Magic

"Wesley do you want me to disappear you?" Clare asked.

Then she waved her wand and put a blanket over his head.

pStyle

"Look Mommy! Those are purple unicorn flowers!" said Clare. Sometimes she startles me with the ideas and clarity of her thought. Of course they are purple unicorn flowers, that name makes so much sense and gives everyone a glimpse of a simpler world through the eyes of a three year old. What if we let toddlers name flowers? Or streets? I wonder what they would come up with.

But more than an naming schemes or future marketing schemes, I loved how her gleeful shout towards the front seat made me stop and get choked up. For me it was one of those thankful moments where I felt beyond lucky to be in the car on an ordinary Friday morning with this little person. I'm not sure I even would have noticed the purple unicorn flowers if she hadn't pointed them out.

On another flower related note. Mario mowed the yard this morning (also known around here as trimming the weeds since we don't think we actually have grass). The entire time he was out there Clare tracked him running from window to window. Finally she busted out the back door, stood on the deck and screamed "What about the flowers Daddy?!?" Clearly distraught that the bright yellow dandelions and buttercups were missing I left Mario to handle that one on his own.

Later on Mario 'gave the red ants their medicine' in the yard. He then got stuck in line of questioning that went from how do they eat it? To something about the ants taking it to the queen to give to everyone else, and everyone being happy. Never mind the fact that Clare has 12 glaring, puss filled ant bites on her right foot. Eventually we are going to have to do the life and death thing around here but clearly we are avoiding it until absolutely necessary. Today was hot enough to turn on the air conditioning inside. For the summer we keep it set at about 80 degrees with occasional dips when we have company. When the gas pack cranked on I turned on the oven and made two baguettes from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. They were really good warm and later we enjoyed slices with pimento cheese on the front porch.

Back to the girl child. Shortly after getting me all misty about the purple unicorn flowers she proceeded to pull her shorts, underwear, and crocs off to pee on the sidewalk. She learned how to pee outside from a friend during a play date a few weeks ago. Now she's a total convert. She prefers peeing au natural to using the potty we carry around in the van. She likes to make rivers like Bailey and is quite good at it. Last night while reading about Diva Cup Month I found this product: the pStyle. I'm thinking that Clare might be the perfect candidate for a pink one but it might eliminate some of the yogi factor in her outdoor elimination techniques.

Some of the reasons they must bathe tonite.

Alligator watching at the lake with hovering mama is hard work. Whomever designed this dock did not have uncoordinated toddlers in mind.

Running and rolling down grassy fields in a race to the shore is very tiring and dusty.

Putting on vigorous dance shows, coloring boards with giant chalk and falling off stages is hard work.

Little hands get awfully dirty collecting woodsy tidbits in bags for 'daddy's birthday gifts' throughout the gardens. My once clean (as of Tuesday) van is now littered with important leaves, pine straw, sticks, and craisins.

Their mama let them do it all with gusto at the Clemson Extension Children's Garden this morning in the sticky South Carolina summer sun. Oh. And then they ate watermelon.

Food Notes

1. There will be soba noodles with peanut citrus sauce in my home very soon. A big batch, one with leftovers to bring along on an upcoming picnic.

2. Perhaps winter would be a better time to experiment with bread baking. I have three more loaves of bread to make in the refrigerator but I balk at the idea of heating the oven to 450 and 500 degrees. We are still living air conditioning free at our house but doing something like that might push us to close the windows and crank up the gas pack.

3. There is a watermelon on the kitchen table waiting to be dissected. I have three Tupperware containers ready to house water melon chunks for future snacking.

4. Brie and crackers.

5. Olives. After lusting after olives at the Fresh Market, or rather, eating olives from the Fresh Market olive bar out of a plastic container while sitting in the van one afternoon, I bought two gigantic bottles of olives at Sam's Club. Now I can have olives whenever I want. I'd love to upgrade my olive selection but for now it's working just fine.

6. Jelly sandwiches on white bread = Clare's favorite sandwich (and only sandwich that she will eat). But I did a happy dance when I found milk free bread at the store so that's one thing that we don't have to buy two of right now.

7. Goat cheese and Triscuits.

8. I made fajitas in the crock pot last night. They were pretty good and very easy. We will be doing this again because it is so simple and tasty.

