Submit your complaints here.

On Monday, I took the kids on our final summer adventure before school started. Here's the short version.

Train Parking: $3
Train ride to the city: $18
Metro ride in the city: $5
Historic Streetcar ride: $5
Peet's Coffee: $4.30
World Famous Cable Car ride: $14
Three toy cable cars and two postcards from the Cable Car Museum: $27
Two pressed pennies: $1.02
Steps taken carting around three children on a train adventure: 9,668

Arriving home and having your kid complain, "BUT WE DIDN'T GET ANY PLAY TIME THIS MORNING."

Priceless.

Our Family Motto

I really, really, really wanted our family motto to be "Don't be a Dick." It really just encompasses everything I want from my children and it applies in just about every possible annoying situation that you might encounter in life.

• Running around the grocery store while mom is trying to buy things to feed you with? Don't be a dick.
• Left your dirty underwear on the floor? Don't be a dick.
• Fighting with your brother while mom is cooking dinner? Don't. Be. A. Dick.

It's perfect. Pretty much all the time.

Except, I really didn't want my children walking around saying the word dick all the time because you know they are going to whip that out in front of grandma or during church. (C'mon guys. Cursing in church? Don't be a dick.)

So we ended up with a slightly more positive, family-friendly motto, which is "Make someone else's job easier." It's growing on me.

It's not as versatile as my first motto, but I suppose it conveys a slightly better message. Instead of teaching my kids what not to do, it encourages them to do something, mainly show kindness to another human being. And boy, is this world in short supply of kindness, or what?

A few months ago we were on a parenting reform binge. (You know, when one of your children does something that makes you wonder where you went wrong with them and you vow get those unruly monsters turned around like little Von Trapps who respond to whistle commands?) Well, we were particularly focused on "make someone else's job easier" and something beautiful happened. My three year old son stopped in the grocery store to pick up some items that had fallen off a display and put them back where they belonged. He looked at me excitedly and said "We're making someone else's job easier!" I was so proud. At three, they don't often do the right thing without a little encouragement. It was beautiful to see him do something, even if it was small, to make the world a better place.

This week I finally got around to framing it and putting it up on the wall in our kitchen. I made two versions, but hubby and I both agreed we liked the original best. Our kitchen is yellow and there was a perfect spot to put it below the kitchen clock.

Like our motto? Download the Lemon version or the Wreath version free!

The Balancing Act

You may have noticed that I have been rather absent around here lately. Last spring I was offered a small contract job working for my "before kids" employer and any free time I had to write was immediately swallowed up by the 6-8 hours of squeezing in phone calls and emails between diapers and school pick up. When summer came the prospect of trying to squeeze those things in with all three kids at home seemed impossible so I gave my notice and prepared for the whirlwind of summer.

Summer. It's hard to believe that next week I will return to the hustle and bustle of getting out the door with everyone dressed and fed by 7:45 am. Everyone around me seems more than ready to embrace the "freedom" of children in school and quiet mornings when they can hear their own thoughts. With Buttercup at home full time that won't be my reality and perhaps that is part of the hesitation I feel about the start of school. I'm not looking forward to rushing around town in time for two different drop offs and pick ups, packing lunches, homework, sports, PTA meetings, parties and strict schedules. I have enjoyed the relatively unscheduled chaos that happens on summer days in our household. My boys, at four and almost six are excellent big brothers; I feel like the eyes in the back of my head have gotten a break as Buttercup has been under the watchful eye of her brothers. They make sure she doesn't get into the choking-hazard Legos or go up the stairs of the bunk beds. They help her wash her hands and face after breakfast and clear her place. They provide endless entertainment with all their shenanigans and I think we will both miss them next week. This been my BEST summer yet, filled with a perfect blend of museums, adventures, parks and biking balanced with staying in our jammies all morning, reading books and entertaining ourselves.

After such a fun filled summer with all the kids, I've found myself wondering what I'm going to do with one kid for the next 10 months. Hopefully a deep cleaning on my house. Maybe a new exercise routine to shed all the summer beer and ice cream pounds I've put on. Perhaps some more gainful employment? I've been thinking about going back to work a lot lately and I have mixed feelings about it. Doing all the cooking, cleaning and child rearing I do now AND working seems like it might be too much and yet the financial freedom of additional income is so appealing. Using my brain for something other than mentally doubling my pancake recipe seems dreamy. But I'm not ready to give up my summers. I really enjoyed the contract job I did last year but I also remember struggling with the juggling. I've mastered the art of summer but I've yet to find the perfect balance of work and family. I suppose that's a balancing act that's going to take a lot more practice.

Cleaning Confessions from a Mom of Three

Buttercup is turning one next week and we are having a little party for her this weekend. We only invited people we pretty much consider family so there's not a whole lot of pressure on me to throw the most Pinterest perfect party. However after the great sickness of November through January I've gotten pretty behind on my housekeeping. And considering I have three kids, my standards are pretty low to begin with. How low, you ask? Let me explain...

I vacuum the couch. We have a dog so with the whole shedding thing the couch has to vacuumed pretty regularly. I know you're thinking, Everyone vacuums the couch. What's so special about that? I don't have time to use that tiny two inch hose attachment to vacuum my whole couch. No no. When I say I vacuum my couch, I mean I lift that whole vacuum on to the cushions and GO. TO. TOWN. Voila! The whole couch is vacuumed in under three minutes.

I vacuum everything. Since I have the mini Dyson ball, it lifts up to the couch easily, but it won't suck up whole Cheerios. Before I acquired the best vacuum ever (the dog) I crushed the cheerios with my toes so I could vacuum them up.

I make the kids help. They don't do a fantastic job, but they make most of this mess and one person cannot clean up after five people efficiently. This week they used baby wipes to wipe down all the kitchen cabinets. They can also unload the dishwasher, clean mirrors and windows, put away their clean laundry, dust with a swiffer, wipe tables, vacuum and  mop. Not bad for 3 and 5, right? But don't come in my house with your white glove. It's not perfect.

