Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Oh....SPRING!
We all tasted it today. The sun was out. The wind was brisk. We HAD TO GET OUTSIDE. Let's hope this weather stays around!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Hey, it's OK...March 15, 2011
The past two weeks have included birthday parties, fireworks, failed shopping trips, failed vacation plans, new recipes, car discoveries, storytimes, Lenten beginnings, and sewing adventures. Persevering day by day like these awesome ladies.
Hey, it ok...
...to love birthdays. For my last year in my 20s, my aunt organized a great outing to a local spa and lunch out at a little French bistro. Pedicures and vicariously living like Julia Child = perfect birthday gift! So post pedicure and facial, we all enjoyed oo-la-la French crepes and sipped fancy drinks. It was a good time, complete with fireworks.
...to love recipes that just work out well. The Musick clan hosted the last playgroup, which I totally used as an excuse to experiment with a bagel recipe. I made a double batch and doctored them up, making plain, sesame seed, chocolate chip, and cinnamon sugar bagels. They were a hit. I will definitely be making those sesame seed ones again. They were really yummy.
...to celebrate Fat Tuesday by taking my kiddos out for ice cream. I've been giving up ice cream for Lent for a LONG time. Since it's practically a food group for me, it's a serious sacrifice. I use that "let's go out for ice cream" excuse a lot too. So we enjoyed some Culver's and will enjoy it again for post-Easter festivities.
...to get to know my sewing machine again. I made this little reversible dress for my friend Sarah's little girl's first birthday. I was so happy with how it turned out. I followed the pattern exactly and even made little matching bloomers. Sadly, the pattern was cut a little large, so my hope that they would use this outfit this summer probably won't work out. Maybe next summer. I also finished up a shirt that I made for Sophia. Got to love remnant fabric bins! I made a matching one for Claire, but again, I ran in to pattern issues. Both tops are much smaller than their pattern pieces, so we gave Claire's shirt away, and Sophia's shirt may be donated to Claire's shirt drawer by this summer. I was also able to whip up this cute backpack for Claire. She's not too keen on keeping it on though. We'll see how it works out. I have also rediscovered embroidery after embroidering the names for my friend's two sons on their baptismal gown. I'm embroidering a little bag right now with some birds on it. Pictures will come.
...to really love having a date day with Brett that included lunch out and CAR SHOPPING. It's sad, but we're those people that love to car shop. It's so fun. We're on the hunt for a 7-passenger SUV and have to get one before little lady #3 makes her appearance. We drove a GMC Acadia and Chevy Traverse and then...the Buick Enclave. Oh my. It was amazing. You know that feeling you get when you find your first car or you find your first house, and you just have to have it?!?!?! Yeah...So we're saving up big time over the next two months in order to get a big downpayment for a new SUV. Donations are welcome.
...to love storytime at the library. Seriously. It's like the most fun thing ever. And I love watching the girls dance around. They are amazing at "If You're Happy and You Know It." I think they should start their own sisters act.
...to decide to restock the maternity clothes with some new shirts and experience a royal failure at the stores. My clothes have been through two pregnancies and one pregnancy each for my two sisters. The short-sleeved shirts are looking sad. So who out there decided that maternity clothes should be skin tight? I ventured over to the plus-size shirts and ended up wearing tents. There's no in-between. Makes a pregnant woman feel REALLY great about her body image. I only have 16 more weeks to go. I don't think I'm even going to bother getting more clothes. It's too depressing.
...to not be happy with the Hilton Rewards program. Explanation is needed here. Since Brett stays at Hilton hotels a lot when he travels, he has earned two "free stay" certificates. He used one when he went to training in Dulles, and it was good for a stay for up to 14 consecutive days. WOW! So we decided to cash in the second certificate and go on a family trip down to South Carolina. Brett put in for vacation time in late March and got it. Score! We were planning to meet up with his brother and stay at this beachfront resort in South Carolina that we normally could not afford. With the free flight down there, we were pretty much getting away with a free vacation. So Brett called to reserve our room today, and the customer service said that the certificate was only good for one night. ONE NIGHT. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bought new bathing suits and sandcastle-building toys. So no warm, beachfront vacation for us. Instead, we may be cashing in our ONE FREE NIGHT up in Chicago and hitting the Shedd Aquarium. I'm bummed. I really had my heart set on a week of warmth, no work, and family time.
...to rebound from a rough day by watching this video over and over again.
Hey, it ok...
