A VERRRRRY Belated Valentine's Day

This post is soooo late in coming because I was waiting for permission to to publish my annual Valentine's Day video on youtube.  I wanted to use the song "My Hand in Yours" from the group Explosions in the Sky for the background music.  I didn't want my video taken down off youtube, so I emailed the group for permission.  It took a while to hear back, but I did.  Then, the funny thing was they told me to upload the video to You Tube so it would be easier for the band to watch it.  I thought that was IRONIC given I was emailing to ask permission to put it online!  So, I'm going to link to it for now and if they deny the permission, I'll take it down.

Here it is!  Enjoy.  It's my best one yet...which isn't saying much.


I think we've also started a new annual tradition, a la Julia Child--Valentine's Day cards instead of Christmas cards.  I just didn't get my act together this Christmas season and didn't see any cards I really liked either.  Here are what the cards looked like.  I wish I had ordered more because I didn't have enough to send to everyone I really wanted to send to.  Also wish the photos of it weren't so bad.

Front

Back

Close-up 

Close-up

Collections

Lately, I've started to think about the things that I enjoy collecting.  I've also been trying to NOT collect stuff and get rid of clutter and junk.  But these are things that I've enjoyed collecting over the years or am interested in collecting now.

Books
I'll always be a book collector.  There is no way around that.  I got rid of a ton of books when we moved, but kept my absolute favorite fiction and non-fiction books and all my cookbooks.  I love looking for old vintage cookbooks.  I have a cookbook from each grandmother that I love; they have great old school recipes, and I love knowing that Nana and Grandma used them when they were my age.

1. Richard Scarry books for the boys
2. Children's Choice Scholastic Book Club series (I had these as a kid, and have very fond memories of them.  They aren't too difficult to find in thrift stores.)
3. Little Golden Books (vintage only)
4. Christmas Books (for reading advent calendars and holiday fun)
5. Julia Child cookbooks  (Because I simply love Julia.  If I can find old ones, even better.  My dream is to discover a signed copy at a yard sale or a thrift store.  Yeah right.)

Fiestaware
I love this stuff.  I wish it weren't so popular so I could snag it in thrift stores and at yard sales.  But it's hard to find and when I do, it's priced high.  I love this stuff, though.

Alebrijes
These are handpainted, colorful Mexican figures.  They originated in Oaxaca, southern Mexico.  They used to be on display in the condo, but I have yet to figure out where I want to put them in the new house.  I don't own this one, but here is a sample of an alebrije:

Vintage postcards
They are mostly of places meaningful to me; I have two of Mexico that I love and many of the rest came from Nina Litzen, our old neighbor.  I cherish her postcards because they date back as far as the 1920s and are addressed to her as a young woman.  Fun to read and look at.  She collected them her whole life.

When I have more time and money, I'd love to collect more carnival glass (I have some orange from Nana and mom), depression glass, milk glass, and cafe au lait bowls.  

They Don't Stop Talking!

Sebastian

According to Sebastian:
Ernest says, "ewwwww"
Mama says, "I YOU!" (I love you)
Papa says, "quiere" (Papa los quiere)
Grumpy says, "ho, ho, ho"
Santa says, "ho, ho, ho"

Other sayings:
Time out, Murdochs!! (from Ernest Scared Stupid, because the Murdochs are bad boys and Mama says they should be put in a time out)
Pizza Mess (line from Ernest)
Bula Bula Flies (also from Ernest)
Five more monkeys jumping on the bed (he likes to just blurt it out at random moments)
No Mama grito (he tells me "no" when I try to do the Mexican shout and then he does it to show me how)

Lately, Sebastian understands emotions.  He makes:
Mad face (scrunches up brows)
Happy face (does a funny big grin with eyes wide open)
If I put on a sad face, he runs over and says "hug?!" and gives me a big one.