I let the dog help too. There's rarely anything but crumbs under my kitchen table because the whole point of having a dog is so someone else can climb under there and clean up. Seriously, we all have to pull our own weight around here.

I vacuum around my kid's crap. Often, there's only enough time to pick up their crap OR vacuum before they make such a big mess wherever they are occupying themselves that my efforts are futile. So I do a cursory pick up but I vacuum around the tubs of legos and the easel or even better I push them out of the way with the vacuum.

I don't mop. Like ever. By the time I vacuum, I'm out of time to mop. Plus, it is one of the most futile jobs ever. I mopped the living room and dining room yesterday and by last night I could see little paw prints everywhere. This morning, the three year old crushed a piece of chalk all over the already not so freshly mopped floor. In addition to that, we still haven't gotten around to refinishing our hardwood floors so even when I do mop, you literally cannot tell the difference.

Super Scrubber 5000

I have special tools. My husband built me this Super Scrubber 5000 out of a drill and a scrub brush. It works wonders on sinks and tubs. Miracles, actually.

It's not that I don't want a clean house. I do. Desperately. But my house is not a museum. Frankly, my kids and I are just too busy living here to keep it immaculate. And my sanity is far more important than a spotless home. I try, but I've got to be realistic, right?

What's your cleaning confession? Do you have a secret to getting the house guest ready?

10 Things I Learned From Air-Drying My Undies

To make a long story short, my dryer is broken. It's a simple fix and my husband ordered the part from a local appliance store almost two weeks ago; they said it would come in Friday, but Friday came and went and then they swore it would be in the following Friday. On Thursday, the day before the part was supposed to arrive we ran out of underwear. I swear every single one of us was wearing the last pair and there was not another clean pair to be found anywhere.

At first, I thought I'd go to the laundromat and do ALL the wash in one fell swoop, but I realized the three hours I had available while the boys were in school would not be enough time to get it all done, plus it would be right in the middle of the baby's nap. So I decided to wash a load at home and attempt to hang dry it and if I wasn't successful I'd just take the load to the laundromat and dry it after the hubby got home.

10 Things I learned from Air-Drying My Undies

1. People are hilarious when you send them pictures of your undies hanging up on the line.
Me: Say a little prayer that my undies don't come flying off my makeshift clothesline and into my neighbor's yard.
Husband: Ha! I hope you're wearing your bonnet as you string those up.
Sister -in-law: And viola, now your family has clean underwear. And they call the husband "The Provider."
2. Hanging your wash is a great way to stay in shape! Hahahahaha. When bad things happen around here, this is one of our favorite jokes. You had to to walk the baby all night long because she wouldn't sleep if you put her down? On the bright side, it's a great way to stay in shape! But seriously folks, this is the first time in a while I've hit my 10,000 steps.
3. My washer is huge. When I attempted to line dry everything in the load it amazed me how much fits it my washer. No wonder it takes me a week to fold two loads of laundry.

My sweet in-a-pinch clothesline. I used the ladder to help
with the sag and for extra hanging space. This was ONE load of laundry!

4. Pajamas can be worn twice. Pants can be worn even more times. I've applied the smell test to determine if my jeans are clean since I started doing my own laundry at the tender age of 14, but I've been a little more generous with my kids. Not anymore. You will wear your pants until they look or smell dirty. There is no need for me to do so much unnecessary laundry.
5. We have waaaaaaay more clothing than we actually need. I might have to go all KonMari on everyone's wardrobes this summer.
6. I should really pay more attention to my husband when he tries to teach me one of those fancy boy scout knots. Technically, it's not that I don't pay attention. I just don't retain information anymore unless I use it frequently. And sometimes I still forget things even when it's important, like my kids's names. (I have on more than one occasion called the baby by the dog's name.) The bottom line is, those knots would have been really useful for putting up my clothesline.
7. It didn't take nearly as long as I expected for everything to dry and it didn't feel as stiff.... except for the towels. They took forever and they turned out stiff and scratchy. But most of it was fabulous enough that I plan on putting up a clothesline for summer use. My house gets ridiculously hot in the summer when I use the dryer so it's totally worth it to spend a little extra time harnessing the sun's power.
8. By hanging shirts on the line using hangers I could kill two birds with one stone. Those items could go straight from the line to the closet which made putting stuff away much easier.
9. It smells amazing. Clothes hung on the line really do smell fantastic!
10. My husband was right. He has been trying to get me to iron our sheets for years because they get all wrinkled and folded at the top edge. Clearly he's stark raving mad. I don't even iron his work clothes and hell will freeze over before I have time to iron the sheets. BUT, he did mention recently that the wrinkle problem might improve if we line dried them and HE WAS RIGHT. (Did you hear that honey?) The sheets came out way better on the line and when possible, I will air-dry them from now on.

And now, I'm off to put the fresh sheets on my bed. Happy Monday!



    

The Morning Grind

It is hard to get my kids out of the house for school each morning. It's even harder to do it without yelling. And the morning yelling is probably one of the things I hate myself most for. The last thing I want to do before I send my children out into the world for the day is yell at them. Who wants to start their day by getting torn a new one by their mother who (supposedly) loves them the most?

I like to tell myself that my mornings are particularly hard since 

a) I have three young children, all 5 and under 

b) my husband is already gone for the day so I'm solo and 

c) we have to leave the house by 7:30am most days which feels early.

Now, I'm sure many of you have it harder than me. This is not a contest. I'm not looking for your sympathy about my situation or the sob story about yours. We all have our challenges trying to get out the door in a timely manner and if you are anything like me your biggest obstacle is the same: children.