...to love birthdays. For my last year in my 20s, my aunt organized a great outing to a local spa and lunch out at a little French bistro. Pedicures and vicariously living like Julia Child = perfect birthday gift! So post pedicure and facial, we all enjoyed oo-la-la French crepes and sipped fancy drinks. It was a good time, complete with fireworks.
...to love recipes that just work out well. The Musick clan hosted the last playgroup, which I totally used as an excuse to experiment with a bagel recipe. I made a double batch and doctored them up, making plain, sesame seed, chocolate chip, and cinnamon sugar bagels. They were a hit. I will definitely be making those sesame seed ones again. They were really yummy.
...to celebrate Fat Tuesday by taking my kiddos out for ice cream. I've been giving up ice cream for Lent for a LONG time. Since it's practically a food group for me, it's a serious sacrifice. I use that "let's go out for ice cream" excuse a lot too. So we enjoyed some Culver's and will enjoy it again for post-Easter festivities.
...to get to know my sewing machine again. I made this little reversible dress for my friend Sarah's little girl's first birthday. I was so happy with how it turned out. I followed the pattern exactly and even made little matching bloomers. Sadly, the pattern was cut a little large, so my hope that they would use this outfit this summer probably won't work out. Maybe next summer. I also finished up a shirt that I made for Sophia. Got to love remnant fabric bins! I made a matching one for Claire, but again, I ran in to pattern issues. Both tops are much smaller than their pattern pieces, so we gave Claire's shirt away, and Sophia's shirt may be donated to Claire's shirt drawer by this summer. I was also able to whip up this cute backpack for Claire. She's not too keen on keeping it on though. We'll see how it works out. I have also rediscovered embroidery after embroidering the names for my friend's two sons on their baptismal gown. I'm embroidering a little bag right now with some birds on it. Pictures will come.
...to really love having a date day with Brett that included lunch out and CAR SHOPPING. It's sad, but we're those people that love to car shop. It's so fun. We're on the hunt for a 7-passenger SUV and have to get one before little lady #3 makes her appearance. We drove a GMC Acadia and Chevy Traverse and then...the Buick Enclave. Oh my. It was amazing. You know that feeling you get when you find your first car or you find your first house, and you just have to have it?!?!?! Yeah...So we're saving up big time over the next two months in order to get a big downpayment for a new SUV. Donations are welcome.
...to love storytime at the library. Seriously. It's like the most fun thing ever. And I love watching the girls dance around. They are amazing at "If You're Happy and You Know It." I think they should start their own sisters act.
...to decide to restock the maternity clothes with some new shirts and experience a royal failure at the stores. My clothes have been through two pregnancies and one pregnancy each for my two sisters. The short-sleeved shirts are looking sad. So who out there decided that maternity clothes should be skin tight? I ventured over to the plus-size shirts and ended up wearing tents. There's no in-between. Makes a pregnant woman feel REALLY great about her body image. I only have 16 more weeks to go. I don't think I'm even going to bother getting more clothes. It's too depressing.
...to not be happy with the Hilton Rewards program. Explanation is needed here. Since Brett stays at Hilton hotels a lot when he travels, he has earned two "free stay" certificates. He used one when he went to training in Dulles, and it was good for a stay for up to 14 consecutive days. WOW! So we decided to cash in the second certificate and go on a family trip down to South Carolina. Brett put in for vacation time in late March and got it. Score! We were planning to meet up with his brother and stay at this beachfront resort in South Carolina that we normally could not afford. With the free flight down there, we were pretty much getting away with a free vacation. So Brett called to reserve our room today, and the customer service said that the certificate was only good for one night. ONE NIGHT. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bought new bathing suits and sandcastle-building toys. So no warm, beachfront vacation for us. Instead, we may be cashing in our ONE FREE NIGHT up in Chicago and hitting the Shedd Aquarium. I'm bummed. I really had my heart set on a week of warmth, no work, and family time.
...to rebound from a rough day by watching this video over and over again.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Hey, it's OK...March 1, 2011
The past few week's adventures included painting a dresser, baking and cooking adventures, parties with friends, a signed contract, sleep-filled nights, dud sales, and thunderstorms. Sharing the love with these awesome ladies.
Hey, it ok...
...to do a jig of joy because that dresser we bought when Claire was only a few months old is now sanded, painted, and in the house. Thank God. Nine dresser drawers for Sophia and Claire to share when they are in the same room. Pictures to come.