Sebastian loves to be held like a baby so I can do "rockababy" with him (rockabye baby).  Then I change the word "baby" to whatever he tells me.  For example, he says "Ernest" so I sing, "Rockabye Ernest, on the treetop..."  He asks me to sing about, Adi, Mama, Papa, Sebastian, Sebastian Ba, Mini Ba, McQueen, the fan in his bedroom....basically whatever or whoever he can think of in the moment!

Adrian

As soon as I walk in the door every afternoon:  "MAH-ri-a?"  over and over and over and over (he wants to listen to the song on my phone), "Monkey,"  (he likes Preschool Monkey Lunchbox, an iPhone app), or Baby Barn (Peekaboo Barn, another iPhone app).

Lawnmower:  Adi always wants to see Papa's lawnmower in the grarage.  He says hello and goodbye to it every time we go in or out of the garage.  He loves his new book I got for him at Saver's about Larry the Lawnmower.

Sit me?  (Can I sit with you?)

Adrian says almost as much as Sebastian, he's just quieter about it and doesn't expect fanfare when he does something.  He also does the Mexican "grito" but he allows me to do it, unlike Sebastian who shuts me up.  He also knows all the Ernest lines from the movie, and likes Rockababy, too.

Adrian is such a flirt...he loves to make faces at me: either a surprised face or an "I'm cute and I know it" face.  He's so expressive with his body language...more so than Sebastian.  He likes to do "night, night" with me.  He'll lay puppy on my shoulder and then put his head on it to rest.  Or he'll put puppy on the floor (very meticulously) and then lay his head on it.  He's also so neat when he eats.  He likes to wipe his face and his hands to stay clean and he can get almost all of his food off the fork or spoon without making a mess.  (Sebastian, as you can probably guess, is a mess.  He can use a fork and spoon quite well, but does about 50/50 with hands and utensil!)

DONUTS!!!!

This morning Carlos stayed home with the plumber, who came to check our sump pump after our garage flooded last week, and to replace the washer/dryer shut off (it was leaking).  He also started painting the ceiling in the boys' bedroom.

So, I took the boys to Honey Dew for some donut holes before music class.  They love eating donut holes...it must be their favorite food.  They can sniff out a Honey Dew or Dunkin' a mile away (same as Lexi could).

I love having mother-son dates with the boys.

Fitbit!!

I won a Fitbit a week ago at our Teacher Appreciation Day festivities.  The parents association puts it on, and I must say, it's a lot of fun.  This year was an Italian theme.  They had all delicious Italian food (that I passed over, except for a white sauce lasagna with mushroom and spinach and a nice compliant salad--it was so worth forfeiting the point to eat that lasagna!) and great prizes we could enter to win.  The top prizes were 5 nights at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica, a walk-on appearance in Ghostbusters 3, a weekend in Vale Colorado...these parents don't mess around with prizes!  While it would be cool to win one of the big prizes, I took the strategy last year and this year of going for something smaller that fewer people would put in for--then my chances of winning would be greater.  It has paid off...last year I won a $50 Visa gift card and this year I won the Fitbit Flex, worth $100.

Given the WLC that I've been doing, the Fitbit was a good thing to win.  It's basically a glorified pedometer, but what I like about it is that you sync it to your iPhone and computer and it keeps track of your steps, calories burned, and even your sleep patterns.  That's the coolest part!

So here's what I see when I log in on my iPhone.  Pretty cool?

My Maria

The boys are in such a cute stage.  They can express themselves, and their feelings, more and more each day.

We have a nice routine when it's just the three of us at night.  Carlos sometimes arrives in time for bedtime and sometimes not--it depends on which office he's working from.  Anyway, if it's just the three of us, the boys are calmer and our dinners are generally successful lately.  One of the sweetest, nicest memories I'll have of the boys at this age is listening to the song "Cupid" by Sam Cooke with the boys before Valentine's Day and "My Maria" by Brooks & Dunn.

I had the song "Cupid" in my head because we have some window clings of cupid for Valentine's Day.  I started having "Cupid, draw back your bow, and let your arrow go" in my head and sang it to them all the time.  One night I put the song on for them from iTunes and they loved it.  They would sing it too ("Cupid.....BOW!" is their rendition) and then they started to dance, too.  Adrian does the horizontal wave with his hands and they do a modified hokey pokey move with their hands in the air over their head.  They really get into it, and I have to put the song on repeat.

