MommyCoddle

a few of my favorite things

On Sunday morning I woke up at 6:30 in a panic. Dan was still beside me in bed, I thought it was Monday, his alarm didn't go off, he was late for work. Then I realized it was Sunday. Isn't that one of the best feelings in the world? My body just gets all warm and limp when I realize I can sink back into my pillows and fall asleep.

Except that all this week I've thought it was Friday. Just now, I was shocked when I looked up into the little corner of my computer to realize it was flashing "TUE". Who knew? I think I'd better break out a calendar or something.

Anyway, my favorite things...I went to the hardware store this afternoon to pick out a paint color for the headboard that Dan built for me last weekend. In my mind I knew I wanted a dark-grayish-brownish-goose down kind of color.

I don't waste my time with all the other color providers. I marched straight over to the Valspar Martha Stewart color line and there was the exact color I was envisioning. That Martha, she knows what I like. I had my color and my paint within five minutes.

Four of those five minutes were spent gathering up other color cards that I liked. I love these things. If I could get away with it, I'd stand in front of the display and take one of everything. I.love. color. And the names of colors--book cloth brown, araucana green, evening moth, sycamore bark....

And for the record, the one on the far left--tintype--will be the headboard--though it's looking very black in this light.

The other favorite thing right now? Cucumber yogurt dip.

Our family had dinner with another couple from our church several weeks ago and she made this with her meal. I couldn't stop eating it.  I think that it may well be possible that Dan and I were the sole reason the bowl was empty at the end of the evening. Of course I got the recipe and I've been making it in constant rotation, like a chain-smoker lights cigarettes.

Last summer was the summer of tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and balsamic.

This is the summer of Cucumber Yogurt Dip.

Here's my (her) loosey-goosey recipe:

Peel, seed and thinly slice several cucumbers. Salt them and place in a colander to drain off the water. I leave mine for several hours in the refrigerator. To the drained cucumbers, add plain yogurt, a dollop of sour cream, a tablespoon or two of olive oil, a teaspoon or two (to taste) of red wine vinegar. Mix together and add salt, pepper and dill to taste.

I'm putting it on everything--steak, chicken, potatoes, zucchini, bagel crisps. I even eat it straight up. I can't stop. It's so cool and refreshing and summery. Try it, you'll see.

Happy Friday! Tuesday!

this is me :: signing off

It's here. The transition. The uprooting. The move. From garage apartment on my grandparents' farm to a little fixer-upper farmhouse practically within eyesight of where we are now. Just a good walk along the stream and you'd find yourself in our new backyard.

It's been a long, hard road. I'm excited. I'm giddy. I'm exhausted. I'm overwhelmed. The apartment is in that cluttered state as bits and pieces get boxed up or moved around. Things are starting to disappear. Some spaces are looking empty. Others seem so full of 'stuff' that I wonder how we'll ever be out of here by Saturday.

I think the girls are ready too. It's been the big tease these past few months. And especially in the last few weeks as they see their toys and books and dressers disappear from here and show up in their new room. I'm dealing with a lot more whining, more tears, more boredom than I have in quite awhile. I'm trying my best not to shove their needs to the back burner while I pack one more box or do one more load of laundry. They are hungry for my attention.

So, I'm signing off for now. My new internet equipment won't even arrive at the house until Thursday and if all goes well, I'm hoping to see you again here in a week. In a way, I thankful for the forced hiatus. This part of me needs to be quiet for a bit, while I work to settle in to our new house and make it our new home.

I'll be popping in to check email here and there, as I can, if I can.

Thank you for following along in this journey with me--being a place to unload, share progress,excitement, frustration and joy.

Life is sweeter when you can share it with dear friends.