...to succeed in almost everything that I've cooked and/or baked in the past few weeks. Here's a list of the latest craving-induced goodies: caramelized apple and almond pancakes, brioche rolls (utter fail because I killed my yeast starter), banana bread, fruit tart with almond pastry cream, homemade alfredo sauce, chocolate cookies, homemade bagels, and french toast casserole.
...to love spending time with the ladies for Mom's Night Out in Lafayette. It's totally worth driving up to Lafayette for one evening.
...to do another jig of joy because Brett's pilot group and company finally settled and signed their contract. YAY! We'll hopefully be reaping the benefits of that contract soon. Bad news is that we have to enroll for health insurance AGAIN. We had just upgraded to the highest level of health insurance with Brett's company. Do you know how nice it is to know that you don't have a deductible?!?! And now, that insurance plan is no longer offered. Bummer. Looks like we're going to be paying a lot more than expected for baby #3.
...to be insanely thankful that the girls have been sleeping so well at night. I might have to get up with a freaked-out Sophia every once in a while, but all that entails is rolling her back over and tucking her back in. Not a big deal since I'm up to use the bathroom anyway. Now, if I can only get #3 to calm down. I must be really active during the day because this kid sleeps all day and then decides to dance the night away.
...to have a love/hate relationship with Kroger. I dropped by last week just to pick up stamps, milk, eggs, and grapes. The milk was on sale for $1.99 and the grapes for $.99/lb. Neither of them rang up when I was in the self checkout, and the poor lady working all the registers had to go look up the prices for me. I got the lower price on the grapes but no such luck on the milk. Do you think I'd normally pay $2.89 for a gallon of milk? And why was the sign on the cooler if it wasn't on sale? Makes me wonder what other non-sale prices have snuck through on our big shopping trips.
...to renege on the previous "sleeping through the night" statement. Did anyone other than Claire sleep through that insane thunderstorm that went through the other night? Sophia and I were both awake from 12:30 until 3:30 that night. I could hear the rain and wind over the baby monitors. Ugh. I love spring, but come on...
...to love my little pirates.
Hey, it ok...
...to do a jig of joy because that dresser we bought when Claire was only a few months old is now sanded, painted, and in the house. Thank God. Nine dresser drawers for Sophia and Claire to share when they are in the same room. Pictures to come.
...to succeed in almost everything that I've cooked and/or baked in the past few weeks. Here's a list of the latest craving-induced goodies: caramelized apple and almond pancakes, brioche rolls (utter fail because I killed my yeast starter), banana bread, fruit tart with almond pastry cream, homemade alfredo sauce, chocolate cookies, homemade bagels, and french toast casserole.
Claire was a big fan of the alfredo.
...to love spending time with the ladies for Mom's Night Out in Lafayette. It's totally worth driving up to Lafayette for one evening.
...to do another jig of joy because Brett's pilot group and company finally settled and signed their contract. YAY! We'll hopefully be reaping the benefits of that contract soon. Bad news is that we have to enroll for health insurance AGAIN. We had just upgraded to the highest level of health insurance with Brett's company. Do you know how nice it is to know that you don't have a deductible?!?! And now, that insurance plan is no longer offered. Bummer. Looks like we're going to be paying a lot more than expected for baby #3.
...to be insanely thankful that the girls have been sleeping so well at night. I might have to get up with a freaked-out Sophia every once in a while, but all that entails is rolling her back over and tucking her back in. Not a big deal since I'm up to use the bathroom anyway. Now, if I can only get #3 to calm down. I must be really active during the day because this kid sleeps all day and then decides to dance the night away.
...to have a love/hate relationship with Kroger. I dropped by last week just to pick up stamps, milk, eggs, and grapes. The milk was on sale for $1.99 and the grapes for $.99/lb. Neither of them rang up when I was in the self checkout, and the poor lady working all the registers had to go look up the prices for me. I got the lower price on the grapes but no such luck on the milk. Do you think I'd normally pay $2.89 for a gallon of milk? And why was the sign on the cooler if it wasn't on sale? Makes me wonder what other non-sale prices have snuck through on our big shopping trips.
...to renege on the previous "sleeping through the night" statement. Did anyone other than Claire sleep through that insane thunderstorm that went through the other night? Sophia and I were both awake from 12:30 until 3:30 that night. I could hear the rain and wind over the baby monitors. Ugh. I love spring, but come on...
...to love my little pirates.
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