My three year old is quick and efficient at getting ready for school, but is easily derailed by his brother. The baby is beautiful and virtually helpless at 11 months old so the burden of getting her ready falls squarely on me. My five year old is both easily distracted and slow as molasses. He is particularly frustrating because he is fully capable of dressing himself but he won't, at least not in in a reasonable amount of time. My mother says the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I think she's probably laughing maniacally in secret at my unfortunate karma. She also says she was guilty of yelling at me while trying to get me out the door and I turned out to be a relatively punctual and decent human being, so I think there's hope for all of us. But for my own sanity and the sake of my children I have spent the better part of this year trying to find a better way to motivate, to be on time, and to stop yelling. Here's what I've learned:

Set a timer. For Mr. Molasses I've started setting a timer, especially for breakfast. If he's not finished when the timer is up (and believe me he gets plenty of time) he leaves the table and continues with his routine. When he's finished washing up/brushing teeth and getting dressed he can go back to finish his breakfast, if there's time. Often the threat of a timer is enough, but it gets sticky when he runs out of time. Our usual punishment would be a timeout, but that use up more of our precious time! 

Let them sleep in their school clothes. The (power) struggle is real with my five year old. This was my mother's ingenious suggestion to eliminate the power struggle around getting dressed. It's a win win. Either he hates sleeping in his clothes and it motivates him to get dressed without losing focus or he loves it and it's one less thing to do in the morning. So far, I haven't had to make good on this threat, but I imagine I will before school is out. I'll keep you posted on how that works out.

Get up earlier. What I really mean by that is get up before the kids. I know you don't want to hear that. Believe me. I know. My kids get up at 6:37am every morning. My alarm goes off around 5:30am and lately I desperately ignore it until 6:00am. But an uninterrupted shower and coffee alone with my thoughts is worth it. Plus, if I am dressed and fed I can help them get ready if needed or at least monitor their progress.

Get the kids up early. Letting the kids sleep in until the last possible minute is not doing anyone any favors. They are even slower when they are groggy and more inclined to throw a fit if they are rushed. Until recently, my kids were pretty early risers so I had more of a problem getting them to stay in bed until a reasonable hour. They have a light on a timer that turns on when they are allowed to get up and now it acts as an alarm clock on school days. It's actually pretty nice that they get up on time, on their own. It's one less thing I have to worry about.

Do it the night before. Prep the coffee. Turn on the timer if it motivates you to roll out of bed before 6am. Pack lunches. Check backpacks. Pick out clothes. Find jackets. If it can be done the night before, do it. The less you have to manage during the morning rush, the less you have to yell about.

Threaten to unleash mean mommy. Sometimes threatening to yell is more effective than actually yelling. It's bizarre. It sounds like this, "If I have to ask you to get dressed again, I'm going to use my mean mommy voice. Do you want to hear my mean mommy voice?" I know. I sound like a crazy person. But I'm a pretty successful crazy person.

You'll win some, you'll lose some. Occasionally, I put my best foot forward all morning long and then as we are about to walk out the door, triumphantly on time, someone informs me that they have to poop. It happens. Pour yourself a to go cup of coffee while you wait. You will need it.

Do you have any secrets to surviving the morning grind? I'd love to hear about them!

2016: The Year of No f**ks

Love this cross stitch from the incredible Cotton Floozy

2015 was an incredible year. We welcomed Buttercup into our family and it has been nothing but a pleasure to see her capture the hearts of her big brothers. This morning she was fussy on our journey to school and her brothers sang to her and played peek-a-boo with her and it filled my heart with joy. 

However, 2015 was not ALL rainbows and sunshine. There were quite a few times when I thought I might lock myself in my room or crack a beer before noon. Honestly, it might have been better if I had done those things as opposed to becoming a raging lunatic screaming "WHY IS IT SO HARD TO PUT PANTS ON? DO YOU WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL NAKED?" It is moments like these that inspired me to make a resolution for 2016 that I might actually keep: Give fewer f**ks. 

Frankly, with three kids 5 and under, I have better things to worry about than whether or not my three year old's shirt was backwards when he went to school. 

Was he dressed appropriately for the weather? Yes. 

Were his clothes clean? Yup.

Did he dress himself from head to toe while I was free to pack lunches and feed the baby? Yes. 

Did I inform him that it was backwards and give him an opportunity to turn it around? Yep. He declined.

Now there was a time in which I would have insisted that he turn it around the proper way, even if it meant a battle. It's my job as a parent to ensure my kids go out into the world prepared for what life may bring them. I never wanted to send my kids to school with a dirty face or a backward shirt because the world is tough enough for a three year old; let's not give anyone a reason to give them a harder time.

But if I'm really honest with myself, I think the thing that bothered me most is how the backward shirt reflected on me, as a mother. What kind of mother sends their kid to school with their shirt on backwards? It's so simple. It takes one extra minute to turn that shirt around. Why doesn't that mother care? I do care. But the bottom line is, he doesn't. And taking into consideration all the other successes of the morning, I don't give a damn. 

source

It's time I stopped giving f**ks about a backwards shirt on a happy, warm, clean, well-fed, on-time-for-school little boy. 

It's time I stopped laying awake at night replaying the failures of the day instead of the successes.

This year, I won't have time for news about your neighbors deteriorating marriage or the kid who can't behave himself in class because of his parent's divorce. Can't we talk about how we are going to help? And if we can't help, lets move on.

I will change pharmacies or stop giving f**ks that the Walgreens walking distance from my house has the worst customer service on the planet. Instead, I will use my f**ks to write a thank you card to the amazing people at my pediatrician's office who have taken such good care of us this winter. 

This year I will be a great mom and I will not give any f**cks if that's not any better than last year. 

Cheers to fewer f**ks in 2016!

