school lunch, grrrrrrr....

Check out this article on school lunches in France(my friend mentioned she had read an article about it so I googled it). I just find it so interesting because lately I've been helping the kindergarteners during their lunch time and have witnessed how short a time our children have to devour their food. And guess which foods on their tray they choose to eat first? You got it: NOT the fruits and veggies. So then guess which foods get dumped into the trash can when they are told tough luck, lunch time is now over? Right, the fruits and veggies. Same goes for the 2-3 kids per class that bring lunch from home. That's why I ONLY pack a fruit or veggie and a sandwich. That's all they have time for anyway and there's no unhealthy choice to eat first. Is 10-15 minutes suddenly enough time to eat a great, healthy lunch without shoveling it down your throat as fast as you can? NO! What can be done to change this I wonder...

{this moment}

a friday ritual (inspired by soulemama) a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment to pause, savor and remember. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your 'moment' in the comments!

Greek Penne with Artichokes- YUMMY!

Everyone must go make this for dinner as soon as possible. Not kidding. It was REALLY good and my family gobbled it up. I was worried they wouldn't like the artichokes but I chopped them up into smallish pieces so it wasn't even an issue. Things I did differently: used the whole container of feta, used bow-tie pasta instead of penne, used a whole stick of butter instead of 3 T., sprinkled hot pepper flakes on my serving(spicey nicey!), and we all sprinkled pecarino romano cheese on our servings. Best parts: fast and easy & no meat!

1st Day of School 2010

Everyone was so excited...

Mickey: 4th grade

Jeffrey: 2nd grade

Mary Beth: Kindergarten


I'm so proud of myself- I got watery eyes but didn't cry today. Mary Beth could barely stand how excited she was to go to school. After 2 years of only speaking about 10 words in preschool, her teacher said she talked up a storm today. ???? She always surprises us. Won't it be ironic if she starts getting in trouble for talking too much? Oh little Mary Beth...

Jeffrey is happy that a bunch of his friends are in his class and a fantastic teacher. He said he and his friends all hugged eachother at recess- they were so happy to be together again. :)

Mickey really likes his teacher and has some great kids in his class. He was the least excited to go back to school but said he had a great day. Everyone keeps telling me that 4th grade is big time and major, serious school work- yikes!

I think this year will be great- and even though I'm going to be lonely and sad at home all by myself for the next month until my preschool teaching job begins, the kids will be having a great time at school. And that makes me happy.

Squirt-guns and Sundaes on Sunday

painting the house

look what we did all weekend
you can tell by the look at John's face that it wasn't fun.
but at least it's done.
John's parents came and helped us and we are soooo grateful.
i don't want to guess how long it would have taken or how badly it would have stunk to do it all ourselves. thank you thank you thank you Mike and Donna!!
we saved $2500 doing it ourselves- well worth it I think.
I'm painting my front door yellow. i'll post a picture when it's done.

i heart soap nuts

I use these soap nuts to wash my clothes: Sounds weird, huh? I thought so too...


But Echo Nuts are really cool! You put 3 or 4 in the little bag that comes with it and pop it in the washer with your dirty clothes. And then ta-da! Clean clothes the hypo-allergenic natural way. Click on the link to learn all about this magical soap. I have used them for months now and they get my clothes just as clean as regular detergent without the chemicals and additives.

(i got these photos off of amazon)

{this moment}

a friday ritual (inspired by soulemama) a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment to pause, savor and remember. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your 'moment' in the comments!

Let the 'Wild Rumpus' Begin!

There's a cute little children's book store in Linden Hills(Minneapolis area) called Wild Rumpus. We LOVE it there.

They have chickens just walking around!

Look at the ceiling!?!

There's a big person door and a child size door. How adorable is that???


My sister Amy catching up on some old favorites... that's a cat napping under the chair. There are cats running around the store also.

Hi Dad!(nice smile!)

Unique decor...

John always sits here and waits for Mary Beth to bring him various books to read to her.

There are also: ferrets, chinchillas, lizards, spiders, fish, birds, and various other animals around the shop. Kids think it's the best store in the world!

cute, cute, cute

Jeffrey's teacher told us about it last year and we were amazed the first time we went. Now we go every time we are in the cities and we tell everyone we know about it. It kinda reminds me of Meg Ryan's shop in You've Got Mail(which I'm obsessed with. because I want a shop like that. and because her hair is great in that movie.)

Hello chicken.

If you have kids and you've never been to Wild Rumpus- please go. You won't be sorry. You'll love it and your kids will LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

{this moment}

a friday ritual (inspired by soulemama) a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment to pause, savor and remember. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your 'moment' in the comments!

siblings=friends

While visiting Clover Lane today I noticed this article and really enjoyed reading it. My kids get along really well, and always have, but lately I've noticed some mean-ness and fighting start to creep in this summer... It was nice to have some fresh ideas about siblings growing up as friends.

unicorn skirt & adirondack chairs

I got the cutest, softest chambray fabric recently and decided to use half of it to make Mary Beth a little skirt. She loves it because it's "softy" and has unicorns on it.

I love making these skirts because they are soooo easy. I just cut the fabric across, eyeballing the length(less than 1/2 yard for her because she's so little), hem one side and add elastic to the other- and tada! A skirt!
I also got some cute snail fabric from the same line and I'm working on a dress for her out of it. I'll share the finished product when I'm done.

Oh, and here's my chairs all finished... they were curb finds- a little repair work, primer, and 2 coats of paint completely transformed them. They were worn and weathered bare wood before.

I put them in the front yard- they look so cute there!

thinking...

Mary Beth said I had to take pictures of her "twirl" so there it is!

I have lots of pictures from our (Mickey) birthday weekend in Minneapolis/St. Paul to share and also from Mickey's birthday party yesterday... those will be coming in the next few days.

{this moment}

a friday ritual (inspired by soulemama) a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment to pause, savor and remember. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your 'moment' in the comments!

my bff

this is one of the best inventions ever created- and one of the best things I've ever spent my money on. it is the shark steam mop and if you don't have one you MUST go get one. trust me, you won't be sorry. i'm sure you have all seen the info-mercials about it and maybe you wondered if it was as great as it seemed on tv. well, it is. my mom has one and says it has CHANGED her life drastically. my friend amber has one and she HEARTS it. the swivel sweeper was my old best best friend but now it moved into second because this is definately my new bff. ps. the cheapest way to buy one is at kohl's on sale with an additional % off coupon(I had a 30!!) + during kohl's cash. i got it for a steal that way. but they sell them everywhere(walmart, target, the usuals)

our favorite breakfasts

me, Jeffrey, and Mary Beth love:

fruit, yogurt, and granola parfaits.

Mickey loves:
organic irish oatmeal with blueberries and peaches or strawberries.

It's funny because up until recently Mickey HATED oatmeal!