or someone you love has ever spilled water on a laptop keyboard and you know what to do please help! The keys are all sticking and going crazy but the computer itself seems to be running okay.

Mating in Captivity

After rest time we are going to the library and I am checking out this book. Seriously, the title captures the essence of the situation and I am eager to find some alternate solutions. This stuff is really important to us and I think it's time to get on track.

I read about the book at Good Vibes and am excited that our library actually carries it. Who knew? I checked out a few other titles just in case I was going to get really lucky but apparently there are limits to what they choose to stock on the shelves.

I am hopeful that we are getting past the sleep deprived and sexy covered in spit up stage of life. We might even have the time and energy to have some fun.

In anticipation of pajama day.

Tomorrow is Clare's pajama day at school. In anticipation she dressed herself in her pj's post rest time and decided that Wesley needed pj's too. I'm thinking that we can skip baths tonight and go straight to bed!

**Thanks to Stacy for sponsoring pj day!**

A picture of God.

Artist: Clare

Age: 3.5 years

Hi Mommy.

Wesley. 21 months.

Now what?

Clare and Wesley helped me plant these basil seedlings with great gusto last week. They didn't so such a good job with the 1-3 seeds per peat pod part of the planting and we now have many many seedlings per pod.

I do not have a green thumb but I aspire not to kill these. Can somebody out there tell me what to do next and how big they are before they can go in a pot? The directions on the package are a little vague and we are now at their step 3: Remove dome and put in a sunny place.

Mermaid and the Whale

Tilt your head to the right for proper viewing. Clare and the wipe board.

Out: Friday's Edition

The Happy Meal princesses enjoyed lunch together at their own table. After a great morning at the SC State Museum we went out for lunch and caught a serious case of the sillies. Apples, nuggets and milk became secondary to hat wearing, laughing, and standing in the booth.

I officially hate field trip season. All of our usual haunts are oozing with kids in color coded shirts that seem oblivious to people getting off of elevators in their haste to get inside and push the buttons. Thankfully the toddler room at the State Museum was totally ours for the entire morning, the under 6 years of age makes it a pretty safe haven even during this season. However, until school lets out we will be sticking with our 4-5 p.m. zoo and EdVenture visits because it is just too crazy in the morning.

Four kiddos having a lot of fun! Nobody wanted to pose for a picture but at least Susan caught all four kids in one frame which is better than I was able to do.

Girl Date

This week is loaded with fun stuff! Tonight is This American Life Live! at Sandhills. Another chance for girl bonding, Ira crushing, and an evening to recharge. I'm going to try not to pee in my pants from excitement. Instead I'll use all of my pre-date energy to try and do something more productive.

Last time I went to see a This American Life event I left the theater energized and excited that so many cool people lived in Columbia. This time I think I'll try and get some phone numbers.

The rest of my birthday.

The rest of my birthday rocked too.

There's something to creating your own celebration and making your own fun. I'm not sure why I waited for other people to do it for me for 33 years! Anyhow, I'll be making another list for Mother's Day and trying to incorporate more fun into everyday.

So here's what happened for the rest of the day.

a. BOTH of my children napped. For real.
b. The UPS man brought me a new cookbook.
c. We met a friend for strawberry picking.
d. We had a beer and pimento cheese picnic at the berry patch with friends.
e. I went for a walk alone in my neighborhood.
f. Mario picked up M Cafe for our dinner.
g. We drank Pinot Noir on our clean front porch.

Thank you for all of the birthday greetings, they made me smile.

Toasted Bread.

When I was little I loved salad bars. I have no salad bar memories with my mom but I have some foggy ones with my dad that also involve PWP. Anyhow, my love probably had something to do with my 7-9 year old version of what salad was meant to be.

In that time salad was: One dinner plate filled with a mountain of croutons and shredded cheddar cheese covered with a healthy smothering of ranch dressing topped with bacon bits. I loved it. I would eat plates of it with great joy.

In recent years I also added some vegetables and occasionally switch up the dressing. Salad is sort of a progression. Croutons and ranch at the occasional salad bar to my mother's iceberg/tomato/red onion/Italian dressing to mixed greens and balsamic vinaigrette.