Kitchen Reveal: A love story three years in the making

The moment has finally arrived. Our kitchen project, almost three years in the making is finally, finally complete! Are there still a few finishing touches? Sure. I'm not sure we'll ever really be finished with any project in our house because we like to change things up. Before we had kids, the hubby and I would rearrange our apartment every six months just for fun. We still want to update a few light fixtures, and there might be a few pieces of blue tape marking spots that need a paint touch up, but the major work is done. 

And if you saw the before pictures of our kitchen, you know that a few pieces of blue tape are negligible compared to the monstrosity we began with. So without further ado, I present our kitchen.

We started by painting the cabinets white. Simply White, actually which happens to be the Benjamin Moore 2016 Color of the Year. Of course, we didn't know that three years ago, but I feel like it's a bit serendipitous. 

My husband built those fabulous countertops out of red oak planks and stained them with a combination of dark walnut and mahogany. I absolutely love how they turned out. I love the contrast of the white beadboard backsplash and dark counters. It's warm and bright all at the same time.

These LED under cabinet lights really brighten the main kitchen workspace. I also like to leave them on in the evenings if we are away since they are so energy friendly. 

This cutting board was unusable when we bought the house, but Mr. Sir sanded it down and brought it back to life. He even painted it to match the cabinets (though he wanted to stain it to match the countertops. The man loves me.)

I have wanted a nook for this space since we bought the house. Since the kitchen has been under contruction for most of the time we've owned it, I haven't seriously looked at purchasing one. But a few months ago, Mr. Sir stumbled upon this beauty at 5am while out walking the dog. It had a free sign on it and he could tell it would be snatched up as soon as day broke, so he rushed home and attempted to wake me. The minute I saw the picture I knew it was worth getting up for, even though the baby had kept us up for half of the night, so I threw on some flip-flops and headed down the street  in my pajamas leaving all the kids (finally) asleep in their beds. We carried the table home then took the minivan back for the benches. It's certainly not in perfect condition, but you can cram eight kids at that table and it's a place where memories are made and dreams of bacon come true. 

The nook is where dreams of coffee come true too.

The mini gallery that hangs in the nook couldn't have come out better. The two photos were taken in Napa's wine country and the other two were free prints. You can find the lemon watercolor printable here and Rise and Shine It's Coffee Time here.

 

This pendant light that hangs over our sink was an outdoor light that hung in front of our house. My husband only thought I was half crazy when I asked him to install it here, but I think we were both happy in the end. You can use boiled linseed oil (available at your local hardware store) to spruce up old fixtures like this one.

I already posted a sneak peek of these DIY Pendant Lights but here's the full view with the cabinets and our art-plastered refrigerator on the side. It was waaaaaaay too much effort to pull all those magnets off and I'm all about being honest anyway. For the record, when I was taking these pictures my oldest said, "It looks really different in here!" I clarified and by "different" he meant "clean." This is further proof that our house has more of a lived in look most of the time. 

The final touch on the kitchen is this slate flooring. Can you tell it's laminate? It looks so gorgeous, but won't crack when our 60 year old house settles. I just hope it holds up to the wear and tear of three kids and a dog. 

And that my friends, is the story of the kitchen I love. What do you think? Was it worth the wait? Tell me in the comments!

Secrets to Braving Cold Season

Cold season is upon us and with two kids in school and a new baby, we are in the thick of it. Someone has been fighting a cold in our household since Halloween and I have a feeling it will continue through the new year. After five years, I've accepted that illness is part of this stage of life and I've found a few secrets to braving cold season.

A teaspoon of honey helps with a dry cough. You know that annoying tickle in your throat that keeps you up coughing all night? A little bit of honey really helps soothe and coat your throat. The best part? You don't have to wait four hours to take another dose. Since it's all natural you can take more whenever you need it. This also works well for kids since most cough medications are not recommended for children under 4 years old. (However, remember that raw honey is not recommended for children under 1 year due to infant botulism.)

Get in plenty of fluids and bring down fevers with juice popsicles. I don't usually give my kids a lot of juice, but it is so important to get fluids in them when they are sick. Popsicles are a fun way to do that and making your own with orange juice gives them a nice vitamin C boost too.

Warm apple cider with lemon. There is no way you will get my kids to drink tea. They will barely drink hot chocolate and that stuff is practically, well liquid chocolate! But some warm apple cider is usually a hit and helps soothe sore throats. Plus it's another great way to get fluids in and a lemon slice adds just a little extra vitamin C.

Skip TV time and listen to music instead. Let me clear that we watch our fair share of TV around here and I have no problem plopping my kids down for a few extra episodes of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood when they are sick. But I've found that just because they are sick, doesn't mean they don't have some energy to burn. Usually after 3-4 episodes, they start bouncing on the couch because they just can't keep their bodies still anymore. However, listening to music and doing a quiet activity like legos, coloring or playdoh seems to be just the right amount of stimulation while still letting their bodies rest.

Go to bed early, Mama. I know there's dinner to put on the table, homework to be done, dishes in the sink and floors to be mopped. But odds are, no matter how much you wash your hands and sanitize, you're going to catch that cold thanks to constant exposure. You are also going to be up at night caring for fevers and coughs and you are going to need your rest. So, know when to hold them and when to fold them. Both the hubby and I were in bed by 8:00pm with the kids the other night because we were so exhausted. Thankfully, I got a decent night's sleep and was able to tackle the pile of dishes in the kitchen with a renewed spirit the next day, even though I wasn't feeling 100% better.

Do you have any awesome Mama Hacks for surviving cold season? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

Brilliant Books Worth Reading 100 Times

Though I hate to admit it after declaring that November is the the month of being grateful and Christmas shall not show up uninvited to Thanksgiving dinner in my household, I have started my Christmas shopping. The reality is that in a big family, you have to start early if you don't want to run around like a chicken with your head cut off for the entire month of December. I've been on the hunt for new books for our ever expanding library which reminded me that I've been wanting to share a few of our favorites with you. My kids love to read the same books over and over again so I try to be choosy; I've read these a bajillion times and they still get my stamp of approval.

