We Just Can't Get Enough

of house renovations I mean.  

Don't be jealous.  You know you want your master bathroom to look like this.  But it doesn't. Because you didn't rip out a blue bathtub and 45 year old vinyl flooring to find the entire sub-floor rotted through.  As in "don't bounce too hard or you will land in the garage" rotted through. We need to be institutionalized.  It would force me to rest and instead of trying to picture a blank white wall to get myself to sleep at night, I could actually be surrounded by white walls.  Sounds peaceful actually.  Sign me up!

Snow Day!

We finally had snow on a school day (instead of the weekend) and the kids had a snow day!  Nani and Cody came over and they played outside for a long time.  The weather wasn't very cold so it was a lot of fun.  Noah kept trying to knock Frosty down but to no luck!  

Noah Antics

Sweet little Noah.  Reminds me of Ella at this age...

Happy Birthday To You, Mashed Potatoes And Stew

I will, however, give a timely shout out to my sis on her birthday.  Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't.  Sigh.  Anywho, I love my little Krissy Babe.  She is darling, lovely, bright, concerned and so many other good things.  We are on opposite sides of the country now and we can no longer meet for random weekends in NYC or when I came up to Boston for a week in the summer.  So sad.  She is turning 25 this year, a quarter of a century!  I still remember her being about 5 (I was 10, oh shoot, now everyone knows what I'm turning this year!) and I convinced her that she should be my maid/nurse and I made her bring me food in my bed because I was "sick".  Will you ever forgive me Kris?  I had no shame...Happy Birthday!

Better Late Than Never, Yikes!

I'm calling myself out in front of all of you that I am giving a belated birthday shout out to my "mum" Mary-Anne and my stepsister Jenni!  They share the same birthday and actually got to spend it together this year down under!  I don't have a picture of just Jenni and I or Mary-Anne and I so we need to remedy that (I stole this pic from one of their blogs!) but Happy Birthday to you ladies!  I love you!

Family Update

As most of you know, we have been planning to adopt a little girl from Guatemala for quite some time. The process started a little over a year ago, and while we finished the necessary paperwork very quickly, the process has been a slow one ever since. The main reason has been the Hague Treaty, which countries around the world have been implementing in an effort to conform international adoptions. While the treaty is ultimately good for the children and their future families, countries like Guatemala have struggled to live up to the new rules due to the rampant corruption within the country. We knew about the Hague going into this, and also knew that Guatemala was near the top of the list for countries that would struggle with implementation, but we felt comfortable with the risk and confident we could get in under the deadlines.

So, today we received the bad news. And although it wasn’t entirely unexpected, we are very, very sad that it has come to this. Our adoption agency informed us today that Guatemala will not be allowing new adoptions for another year to year-and-a-half at a minimum. Our options were postpone until February 2009 and see if there is any change, switch countries, or drop out of the program. After weighing the three options, and carefully considering the impact of each on our family, we ultimately feel the best decision for our family is to drop out of the program.

We feel at peace with our decision and hope you support us in our effort to move on to other new adventures. We love you all.

Jon & Cher

Those Crazy Kids

We had fun the other night pulling the kids' shirts over their heads and then they chased each other around the house like Frankenstein.  Will did it first and then Noah started pulling at the back of his shirt saying "ah, ah" so I unsnapped his one piecer and pulled it over his head and he thought it was hilarious! 

Almost...

We're tiling today!

Sweet Steph

By the way, if anyone is liking the new look of my blog then thank my sweet sister!  She took a few moments out of her busy busy life to help me out the other day.  She's so blog savvy and seems to have quite a following!  My friends are constantly telling me that they have seen her linked on random blogs!

Oprah Shmoprah

I haven't liked Oprah's book selections since Poisonwood Bible (one of her firsts and still one of my favorite books) and typically don't like reading what everyone else is reading.  I like being contrary like this lady and not following the trends.  I will like it because I like it, not because everyone else does!  But then I picked up one of those kissy kissy vampire books and stayed up until 1am two nights in a row reading the first one.  I had more self-control with the last two but I was caught by my hubby stirring scrambled eggs for dinner while reading.  Oops.  But here's the thing- I heard about this book and thought it just might be the thing to read starting off the new year and so far so good.  Elizabeth Gilbert is a clever, witty (things I am SO not) and entertaining writer who spends 4 mos. each in Italy, India and Bali after wading her way through a nasty divorce among other things.  I haven't finished yet but I thought I would put a shout out to it in case anyone wants to pick it up!  And if anyone asks, you didn't hear about it from me.  

