Sometimes that means going out with friends. Sometimes it means grocery shopping by myself.

Today, it meant packing the kids up and taking them to Lala’s so I could get my hair cut.

They were excited (they always are when we load up to go to Lala’s house) and hopped in the car. Maria had school so it was just the younger 3.

We got there and Charlotte immediately crawled to the animal basket.

[one of these things doesn't belong...]

She dove right in.

[her chocolate eyes are too much]

And I left. I went to Tara to get my hair cut. I need fashion for my NYC trip — and that includes a haircut. I’ve been sporting the long-hair, bangs growing out look for too long. I cut bangs (blunt bangs right above my eyebrows) and got a few layers in the back. Drastic? Not in the least. But enough that it makes me feel a tad fashion. Like 1/8th fashion. On Tuesday I go in for color. I realize pink and blue might not be fashion, but it’s totally me so that’s what I’m getting. More pink and blue strands.

And while I was getting my hair cut, I had time to think about Maria’s birthday party. Favors, decor….last minute things. Things that, if I don’t get started on them soon, I will spend too much time on them. I need bandanas and cowgirl hats. New boots for Maria (her gift). Food for the kids to eat and maybe a game or 2. And a CD full of country songs, “Hoedown Throwdown” being #1.

It’s party season.

I Love You Because…

…you are fun.

You are so much fun. You laugh at everything and your smile never stops. Okay, maybe for a few seconds to shout at the kids, but you spend most of your days smiling. You are exciting and happy and so. much. fun.

You got out every single game from the cupboard today. You “played” all of them. And when it came time for the elephant game, you went wild. You stood there and waited very patiently for all the butterflies to just fall in your net (they didn’t). You smiled and jumped and laughed the whole time. Oooooh, I love you!

I love kids shoes. I have a bit of an obsession with dressing my kids and finding the cutest, most comfortable, best, etc of what’s around. I love See Kai Run shoes for little ones. I think they only go up to size 9 or 10, so they’re only for toddlers, but they have the sweetest styles and patterns and hold up really, really well.

Sprinkles for Sprouts Crown

[this picture was taken by the owner of the shop...not me]

Charlotte’s first birthday party is a whimsical royalty theme. Yes, you heard me correctly, there is a theme to Charlotte’s birthday, as always with my children’s parties. I bought this crown (in pink) for Miss Charlotte to wear on her birthday. It’s so adorable and sweet.

Zara kids sweatpants

I got a pair of these Zara sweatpants for Jamie to wear for his hip-hop class. Well, they are his go-to “comfy clothes” and he wears them every chance he gets. They are cute and comfortable, but thick and well-made. Always important for kids’ clothes.

Books

[written by the author of the Small Measure blog]

Farm books, currently. When I want to know about something or learn about something, I do my own research. I buy books and books by lots of different authors on the subject. When I got pregnant with Maria, I bought so many pregnancy books. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but toot toot — I’m a pregnancy and breastfeeding expert. I now can tell you all about chickens. How long before they start laying, the different breeds and what they are good for, how much room they need to have, etc. I’m a non-fiction lover.

Lego Starwars Sticker Book

We have LOVED this book. I’ve gone the sticker book route before – the $8 “treasury” sticker books from Costco. My kids would tear all the stickers out and I’d find them everywhere: the bottoms of my shoes, the walls, door frames, beds, other books….all over. With this one, I made rules. They couldn’t take all the stickers out and they had to do it with me. The first pages are full of empty characters with their names by them. On the following pages are all the stickers that correspond to the characters and you have to search for the stickers and put them in their correct spots. We have fun reading about all the characters and filling up the pages. ANd I have yet to step on Yoda or scrape Obi-Won off of Alice’s door.

Sonic Cranberry Limeade

Mmmmmm. Jim likes his with vodka, but I like mine sober.

Smashing Pumpkins

I’ve been listening to Smashing Pumpkins a lot lately. I of course like Thirty-Three and 1979, but so does everyone else. I like all their stuff, really. Old school.

And finally….

Dance Moms

Oh my goodness, this show is awesomely ridiculous. It’s totally my guilty pleasure. Abby Lee Miller might be the meanest, craziest, most out-of-shape dance instructor I’ve ever seen. And heard. She tells her 9 and 10 year old students they are babies, they are ding-dongs, they are stupid and basically that they are worthless. And their parents keep sending ‘em. i don’t get it. But thank god they do because my Tuesday nights are wonderful because of it.

Happy Friday everyone!

I don’t know why, but saying “Raptor Club” makes me laugh. It shouldn’t. But it does.

Okay, time to get serious. The WSU Raptor Club totally came to Children’s House today and it was a blast.

The girls were so great.

The kids were beyond interested in the birds.

