Did Someone Say Park?

(photograph by NovemberDreams)

My husband has never taken me out on a date. That's right, never. We've gone out, yes, but hes never taken me anywhere. There's a big difference, right? There's probably at least one gal reading this, thinking "whats the big deal, why does he have to take you out?", and that's fine, really, some people probably don't see why it matters so much (I think I was one of them up until a week ago). But after being with somebody for five years, married to them for three of those, it matters. In a brief moment of selfishness, I decided I wanted to feel special, too. I voiced my opinion, in the form of an adult tantrum (we all have our moments), and then stomped off with my nose in a tissue. And you know what? It worked.

Last night while I was cleaning the counter, Cinderella style (that's what it felt like, at least), my husband asked me "what are your plans for tomorrow"? I thought nothing of it (the tantrum had been days ago, by the way), I just blabbed on and on, about "I have to work on binky leashes, put together a tutorial for the Dramalogues, I need to edit the kids 365's, other than that- oh wait, I wanted to bake some bagels too, but I guess I don't have to do that un-", he cut me off. "Because I was thinking we could go out". I didn't understand. I didn't say anything back. "I called Kristen, shes going to come over and watch the kids, and-", "REALLY?!" I shouted. My ridiculous childlike tantrum had worked?? My husband was going to take me out?!

We stood in the kitchen, leaning up against the counter, discussing where we'd go for our big night. His plans were, to take me to a movie, and then to this fancy martini bar downtown. Nice, right? As happy as I was that he had made plans for us (I was so excited that I was literally bouncing in place), I really just wanted to go get a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks? Kind of silly, I know. Last year I was "allergic" to them, or so I thought (long story there), and all I've been able to think about for the past week, is how badly I want to hold a hot cardboard mug in my hands and inhale the flavored steam as deeply into my nostrils as my nose will allow. He gave me a funny look, probably thinking 'are you serious?'. I asked him if he was mad (he said no), and then went on to encourage that if he really wanted to go see the movie and go to the martini bar (I just didn't think we'd really have anything to talk about while we were there, and it would be loud, and... ) that we could. We talked about going to the drive in, but nothing good was scheduled. I'm afraid of scary movies, and a romantic comedy doesn't seem like something I'd want to waste my once-in-a-lifetime big date night on. When I stopped to think about it, I really just wanted to get a coffee and go sit on a bench at the park with him, like we used to do. Before kids, before the military, before Texas. We used to get coffee and go to the park in Portland all the time. And when I said this out loud...

"DID SOMEBODY SAY PARK?!", Eleanore screamed from the living room? "DID SOMEBODY SAY PARK?!", she screamed again, when there was no immediate response. She jumped up, ran across the floor, skidded to a stop on the hard woods in front of the kitchen, and one more time, yelled "DID SOMEBODY SAY PARK?!"

By now Christopher and I were bent over holding our stomachs, laughing. Of course, of course, the one serious, and honestly quite romantic, conversation that we were having (no arguing involved) in decades, would be interrupted by a three year old eavesdropping and exploding into a playground induced seizure of excitement.


Yes Eleanore, somebody said park. And for the first time in your 3 years of beautiful life, Mommy and Daddy are going without you. And we're taking pumpkin spice lattes, drenched in whip cream.


Re-posted with permission from The Mama Dramalogues.

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Lovely Fall!

hand painted blue bird in leafy tree tee from Winklepots

embroidered wool felt hair clip by Neskat

modern leaf organic baby gift set by Cocoa + Milkweed

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Some Outrageous facts...

From my crew to yours - just some fun things to know and share with your kiddos (the boys picked these out!)

1. A group of Jellyfish is called a Smack

2. If the longest Blue Whale could stand on its tail, it would be as tall as a 10 story building

3. The air around a lightning strike is 5 times hotter than the sun

4. Americans eat 7 BILLION hot dogs between memorial day and labor day

5. Texas is the only state that allows residents to vote from space

~Have a Fun weekend with your kids~

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Featured Shop: Planet Pudge

Today I thought whatever the first listing that comes up under an 'etsykids' search is the lucky person that will be the featured shop this week and I must say I am delighted to find planet pudge as that listing.
Planet Pudge is an out-of-this-world planet filled with hand-embroidered tees & hoodies guaranteed to be the holiday gift that keeps on getting compliments and the tee your little one refuses to take off.
The result of an over-caffeinated, creative-deprived mom in search of fun, unique, modern clothes for her two little girls. Sick of the same old mass-produced stuff, she started fanatically drawing, cutting, obsessing over fabrics and hand-stitching everything (much to the dismay of her calloused middle finger). Many "where did you get that"'s later, Planet Pudge was born. A bouncing baby brand that offers a wide array of colorful American Apparel tees, tanks and hoodies both great (up to size 12) and small. Every Planet Pudge creation is one-of-a-kind, just like your mommy-worshiping, caterpillar-smooshing, homework-defying kid.
Shipping is available with all items shipping within one week.
I just love it all and might have to start christmas shopping right here!