Just in the past day or two, they have been obsessed with "My Maria" which I just thought they would like because it's catchy.  Adrian in particular asks NONSTOP for "Mah-ree-ah?"  He likes to hold my phone as the song's playing and look at the picture of the album cover of Brooks & Dunn.  He gets mad if the picture disappears.  They also like to dance to "Maria" but they are less creative in their moves--it's mostly just jumping up and down to this song.

I need Carlos to take a video of them.  It's hard for me because I use the phone to play the music, and when you try to take a video, it shuts down iTunes.  But I hope to post a video of them soon!

Also, just because I'm on the topic of things that the boys do that I love, we took them to the mall on Monday (President's Day--holiday!) to run around before the stores open.  They were so happy to be able to stretch their legs!!  They ran with glee around the mall.  They are good about staying close and waiting when you ask them to.  By the end they were so tuckered out that they walked right with us and held our hands.  They wanted to go up and down every escalator at South Shore Plaza.  So we'd walk, go up the first escalator, go down the next one we saw, go up again at the next one and so on.  We did about a lap and a half around the entire mall that way--maybe two.  I don't know why we don't do this more often.  It's perfect, and I noticed it's full of other parents doing the same thing.

These boys love Disney and we haven't even pushed Mickey Mouse on them at all....gotta save up to take them when they are a little older!

Later, after naps, we went to Home Depot so the boys could drive the car and we could pick out paint for their bedroom.  Carlos wants to tackle the ceiling, trim, and walls over the next few weeks.  I really am glad he's leading the charge.  I'm not patient enough for painting.

 After Home Depot, we went to Mini's house. It was a busy weekend.

Visit to See Nana Banana

Sunday we went to Methuen to visit Nana.  Mini came with us in the van, and the poor thing rode in the back between the two car seats the whole trip.  She watched the movie Cars with the boys.  We bought the DVD used last summer from a friend because the boys loved cars and we thought maybe the movie would keep them entertained during the flight to Mexico.  But they weren't interested in it at all.  Sebastian inherited a pair of Lightening McQueen slippers from someone and he's been wearing them lately, so I figured I'd give the movie a try.  Well, it was a huuuuuge hit.  It held their interest and they watched it the whole way up to Nana's house and back.  (Sunday, we went to Saver's to check out the half-off sale.  The Norwood store was a disappointment for toddler clothing, but Carlos found them a small-ish Lightening McQueen car and the tow truck (forget his name).  Sebastian in particular is smitten with them.  He woke up asking for "Mah-Queen"!)

Our visit with Nana was awesome.  She had all sorts of "toys" for them to play with: spools from thread, oatmeal containers, scoops, strawberry containers, etc.  They had fun playing around with it all.  Then, she made them yummy grilled cheese and her famous homemade french fries.  They stuffed their faces.  Tia Mimi and Lucas came by as well and Tia brought the boys red velvet cupcakes, which they devoured.  Adrian ate an entire one on his own and then part of Mini's cupcake as well.  And he kept asking for more.  Piglet!

We were sad to leave Nana's house, and Sebastian cried a little when we got in the car.  Not a fussy cry, but a sad cry.  Both boys love their nana!

We can't wait to go back up to see her in March.

Square Foot Garden

This spring, Carlos and I are starting a Square Foot Garden.  It's such a basic concept, but not that many people have ever even heard of it, it seems.  After the WLC and getting into the habit of eating so many vegetables, we realized that this diet will be hard to sustain long term for financial reasons.  And I've been saying all along I wanted a veggie garden so we decided to make the investment and take the plunge.  Added bonus: the boys will see us gardening, can help, and will also hopefully be more willing to eat vegetables if they helped grow them.  I think kids should have a basic understanding of where their food comes from.