Kate Spade Who?

Jon was in Boston for a conference a few years ago and decided to treat his honey (that would be me) to a little gifty.  He knew I was probably at home seething with jealousy that he was in Boston, visiting my sister and one of my closest friends Rebecca AND staying at the Four Seasons.  So he saunters (ever see Jon saunter?  Me neither.) into a Kate Spade store and has a look around.  Meanwhile, the salespeople continue to chat away amongst themselves totally ignoring my husband!  He was wearing a suit!  Anyway, he and I have a thing about not spending money where they don't give you the time of day so he walked out of there and I have yet to see anything Kate Spade since (to no fault of his own, he's off the hook on that one).  Needless to say I was a little bit miffed to see her name pop up in my inbox informing me that she has a line at Bed Bath and Beyond of all places.  After I perused the selection I secretly (not anymore) wished I had been able to register for such delightful things when I got married, 9 1/2 years ago!  If you're getting hitched- head over there!

Wishing For Spring

Received the new Boden catalog today and these items made me wish for warmer weather, although the merino wool number could be worn year round in Seattle!

Got Me Thinkin'

I took the boys to Great Harvest today down by U Village.  Noah had to get his blood drawn at Children's (testing for food allergies) and so I took them for a treat afterwards.  They each got a whole wheat breadstick and I got a thick slice of warm wheat bread.  Yum.  The boys have also been in to steamers lately!  At most of the coffee places here they offer kids vanilla steamers- just a little warmer than room temperature and flavored with vanilla.  What a healthy snack! They also have deal going on right now that if you buy one of their Illinois Prairie soup mixes you get 6 whole wheat rolls for free!  The soup mix was $8 so I have a complete dinner for under $10.  I am simmering the soup now and it smells wonderful.  I'm adding roasted chicken to mine to make it more hearty.  Check out your local GH to see if they have the same deal! 

Then I saw a Martha Stewart show today that got my wheels turning.  I think I might have found something that I would like to help E. and W.'s school out with- advocating for healthy lunches.  A woman was on M.S. is a principal of a school that has a thousand students and they only offer fresh, healthy fare for their lunches.  Since the school has been implementing this program they have saved over $400,000 in 8 years.  Eating healthy does not mean more expensive!  I'm going to gather some more information and schedule a meeting with the principle and see what we can do.  I would love to be able to have E. and W. buy lunch at school but when I look at the menu now I see very little, if anything, I want them eating.  What do you think?  If I posted some websites offering information would you talk to your schools too? 

Discovery Park

We had a gorgeous sunny day here in Seattle and we needed it! Everyone came out in droves and the parks and sidewalks were super crowded. I took the kids to Discovery Park in Magnolia, the largest city park in Seattle. It used to be Fort Lawton, an army base, but has been converted into a nature preserve. The park is huge and is on a bluff overlooking the sound. We saw the ferries going back and forth to Bainbridge Island (we brought the binoculars!) and a huge freight ship carrying who-knows-what out of the port. I just closed my eyes and soaked up the sun, peeking every once in a while to make sure Noah hadn't run into the water. Ahhh. Perfect day!

PS I want to apologize to all of my photographer friends. I wish I had have the skill/artistic talent that you all possess but I don't. So forgive me my pictures and maybe next time I see one of you I can get a "how to take great pictures of kids" tutorial? Help!

PPS Obviously W. needs a tutorial on how to get heads in the pictures as well. I can help him with that though. I can at least do that.

Dilemma: Solution

What do I do with a huge blank wall in our entry way?













I cut out pieces of paper the size of the frames with a label of what the picture is (some are black and white, some are color and I wanted them to be evenly dispersed) which is an idea from my sister's blog. Next, I lug our huge gorilla ladder up a flight of stairs to our landing. No small feat when I go to physical therapy for back problems. Probably not such a good idea. Then I make it as tall as possible so I can put the pictures as high as I want them. Then I climb up the ladder and remember that I am very afraid of heights. Uh oh. After a major anxiety attack I tape the papers up on the wall and rearrange until I find a combo I like.










