We've Been Back On The Road Again

Staying HERE while we visit with our extended PA family...
Unfortunately the weather has yet to cooperate fully.

We went HERE with my whole family for an afternoon of danger...
Where I fretted over Baby's inability to not just jump without looking at a) what she was jumping on or b) the depth of water... despite repeated warnings and several slippery rock incidents. I still can't believe we made it out of there without a broken ankle or skull. Some things are just not Baby-proof.

and HERE for an afternoon of old timey carnival rides and wooden roller coasters...
You may recall that I took my kids out here a couple of years ago when Baby was 2 or so and she kept climbing out of the moving kiddie rides. Thankfully this time she did not. My brother was kind of enough to help me with her (Mr F is not along) and we traded Baby while the other took Kid along with the big kids on the real rides. He got her a giant cotton candy during one of his turns. She liked being with him better ;)

Tomorrow might give us some sun, finally! So we're staying one more day in hopes of playing at the beach. Then we hit the car for another 9 hour drive home.

Funniest Part Of The Day... Hands Down

So, yesterday was my birthday.

Lots of good stuff happened.

Mr F snuck home while we were out and put up streamers and left me a big bouquet of peonies (my favorite flower... even better than grocery store roses) and a box of chocolates.

Kid made me the cutest hand made card written all in French, since she knows I want to live in Paris.

Then...

Then...

She gave a dramatic reading of Mr F's card.

When she got to "my friend, my lover" she paused after friend thoroughly shocked, then quickly composed herself and really gave "my lover" all the emphasis she could possibly bestow it.

I was on the ground.

Mr F was blushing and about to die from embarrassment.

Then she said "Did he even read this before he bought it?!"

Oh, God... hysterical.

After her reading she repeated that line about one million times.

"my friend, (dramatic pause, meaningful gaze) my lover"

I have a feeling we're going to be having some good times today.

35

"I think you meant to say... Happy Birthday, Mother, I'll be happy to eat whatever you serve me." Mrs F says to Baby, when she tries to send back her breakfast this morning.

Video Update 6/6/11

Umm... Yes... I Was Wondering About That Too

(Kid would probably appreciate if I made it clear that this is Baby's work... she would be horrified if anyone thought that was her handwriting or drawing. She would have you know that she can draw a much more realistic penis than that! She is also reading over my shoulder and laughing her ass off that I wrote that... for reals... she just laughed so hard she tooted.. twice... make that three times.)

Because I Said So

"Why must I clean the toilet?!" Kid complains.

"Someone's got to." Mrs F says.

"Yes, but why must it be the eight year old?!" Kid demands.

Things I Didn't Think I'd Say About The Inside Of Our House

"Careful! Don't run and splash me in that puddle!"

OPRAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

One More Thing Done

We really needed a reading light by the couch. We had had an impromptu set up of crap, but people, why is it that decent lighting is so darn expensive? I couldn't find anything I liked at IKEA or Target... and... well... that's where I shop.
Then I saw a table/lamp combo at Lowe's and I was like... "is it hideous or not?" I decided not. It would solve the problem of needing a light and needing a table, without having a table lamp constantly being knocked over by overzealous light turner-oners (Baby). It had a wrought iron metal finish that kind-of doesn't clash with the ceiling fixtures... and a glass table top so we're not adding yet another wood tone into this room (a good thing).

So... let's refresh that this whole get up, table w/light was only $39. And when I put it together it kind of seemed like it. The shade was horrible. Horrible. Which for a white shade was somewhat astonishing... how bad could it be... bad... I wish I'd taken a before shot.

So last night I laid down a piece of fabric I had bought a while back (which just happened to be the exact right length). I rolled the shade along it to be sure it'd fit. I then carefully cut around the shade while rolling it from end to end. Then I glued it on. Sure, it would have been best if I had a) ironed the fabric first b) done this on a table and not on the carpet and c) used some spray adhesive so the fabric would have stuck smoothly on the shade. (Sadly all of those things I had available to me... just not the patience to use them in the moment). Either way.

So, long story short, much better...

Progress

So... yes... it would probably have been best if I had waited until we have cleaned up the room, put away all of the weird home improvement junk, and made the kids actually put their toys and art stuff away.

But, I don't foresee that happening today.

This is our family room (there is more to it... but... it's covered in toys, swim towels, jars of catepillars... and I do have a tiny bit of pride, it turns out.

This is our favorite room, since it's huge, and it has windows covering three sides that look out on the tree tops and green space of our yard... and is the reason we bought this house.

It was up until last week... the same maddening off white walls, trim, and window treatments as the rest of the house when we bought it.

This room featured two of the large brass boob lights... and... well, had absolutely no feature to speak off outside of the view, and did I mention it's all panelling?


Okay...

BEFORE:

AFTER-ISH:




We've painted the wall the same yellow/wheat/golden color we had painted our front hallway. We're in love with this color. It's got depth, and adds what I'd like to call a sophisticated cheeriness. Plus it goes with just about everything. Now I took these with my iPhone in some harsh lighting... so... disclaimer... it is not mustard yellow in real life. It's more golden.

While I would never in my life pick out these cream honeycomb shades, the fact is, they work, they are super energy efficient, and we can't afford to outfit 10 windows with new blinds. My goal was just to disguise them as much as possible, and as cheaply as possible.