Bending

This morning I bobbled all over the studio, fell down once, twisted my ankle, clapped, and shook my hips to hip hop, latin, and house music. The dance moves weren't difficult, they were just new to me.

I am not a coordinated being. I even won some kind of clutz award in high school. Instead, I'm usually the girl in the corner at functions trying to have thoughtful conversations instead of grooving on the dance floor. But this morning while the kids were safe in H2Women's child care and I left Regis, Kelly, Martha, and Tyra on the elliptical and took a Body Jam class.

I had so much fun that the hour flew by! I wanted to do the routines again just so I could finally get the jumps right and to go in the correct direction. This summer I am bending more rules, trying new things, and letting go.

For starters: Wesley is wearing disposable diapers. The allergies, salt water, and pool water all = explosive poop and I just am tired of washing diapers. So we are taking a break for now and enjoying the holiday for a bit. It was hard to let go and buy diapers but I know we'll be back to cloth soon enough.

And the kids are watching a little bit of TV. I even kind of learned how to work the DVD player and the television. I am also proficient in operating the Redbox at Walgreen's. So when things are really crazy around here I am kind of sort of okay with letting them watch a show while I sit on the front porch and decompress.

And I'm trying new beverages. Beer makes me feel bloated. Wine gives me head aches so I'm taking GUGG girl advice and trying vodka based drinks at happy hour. Bay breezes, sea breezes, sweet tea lemonade, and I'd like to learn how to make a Tom Collins.

And I'm eating more of the things I love. Cheese, olives, bread, chocolate, and bacon! We are eating out more, getting babysitters just because, and I am planning MNO's at least weekly! Moderation of course, but all of these things are in moderation.

Bring on the wet bathing suits, bug bites, air conditioning, and watermelon. I am in the mood to relax more than usual and that means bending my expectations. Spending time at the gym's childcare so I can Jam and shower in peace is not going to harm the kids. We're only in week two, but thus far I have not heard any complaints from my family so we'll work on other modifications too.

Up next: looser bed times, dirtier children, more sex, less laundry, movies, simple suppers, finger food picnics, cocktails, dustier rooms, and more time at home.

Memorial Day

Grampin', the kids, Mario and I went to the beach early on Memorial Day to avoid some of the crazy crowds. We did the usual: swimming, snacking, digging, and observing. I even got to read a magazine...I found two magazines someone left on the beach and I totally enjoyed flipping through the pages while two other sets of eyes watched the kids. Wesley is a wild card right now, a bit too adventurous for my taste and very susceptible to tumbles in the surf.

These two had a blast and we benefited with great rest time in the afternoon. Each rest time Mario and I escape somewhere on the island or off to run errands, read books, drink tea, or look at real estate. At night we also enjoy dating again! Over the weekend we went to several of our favorite village bars, celebrated our anniversary at Halyards, and went for long walks.

This child is a beach fanatic. She's lucky to have a Grampin' who is willing to float with her in the water until both of them have raisin hands. We enjoyed a great weekend to start our summer. I'm looking for to many more beach mornings with Grampin' and the kids in the upcoming months.

Dollar Store Flotation

Gotta love the dollar store flotation devices! Eventually we'll upgrade to real swimming lessons but for right now everyone seems to be happy. Both kids are not into the pool but are perfectly happy to float in the ocean where there feet are far from the bottom among waves and sea creatures. Hopefully they'll warm up to the idea of letting go of the side of the pool in a few weeks.

Wesley is all about kicking. He will go to the edge of the pool regardless of the depth below, swing his chubby legs over the side, carefully balance his body with his belly, and kick away. Fun stuff and I am happy that we have the pool available for afternoon play time.

Sunday afternoon at the beach

Beach weekend. School is out. The beach is in high season. Grampin' is at the beach. Beach entertainment is much easier than home entertainment (as long as it isn't raining!).

This child adores his Grampin' and his beard tickles! Wesley makes such joyful sounds when Grampin' is nearby.

Our little beach dancer. She is a water nut so it takes considerable effort to ensure that nobody drowns when we are all at the beach during high tide.

And of course...my sweetie. I still think I dig a better hole than he does but I'm happy to let him do the digging this weekend. Last night in honor of our anniversary we went out for tapas together and then went by the King and Prince to watch a wedding reception in progress where we held ours nine years ago this weekend.