Top 10 kid books (in no particular order) that kids will love and you won't hate reading 100 times.

1. The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
Seriously. It has no pictures. But it is hilarious and every kid will love it. However, please note that if you don't want your kid running around telling people that their best friend "is a hippo named Boo Boo Butt," then this book is not for you.
2. The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems
The latest installment in the Pigeon book series will have you cracking up. I am particularly fond of these as my children behave quite like the Pigeon and it's nice to laugh at the ridiculousness that is my life.
3. Everything Goes: By Sea by Brian Biggs

The Book with No Pictures

Or by Air. Or by Land! These remind me a bit of the Where's Waldo books because there is so much to look at. They can be a little tedious for bedtime reading, but a great book for your kid to look at solo during a long car ride or on a rainy day. Both of my boys are so interested in how things work and these books really get the gears turning.
4. Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker
This is a great bedtime book. It's interesting and engaging and yet calming. It is a great book for winding down after a long day, especially when you have a couple of movers and shakers like I do.
5.  Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin
The amazon description says it all on this one. "The story of what happens when a grumpy old man and some mischievous squirrels match wits—with hilarious results." We don't actually own this one but it's on my short list for Christmas. The paperback version is only $4 on Amazon!
6. Press Here by Herve Tullet

Cookiebot!

An excellent interactive book that will definitely grab your kid's attention. It is VERY silly, so don't read it right before bed.
7. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
A clever mouse tells a tale about having lunch with the very scary Gruffalo to ward off a fox and a few other forest animals who'd like to eat him for lunch. This book is funny, engaging and well written -- even parents will enjoy it!
8. Cookiebot! A Harry and Horsie Adventure by Katie Von Camp and Lincoln Agnew
 There are two books in the Harry and Horsie series and both are fantastic. Colorful illustrations and a great story.
9. Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst
I'm a fan of all the Alexander books, but I find this one really tickles me. In the openings pages, Alexander confesses that he and his brothers like money (even though his mom says he shouldn't say that.) The illustrations are hilarious and the writing is fantastic, PLUS you get a little lesson on saving money. What more could you ask for?
10. ABC Alphabet Book Lift and Flap by Annie Simpson

ABC Alphabet Lift and Flap

I bought this book at one of the book fairs at my son's school last year (which is a great place to pick up Christmas gifts, by the way. Support your school to buy something you were going to anyway, done!) The layout of this book is very creative. There are holes on one page that line up with things on the next page, and the flaps make it very engaging. This is another great book that will keep them entertained on a plane or in a car without needing you by their side.


What are your favorite books? I could always use a few new ones!

You have feet in your shoes. You just have the wrong feet in those shoes.

My three year old, Knox cannot put his shoes on the right feet if his life depended on it. In fact, I'd say that 80% of the time he puts them on the wrong feet. You'd think that at least half the time he'd get it right but I swear it's like he taught himself to  put them on backwards.

Now considering I have three kids ages 5 and under, a kid that can put his shoes on the wrong feet is better than a kid who's shoes I have to put on for him. Right? But eventually I started to worry that he might go to college with his shoes on the wrong feet and it would be ALL MY FAULT. Oh, the drama. The years of therapy he'd need to overcome this. It was time.

With Dash, I cut stickers in half and put a piece in each shoe. It created a sort of puzzle he could put together. If the picture was whole, he had his shoes on the right feet. The only problem was the picture wore off the sticker in a matter of weeks and you were just left with a sticky residue. Yuck.

So I've been pondering an alternative method for a few weeks now and then suddenly, I had a brief moment of genius. I whipped out a Sharpie and wrote half the letters of his name in one shoe and half in the other. Now at three years old, he can't read, but he can recognize his name and at the very least he knows what letter his name starts with.

Let me tell you, this has been a game changer. In just a few weeks, he's started putting his shoes on the right feet 95% of the time. He really likes looking at his name in his shoes and can immediately identify if it's wrong. Additionally, instead of my constant reminding that he needs to switch his shoes, I can just asked him if he checked his name before he put them on.

Will the magic last? Only time will tell. For now, I'm really enjoying having two kids who can put their shoes on the right feet all by themselves.

The Season of Gratitude

Fall is by far my favorite season. I love the crisp air, the changing leaves, sweaters, scarves, boots and mugs of hot apple cider. I love that a hot cup of coffee tastes better on cold mornings. I love staying in bed and snuggling too long because it's the perfect temperature under the covers.

My love for fall is one of the many reasons it irks me to walk into Target on November 1st and see that Christmas just threw up in there. I'm no Grinch; I love Christmas...in December. It does not need to encroach, because honestly, one month of cookies and candy canes and Fa la la la la la is about all I can take. I do understand that a holiday that is about being thankful for what you already have kind of kills the spirit of consumerism and so I let my beloved Target off the hook for allowing Christmas to take over November. However, that doesn't mean Thanksgiving has to be overlooked in m my home. Last time I checked, I'm the boss around here.

Since I want to teach my children they have so much to be grateful for, around this time last year we put together a small jar of things we are thankful for. I've seen these all over Pinterest but if you haven't I thought I'd share my version (complete with free printables!)

But first, I thought I'd share a few things I'm grateful for today.

Busy season and late nights at my husband's job. First, he has a job and it's a great one! Second, it's really only busy like this for two months of the year. I know a lot of husbands who work late ALL year long and I'm so grateful that my husband does not have to.
Being a stay-at-home-mom. It's a tough job and I complain about it more than I should. However, I'm always thankful for it when cold season hits. Knox is feverish this week and I'm so glad I'm not trying to find childcare for a sick kid because I have to go to work.
My crazy fixer upper house. It's crazy, but it's also, warm, cozy and filled with a beautiful life we have been building in it.
Two bathrooms since one is out of commission right now...
Healthy, happy kids who behave themselves at school and playdates even if they are less than angelic at home. They save the best and worst for me.
Great teachers and schools. I feel so fortunate to have landed amazing, dedicated passionate teachers at both my son's schools.