So we hung these rods (Target), and I bought two tablecloths at Cost Plus World Market. It turns out that a 60" panel would work perfectly in here (we've got furniture and baseboard heaters that made full length curtains a No for here... plus... with all the toys, moving furniture, activities, I just want to keep it more casual. A 120"x 60" table cloth makes 4 pre hemmed curtains... you just have to sew up a side seam (which makes these really fail proof curtains). It also makes these $5 a panel. Sure they are only 30" wide and won't cover up even one window... all we wanted was to have a finished window look... we use the shades to block sun and at night for privacy. I actually didn't want too much curtain bulk at the sides because it would cut into our view. These are perfectly enough to look like curtains, and to cover up the ends of the shades that frustratingly hung an inch past the window frames, without taking over the windows. I'm happy. I also grabbed some napkins and stiched them together to replace some throw pillowcases that didn't look to hot.

A Little (Miss)construed

"Pick your shoes up and put them away." Mr F directs the kids as they kick their shoes off in the kitchen.

"I'm not your slave!" Baby responds, more than a little put off by the suggestion.

"They are your shoes, you'll put them away." Mr F responds.

Baby begrudgingly complies, than marches back into the kitchen...

"Dad wants me to be my own SLAVE!" A very disgruntled Baby informs me.

What's Up

Well like all great weight loss plans, mine was working ...so... I just up and stopped following it a week and a half ago.

Sound familiar?

I hate when I can be so predictable.

Subsequently, I have... NOT... lost any more weight.

What can I say? These psychological injuries run deep.

Back with the program TODAY. TODAY. I SWEAR.




On other fronts....

I am profoundly happy, people.

Believe it.

This year has really been about reclaiming my happiness.

Taking risks.

And reaping their rewards.

Follow your dreams, peeps.

I made lots of major decisions in this past year... and they were HARD, hard decisions.

And we bucked the trends and did things that just weren't *normal* and that had major chances for complete failure...

and HERE WE ARE.

It all worked out.

And we are ALL happier than ever.



Lessons:

Take that crazy low paying job half way cross the country... risk losing the equity in your home... your situation can't change if you don't change it.

Take your kid out of school... take a step into the unknown... risk other people's judgements.... follow your gut... you know what is right and you know what is wrong.

Take your ego out of your marriage... risk your sacrifice not being met.... put everything out there... find what you lost.




So really, it's kind of hard for me to care too much about vanity weight.

I'm actually living my dream life.

Oh and I'm turning tablecloths into curtains.

What's next?! Maybe soon I'll have an actual social life?




PS if you think the marriage plan won't work for you... that your problems are too far gone... that you need more than a phone alarm... TRY IT! Try it, please. Really, I would never have thought that it would have this profound of a difference. But it has. It is just like daily affirmations, or morning meditation, or whatever else you might do for some other part of your life. Starting everyday on the right foot really does change the direction of your day. Think about it.... no.... do it. Then see.

Happy Birthday Mr F!

Spring Has Finally Sprung

And we are all kinds of happy about it.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to the greatest mom two little girls could ever hope to have, and the greatest mother any father could ever dream of parenting with. You teach us all something new and make us each better every single day. I am the father I am because of you, and I thank you for showing me the way and setting the highest goals to make us the best and happiest family we can be.

I love you.

Matt


[Not a photo from today, just a random tackling and attack of love from the girls one morning...]

The Gardener

The Test

"If we were outside, in the dark, and I turned to you and said... just like this (making my face and voice as serious as possible)...

'Get Inside.' ...

What would you do?" Mrs F asks Kid.

"Go inside." Kid says.

"Okay, what if I said it like this...."

"get inside." I whisper quietly but sternly.

"Go inside." Kid says.

Mrs F turns to Baby and repeats the exercise.

"What would you do?" Mrs F asks Baby.

"Keep playing outside." Baby shrugs and says.

"What if I said... 'I'm serious, there is something dangerous, you need to go inside right now.'?" Mrs F asks.

"Probably not hear you and keep playing." Baby suggests.

The Moment You've Been Waiting For

(Click on the video and watch it on YouTube if you can't see the whole shot)

Light Switch

Remember Golden Boobs?

We've finally swapped out all of those big brass halogen banquet hall lights we had all over the house!

(Sorry most of these pics are super soft focus... I was using my iPhone... with the lights on you can't see them... with them off it's too blurry... at least you get the gist)

Kitchen:
Replaced golden boob for track lighting.

Dining Room:
Replaced golden boob for vintage chandelier.

(this is that vintage metal chandelier we got at the antiques fair last Fall)
Family Room:
Replaced two golden boobs for a pendant light and fan.


The pendant light hangs over the kids work table. We removed the second light in favor of a fan (with no lights) because we needed more overhead room for our active Wii games ... and this room is not connected to our central air. We're going to put in some floor lamps instead.
This room still needs paint and window treatments... and not to have taped up coloring pages for artwork... hoping this is the next room completed.

Oh and we changed out this entryway light...

for this...

Once we were going with a more craftsman vibe in the hallway that black chandelier was on the outs (now in a bedroom). This is actually a fairly decent fake Tiffany style light... you can't see it's details in this... but I promise it's not cheesy.