But I still really love croutons. Good croutons. When I worked at Cracker Barrel one summer during college I fell hard for their buttery croutons. Management forbade eating during a shift but either before or after a shift we could have one half price meal. My choice: salad with way more than the regulation number of croutons.

Taking my crouton issue to heart this week and trying to clear of the counter tops in our kitchen I decided to make my own croutons. I cut the old french bread up into 1/2 chunks, put them in a bowl and tossed them with my hands and a bit of olive oil. Next I added salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese and turned them out on to a cookie sheet. They baked at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. The result: delicious. Next time I'll add more seasonings (and maybe a package of dry ranch dressing mix) but sometimes I really surprise myself with such silly easy things.

Flower Clips.

Yesterday I made a bunch of flower clips for Clare's hair. We even made a few extras to tuck inside girly birthday presents and for this mama. Hobby Lobby has all of the supplies on sale 50% off which makes these no glue, no tools made with scrapbook brad clips even more fun.

Today is my birthday.

11:03 a.m.
Me: I secured the cupcakes.
Mario: I have the pimento cheese.

What I love most about this birthday so far: doing exactly what I want to do and not waiting for someone to do it for me. This morning Wesley and I went out for my favorite morning treat: toast at the Gourmet Shop with strawberry-rhubarb jam. We went and bought a bouquet of flowers I liked. We picked up cupcakes for our lunch picnic. The whole morning felt like a scavenger hunt filled with things I love. Total fun.

Clare demolished the chocolate cupcakes from the Fresh Market. I enjoyed a 50 cent Iced Coffee from Dunkin Donuts (an all day special today only!) and Mario picked me up an Iced Passion tea from Starbucks.

He also picked up the best ever pimento cheese from Di Prato's along with their pita wedges.

The toast from breakfast with Wesley. He was a bit squirmy but he ate his fair share of toast and jam. Coupled with the syrup in his hair from breakfast at home he is now one very sweet and sticky child.

And a fun coffee drink.

After our picnic lunch at Queenie Hill Park in Forest Acres (the best picnic park around b/c it is entirely fenced in and there are no scary slides!) we came home to a full mailbox. Fun mail. Check. Fun email. Check. And a silicone mat from Aunt Mikie and Uncle Mike. Check. And I think but I'm afraid to look, napping children. Check.

I *heart* chickpeas

Lemon Chickpea Salad a la Orangette

Chana Masala from The Wednesday Chef.

Chickpea-Tomato Soup with Fresh Rosemary a la Orangette.

We are officially chickpea obsessed around here but all three of these recipes are really good. Each one is unique, inexpensive, and filling. I loved running to the backyard to pick rosemary sprigs, making a creamy sauce in the blender, and having lots of leftovers. Happy chickpea love to you!

big boy bed.

The bed is up! Mario finished putting it together with a lot of help last night from Little Miss Fix It.

I am consistently amazed at Mario's ability to follow directions. Really. I am totally deficient in the putting together things department because I can't seem to match the directions to the pieces.
Ta Dah! A finished bed! The kids were so excited to jump on it, to snuggle under the covers, and play in his room. It took awhile to get everyone wound back down to actually go to bed.This is how we found him when we went to check in before we went to bed. It's his first time using a pillow so perhaps that explains the confusion and placement. Either way he made it through the night on his own in his very first big boy bed.

It also seems that I can take down the pack-n-play in the Tangerine Room. I put him in there for his contained nap and he 1. threw a fit, 2. climbed out with his boppie, and 3. opened the door. I guess he really wants to sleep in the big boy bed for nap time too.

Ikea. (with kids)

Yesterday was the day. Ikea day. Sarah told me long ago that it was coming to Charlotte and I promptly began my countdown to diy furniture, plastic objects, fabric and shelving. So after much consideration and careful timing we loaded the kids up and headed out. We began our adventure at the Ikea cafe where we learned that Wesley is a Swedish meatball connoisseur. Kids can eat for $2.49 and adults can munch on meatballs, salmon, buffalo chicken wraps, and lots of other things. Most meals are under $5 and they are totally child friendly.

We bought this bed set up for Wesley. It flips and can be a low bed before it is a high bed. We even got the canopy for him now that he's an official big boy. I got his duvet cover at Ikea too and we also went ahead and purchased the mattress while we were there. The kids had a blast when we let them out to 'test' out the beds.