See you on the other side.
xo.
molly

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I'll announce the giveaway winner a little later today, at the bottom of that post.

starting fresh: my quest for creative, simple kid spaces

Dan and I are doing what we lovingly refer to as "trickling" over to the new house. I doubt we'll ever have a big moving day. But someday soon, we'll find that we're miraculously spending the night over at the new house. Last weekend, the girls took naps over there--Elizabeth in a pack n' play in her room (pack n' play naps are never good), and the girls together in the big double bed in the guest room/office. The guest room is one of my favorite rooms in the house. It boasts the best light--with windows on both sides--and the best bed--a big soft pillow top that we "inherited". I told Dan that if he notices an absence of his wife by his side come morning, to look for me in the guest room.

Each day, a few more things disappear from the apartment--a desk, a rug, a bookcase. And every time I take something away, I am reminded of how refreshing and peaceful it is to keep things simple. To only have what you really need and really want.

When I took away some things yesterday, I did a little rearrange of the spaces that were left bare--throwing a few pillows in a corner with a basket of books, bringing out a basket of schleichs and a wooden barn...and immediately the spaces are filled with activity as each child found their special place to play.

It reminds me that children don't need much to stir their creativity.

So I've been doing a little research, going to a few of my favorite, books and catalogs for inspiration. And I'm making a list of what things I want the girls to have in our new house. Which toys and materials and spaces are most important to us--a dollhouse, a basket of blocks, a can of colored pencils and sketch books, a corner of throw pillows and books, an old suitcase of dress up clothes...

I'm taking this move as a chance to start fresh, to simplify, to clean out and to be more intentional about what things find their way into our new home.

I know we won't find that perfect balance right away. It is a work in progress. My research is often interrupted...ahem, Elizabeth!  And I believe you need to live in a space for awhile to see how you live in a space. I'll let you know how it goes, maybe I'll even share my list as I try to organize my way into simpler, more creative, peaceful surroundings.

I love starting fresh.

dinner, revisited

Hello, I'm still here. I owe my disappearance from this blog to a writing deadline that was using up my brainpower, another round of (milder) sickness hitting the youngest two, and just too many sunny days. Although Elizabeth seems to have the worst of it now, but she had a milder case of the flu when we were all suffering with it the first time around. I see sick eyes in this picture....

I finally finished my mobile for meg's mobile swap last week. It is a variation of the one hanging over elizabeth's changing table, which she is demonstrating in this picture, needs to be raised a wee bit! And instead of hanging it on an embroidery hoop, I attached a few fabric leaves to a willow branch and hung the swallows from there. If you haven't seen the mobile swap flickr group, you must check it out. There is some amazing work floating around--(one of my favorites being the one meg made...)

So this week I planned my menus again, just dinner--and spent a little more than last week--$131. But last week I think I did a better job of using some of the things I already had in my pantry and made some old standby meals. This week I tried two new recipes. Several people have asked me to share what I made, but let me warn you, we are a very meat and potatoes type of family. Well-balanced and colorful, yes, but meat and potatoes. This is nothing fancy, all very simple menu items....

Monday (b/c the planned roast didn't defrost):
Cream of Broccoli Soup
Baked potatoes
salad

Tuesday:
Marinated chicken
Couscous
Broccoli
Tomato/Bocconcini cheese/Basil tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Wednesday:
Meat Loaf
baked sweet potatoes
homemade corn bread
salad

Thursday:
Spaghetti with turkey meatballs
homemade bread
salad

Friday:
homemade pizza--
"white" pizza--chicken, artichoke hearts, spinach, a bit of bacon, mozzarella cheese.

tabouli over mixed greens--
this was a first try for me, the tabouli. I made it from a mix out of a box and it was no good. But I want to find more grains to include in my menus besides rice and couscous, so if anyone has any suggestions?)

(and I think we had some applesauce in there somewhere...)

So there it is. In all it's (lack of) glory.
Now I'm hungry....

take and replace

"Take and replace." It's my new mantra with Emma and Mary these days as they deal with Elizabeth, who now wants to come crashing in on whatever they are doing. Playing with schleich animals? She wants to sit in the middle and suck on the giraffe. Drawing at your desk? She wants to stand up beside you and pull the papers down to shred. So I've taught them "take and replace." Take away what she has that you want. Replace it with something else she'll like.