What are you grateful for this November? Take a minute to jot it down and put it in your jar!


Click on the links to get the Give Thanks Jar printable and the I'm thankful for tickets!

He Said, I Heard: Sale

Occasionally, we have miscommunications in our house. Often this happens when my husband says something and I interpret it as something slightly different.

This afternoon Mr. Sir emailed me a link to a sale happening at Old Navy. Not only are they doing free shipping, but you get an additional 30% off clearance items. 

He said: Old Navy cuts an extra 30% off clearance.

I Heard: LICENCE TO SHOP.

At least I had the decency to buy a few things for him during my shopping spree...

For anyone who is interested the coupon codes are:
JACKPOT (For 30% off clearance)
FREESHIP (For, you guessed it, free shipping)

Happy shopping!

Kitchen Sneak Preview: DIY Pendant Lights

My kitchen floor is getting installed this weekend. Maybe that seems like no big deal to you, but I have been living with no flooring in front of my kitchen sink for over two years thanks to an impromptu kitchen remodel. Let's just say I am very excited!

So while we are all waiting for the big kitchen reveal, I thought I'd share one of the smaller projects we've done. We struggled for almost a year trying to figure out what kind of fixture to put over our stove and finally ended up with this fun pendant light.

I started with this mini pendant light from Lowe's because it fit perfectly in the space. The fixture doesn't come with shades so I looked a ton of different options. I wanted something that was low profile so it didn't interfere with my cooking and yet really lit up my work space. Of course, price was a factor as well. Some of the shades I looked at were $20 each! Multiple times three shades, plus the fixture we were looking at over $100!

Eventually I stumbled upon these candle holders at Michael's. They were $5.99 each and on sale for 25% off.  Mr. Sir used a jigsaw to cut a hole in the bottom of each candle holder and viola!

They are exactly what I wanted and for a price that made even the penny pinching Mr. Sir smile. The space is so bright it feels like a completely different kitchen. Mr. Sir built me the spice rack and I added the "Don't Go Bacon My Heart" sign from Etsy because you can't go wrong with bacon puns, right?

Once the flooring goes in, we'll still have a few items to check off our list, like putting the pantry doors back in and picking out new appliances. Notice my funky stove straight out of 1970? It works so I can't complain, but I have my heart set on an awesome free standing double oven. To see the oven and the inspiration for my kitchen remodel, check out my Kitchen Design board on Pinterest.

Parenting Outside the Box

When my son was first born, I was desperate to do everything just right. I spent a lot of time reading the “expert” answers on sleeping, eating, routines, and just about everything related to my new little family. My son is five now and has been joined by a brother (three) and a sister (seven months.) After five years, and three kids, you know what I’ve learned about the experts? Sometimes their advice is no better than a veteran mom of three you met on a park bench. Here’s the thing with experts; their advice is great in theory. But the reality is that your kid is an individual and a one-size-fits-all approach might not be your ticket to uninterrupted nights of sleep. (Not to mention that many experts contradict one another. Have you read this mom on "expert" sleep training advice? It’s hilarious and so true!)

The point I’m trying to make is this: expert advice can be a great way to get the ball rolling on how you are going to tackle parenting challenges, but YOU know your kid better than any expert, any day.

In my experience, when I’ve thought outside the box and came up with a creative solution to a problem, I’ve had so much more success than when I followed expert advice. These are my favorite bits of wisdom the hubby and I have come up with along the way. They might not work for your kid, but they may inspire you to find the solution that does!

1.       Bounce that baby. Both my sons preferred to be bounced vs. rocked to sleep and most nights it took forever. You’d come out of the nursery all sweaty like you’d been in there with Richard Simmons. Until we started using the exercise ball. Bouncing for 45 minutes on the exercise ball was cake compared to the grueling workout we were getting without it. Best $10 I’ve ever spent.  

2.       Tackling the Teething Trifecta. (Say that five times fast!) Teething sucks. They don’t eat because it hurts. They don’t sleep because they’re hungry and it hurts. And then you have a hungry, tired, hurting baby on your hands ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT long. If you want to beat the pain + hunger + tiredness trifecta, try frozen snacks. The cold foods help numb the pain and fill their little bellies. We started with slicing grapes into quarters and then freezing them. Frozen slices of mandarin oranges were also a hit, as were frozen peas and corn. (Note: Of course, use your judgment in choosing age-appropriate foods. I do not recommend this for children who are not already accustomed to chewing solid foods. Also, make sure you make the slices small enough that they are not a choking hazard.)

3.       The sun is up (or not). It happens to all of us. You wake up at 4am and find your toddler staring at you like a total creep. “It’s time to get up!” they say, cheerfully. You curse that big kid bed with all its ridiculous freedom and put them back to “sleep” 17 times before you finally give up and make coffee. When this day arrived in our house we looked at all kinds of fancy alarm clocks that tell your kid when it is ok to get up, but those things aren’t cheap and had way more features than we needed. In the end, purchased a sun night light and used it with a timer we already owned.

4.       Audio books after lights out. Dash went through a phase at about two when he would not stay in his bed at bedtime. In part, he was afraid of being in his room alone so we recorded our own audio books for him to listen to after we left the room. We still use the audio books as a way for the boys to wind down with the lights off before bed.

* * * * * * * * * *

What are your most unconventional parenting hacks? Parenting Outside the Box is a reoccurring series so if you comment with your favorite hacks, they may be featured next time!

Lucky in Love

Lucky in love. 

Tomorrow, my husband and I celebrate eight years of marriage and in honor of that I'd like to offer a little (unsolicited) advice to a single guy looking for love. Why? Because I'm a romantic. Everyone deserves to be lucky in love and I'd like to think that I've learned enough in eight years of marriage to help someone else find it.

