BEWARE! you might enjoy this a little too much!

my latest craze…vintage buttons to sew on clothes i am making for the girls. they make me happy!

every year around this time (OK, just last year and this year) we are ready to head south for a dose of sun and warmer temperatures.  we were toying with the idea today, even going so far as checking the weather channel for the forecast in various parts of the country.  By far the best was phoenix, but i am sad to say, we have no family there who would be obligated to host their shriveling, white, northern relatives.

so here we stay, growing whiter, colder and more vitamin D deficient with each passing day.  and if i have to hear of one more person talking about their wonderful trip to hawaii or california where it was sunny and 80, i just might fling myself onto some icicles (which are right outside my door).

the oddest thing happened the other night at book club. for some reason we were talking about toys of our childhood.  Someone said, “remember the monchichi?” and before i knew it, i blurted out the entire commercial jingle of the monchichi song.  

it was slightly distubing. i did not have a monchichi as a child, so i have no idea why the song would stick in my head.

   a couple of mintues later someone else said “what about jem?” once again, i was overcome by irresistable advertising. How is it possible that i remember the commercial jingles to things from 20 years ago? too bad there isn’t a game show for retainging such useless information. 

so, i want you to test me. name some toys or products of the 80’s and 90’s and we’ll see what happens!

no, it’s peanut butter and jelly face!

in the last few weeks that i would rather be home, focused on my family everyday.  the snow-induced lock-in we had for about 2 weeks helped me realize this. I don’t work, so it should be easy.  but the almost daily necessity of running errands, taking addy to preschool, and doing things for steve distracts me from my focus. the busy-ness of doing replaces the peace of being.

i miss the quiet rhythm of those snow days. Even if we needed to go somewhere, we couldn’t. We made due and found creative ways to entertain ourselves. i realized that all i want and need is found in my home, with my family.

t-shirts designed by steve in celebration of snow!

by watching Wifeswap on Friday night at 8pm on ABC. You might see me! You’ll at least see my roller derby team.

one of my favorite songs is “if these walls could speak” by amy grant. it makes me happy and sad, pensive and quiet. it’s poetry set to music.

you can watch amy singing it here or read the lyrics here.

My 4 year old’s favorite song is “I Have Decided” by Amy Grant. She has her own version of how the song goes:

“I have decided I’m gonna live a believer, ride on back of the deciever, amummummu what i believe”

She may not have the words right, but she is very heartfelt when she sings it.

For some inexplicable reason I was thinking about how cool it would be if you could set your life to music. There would be crescendos and diminuendos. There would be drum solos and complete silences.

Sometimes I hear songs that completely capture what I am experiencing at that moment. The music that embodies my life right now is what I call the “happy” part of Pachelbel’s Canon. It’s when the flutes come in and sing their whimsical, upbeat song. It feels lighthearted, like good things are coming. After dwelling in the land of the bass for so long, the flutes feel really good.

On Saturday we went to see the play Peter Pan at the Bing Crosby Theater with some friends. It was awesome! I was really impressed with the acting, singing and the stage sets. Addy was mesmerized with Captain Hook, the crocodile and of course, the flying! There was considerable discussion as to whether or not the pixie dust they used was “real”, but the final deduction was that it was not. Addy is still trying to figure out how to get her hands on the real thing.

i always said i would never home school and now i am seriously considering it. I would love to have your input on curriculum, experiences, advice, warnings, etc. Tell me what i need to know.