Maybe that's what Martha Stewart is doing with the new special issue of Martha Stewart Good Things: Kids ? Take away MSKids, replace with MS Good Things? This special issue is good--full of some old favorites that I recognize from my MSKids back issues and some new things, too. Having the issue in hand makes me realize how much I miss Martha Stewart Kids. It makes me want to do something.... like write a letter to Martha or Jodi Levine. Or start a new blog--a petition begging them to bring it back!! There are other good children's magazines out there. Wondertime has filled the Kids-void for me, but it isn't as craft-heavy, which is what I loved about MS Kids...

I sat with the issue last night and went through and made a list of a few of the projects I want to try first--the button bracelets, wrapped pencils, decorated bobby pins. So much good stuff.

I've been an embroidering fool this weekend. I got started on an old bird drawing of emma's that I found which has wing bars. I got it all filled in with the colors she suggested, but then got a little stuck. I'm not sure what direction I want to go from here--a pale grey to fill in the other parts, leave them "blank"? But it made me glad I did a practice run before jumping in with the other sketch. I also need to use less strands of floss in the smaller areas like the beak and dark crown. This is all a fun learning process for me.

**my pictures look so blurry in typepad this morning. they're much better in flickr today. hmm.**

And this morning, just because I wanted something to work on while I drank my cup of coffee, I did this drawing I found buried in my sewing basket. Now Mary is begging for me to do something of hers, too. I'm going to have to make a trip to IKEA this weekend for some cheap frames, if this keeps up. They want to draw everything on fabric. Thank goodness for cheap, but simple muslin cloth.

And speaking of birds, check out these amazing felted birds I stumbled upon last night by Lauren Alane. Aren't they amazing? These kill me. She just updated her shop and sold out, but may be updating again this week, according to her blog. I wish I'd found them earlier. They would have made sweet little valentine gifts for the girls.

It's freezing cold here today. Although I remember, when I lived in Wisconsin, thinking these temperatures being what we called "relief". It's in the twenties. I remember being happy to see double digits again, back in my Wisconsin winter days. Brrr.

stay warm.....

something new

I've got a new project I'm getting ready to put up in my shop in the next few days. A totally new genre for me--well, not completely new, but new in this space. But I'm still thinking it through. This is really just a test-run, if you will. See if there's any interest in them because I'm really enjoying making them--the mixture of modern-day tools, with the steady rhythm of working with my hands. Working alongside my husband, needing his steady hand and knowledge to make it through the whole creative process. The transformation of something rough and raw into something useful, smooth and practical. Seeing the deep color emerge with just the first swipe with a soft, oil-soaked cloth.

Can you tell I've been reading Wendell Berry? My husband turned me on to him and after just finishing Andy Catlett last night, he may now be one of my favorite authors. I can't quite put it into words yet, exactly what it is that I love about his writing. There's no plot, no drama--it's just about living, and work and rest and home. I filled pages and pages of my notebook with favorite quotes:

"The households of my grandparents seemed to breathe forth a sense of the real cost and worth of things. Whatever came, came by somebody’s work."

The book is inspiring me. Inspiring me to be away from my computer; to finally just jump in and start a quilt, but only with the things I have on hand; to read in the evenings and pick up my knitting again; to replace a few missing buttons and patch up a worn-out knee; to put a good, hearty dinner on the table and enjoy the warmth and rhythm of "putting things to rights" before relaxing in the evening.

I'm sure you'll be hearing more Berry-filled quotes and inspiration here in the time to come. I hate it when I come to the end of a good book so I think I'll savor it here for awhile longer.

Be watching this space. Once I get my ideas in order, I'll be showing more of what's above. There will only be two available to start. I'm starting simple and small. We'll see what happens.

Happy Tuesday.