So adorable...enjoy!

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EtsyKids Design Challenge for October: Birds & Owls

Each month EtsyKids Team members are challenged to create a unique item within a chosen theme. This month's challenge, 'Birds & Owls', was picked by last month's winner KateEmersonDesigns. EtsyKids members will have until October 19th to submit their entries, and voting will be open to everybody from Wednesday, October 21st to Tuesday, October 27th. So, be sure to come back to the EtsyKids blog for a new post on the 21st to see all of the entries and VOTE! In the meantime, please click here to get a sneak peek at some exciting entries so far!

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Kids in the Kitchen - Halloween Art Project!

Posted with permission. Original blog post by Make and Takes on 10/12/09.

Halloween is a fun time to give a ghostly gift with terrorific treats. We’re wrapping up this painted cellophane to give to some of our neighbors and friends, sharing some holiday fun.

Supplies for Painted Gift Wrap:

• cellophane wrapping – cut into 24 inch square sheets
• craft paint – Halloween colors
• paper plate
• sponges, paint brushes
• ribbon
• treats

Lay out your cellophane sheet on the table. Apply a tablespoon or so of paint onto the paper plate. Using your sponge or paint brush, paint onto the cellophane. You can simply make fun circles with Halloween colors or do some Halloween designs. My daughter had fun just painting all over.

Here I made some fun Halloween shapes. I painted white ghosts with a black face and orange pumpkins with green stems and a few jack-o-lantern faces.

Allow these to dry, it shouldn’t take more than an hour if your paint isn’t too thick. Once the paint is dry, place some treats in the center of the cellophane (with the painted side out) and wrap it all up, attaching a ribbon to close up the top. Have fun painting and gift giving these for Halloween.

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Creating a Moment of Zen

You may find this hard to believe, but I used to be one well put together cookie. Before kids, even before marriage, I was organized, sharp and well rested. Now I’m as organized as the city dump, as sharp as a spoon and I might as well blame it on the fact that I haven’t slept in five years. My life is chaotic and I feel like I’m grasping at something, anything, that will help keep it all in check. Or at the very least, give me a few moments of Zen.

Some may call me a control freak, but if I don’t have control over my life, then who has the reigns if I don’t? So, in an effort to get things back on track, I’m trying to lose weight to be in control of my body, sorting through the clutter to keep the house under control and get back into doing the things that I love so that the part that makes me me is not on the back burner. I’m more than a wife and a mother, I’m still me. And that person likes to be fit, organized and in control of her life.

I’ve started to sort through all of our belongings and have begun to purge. And I must say that once something leaves this house, never to return, it is incredibly satisfying and I feel like I’ve accomplished a great feat. Also, now it’s someone else’s clutter and not mine. Neener neener. :oP If you haven’t discovered it yet, you should check out Freecycle.org. It’s a Yahoo Group and you sign up for specific to your county. Members list items they are getting rid of, need or want. Just email the person and schedule a pick up. And since it’s free, you can always leave the items on your porch and not even be disturbed when someone comes to claim the item(s). I’ve found quite a few things I wanted/needed and have gotten rid of plenty. It’s a wonderful resource. One man’s trash is another’s treasure.


I’m also participating in a huge children’s consignment sale, starting next weekend. Take all of your old, good used condition baby items, tag them with a price and take them over. Do NOT hold onto baby items unless you’re planning to have another one in a year or two. Of course, keep the staples like the crib and primo stroller you love, but get rid of those baby clothes! If you do decide to have another child a few years from now, the odds are, the clothing you currently have you either won’t like or it’s out of style. So Freecycle the items that are stained or not worth selling and make a few dollars to add to your rainy day fund with the rest. Think of all of the extra storage space you’ll free up.

If you’re house looks anything like mine, you’ve “binged” on things for years and never purged and now it appears to be a daunting task. But it’s not hopeless, I promise. Pick something small, like the hall closet, the tote of baby things or the junk drawer in the kitchen. Spend an hour going through it and getting rid of the things you no longer use/need then organizing it so that the things you are keeping are easy to find. If you don’t remember the last time you used it, you don’t need it. Then don’t wait to get rid of the things you don’t need, just list them, take them to Salvation Army, whatever. You haven’t accomplished anything until they’re gone and you’re missing out on the gratifying Zen moment.

It doesn’t sound like much, but do the closet today, the bathroom tomorrow, the pantry the next day, etc. Eventually, you’ll have cleared out so much stuff, it will almost feel metaphoric. You’ll weed out the clutter from your life, so that all that’s left is the necessities, organization and maybe a hint of your former, put together, self. And that’s definitely worth the effort.

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