Raptors are birds of prey with sharp talons who kill their food. I think? That’s what I remember from the presentation. Along with a lot of other facts, like how this horned owl…

….is named Sprite and only weighs a few pounds. He doesn’t eat a lot of mice because they are pretty small for him. He prefers larger animals like maybe rabbits and big rats. Probably cats. They didn’t say that, but I’m guessing Sprite has enjoyed a few cats in his day. He is up at WSU with the Raptor Club because he got hit by a car and hurt his wing.

So did this little tiny guy:

He’s a Western Screech Owl. He weighs 1/2 pound and eats little mice…about 1 a day.

The kids were so awesome. You could tell they had been learning about these types of birds and had really great questions.

And lots of hilarious “questions” like, “My sister hurt her ankle. Like that owl hurt his wing.” or “That’s a tiny owl that looks like a baby owl.” I love little kids. But this group of kids especially because they were so polite.

Most of them.

One child said, “Can we move on to the next bird now?”

I mean…seriously. That kid’s parents must not teach him patience and proper manners, right? Psh.

Oh, wait. That was Jamie.. He totally pulled out the ‘lets get this show on the road’ hint. So rude. I shushed him as quickly as I could and he shot me an evil eye. He didn’t know I was there until he heard me very loudly whisper, “Jamie! huh uh….” Oh, Jamie….

But they did move on to the next bird.

A hawk. Actually, a red tailed hawk (I think that was the name?). He was really huge. Oops, I mean she. Her name was Brenda.

Yes, Brenda. I love it.

We are so lucky that Jamie gets to do and see these really fun things! I’m not sure I would have ever known there was a Raptor Club at WSU (and I certainly wouldn’t have tried to find out if there was one) if Ms. Megan hadn’t brought them to the school.

Hooray for the Raptor Club!!

Today Miss Charlotte wore a Peek Little Peanuts long sleeved shirt and Old Navy jeans. Basic but adorable and cute. She ripped her headband right off, by the way. We did try and accessorize.

Alice.

Alice wore a Mini Boden long sleeve t-shirt under a Gap Kids short sleeved hoodie and striped leggings. Oh, and adorable brown boots.

James.

Jamie wore a Peek shirt and Old Navy jeans. But let’s not forget his shoe choice. One red and one blue Croc. Ridiculous. And a battle I didn’t want to fight.

Maria.

Maria wore Mini Boden skinny jeans, a top from Macy’s and Nordstrom shoes.

The wind almost blew us over today, can you tell? It’s been windy all day long — it’s 4:10pm and it’s still going strong!

Alice has been in big-girl undies for 3 days now with ZERO accidents. I’m not kidding you.

We have gotten ZERO calls on our house. No one has wanted to look. I am anxious, but know that it’s been on the market less than a week and hasn’t even been on the realtor’s tour yet (when all the valley realtors check out new listings). That comes on Tuesday and I think after that, along with this week of advertising we’ll get some people interested.

Today is also Ash Wednesday. Why yes….I did go to Mass today. So did my 3 youngest children who were so loud and naughty in the children’s room that the very nice and quiet 4 year old and her mama decided to leave the quiet room. Quiet room is a lie. It’s never quiet.

So with a giant black smudge on my forehead, I’m ready for Lent. What am I going to give up? I’m not sure yet. I’ll think about it and get back to you.

Even when it’s super cold outside.

Our house has been the location for many a playdates this week. Probably because I’m the meanest mom ever and I won’t let my kids walk to other people’s houses and hang out inside. I’ve got a 2 year old who would follow them and squeal if she couldn’t join in. I don’t like my 2 year old to be sad so I say, “If they want to play, they can come play here.”

Luckily, they did want to play.

We roasted some goodies.

AND we were fashion.

Because that’s how we roll.

Jamie was very sad. It’s hard to be a big boy sometimes when you just want to cry because you can’t sit next to both of your friends. He tried so hard not to cry. But this kid couldn’t hold it in. The tears flowed.

But we got it all worked out and there was a spot for all.

And the mallow roasting commenced.

Alice gazed at Wyatt the whole time. Wyatt MIGHT be her favorite person in the universe.

Danny was the fire chief. He looks unhappy here, but he loved the whole roasting party.

Okay, maybe not so much. But Danny’s a trooper and made it fun.

And the great thing about giant marshmallows on a stick?

They can make even the saddest boy happy.

Hope you had a wonderful week and enjoy your President’s Day…as for us? We’re going to bake some bread and play with friends. And as Jamie put it…

“Maria doesn’t have school? I LOVE the presidents!!”

We do a lot of dressing up.

Well, Alice does.

We do exploring.

We do a lot of talking. Alice is quite conversational.

Charlotte and I make sure we listen and laugh at all of her jokes. She has lots.