Clare fell in love with this room. She would have spent much longer here if we weren't in a hurry to finish going through the store. We needed to get to the home office section where we finally found a secretary, hutch and cabinet that we liked enough to purchase.
And yes. It all fit in our car. The bunk beds, a double stroller, a secretary, a hutch, a bench, and two bags filled with other stuff. We also had a cooler bag, 2 bags from our Trader Joe's run, and the usual crap that we travel with every day. We could have fit even more stuff inside with some careful rearranging.This pretty sums up how we felt at the end. Whatever we could do to stay perky we did. The kids were tired, we were exhausted from dragging them through the store despite all of the cool kid features, they were hungry again, and we were ready to go home. I am looking forward to a more relaxed trip up there soon to look at all of the stuff that was just impossible with the kids. But overall, we did it. We got the bed, office furniture, and we are really happy with our choices. Now Mario just needs to put it all together, but lucky for me that's one of his 3 special handy talents!

Aunt Mikie and Uncle Mike.

We love having Aunt Mikie and Uncle Mike so close to us! We stopped by for a quick visit and to deliver a few goodies on Saturday afternoon. They have the best front porch swing and house to run laps in.

They also have wide open spaces to play ponies. Clare and Aunt Mikie named all of her ponies: Blueberry, Bubble Gum, Bailey, Grape, and two other pinkish sounding names that I've already forgotten.

Uncle Mike gave Wesley his first basketball lesson. He had a blast in the back yard shooting hoops. I'm guessing it felt like flying to be lifted from the ground holding a giant basketball all of the way up to the hoop. Wesley is looking forward to his next practice session.

#33. The Best Birthday Ever.

Tuesday I turn 33.

Last year on Mother's Day I made a list of things that I wanted to do/have happen to make it the best day ever. On Mother's Day we did everything on the list and it was the best Mother's Day ever.

Sometimes I fall into the trap of hoping and wishing things to happen that never really happen which then makes me feel disappointed. So in the spirit of making what you want happen and fulfilling your own dreams (and making it very easy for Mario to know what I want to be happy) I made another list of things for April 21.

It's going to be a great day.

• cheese
• install new printer
• nap
• a walk alone
• pimento cheese from di prato's
• a happy birthday picture drawn by the kids
• cupcakes
• a clean front porch
• a glass of pinot noir on the porch
• carry out from M cafe
• kids that behave
• clean sheets
• a silicone baking mat
• a special coffee drink
• toast at the Gourmet Shop with Wesley
• a picnic blanket
• fun mail

Berries.

April in Columbia = strawberries. Big, gorgeous, sweet, plump, and even better when you pick your own. Our Friday morning was totally open today so we made an impromptu date with Katie and headed over to Cottle's Farm. Even though Clare claims that she's never been there I have proof that she has. I love this place for toddlers. That is ... as long as you are open to really dirty, sticky, stinky kids on the ride home. Wesley found the mud and managed to sink both of his feet into it so firmly he kept grunting 'stuck!' until I cam to rescue him. The above photo is phase one of the rescue operation. Phase two included dislodging his sneakers from the mud.

We purchased one bucket of berries ($10) and they were kind enough to give us an extra so both kids could have their own buckets. By the end of our picking time we were well over our limit so we had to do some last minute eating and weeding out before we paid. Wesley toppled our bucket a few times, smashed a lot of the fallen berries with his shoes, and happily picked some more.

Sunshine + mud + kids + friends + strawberries = good. The entire trip was an exercise in letting go of any expectations. Clare had a to make an emergency pee stop in the middle of the field and I was really proud of her for relaxing enough to go in the fresh air for the first time. Wesley destroyed every bit of clothing on his body. Our friend had a blowout diaper. But even with all of those adventures it was really just about being outside and laughing a lot.
Next time though I will try and think of a better wardrobe knowing that my little mud monster will be unstoppable. And I now know that there's a hose back at the entrance for clean up along with picnic tables for a post-picking picnic.

Now I am ready to start cooking. Angel food cake is a personal weakness and our favorite strawberry dessert treat.