Thus far a good weekend for everyone. We are certainly eating well thanks to Grampin's shopping efforts. Tonight Mario grilled tenderloin steaks, lobster tails and corn on the cob. I slaved over twice baked potatoes inside at the oven and the kids popped edamame all over the kitchen. Good stuff and good times.

Flashback: 12 years old

As a kid when babysitters came over my brother and I either: 1. dropped scissors in the sink, squirted fake blood all over some body part, and screamed bloody murder till the sitter came running, or 2. we asked to bake stuff. Muffins, bread, cakes, cookies. It didn't matter what it was because we were living under my mother's '2 cookies' only for dessert rule and if we baked we got to do some tasting and sampling way beyond our regular sugar intake.

Somewhere along the way I got interested in making bread. For Christmas one year my parents got me a set of baking bricks and the book: Judith Olney On Bread (which I still have). Who could blame them: geek child who wants to bake? Fresh bread, cheesecake, and treats? I will invest in whatever culinary habit our kids want to follow just so we can reap the benefits!

A few months ago I heard about Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and immediately put it on hold at the library. I waited. And waited. And waffled putting the book in my Amazon cart more than once. Finally this week I got an email letting me know that it was my turn to spend three weeks with this book. After chasing shoeless children that escaped from the cart at Target while multitasking picking up ingredients and other stuff I got a chance to put it all together.

I made the initial dough yesterday afternoon. Then Mario and I went to a cocktail party last night and ate too much cheese and too many Chocolate Nirvana mini cupcakes while sipping nice wine. (I love chocolate and red wine!) And this morning I popped my first loaf in the oven while strapping the kids in their booster seats so I didn't burn them with the oven door.

I know! I did it. I had a little happy moment in the kitchen when I realized that it worked. I made bread...all by myself! I can't wait to try more of the advanced loaves in the future. This book may have to revisit the Amazon cart to become a permanent member of my cookbook collection.
Then we went to Earthfare, to the Main Street Marketplace, and to Gotham City Bagels. We ended up at Finlay Park with about 400 children in white shirts and blue shorts to meet our friends for a picnic lunch. We must not get out and in open spaces enough because all four children had a blast running, shrieking, throwing balls, blowing bubbles, and rolling in the grass. They got awfully hot and sweaty which reminded Kate and me that summer is well on its way. Picnics rock in theory but I still haven't figured out how to get my kids to actually eat at the picnic. Any suggestions on this one?

After the picnic and park play (we played while the field trip kids lunched) we came home to a freshly made, totally cooled, boule of bread. A delicious rest time treat for me to enjoy alone with butter, raspberry rhubarb jam, and a very cold beverage.

Visions

There are three boxes in our tiny foyer from Ikea waiting to fulfill their destiny. A bench, a desk, and a secretary lurk inside the cardboard. Assembly is not the problem because I married the world's greatest particle board with a hex key assembler in the universe. Finding a space in the Tangerine Room for the new furniture is definitely the problem.

We have a vision for the room that includes removing the guest bed and downsizing to a twin, getting rid of 80% of my crafty stuff from projects started and phases long gone, and making the room a pleasant workable space. I can see it in my head. We even mapped it out on paper. It's a great room, a refuge free of plastic things in our minds.

I also have a vision of a bedroom free of laundry baskets filled with lost socks. A room without piles of things that have no other home. I know my bedroom is supposed to be an oasis dedicated to sleep and sex but right now it's also a filing cabinet, a safe box, a laundry room, and a library. Much like the Tangerine Room I have a vision for this room too. Crisp linens, bright natural light, organized drawers, and soft music.

I don't think either of these projects will take much time to actually complete (I mean, how hard is it to get rid of three laundry baskets filled with loner socks?) but we haven't gotten around to it. Of all of the stuff the part that scares me the most = the piles of paper. The piles are filled with papers and things that don't have a real home. Some days I wonder if more space is the solution but I think we'd probably just fill that up with more piles and socks too.

So for now we cling to our visions and choose to spend our evenings chatting on the front porch. Eventually we will get tired of tripping over the Ikea boxes and get around to making our visions reality. Or...we'll have a house guest.

Who's your prince? Or princess?

Last week Clare noticed our wedding picture on the table in Mario's office. I explained to her that it was taken on the day I married Daddy on St. Simons Island. She pondered that for a few minutes and took off on a princess and prince tangent.

Later in the car she asked a few more questions about the dress.