So I checked out Square Garden websites like this one and this one and bought Mel Bartholomew's book.  It's the bible of this type of gardening, and it's well-written and very simple and clear in its instructions.  This guy Mel seems like a great guy--I'd like to meet him, actually!

Last weekend we went to Lowe's and Home Depot and bought some of our supplies.  We got seeds, potting soil, the wood to make the raised beds, landscape fabric, and some PVC pipe to make a cover for them.  But we still need chicken wire to add to the cover and keep animals out and some cheap wire fencing to build a compost container.  I ordered Mel's Mix online via Home Depot.  Mel's Mix is the "perfect" soil mix and absolutely 100% essential to the success of this kind of garden.  A 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 mix of peat moss, vermiculite, and various kinds of compost, it's expensive, but lasts about 10 years.  After the growing season you do nothing to it and the following year you add nothing but compost to the garden when you plant.  I had to go to Ocean State to find seed starting trays and some additional seeds.

Last week, according to the suggesting planting schedules, I started seeds for Broccoli, Cauliflower, and parsley.  I tried seeds in a tray of vermiculite at the suggestion of the Sq. Gardening book, but I also (just for this first round and the sake of comparison) started the same seeds in potting soil to see if one method worked better than the other.

Today I went in to mist the seeds and keep the soil moist and found that most of the seeds had sprouted!  It took about 4 days in the living room near the windows and heat and covered with plastic wrap.  So far, I don't notice a difference in quality between the vermiculite and potting soil.

Potting soil trays

Vermiculite trays

This weekend, I have a few more seeds I have to start to keep on schedule, but I forget what!  Have to check the book again!  I also need to go back to Ocean State and buy more supplies.  I didn't buy many last weekend because I half expected to fail with the seeds.  I feel more confident in my seed-sprouting abilities now, though, and will have to transfer these to small 4-packs or pots in a short while.

I think this year will be full of trial and error and it will be easier (just like the beer brewing was a learning experience the first time and we'll be much better prepared for our second attempt) next year.  But so far so good!  I'm so excited!

Thrift Store Hauls

Once again last weekend, I came home with an AWESOME haul from the local thrift store.  Man, that place has a great selection of toddler and kids clothes!  I've been to other places, and often they have literally NOTHING.  They must channel kids clothes donations to this particular store?  I don't know but there are always racks and racks of good stuff, and the selection changes frequently.  I have so much fun going hunting!

Last weekend I spent $48 at the Salvation Army and $10 at KPMM and came home with all of the following.  Every single thing is Children's Place, Gymboree, Gap, Levis, Carter's, Oshkosh, LL Bean, Jumping Beans, or Old Navy (the last two being the lowest on the totem pole?).  I also found a selection of books for the boys.  The biggest find of all, however, was this paperback book:  The Pink Motel.

My mom read this when she was little, a pink hardcover edition from the 1960s.  I read the same edition as a kid from the public library and LOVED IT.  I've wanted to own it ever since.  I never found it to buy.  Well, it was on the shelf at the thrift store.  And the weird part is, they have some books, but their book section is nowhere near as good as their toddler clothes section.  Truthfully, they have a lousy selection of books.  But anyway, this was something I wanted.  It's out of print and hard to find even this 1990s paperback edition.  The best part of all is that this Aladdin paperback is worth over $40 on Amazon.  And I probably paid $.50 because everything was half off.  I love treasure hunting!


Here are some snapshots of some of the other stuff I got, all half off.  So prices ranged from $1-2 dollars, no more than that.  Every thing is a separate item, so in other words I didn't repeat any of the items in pictures.  Also, the winter stuff is in larger sizes to fit next year.  The summer stuff will be perfect for this summer.

As always, the pictures are not great and the clothes are freshly laundered but wrinkly.  I wasn't out to take great photos because there were a lot to take!  I just wanted pictures to document my haul because I love this stuff and was proud of myself for finding such nice things.

I have two of these, one for each boy

This was the one item of clothing that was a Walmart brand, I think, but it was cute and is a nice quality.

For Halloween next year.  I found a different Halloween shirt in past thrifting trips, so now I have one for each boy.