Dear Single Steve,

Though I'm happily married, I've been following your blog for a few years and until recently I couldn't put my finger on what fascinated me about you. This afternoon, I realized why: I'm the kind of girl who marries a guy like you.

My husband is 5' 7" and statistically too short to date. That love from romantic comedies that you are looking for? We have it. We've been married eight years and we are still stupidly in love with each other. We met and married in a year, just after his 30th birthday. He even has a nerdy profession as a number crunching accountant and financial analyst. 

So how does a nerdy guy in his thirties land the girl of his dreams? 

Do I have your attention? Good. Now listen up.

1. Self Confidence is Sexy. My husband and I met once at a party a few years before we starting dating. He was dating this woman who was a bit of a psycho and he was withdrawn and cautious. I remember thinking, "it's really too bad that my friend's brother isn't hot." When we met the second time, he was freshly single and gave zero fucks. He knew who he was, laid all his cards on the table and people were free to like or dislike him. He wasn't a dick, he was just sure of himself. When we met the second time I found him irresistible. The more I talked to him, the sexier he was. He was the exact same guy I met before, just a more confident version of himself.

2. Pursue Happiness. Be happy with yourself and your single life. Happiness is contagious and people want to be around others who have found a way to be content with what they have. If your life isn't good enough for you, why would someone else want to be part of it? Stop looking for the perfect wife and start being the perfect YOU. No woman in her right mind finds desperation attractive.

3. Real love doesn't care if you are too short to date. I'm only an inch shorter than my husband and with the heels I wore on my wedding day, I was taller than him. Guess what? Neither of us cared because what really mattered was that we were starting the rest of our lives together.

4. Be willing to turn your life upside-down. Your future wife is not a puzzle piece that will fit perfectly into your preexisting life. It is entirely possible that the woman for you does not live in a 30 mile radius. She's probably not a friend of a friend that frequents your favorite coffee shop and somehow, you just haven't met yet. Get out of San Diego. Try new restaurants and coffee shops. Take a weekend trip to Palm Springs. Go to the Getty in LA for the day. I moved 500 miles after dating my future husband for 3 months and I have never regretted it. He was absolutely worth it.

Eight years, three kids, one dog, and a fixer upper house later. Please pay no attention
 to the five year old photobombing in his undies behind us. Happily ever after ain't perfect.

5. The recipe for real love is chemistry and commitment. The rest is what you make of it. You know that killer chemistry you have with someone when you are first dating? It's only the beginning. The commitment is what turns chemistry into happily ever after. Love is not a feeling; it is something you do. You hold hands. You kiss. You buy flowers. You make breakfast in bed. You whisk her away on a romantic weekend. If you want it to feel like the movies, then never stop doing things that show her you love her. (And hopefully she does the same for you.)  Stop looking for someone who makes you feel magical and and start making your own magic. 

6. "Feelings follow doing, not the other way around. Lasting, True Love is not about being swept off your feet. Sometimes love is just sweeping the kitchen and being grateful that there is a kitchen and a partner who is contractually obligated to share it with you forever." (Glennon over at Momastery knows what she is talking about.) When you do find her, it's not all going to be sunshine and rainbows. My grandmother gave me the best advice about marriage. She said, "We've been happily married for 45 years. 45 out of 50 is not too bad." Even if it doesn't feel like happily ever after all the time, it doesn't mean she's not the one. 

I'm not saying I've got it all figured out. I'm not even saying that my advice is the key to finding the girl of your dreams. But I will say that love is out there for nerdy guys in their thirties if you know where to look.

Good luck,

Alisa

The Pounds of Parenting

Last week I officially hit the five years of parenting milestone. In that time, I have been to a lot of playgroups, parks, beaches, school events and birthday parties and I have had the privilege to meet and observe many, many mothers in action. All of these mothers are incredible, hard working, selfless people, but beyond that I noticed many of us have one thing in common: we're fat. I know that is a rather unpopular word these days with all the body affirmation jazz and fat shaming that is happening all over the internet, but before you get out your pitchfork and gather the mob, hear me out. Seeing all of these overweight mothers made me wonder if motherhood itself is expanding our waistlines.

Here are six reasons maintaining a healthy weight is harder for mothers:

1. We are sleep deprived. I've read countless articles lately on the correlation between weight gain and sleep deprivation. How many mothers get eight hours in every night? I can personally attest to overeating when I'm tired. I can't think straight and it's almost as if I can't figure out what's wrong with me. So I eat to try to fill the void the lack of sleep left.

2. The baby weight, obviously. We gain 20-40 pounds growing another human being inside our bodies then rip ourselves to pieces evicting that small human. Not only do we have to heal and figure out how to care for our beautiful, crying, bundle of joy, but we also have to figure out what to do with our new bodies. It's no small task. Learning to balance my son's needs with my own was very difficult, especially in the first year.

3. We are beached. Somehow, dads always seem to end up with the more active jobs in parenting. The next time you go to the beach take a minute to watch what the moms are doing vs. the dads. Frequently, I see the dads splashing around in the water and throwing big kids into the waves. The moms, on the other hand are sitting on the beach, preparing a meal, reapplying sunscreen, nursing the baby, or just reading a book because they finally have five minutes of peace. Some moms don't even bother to wear their bathing suits; maybe because they hate the way they look in them, or maybe because they've just resigned to being the beached parent. If you aren't going to have an opportunity to go in the water, why wear a bathing suit?

4. We are too busy to eat or eat well. I can't tell you how often I am absolutely starving by the time I sit down and eat lunch because between feeding the kids, swapping out the laundry before it mildews, stirring dinner in the crock pot, changing the baby's diaper, letting the dog out, then breaking up a fight, the one hour window between school pick up and nap time blows by and I didn't even get a chance to make myself something, much less eat it. And of course when I am starving I choose fast, easy, bad-for-me food and I eat too much.