Finally I gather all of my tools: a hammer, level, nails and measuring tape. By this time I am about an hour and a half into the project so I am mustering up some energy along with the tools. After lots of banging on the wall, numerous attempts to get N. to climb down from the ladder and entertain himself elsewhere, several trips with Will to the bathroom to puke (oh yeah. poor guy!) and a complete draining of my energy I'm done!












PS I got all of these frames for around a $140 at Aaron Brothers. They are having a "Buy 1 get the second for a penny" sale going on until Jan. 27th. I bought regular frames for the larger story boards that Rebecca did and then had custom mats made for about $40 each. When I checked into having those custom framed and matted it was going to be $150 each! I did them both for less than that. If you have an Aaron Brothers near you then it may be time to get some of your artwork on the walls for a steal!

Greener Pastures

With the demise of Blueprint magazine I have had to turn elsewhere to satisfy my craving for design. While my sister was here for Thanksgiving she so thoughtfully reintroduced me to Dwell magazine and I have been salivating ever since! What did I do yesterday while my oldest was at school and the sitter was with the boys (I had decided that for my sanity and my kids' as well that I would hire a sitter for one day a week so I could run all over Seattle and get my errands done. And work. But that will be in a different post!)? I ran a few errands, then for my lunch break I grabbed the new copy of Dwell and ate a quiet lunch at Zao at UVillage. I ate slowly, turning the thick pages of the magazine and relaxed. Ahhh.

After seeing this in last month's issue I kind of wished I had chosen a darker color for the house. Oh well. I'll have to wait another 15 years or so...

PS Do you think J. and I could look so cool in front of our house?












Here's what I'm saying folks. You can have great design for not a whole lot of dough! This couple found a table at Ikea that looks like a Saarinen and chairs that look like DWR's "air" chairs. Then they splurged on a George Nelson lamp. Mix up the cheap with the pricey and no one will ever know!

Eye Candy

I'm into quality, longevity and style when it comes to all things material. Clothes, furniture, you name it. I'd rather save up for something perfectly lovely than settle for something cheap and not so lovely. Don't get me wrong, there is a place in everyone's life (especially mine) for a cheap find. Especially when it comes to trends. But when it comes to classics and things that last, there is nothing like these from dwr:

Color Is In People!

I am seeing bold color everywhere and I love it! If you have always wanted to put some colors into your home but don't know where to start then this post is for you. Painting the walls is the easiest change to make in the color department and if you don't love it right away or in a year or two- just repaint. Here is some inspiration:

Grillz or Ode To B-More

You might not get this post unless you live or have lived in Baltimore. So for all of you who get it, lucky you. Here are the kids (I include Jon in this) getting into my precious aluminum foil and making claws and more importantly, grillz. Don't know what grillz are? How unfortunate for you!

Happy New Year!

We're usually pretty lame on New Year's Eve. We just hang around and MAYBE make it to midnight, must mostly not. This year we decided to shake things up and let loose! We invited the Hogans (Todd, Lynley and their kids Jackson, Kaite, Addy and Eli) over for a sleepover and rang in the new year with style. We had TONS of yummy food, mostly made by Lynley, played games and then watched the ball drop in NYC. The Hogans were kind of enough to just crash in our basement and then they even cleaned up all of the toys in the morning! Fabulous, easy-going guests. In the morning we got the kids out of the house so Jon could drywall the bathroom and went to Richmond Beach. It was about 50 degrees and we were even able to see a few people taking a polar swim to welcome the new year. It was pretty funny and all the kids got a kick out of it. We feel so blessed to have such good friends here and that all of the kids get along so well.

Look What We've Been Up To

We are in the middle of replacing the bathtub and tile in our hall bath. Upon removing the tub and tile we discovered black mold all over the studs and drywall. Yikes! After taking care of that we got down to business! We now have the new tub in and Jon installed new cement board. His skillz are getting better and better! Pretty impressive I must say.

I'll post a pic when we are done! We're kickin' it classic old-school style with the tile- Ode to Helen Ballard the previous owner. I think she'd be proud!

PS Should we have kept the old tile? What do you think?