Resolution #3 -- The Plants

I love house plants. BUT since I've had kids I haven't really been able to keep them alive like I should. Actually, in CA we did pretty well, but we had to leave a couple of surviving ones with friends when we moved across the country. I am now ready to get back to it! My goal is to get a few more houseplants in our home. I would love to get some kind of ficus for our living room/dining room, and then a couple of low-maintenance plants for the kitchen, family room and our bedroom.


I have had these two small houseplants in our bathroom for the last six months (aloe and some other pretty little plant). They are both easy to maintain and look nice in our white and gray bathroom. Growing things does make me happy! (I can't wait to do my outside planting, too.... about six more weeks!)

I'll post pictures of our plants when I get them. Probably after we travel this summer (I got to give them the best chance of living!).

A Sick Week

On Sunday during our zoo trip, I had no idea what would be in store for our family this week. Danny did develop a fever that night of 102.7. Fortunately it went down with ibuprofen. It was obvious he would be in no shape to go to school on Monday, partly because his sleep was so horrible (Monday night, too). He would wake up screaming, disoriented and inconsolable. It was definitely one of the scariest things I have experienced with either of the kids.

His fever continued to soar all day Monday, so I took him to the doctor that afternoon. He has the flu. As in THE flu... the one he got a flu shot for this fall. That highly contagious beast that everyone tries to avoid each year. His fever continued until Tuesday evening. He is still achy and coughing, though, so he will probably stay home from school until Friday. The doctor also found that he had an infected lymph node and swollen tonsil, so he is on antibiotics (AGAIN!!!) for that. The other bad news was that he and Annelise would have to be kept as separate as possible, which has brought them to tears on several occasions in the last two days.

And now to Annelise. Last night (Tuesday) she developed a fever of 103.1. I knew she would have to go in first thing this morning, so I called and the earliest they could see her was 11am. They did that horrible flu test for her (nasal swab... ugh!), but also looked at her ears. BOTH of her ears are infected again (she just finished the last round of antibiotics on Sunday). The great news is that she doesn't have the flu.


This is what a portion of our day looks like. (I'm taking this from the stairs looking down into our basement/family room.) I have been getting movies from the library like mad! Danny and I have also been putting together lots of big jigsaw puzzles and painting with watercolors. If the kids fall asleep, they get a nap... otherwise no naps because then they end up staying up late (yes... 10:30, even if they are sick!). Annelise should be able to go to school tomorrow, considering she is not contagious. Randy and I have been juggling teaching and watching the kids. I feel a little isolated right now, so I'll look forward to everyone being healthy again.

Resolution #2-- The Ears

Here is a goofy one for you!

I have not been able to wear earrings for the last ten years. I got my ears pierced when I was 11, and I did pretty well with the earrings for a while. When I was in college at some point I started having allergic reactions to earrings. I then figured I had to buy nicer earrings and started wearing only 14k gold. By the end of college, I couldn't even wear those. In fact for my wedding I wore earrings, but I distinctly remember how much my ears itched and burned. So I gave up. I have rarely worn earrings since '98. I have tried several times, but I usually couldn't keep them in for longer than a couple of hours.

I have missed them, though. I thought there must be a way, and I decided that this year I would get my ears in shape! I have some beautiful earrings given to me as gifts that I haven't been able to wear, and I would love to wear them. I started looking around, and found some pretty interesting ear and body-piercing websites (Wow... there is a lot of info out there!). And then, only one week into the new year one of my regularly-read blogs asked the same question! The comments people left were pretty impressive, so I realized that maybe I could wear earrings again after all.

I found a pair of 14K white gold earrings that would work. After reading the advice, I realized the key to getting my ears to heal again (around the earring and on the back of my lobe) was to get hoops that were continuous, where the wire went back into the bigger "hoop" wire. I have always hated those kind of earrings because they are such a pain to put in. But it does allow air to get to the back of the piercing instead of having the back of the earring pushed against your skin. Randy had to help me put them in, but I've been wearing them for almost a month now! Amazing!!! No irritation or anything. Now I have to decide when I will take them out and try another pair!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading this totally RANDOM post!

Foot Warmer Craftiness

I've been closing off the vents that pump heat into the bedrooms, since they are at the top of our 3-story townhome. This allows our basement and living area to be a little warmer in the evenings.


