Tuesday, May 29, 2007

paperbacks

Have you ever heard of paperback swap? How did I not know of this site before now? Screw ebay! Now I can read to my little heart's desire for mere postage. Amazing. First on my list - another David Sedaris book, "Naked". I am on a kick that will not end until I have read them all I believe. I enjoyed the last one so much I was giddy while reading. That's a feat, turning the reader into a fit of giggles mid sentence. How can I resist? Thus far, since joining a mere 24 hours ago, I have already sent out five of my books and have three others due to go tomorrow. Hmmm, I must have good taste in books to be so popular, no?

much to do about much.

Thursday evening, my Mom drove in from the city to pick up the kids. Troy and I enjoyed the evening together and had a movie marathon. It was fun, but we had planned on really celebrating our anniversary on Friday. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of the amazing breakfast that Troy cooked in celebration of us... He made the most beautiful gluten-free crepes stuffed with fresh strawberries and topped with whipped cream. yum. We then took off to look for goodies.

Every year, Troy and I buy an antique for our anniversary. We LOVE antiques, but even more than possessing them, we love to shop for them. Since moving here, we had not yet checked out any of the local shops, so we hit them all up on Friday. We don't usually have anything in mind. At least not collectively. I had thought a picnic suitcase with all the bits would be lovely. I'm not sure if Troy had any ideas beforehand - he definitely was not in sync with mine. Usually as we browse, we will stumble upon some item that is obviously for us. That day was no exception. We found this gorgeous chick hatchery from 1910. Awesome. The condition is amazing and it stands on legs, so it can be used as a table. We just fell for it as soon as we set eyes on it. Unfortunately for us, it was priced a bit out of range of the budget we had set, but we have decided to continue to set some cash aside each week until we can call it ours. You know, in the name of us. Uh, love it. I wish I had taken a photo to pine over.

After much shopping and a little buying, we came home and Troy once again returned to the kitchen. What a dinner.


Steamed lobster claws, bacon wrapped Cajun sea scallops, grilled king crab in tarragon butter, and gluten-free fried oysters. Freaking delicious. He continues to boggle the mind.

Saturday was Marnie's big 3. I missed my babies so much. It is so silly how much your heart can ache after kiddos when they have only been gone a couple of days. It was a lovely reunion though and Marnie was pretty excited about the many packages we brought with us. Per usual, her fave by far was the birthday ball. The main theme was a barbie pretend makeup set - in the middle hid a (sort of) working hair dryer.


Since we are throwing the kids a giant party, I went the route of an individual cake for the actual day. I had wanted to get her a heavily frosted cupcake, but when the only bakery in town is inside a Walmart, you have to lower your expectations. I found a little cake and then added an immense amount of pink frosting and sugar stars. She dug.


The kids and I headed to Kalamazoo on Sunday for a cousin's graduation party/pig roast. Yup. It was fine and all. People went a bit crazy with the hooch, but at least it was entertaining. Yesterday morning though, Ethan awoke with a 104 temp. He was difficult to rouse and simply not himself. We got him home quickly and made many efforts to bring down his temp. We were in constant contact with his doctor and were ready to head out to the hospital in a second if the situation became worse. It was so scary to see him that way. Finally his fever broke in late afternoon and he returned to his crazy self by evening time. Ethan is such a sweet thang. He managed to smile through most of the day... even as he sat in a bath with ice.Yesterday, in addition to a sick kid, we also had a trapped bird in our fireplace. Troy had sworn he had been hearing a ghost in the house for a couple of days. Well, no. It was just a bird. What gave it away? Maybe it was the BIRD knocking his beak against the glass of the fireplace. I swear I don't know what he would do if he lived alone. Anyway, Troy was able to get at it after a few hours of trying. It was fine. *



And then in another lovely dinner from the boy. My favorite in fact. I think the rice needs some tweaking and I could do without the k.r.a.b., but overall it was good and so nice of him to try.
He said that this was for me, but it was really for him... Gluten-free chocolate cake. I'll admit it was pretty good.
Today we are back to normal. No more birthdays or holidays. Well, that is until Ethan turns one next week. And did I mention that the mother-in-law is arriving in a few days? Yup. We have a christening party to attend in a couple of days also and I have yet to make a gift or even search for ideas. Oh, and the ladies' wedding in which the gift is far from complete. And those birthday banners that need to be made before the party... I'm screwed.


