instagram update

we're long overdue for an update, so these aren't necessarily in chronological order:

new haircut (late setember) • lucy in the wee hours • lucy • lucy and sam • sky on the way home from the train • sunset over the hardware store • sleepy girl • purple sky • vintage sewing machine (costume making begins!) • out comes the jumpster • sam's costume (halfway done) • sleepy girl • fall knit layers (one of my favorite color palettes) • lucy in the jumpster with a snack from sam's restaurant • sam conversing with lucy

apropos of nothing

recently, according to instagram

fort building • movie night • coloring • bubble blowing • stopping to smell the roses 

• mommy in her "glamour girl" sunglasses

celebrating the end of "neglect your blog" month

did you know that august is the official "neglect your blog" month? well it certainly was around here. i even made a list of things to blog about, but didn't want to ruin the celebration with needless posting.

alas, now that we're nearing the end of the month, i thought i'd at least let you know that we're still alive and whatnot, and will be posting many entertaining tidbits about things that happened in august (unless we keep up the celebration into october—which is somewhat likely).

also, i've decided to declutter (to a certain degree, anyway), and am getting rid of a few paintings/doodles that we no longer have homes for (above). they're gouache on paper, and if you (or anyone you know) are interested in owning any or all of these, leave a comment or drop me an email and i'll send them out directly.

talk to you in september!

home-y, minty mint tea

when i was growing up, there was always a huge patch of mint threatening to take over half of mom's garden. i remember her fussing about it every once in a while (and she has since removed all or most of it), but i always thought that there could be things much worse taking over the backyard.

so, knowing full well what was in store for me, i planted my own mint in our backyard. and it is now threatening to take over. i, however, find this kind of home-y and familiar (funny how that stuff works). i mean, it's not like it's a batch of thistles, right?

i was working in the yard yesterday, trimming the shrubs and pulling weeds, when i thought "i really should make some mint tea. i haven't had mint tea in AGES." so i did. and it was delightful. and easy.

first, i picked some mint from my overflowing supply (see above).

then i washed it and trimmed off the leaves using my kitchen scissors.

i put my clean mint leaves in an old canning jar, filled the jar with water, and zapped it in the microwave for about two minutes. then i sealed it up so it could steep.

in the meantime, sam asked me to "picture him." here he is saying "cheese and fuzzy pickles!" i love him so.

and here is my lovely tea. i usually just use a strainer and dump it into my ugly 32oz plastic cup that i got at the hospital when sam was born, but for the sake of aesthetics, here it is in a pretty glass.

i'm kind of in love with the mint tea. it's more interesting than water, and there's no caffeine or anything so i can drink LOADS without guilt. plus, it makes my mouth minty fresh with every sip!

you're my peanut

one day a few weeks ago, and out of the blue, sam told me, "you're my ice cream cone!" so we went back and forth thinking of things like, "you're my pickle!" or "you're my cupcake!" apparently the game was over when sam said, "you're my peanut!" (i usually call him "peanut" when i'm talking to him). since then he tends to go straight to "you're my peanut!" but every once in a while i can get him to think of other things. it's a fun game.

mamma needs a new haircut

so now that sam has been appropriately coiffed, i'm turning my mind to my own hair issues.

i've been pondering a cut for a while now, and after much consideration (and a little reading), i think i've come to accept that i want to hold on to my long hair for now. i mean, it's just so practical. i can throw it up in a ponytail in all of five seconds flat, and it doesn't require frequent trims to keep it in shape (which, let's face it, for someone who goes to get their hair cut every 24 months or so, trims every six to eight weeks ain't gonna happen). plus, i think my hair is one of my better attributes, so i might as well have plenty of it, eh?

so what i'm after is basically shaping up what i've got, long with bangs. maybe a little layering. but not lots. because that's where things went a little south last time.