Mama: I still have that dress in the closet if you want to wear it someday.
Clare: When I get married?
Mama: Yes. Do you know who will be the prince at your wedding?
Clare: Yes...Wesley will be my prince.
Mama: Do you want to wear my dress when you get bigger?
Clare: No, I want to get my own dress.

So much for wedding gown preservation. Anyhow, nine years ago I married my prince in Georgia and today we are casually celebrating the occasion after the kids go to bed. We are planning more fun for this weekend in honor of our marriage on St. Simons where we have access to the best babysitter ever.

This morning our stumble out of the house felt more chaotic than usual. A container of brownies for Wesley's class, end of the year teacher's gifts in one hand, picnic money in an envelope, and the usual backpack stuff. Mario loaded the kids in the van and gave me a kiss goodbye. I looked at him and asked "Is this what you thought our life would be like 9 years ago?" Without even pausing to think he said "No." But we are where we are doing what we are doing. Plans change, time lines go bonkers, and we are just learning to adjust accordingly. I think we've had the most fun and grown the most in those awkward spaces.

The Last Monday

And tomorrow is the last Tuesday.
And Wednesday is the last day.

Caroline said she was ready to rip the band aid off and plunge into summer...I know I need to but I keep just picking at the edges dreading the pain.

Perhaps by Wednesday I'll finally be ready. I love how we always seem to be prepared and okay when the time eventually comes, even when we're on vacation.

I resolve (as of Wednesday) to use our Summer Vacation to do all of the things that we cannot do when school is in session. We will wear our pajamas longer, travel when we want to, adjust rest times accordingly, watch movies in air conditioned living rooms with popcorn, go to the beach, find every aquatic activity in Columbia, and become even better friends with our friends. What's not to look forward to in all of that?

Because

I'm trying to gear myself up to maybe cut Wesley's hair on or near his second birthday this July. I don't think I can bring myself to do it before then because I adore these curls. (And every mama I know who cut her little boy's curls said they didn't come back!)

This afternoon after the water fun we enjoyed snacks on the front porch. Blackberries, raw almonds, sour dough bread chunk, white bean spread, chocolate, cheese chunks, and cashews rounded out the spread. The kids took turns on the swing, we nibbled, and everyone ate. I think I may even be able to set something like that up and call it dinner one evening. That would be fun and easy compared to some nights around the table!

Outside Today

A sprinkler +
Water shoes and crocs +
Bathing suits +
Pool +
$2.99 sprinkler +
A poop-free back yard =
Sunday afternoon fun and very wet children.

Date Night

Friday Night: Columbia

• 1 awesome babysitter
• Dinner and microbrews at Hunter Gatherer
• Margaritas and chips at Tio's
• Prescription pick up for a toddler at home
• Drinks at the Rooftop Bar on Main Street
  

Our first 'just because' date night outside of grandparent babysitting. No events, no heels, no grocery shopping! It felt so good to get out for a few hours together and it made an ordinary Friday much better.

Saturday Night: Home

• Sweet Tea Vodka and lemonade
• Front porch chairs
• Citronella candles
• Sleeping babes
• A rain storm
• Salt and Vinegar potato chips
• Pajamas

Equally delightful! We've started to figure out what would make being at home more fun and 'datelike' for us. Usually it's a simple thing like a special snack or drink, candles, and something good to listen to on Pandora. I'm looking forward to more dates at home this summer.

How do you date your sweetie?

Friday Joy

• Sleeping kids at nap time.
• Date night with Mario just because at 6 p.m.
• Writing a note to a friend.
• Pandora on my netbook.
• Front porch tea and journalling.
• Clean clothes (thanks Mario!).
• Mama date night high from Nonah's last night.
• Double strollers.
• Health insurance.
• Completed contracts for Montessori School.
• Unexpected down time.
• New steno pads.
• Leftover cupcakes in the fridge.
• Upcoming beach trips.
• Buying plane tickets for the summer.
• Husbands that do the night shift.
• Caramel.

Petits Fours

I made mini cupcake petits fours last night! I know! My first ever but they were 1. easy and 2. fun to create. I got the idea from Hello Cupcake, a book Bonnie gave me for Christmas that is total eye candy. I made a batch of mini cupcakes out of a basic boxed cake mix. Then I took some canned frosting, added food coloring, microwaved it for a few seconds and dipped the cake in. When the frosting cooled it formed a thick shell and I piped little decorations on each cake using plain white frosting and a ziploc bag. That's it! We had a bit of extra batter so I made six regular cupcakes to keep at home. The rest of these went to Clare's school and our SPOTS meeting this morning. Dessert tonight is going to be very tasty.