* Don't mind the crying man in the photo - for he is not actually crying, merely deathly allergic to grass spores. Spring is trying to off him.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

craziness

These past couple of weeks have been insane. Actually, this time of year is always insane in our family. Four years ago today, my handsome husband and I were married (Happy Anniversary honey!!!) and then three months later we were pregnant. Purposely pregnant, but maybe not planned so perfectly. Marnie was due to be born the day after our one year anniversary - she was instead born 2 days later on the 26th. Once Marnie turned a year old, Troy and I decided we were ready to have another baby. We wanted our kids to be very close to two years apart plus a couple of months so that their birthdays would be a bit apart. We were spot on this time and Ethan was due to arrive July 9th. We would have a couple of weeks between Marnie's day and Father's Day and then yet another couple of weeks until the Fourth of July and E's day. He had other plans though and make it into this world six weeks ahead of schedule. So, now all five events are scrunched in together. We do the best we can. Usually this time of year goes something like we forgo Mother's Day activities and Troy and I are lucky if we are able to go to dinner on our anniversary...we try to make the birthdays special but simple... and then somehow Troy ends up with some crazy kind of expensive Father's Day gift. I'm not sure how this happened. Last year: Mother's Day = nada. Father's Day = a great big gas grill. Hmpf.

This year however, it is going down a bit differently. Sort of. We are once again not really 'doing' too much for our anniversary. We are shipping the kids off to Chicago this afternoon and spending a whole day and a half by ourselves. Did you catch that? a.l.o.n.e. I am so freaking excited to sleep in tomorrow that I cannot even put it into actual words. It just keeps coming out ploopengotten smattenhoop. Nope, this year we have chosen to forsake our selfish Mom and Pop holidays for a huge kiddie bash. We are doing it up toddler style. In a mere two weeks, our house will be filled with loved ones celebrating our children's lives. I am pretty stoked about this event. Right now however, I am selling off all my worldly possessions on ebay in order to pay for it. Okay, so not all of them. Maybe in fact it is just a bunch of crap. Crap for sale.

Updates on all things Marnie & Ethan Birthday 2007 to come...

Sunday, May 13, 2007

happiness

Oh Mother's Day loveliness! Today I got to sleep in until almost 9:30... and I was given these beautiful stakes for my garden. I'm pretty sure that this is the first time anyone has ever made something for me. I love it. I hope all my future gifts from the kids are made by their little hands. I felt very special.

The rest of the day was spent roaming around the gardens and splashing a bit in the lake. Lovely. The weather was perfect and at every turn there were new buds and stems that were not there yesterday. I love this time of year. I cannot wait for more blooms though.


I am working on so many projects right now that I am kind of freaking out. Many have deadlines and I am fearful of not getting them done in time. Troy's aunt and her partner are getting married next month and I decided to take a stab at quilting. Hand quilting. For the first time ever. hmmmm. Maybe a bit ambitious, but it seems like a good idea in theory. These two ladies mean the world to me and I want to do something really nice. I have never embroidered before, but I got a book! I took a stab at a couple of stitches and then did a flower. Pretty elementary, I know, but eh. It turned out okay.

I have some wee stichettes headed my way, so I'll get some practice. yum.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Pan - moving on...

I finished "Plain Truth" a novel by Jodi Picoult about a week ago. Let me start by saying how much I enjoyed the theme: Amish living. I was drawn to the book due solely to my not so secret desire to live in a plain way. I of course do not dream to give up all my modern possessions in exchange of gas lamps and dairy farming, but I do yearn for a more simple existence. This book tapped into that little part of me and explained a bit about this faith and the people that live it. Sadly, that is where the enjoyment ends.

"Plain Truth" was positively painful to read. Ms. Picoult's writing is extremely elementary, lacks creativity and is absolutely obvious. I would have stopped after the first chapter had I not wanted to learn more about the Amish culture. Thinking back, I'm not sure that the trade of a bit of knowledge vs. the cringe factor in the author's writing was worth it. Had I been of right mind, I would have chucked the book in the bin and bought some other book about the Amish. Who knows what my thinking was... The ending really capped off the book in a way true to each of it's preceding pages - in outrageous disappointment which leads to self analyzing the reason why you had put yourself through the torture of 405 pages of this shiteous writing in the first place. Obviously I will not be running out to read the rest of Jodi Picoult's works.