Fashion Show Fun

Think quick? How much do you think this dress costs? Last night Susan and I went to Girl's Night Out for the seventh annual fashion show. I love this event once I get pass the stress of what to wear. We nibbled on exotic cheeses from Mr. Friendly's, sipped lightly colored beverages, sampled itty bitty lemon bars and crab cakes, and caught up on our lives. We took second row seats on the runway and like everyone else spent the majority of the time chatting up what we liked and disliked from the show...and the outfits of the people across they way from us.

Not that my outfit was anything spectacular but it was terribly boring compared to many others at the event. I love how the guise of being at a fashion show gives way to that inner catty girl feature. Suddenly it is absolutely and totally acceptable to have an opinion on most everything and anything. Hair, bags, shoes, dresses, blouses, jewelery. I didn't even realize I had so many different opinions on such matters but they just flowed from me.

We caught up with other friends at the end of the show. I learned about super cute necklaces from this site www.shopboxturtle.com and how life with three kids is coming along. We also did a little shopping but decided in the end it was probably best for us to leave our credit cards in our respective Steinmart handbags.

Bread and Seeds

Spring! Last year for Mother's Day the kids got me a basil plant that went wild. I loved having fresh leaves on hand to use but the frost got the plant and our supply abruptly ended. For Valentine's Day this year Mario got me a peat pot greenhouse and seeds...not exactly as easy as plopping a not so fragile plant in a pot but still thoughtful. Yesterday the kids and I finally got around to planting the seeds, an activity that they seemed to really enjoy. I'm guessing there are about 15 seeds in each one of those peat pellets so we will have some trimming to do but it's hard to control seed gusto in the moment.

After planting Clare wanted to plant some more so we took a short jaunt to the brand new farmer's market at the Botanical Gardens. The market is held each Wednesday 2-7 p.m. in the parking lot from now until October. Clare wanted to know where the farmer was and where the animals were. (I might have exaggerated a bit by tying the pre-school 'farm' week theme to the Farmer's Market I wanted to drag them out to see.)

We purchased dill, basil and a Roma tomato seedling for $1 each from some master gardeners. My rationale: despite the best intentions our seeds may never actually make it to seedlings and I still want basil in my back yard. We skipped the candied pecans and spent another $3.75 on a loaf of Heather's Artisan French bread. She's a baker based out of West Columbia and her loaf made our afternoon so much better. Besides, there's just something wholesome feeling about watching your kids gnaw on a hank of freshly baked bread in the parking lot of the local Farmer's Market.

David Sedaris.

I liked Ira better but that's probably because I also have a huge crush on him. I don't have a huge crush on David but I like his stories. I wasn't sure what he would read and purposely didn't read the newest book so that I wouldn't endure a repeat.

In the end I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he is travelling on tour with nine new stories. He uses the readings as a mechanism to edit his stories before sending them in for publication. Each reading is different for this reason and I imagine the end of the tour is better than the start.

If you're craving a new Sedaris story, here's one from the current New Yorker. I can't wait till he's in the state again so that I can go to another show.

Factoids:

Miles to the Peace Center from my house: 108
Dinner: Handi Indian
Dinner cost: $24
Ticket Cost: $45 with fees
Lost ticket seating pass: Free
Show start: 7:30 p.m.
Tea afterwards: The Underground
Time I pulled in my driveway: 11:45 p.m.

Because things were too good.

1. Somebody can now climb in and out of his crib and pack-n-play.
2. Some mama needs to find a bed for the climber.
3. Ice Kipies now rule our world.

Girl Date

Going on dates with Mario is expensive. Not going on dates is boring. My solution: girl dates.

Tonight a friend and I are road tripping up to Greenville, SC for 1. Indian food and 2. David Sedaris.

I'm geeked for lots of conversation, good food, and entertainment. All that and we don't even have to pay a babysitter!

Ice Kipies

This is an all to common scene in our house. Note the blackened windows indicating that it is far past bed time. These kids are NUTS for ice kipies. Just recently Clare introduced Wesley to the joy of kipies and Grampin' found a great deal on them for us. We are stocked with ice kipies for the next year!

Wesley dives into his with almond or rice milk. Tonight he threw a fit with such rage he threw himself from his crib, turned almost purple, and Mario found him screaming while dangling and clinging to the side of his crib rail. The cause: he wanted some ice kipies.