(images via pinterest)

and a song for this rainy monday

found via all songs considered.

feeling a little french

am loving this song this today (though i find that lurker in the background a bit creepy).

and this one as well:

if you walk into our house, you very well may find us singing this song

we've watched a couple others, but this is by far the most popular.

which came first—in this case, it was the egg

sam was feeling a little under the weather this weekend, so to cheer him up, we brought out our easter eggs and were finding little things to put in them (acorns, spools of thread, pennies, etc.). i thought maybe the egg needed a chick, so i whipped one up right quick on saturday afternoon.

sam seems convinced that the the chick ought to eat the egg, despite the fact that he's supposed to LIVE in it.

have you seen this?

sometimes i wish i had a brain that could come up with stuff like this. but think i'd get even less sleep than i do now.

full story here.

photos from around the house - trying out the new camera

a couple weeks ago we invested in a new canon rebel 2ti, and i've been playing around with it.

another reason i'm excited about bedtime

i hate to admit it, but i've been a little obsessed with finding a headboard for years. i've scoped catalogs, read tons of how-to's about making your own upholstered ones, and spent countless hours clicking around on the internet trying to find something that would suit my picky-but-cheap personality.

earlier this week i was combing through the craigslist postings (again), and i found this headboard. it's solid wood (possibly cherry, but the owners weren't quite sure), in really good condition (it has a few small scratches that very sleepy people probably wouldn't notice—and we're usually very sleepy people), and cost us all of 50 dollars. it reminds me a lot of the style of the twin beds that we've inherited from grandpa, and i was super excited to snatch it up before someone else could.

i believe this is the eighth piece of furniture we've found on craigslist, and i couldn't be happier with it. shopping craigslist is one of my favorite places to find furniture (unless you count hand-me-downs, of course—i love a good hand-me-down) because not only do you get a good price, but someone else gets to have the satisfaction that their old things are going to a good home, and (if you're into that whole "greening" thing) you can feel good that you're recycling someone else's stuff, giving it a new life instead of a spot in some junkyard somewhere. the previous owners said that this headboard had "been in the family for years" and i'm looking forward to having it in ours for years too.

fairytales & meetings

a few photos from my sketchbook of the things i've been doodling (mostly during meetings). i can't remember why i was drawing the three bears, but alice was inspired by my niece-to-be (i've been thinking about what artwork to make for her), and the three little pigs were inspired by oscar (sam loves to hear oscar tell about the little pig). i think i'll have to keep working on these fairytale drawings, as i seem to have a theme going here.

my mother doesn't blog

we interrupt project week to bring you this special update:

my mother (despite much poking and prodding by her daughters), does not have a blog. so on her behalf i'm posting a couple of photos of sam's wonderful, gorgeous, fantastic "grandma quilt".

i thought other people ought to be ooo-ing and ahh-ing along with me. feel free to join in any time now.

we went by the house today to pick up dad/grandpa for a playdate at the park, and mom/grandma said we could take possession of the quilt with the stipulation that i take some good photographs. i took many.

now i just need to remember to burn them to a cd for her.

thanks grandma! it will be well-loved and well-used.

random snapshots

and a few photos to round out this little post-a-thon:

sam after eating yogurt all by himself. i do need to get some video of him singing the yo-baby song and doing the yo-baby dance. it's hilarious.

sam enjoying his dried fruit and sesame street. we got him some dried fruit from BJs with apricots, prunes, dried apples, and dried pears. he's a happy camper when he can get some "apple raisins".

sam walking around in mommy's shoes (he was obsessed with wearing my shoes for a week or so).

sam wearing his pants on his head (he ran around like this for an awfully long time and was extremely amused with himself)

*warning* re-post

okay. i know that re-posting is a little lame, but this so reminded me of all the fun forts we built when i was growing up that i just needed to share the smile it brought to my face (cuz i know there's at least one sibling that will read this :)).

don't you wish we had some photos of our own castle creations? guess i'll have to do a bit of building with sammy soon...

via swissmiss

friday

is the day of the event. i'm working on plucking up the courage to shmooze and promote my freelance biz. thinking i might just do an iron-on for my shirt that says "got graphics?" and has my logo on it.

without youtube

how would we ever find things like this?