5. We are inherently self sacrificing. Now I am no Mother Teresa, but I feel like I am frequently putting my own needs aside in order to care for the needs of others. If I really want to exercise I have to make time to, which usually means I have to choose exercise over something else, like clean my house. More often than not I will choose to do something that benefits my children or husband over doing something just for myself. Unfortunately, there is never a shortage of things to do in this household and so I constantly give myself the short end of the stick.

6. There is cake everywhere. Birthday parties, play groups, PTA meetings and of course every holiday. Every time I turn around there are donuts and cookies, cinnamon rolls, or chips. I have a lot of will power, but I usually break down after the fifth temptation.

If you add a pound or two for each of these, that's an extra TWELVE pounds! While all these things may indeed make it harder to maintain a healthy weight, I don't think it's impossible. I'm not trying to say that we have to accept that these are the facts of motherhood and we should learn to love those love handles. It's an uphill battle and we have to make conscious choices to be more active all the time.

Choose to hand the baby off to dad and go splash in the waves or swim a few laps. Don't settle for being the beached parent. Make yourself a healthy lunch the night before when you pack the kids lunches. Leave the dishes in the sink and go to bed early. Choose YOU, sometimes. You don't deserve the short end of the stick all the time.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off the exercise extreme will power at a PTA meeting.

Kitchen Catastrophe

Last week, I alluded to our accidental kitchen remodel adventure and I know you've been dying to hear the whole story. Let the horror fest begin!

This was the listing photo. It actually looked WORSE in person.

I will never forget walking through this kitchen for the first time; I saw what I thought was hideous 1970's linoleum and was horrified when I found myself squishing through mildew-y CARPET. Who in their right mind puts carpet in the kitchen?

The cabinets were in bad shape and the cabinet hardware was sticky from years of kitchen grease. 

The thought of that nasty carpet still makes me shudder. In spite of it, a more optimistic version of myself looked around the room and thought, "It's ugly, but with some paint and new floors, it has so much potential." It had a great layout, plenty of cabinets and counter top space, and even a spacious pantry. I knew we'd have to live with the buttered popcorn tile for a while before we could afford to replace it, but it was certainly the lesser of the evils.

Oh that tile. It was cream with yellow flecks just like a buttered popcorn Jelly Belly Bean.

As soon as they handed us the keys, we donned our gas masks and giddily ripped out that carpet. We bought the cheapest peel and stick tile we could find on Amazon, slapped some paint on the walls and moved on to the next project. We also put a new kitchen faucet in and fixed a small leak under the kitchen sink. We noted that there was some minor water damage from the leak, but we had bigger fish to fry. There were so many urgent problems (like toilets that wouldn't flush, showers that didn't drain and a room that wasn't ready for new baby that was on the way) we were pretty much putting out fires.

Wallpaper removed and fresh yellow paint to match the tile. 

About a year later, once we had adjusted to the addition of Knox to our family, Mr. Sir decided he was ready to repair the damage under the kitchen sink. It was a seemingly simple job; cut out the damaged wood and replace it with new wood. Except the damage wasn't just under the sink, it seemed to be in the wall and the floor. As he looked closer, the damage went deeper until it became clear that the studs in the wall were rotted and the entire sink and counter would need to be removed to repair it. Ripping out the counter meant damaging the precious buttered popcorn tile and thus began the impromptu kitchen remodel!

Want to see the finished product? Me too. We started this madness in January of 2013 and we are finally getting close to completing it. Stay tuned for a sneak peek next week!

Labors of Love

My fancy red garage door.

Helllloooooo! Everyone back in the swing of things after the long weekend? Yeah, me neither. It was nice to have an extra day off, but long weekends always make me feel like I have to cram five days worth of work into four days. It just makes the week a little more hectic than usual and it's always a little bit hectic around here. But that is another story.

I spent my Labor Day painting my garage door in 100 degree weather and believe it or not, it was awesome. For almost six hours, I had uninterrupted, coherent thoughts. While Mr. Sir wrangled the children all day I worked on a project and completed it. (Ok, almost completed it. I primed it and painted it, but it still needs a second coat.) Regardless, it was so satisfying to accomplish something from start to finish and then stand back and enjoy the fruits of my labor. In motherhood, my job is never done. There's always another dish in the sink, a dirty sock that escaped the washer, another meal to make. Acceptance is the name of the game, and almost clean has to be good enough for this phase of life, because I would go absolutely insane trying to do it all. In fact, after five years of motherhood, I think that I may have forgotten what completing something feels like because finishing this project felt so good. It's almost addicting. And now I've got the project completion bug and let me tell you, there is absolutely no shortage of ongoing projects in this house. 

You see, we have this ridiculous fixer upper house. We knew when we bought it that it needed a lot of love, but we had no idea it was going to be the house from the Money Pit. We also didn't know that (surprise!) we were expecting our son Knox, until the week we closed on the house. All our plans of staying up late after Dash went to bed to power through projects went right out the window.

Over the last four years we have ever so slowly done a project here and another there, trying to balance our growing family with our insane desire to have nice things. The progress has been painstakingly slow, trying to save money by doing all the work ourselves, but right now, maybe even by the end of the month we are about to hit TWO major milestones.

The first, is painting the entire exterior of our house which will be complete when I slap the last coat of paint on our garage door. (For the record, all credit goes to Mr. Sir on that one. He painted every surface of our home except the garage door on weekends and evenings for the better part of the last year. I was busy incubating a different labor of love named Buttercup.) Second, we are getting very close to completing our impromptu kitchen remodel. I'll save the story of the accidental kitchen remodel for another post, but I will tell you that it has been under construction for the better part of two years and that there was CARPET in the kitchen when we bought it four years ago.

Oh, how far we've come! In the meantime, what do you think of my garage door labor of love?