Bliss: the library alone.

On Mother's Day I left the kids in the backyard with Mario and made a run to the local library. My mission: cookbooks. I could have left with oodles more but opted to get the rest on a return trip. Head Lima Bean + Cookbooks at the real bookstore is an expensive notion...for this situation the library is a much beter option!

My next cheap alone date: reading cooking magazines at the library. What would you spend your time browsing if you had 30 minutes alone at a library?

Trash to Treasure

Step One: Find old chair on the side of the street on trash day in Elmwood Park. Stop the mama van and throw it in the back. Let it sit in the house for at least a month and then after proper aging drag it outside with 2 cans of black spray paint during rest time.

Step Two: Remove seat cushion and paint chair black. Take cushion inside to add padding and recover using Ikea stash fabric and the trusty staple gun.

Step Three: Let chair dry. Replace seat cushion using four screws.

Tah Dah! A new hippo chair for Wesley's room. Total project time: 1.5 hours. Total project cost: $3.50.Project #2.

Step One: Find old table on the side of the road during Mama's Walk on Mother's Day. Carry table home and let it rest on patio. Use remaining spray paint from chair project to transform table.
Step Two: Let table dry. Place table between chairs on front porch. Tah Dah! New front porch table to hold essentials such as rain boots, a lamp, the mosquito thing, and cold beverages. Total project time: 10 minutes. Total project cost: maybe 50 cents.

Another thing for the list

A picture of me with my kids. (To be repeated each Mother's Day.) Thanks for the idea Laura!

Sweets from my Sweet

After our coffee splurge we went to Publix where Clare decorated a heart shaped cake just for me! She used every drop of the icing bag, all of the sprinkles, two flowers, and all of the sparkles. Great fun for us...not so much fun for the little brother to watch.

He did enjoy eating later though!
The finished product! Mario and I had some serious scraping to do before we ate it later on but knowing it was made with love made it taste delicious.

Blooming Butterflies

Thursday night we went to EdVenture for the Blooming Butterflies preview party. The kids ran wild through the museum and I was thankful Mario came along to help me herd our little dancing butterflies. Clare checked out all of the butterflies with keen interest until one landed on her back. At that point she handed me the guide and was ready to leave the exhibit.

Wesley was a model balloon butterfly with a belly. He chowed down on the snacks and chased the butterflies all over the exhibit. When the butterflies started running into him he went apeshit and turned hysterical. Mario had to carry him out well before Clare and I were finished looking around.

I didn't quite capture the fury and the tears on camera but it was really funny and he was very flustered. I hope that they both get over the trauma so we can go back again. If not I may have to go without them one afternoon.

Sleeping Babes

Passed out with graham crackers on the way home from Greer. Also known as 'sucessful playdate' pose to many.

Sleeping in bed. Looks like he is still mastering the concept of bed versus pillow. This picture taken especially for Aunt Mikie.

Who knew? You really can sleep standing up. Mario and I found Clare like this last week when we checked on her before bed. She had a particularly rough night going to bed and fought sleep until the bitter end.

Fun in Greer

"Should we do the watermelon before or after the sprinklers?" asked Jennifer shortly after our arrival in Greer last Thursday. I can't believe we even had to ask ourselves the question but we definitely made the wise 'before' choice. We then proceeded to meet the watermelon queen: Cate!

Clare and Wesley loved riding the tractor around the driveway. Wesley was a happy passenger with any driver however he probably noticed that Alex gave a much smoother ride than his sister.

Water + kids = joy. They enjoyed a lot of time in and around the sprinklers while the mamas marvelled at how easy it was to entertain four kids outside. The water toy winner: the garden hose. Good to know since we can easily replicate that kind of fun in our own backyard this summer with ease.

Wesley got his first chance at a slab of watermelon too. A hit by all standards and so much easier to clean up with the sprinklers and hose than inside with wipes.

Thanks to Alex and Cate for hosting a fabulous pre-summer play date. Jennifer and I were so encouraged by the fun we went ahead and scheduled two more for the month of June!