We cruise around the rooms. We show off how big we are.

We get every single window as dirty as possible.

We are silly and fun and we sometimes terrorize the dogs. But we think they secretly love it.

Clearly we don’t care about what our hair looks like and we aren’t too concerned about fashion when we are just hanging out at home.

But we have the best time. Alice helps with Charlotte. Charlotte is as happy as can be. They are okay with packing up to get kids from school, go grocery shopping or picking up toys. Alice doesn’t whine too much and she says please and thank you and gives me a zillion I love yous.

We miss the big kids when they are at school, there’s no doubt about that.  But sometimes it’s nice to just be home with my baby girls.

We have an offer on one now, about 25 minutes or so from where we are now.  It’s contingent on our home selling, so we are VERY aware of the possibility that this farm might not work out.  But we’re moving to a farm.  Maybe not the one we have in mind right this second, but that’s okay.

I cannot tell you how many people have responded to our farm dream with surprise.  Pretty much everyone except Cenone and Megan and my parents.  They respond with surprise and confusion and all-around weirdness.  It’s okay.

I know that for many people, moving from a nice subdivision to a dirty farm with animals and chores and super old buildings and a “drive into town” is not their dream.  And it’s okay.  But believe me when I say it is ours.

I want the very best for my kids.  For us that isn’t a gigantic home with a room for each of  us, plus some.  It’s not granite countertops and 3 bathrooms.  I know that for a lot of people, that is exactly what they want for their kids, and I am not against that even a tiny bit.  I don’t think that’s bad or weird or anything.  But Danny and I have talked over and over and over about exactly what we want for our family.  How we want our kids to grow up.

And it always goes back to the farm.

We want a farm for the kids to run crazy.  We want animals for the kids to help raise so they know where their food comes from and how it gets from the farm to the plate.  We want to slow down and not get caught up in all the newest, biggest, best.  It’s hard, I know that as much as anyone else (I love our ipad and our new car and our big new patio).  I want to be able to spend as much time with our family as possible with few distractions.  I cannot wait to say, “Maria, did you go get the eggs?  Jamie, go feed the goats.  Alice, please don’t let the lambs out of their pens!”  Just thinking of that makes my heart do flip flops.  It makes me so excited to get home from school and let the kids loose.  Not have them confined to just our front and back yard — let them run around on acres and acres of land with lots of things to explore.   It’s 100% the lifestyle we want.  We know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s ours.

And we can’t wait.

So if you know of any families looking for a 5bdrm, 3 bath, beautiful home with a gigantic backyard (fenced) and a brand new patio and steps….send them my way.

I Love You Because…..

…you start our day off right.

Okay, so this may be a bit of a silly “I love you” post, but we love driving through Starbucks. On Tuesdays and Thursdays after we drop off Maria and Jamie, Alice will say, “Starbucks?” and usually I will say, “Okay, what do you want?” I always know the answer.

“Cha cha gah.” That means chocolate milk.

“One tall, non-fat white chocolate mocha. With whipped cream. And a boxed chocolate milk, please?”

“Oh…and an oatmeal.”

Delicious. And so while we wait for Miss Ellen to open the MDO doors, we enjoy our Starbucks.

Wyatt gave Charlotte this cow and it’s pretty awesome. The little pig inside pulls out and it vibrates. It’s colorful and cute and Charlotte LOVES it!!

Magic Erasers

I am cleaning my house like you wouldn’t believe. I am kind of in love with Magic Eraser. Be careful on paint, though, because if you are an especially vigorous cleaner, the paint might wear off.

Sanuk Shoes

Comfortable. Can wear in the water. Hippy-cute.

Frommer’s New York

In 2 weeks I will be hanging out in New York city, probably setting up playdates with Suri and Apple and all kinds of famous kids. Thank goodness I have this guide to help me find restaurants and shopping places.

Broccolini

Costco has broccolini right now in their giant fridge and we love it. Salt, pepper, and a little garlic. Mmmmm.

Cori Dantini

I’ve shared her here before, but I’m doing it again. We have this exact print in our kitchen and I adore it. It is whimsical and cute, but goes so well with all our other stuff. It’s not too loud and I love it.

Muck Boots

For Valentine’s Day, Danny got me a pair of black Muck Boots. I’m so excited to get them muddy and wet. They’re comfortable and awesome.

Skinny Girl Lipgloss

I love lipgloss. This is no secret. This SkinnyGirl lipgloss that Alicia gave me is awesome. It’s tingly and sparkly, but just enough…and I love the taste of it. I lick my lips over and over.

Finally….

www.small-measure.blogspot.com

I came across this blog a while ago and I love it. Ashley (the author) is cute and funny and her pictures are awesome. I love her whole approach to life.

Happy Friday!