Enough about that crappy book. Let's talk about the two I am currently reading in quite sporadic form: "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris and "Sacred Games" by Vikram Chandra. Both are lovely and I am enjoying them thus far. I am not sure if trying, that I could find two mored dis similar books, but in an odd way they compliment each other in my world. Why am I reading two? Troy and I are sharing the Sedaris book, and I have the other going so I may not ever be without a good read. I am not far into either book, so I have no opinion to really give at this time beyond the obvious of Sedaris being so funny that I often times find myself in fits of tears and that I have a lot more to learn about the gangs of India. More to come on these two.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

what to do when your daughter's the devil?

Oh, I feel terrible! A friend of mine came over earlier in the day to keep me company as I continue to dig up the vegetable plot from hell and allow her son and Marnie to play together. This was an excellent plan and for the most part it went swimmingly. My work went so much faster with her here to talk with and Marnie stayed out of my hair long enough to actually accomplish something. I dig, Jenni talks, kids play on the swing set, babies sleep = wonderfulness. That is until Marnie pushed Noah off the end of the tunnel which is twelve feet high. On purpose. Thank God he didn't break anything. What kind of punishment does such an act call for? Seriously - that is extremely dangerous behavior. She is only three, so I am not really sure what do do beyond time outs. Nowhere in the books does it tell you what to do when your tot tries to kill her only child friend. Obviously we ended the play date and now Marnie is sequestered to her bedroom until further notice, but is that enough or appropriate?

Mother's Day goodiness

What a nice success! Last night my mom and step-dad came for the evening before continuing on to the house up north in Traverse City. Since they will be there all weekend and will therefore not be in the vicinity for Mother's Day - we made my mom dinner and gave her a gift last night to show her how awesome she is. It went pretty well if I do say so. Here was our menu:

Fontina cheese served with sesame and seaweed crackers
Steak, shrimp & scallop kabobs
Red, orange & yellow peppers, mushroom and vadallia onion kabobs
Twice baked potatoes with green onions
Vino

Yummy.

I wish I had thought to take pictures of the meal. It was really beautiful with all the colored peppers. I had planned to, but alas...

As for the gift - I always have such a hard time picking out gifts for my parents. They have everything that they need and if they don't, they go out and buy it. My mom does not really collect anything and despises knick knacks and anything that doesn't have a real purpose. That is one of the main reasons I prefer to make gifts instead of buy them - usually what I make is practical and if it's not, you feel to guilty to throw it out or not use it because someone spent so much making it for you. Anyhow, this year I did not have the time to make something - I just had too many other projects going on. I decided to to go the charity route via this bag.
Not only is the bag awesome, but it also feeds a child for an entire school year. How can you go wrong? I am going to get one for myself also and so should you!


World Food Programme Feed Bag

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

birthday banner banter

The family and I attended a birthday party last Sunday in the burbs. Birthday parties are of great interest to me right now as our big shin dig looms in the near future. I am really big on making things *extra* special and memorable (especially when it comes to my kiddos). This party that we went to was for the son of my dearest friend all throughout high school and up to now. We don't get to see each other very often, but when we do, it's just like we were together yesterday. Anyhow, her son turned one and we were able to make it out to the celebration. The thing that caught my eye was this large and lovely banner that she had made to wish her son a happy 1st. It was made of fabric and very cute. I had never thought to do this - but what a clever idea! Every year at the child's birthday, you can bring out the banner to hang up. With permission, I am totally stealing this idea for the kid's party. I am going to make one for each - in case they decide to do separate parties in the future or what have you. I am going to take the sentimental factor a bit farther however. When Marnie was a baby, I was so crazy about having this beautiful little girl that I went a little overboard on cute outfits. I have never had the heart to give away many of the dresses even though I have no plans of having more children. They have been sitting in the basement, collectively growing in numbers as she outgrows her still adorable dresses. The same kind of goes for Ethan too - I still have all of his baby clothing, however being only 11 months, there is not as much of a stash. Back to my point - I had the idea to use this clothing for the lettering on the banner. I think it will add a bit more to
the feeling of the banner.



Okay, so I still have quite a bit to do. I bought some felt today for the trim and to outline the letters. I hope that it doesn't take too much time, because I still have another to do. I have to say though that this project thus far has been super easy and really cheap. It really is not going to cost much more than one of those stupid plastic birthday banners and this will look much better hanging off the deck. The only thing that really sucks about this banner is how emotional it was to cut up her little dresses. I am not sure if it is due to the realisation that my baby is becoming a big girl or that I am not hanging on to them anymore in case I have another baby girl. Whatever the reason, it made me cry - a lot.