On my project to-do list were these little foot warmers that the kids could put in their beds at night to help them keep warm when they drift off to dreamland. I'm pleased with how they turned out and the kids LOVE them! I already have two of my own that were gifts, and I've used them for years. But I actually like the ones I made better because you can take the case off and wash it!

They are filled with rice and once heated in the microwave for 2 minutes, wha-la... a nice little heating pad! I used these wonderful directions to assemble mine along with scraps of flannel that my mom passed my way. Danny's is the Laurel Burch flannel and Annelise's is the yellow,blue and pink flannel.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo this afternoon and joined all the locals (and some tourists) who were enjoying the 75 degree weather. I had to remind myself that less than a week ago we had a large storm that brought the most snow Randy and I have seen since we moved here! One thing about Maryland weather is that it goes up and down like crazy! We will be back into the 30's by the end of the week, but I think we are done with snow for the year.

Here are some pics of the kids.


That last one isn't one of the kids, but made us think of UC Irvine (their mascot is the anteater)! We had a great time and the kids were worn out! Unfortunately right before bed I noticed that Danny was burning up. I took his temp and he has a 102.6 degree fever. Poor guy... I'm sure he must have felt the onset while we were walking all over. He is such a trooper.

Resolution #1-- The Table

I'm usually not into many New Year's Resolutions, but this year feels like such a fresh start. This year I have set some goals related to my home, family and personal life. Since it is now March (YIKES!!!!), I'd like to share some of them. I really did want to share them with you earlier, but I haven't been blogging much lately. I'll mostly share the home goals that I have set this year.

Eating dinner as a family, at the dinner table has always been very important to me. Even before kids, Randy and I would sit down together at the end of our days. My parents were really good examples to me in this area.

I have noticed that as the kids have gotten older, and our schedules have gotten busier, I have a tendency to just slap that meal on the table. It is often chaotic and sometimes there are even loud words spoken (who me???!!!) to get everything on while it is still warm! And then, inevitably someone needs a diaper change, or some little boy didn't wash his hands very well and needs "supervision", or all of a sudden some father/husband figure disappears and I am trying to do all of this by myself while something is boiling over on the stove. Fortunately, Danny and Annelise are at a great age for helping set the table. Danny follows directions very well, and Annelise will at least pick out a fork for her to use!

In 2009 I would like to set a nicer table. I want to turn the crazy, end of the day time into a peaceful family time, and I believe that one way to do that is to set a beautiful table for the family. We have started elements of this already. First, I got rid of most of the kids' plastic dishware. They are old enough to be using glasses and real plates. Secondly, I bought some candles that we light EVERY night for dinner. I can't tell you what a difference this has made at our table. It must be calming or something, but now the kids ask for it each night and it seems to make the meal time special. It is special! Third, I made cloth napkins. We have been using simple kitchen towels as napkins (better than paper, but big and ugly!), but I wanted something beautiful and simple. I used fabric scraps that match our kitchen greens and reds. And finally, Randy and I have committed to having the children sit at the table for 20 minutes, whether they are done eating or not. We have found in the last couple of weeks that they eat more if they know they can't rush off to play. This makes their bedtime snack smaller, and their bedtime cries of "I'm still hungry" less frequent. And then, when they are excused from the table, they clean their places (which they have always done... the nursery school was great for teaching that!) and play OUTSIDE of the kitchen so Randy and I can have a few more words before the crazy bedtime routine begins.


I still have two goals for my table resolution. I would like to make cloth place mats with some of the other fabric scraps I have. The kids' plastic place mats are fine for breakfast and lunch, but I do want to make dinner special! AND I want to set out veggies and a dip about 30 minutes before dinner. I read my sister-in-law's copy of Deceptively Delicious and the author recommends this to calm the "When are we going to eat?" questions. Danny will eat carrots, red peppers and celery, and Annelise will eat carrots. So why not slow the pace down with a little appetizer? If they eat too much before dinner, at least they loaded up on veggies, right?

Two of Danny's Favorite Things... Together

Danny loves Legos and loves Star Wars.

This last weekend the two were combined at a mall event in Virginia. On a side note: I hadn't been to a mall since December, which is pretty amazing... but it was a little overwhelming for our whole family!

A master Lego builder was leading kids to build an 8 foot tall Yoda out of Legos. Awesome!!!! Only Yoda's bottom half had been built by the time we left, but we got to see a 2 foot model of what Yoda would look like. Danny had a blast, and then we went to the Lego store of course!