Best of 2009

Best movie seen in 2009: The Hangover. Definitely lived up to the hype. I didn't see a whole lot of movies this year, though, so take it for what it's worth. Other movies that I really, really liked (not movies that came out this year--just movies that I saw) included Doubt, Milk, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Slum Dog Millionaire.

Best book: The Book Thief, followed closely by Tortilla Curtain, Everything Matters, and Night.

Best local family outing location: National Building Museum's Building Zone. They have a great room for kids with all kinds of blocks, a play house, construction vehicles and cars and trucks, a train table, doll house, and more. Great way to spend a rainy morning or afternoon! Runner-up: Anywhere around the Mall in DC--the monuments and memorials, the Botanical Gardens, the Tidal Basin--what more could you ask for?

Best toy and kid's book: For toys, it would be a tie between the gazillions of matchbox/hotwheels cars, trucks, and construction vehicles, and the Bruder mobile crane. For kid's book, it would have to be the Berenstain Bears series. While other books go in and out of favor, these books remain as consistent bedtime reading requests. My personal favorite for 2009 is Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy.

Best toddler management technique: Timer on my iPhone. William is a sucker for the timer. A one or two-minute warning, set the timer and let William pick the sound effect, and boom--cooperation almost always guaranteed. (Note the almost. Nothing is fail-proof when it comes to a three year old!)

Best TV show: LOST, hands down.

Best family dinner: Lemon mustard chicken made with chicken tenders, asparagus, dinner rolls. Everyone eats this dinner. Enough said.

Best family adventure: Tie between train trip to NYC and sledding after the blizzard of '06.

Best time spent as a couple: Anniversary trip to Little Washington, VA.

Best 2009 experience: It's not one specific experience, but the weekend outings that we took together as a family, just the four of us--walking around Old Town, Alexandria; visiting the monuments and memorials in DC; our family vacation to the beach and the weekend trip to NYC. While a lot of weekends are filled with errands and visits with friends and family, we will make it a point in 2010 to carve out more of these adventures, just for us.

Happy New Year everyone! Can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us.

Reflections

In the grand scheme of things, 2009 was a good year. It had its moments and challenges, to say the least, but I can look back and feel pretty good about where we stand.

Some of the highlights include hosting LauraC and Heather for Obama's Inauguration (of which I never actually posted about, so I'm linking to Laura's and Heather's posts), Seth learning to walk, moving to a new home, celebrating a 1st birthday and a 3rd birthday, girls' weekend '09, a train trip to NYC, celebrating my 5th wedding anniversary with Ed, William potty training, a mini-vacation at the beach, my solo trip with the boys to NC and visiting Nate and Alex and Laura and Jon, Blizzard '09, and of course, William and Seth gaining new skills by leaps and bounds. Seth is talking more and more, William is writing letters and engaging in all kinds of pre-reading activities.

In addition to his never-ceasing interest in trucks, construction equipment, fire engines, etc., William became interested in space shuttles and lunar rovers and space stations this year. It's nice to branch out a little. His play is still imagination-driven, and he can occupy himself for hours with his cars and trucks and blocks and trains and even the sofa. And he also still loves books. Seth enjoys helping me cook in the kitchen, playing in the sink, playing with the toaster oven (unplugged, of course), and playing outside. He also enjoys playing with playdough and painting and "writing" with pens. He has also come to love reading, and has his favorites, including Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings, How Big is Elmo, Ten Little Ladybugs, Pat the Bunny, Brown Bear Brown Bear, and any of the Touch and Feel books. He seems to be very tactile-driven, if that makes any sense. I think Seth is more extroverted and William is more introverted, although William loves to entertain, and enjoys attention for sure.

We dealt with our fair share of sickness this year, both on the front end and the back end. William had pneumonia in January, and Seth got his first bout of bronchiolitis. Since January, William has only suffered colds, thank goodness. Seth has contracted all manner of illnesses, including multiple ear infections, hand-foot-mouth disease, Roseola, various unexplained fevers, pink eye, thrush, and the aforementioned bronchiolitis, with which he both started and ended the year. Looking back at the blog, I noticed that William spent his second year wheezing an awful lot, and he started his Pulmicort then, so it stands to reason that Seth would have a rough year. I'm encouraged by William's progress, though. We have an appointment with the pediatrician in early January to go over William's symptoms and to evaluate his asthma status. I'm hoping for good news!

At the end of 2009, I'm feeling good. I didn't succeed in all my 2009 New Year's resolutions (more on that later), but I did make progress in some areas, and some things will just always be a work in progress. I read some great books, saw some great movies, spent quality time with my family, my kids, my husband, reached some financial goals, and I still have a job. I'll save my "best of" post (inspired by Heather) for tomorrow, the last day of the year. And of course, I'll have my New Year's resolutions post to look forward to. I know there were some pretty low moments in 2009, but I think it's an awesome thing that I'm sitting here, not able to remember exactly what they were. So I'll leave on that note. I'm a very fortunate woman, no doubt about it.

Christmas Recovery

We are officially in Christmas Recovery. Trying to get the house back in order. Finding the proper place for the new toys. Getting rid of all the trash. (Normal trash pick-up day was Friday, so the development just skipped it, and we have to wait until the next trash pick-up day--tomorrow.) Getting some structure and variety back into the days of two little boys and two parents who have had enough of staring at the same four walls and each other for well over a week now.

Don't get me wrong--Christmas was wonderful! After a 4:30 a.m. wake-up from Seth and a 5:45 a.m. wake-up from William, we managed to get them both back to sleep until 7:30 a.m. Then we had to remind William what day it was. Once he remembered they ran downstairs to check out their loot. In our house, Santa leaves the toys unwrapped and all set up, ready to play with immediately. William got a space shuttle with a launch pad and a ride-on digger. Seth got a play kitchen and a sit and spin. William started playing with his toys immediately. Seth checked out his toys, then William's toys, then decided he was done for the morning. He still wasn't feeling 100%, so I gave him some Motrin. After about 20 minutes, he was much better and enjoyed ripping open presents.

Fortunately for us, my mom was with us for Christmas this year, so she enjoyed watching the boys open their presents, too. She got William a Radio Flyer tricycle (so it's a good thing Santa brought William a helmet!) and she got a bunch of kitchen accessories for Seth. I wasn't sure how William would like his tricycle, but he was totally into it. He put his helmet on as soon as Ed finished putting it together and rode it around the kitchen and family room. Even Seth tried to get on it and ride.

I think one thing that made Christmas so special this year was that we didn't have to go anywhere on Christmas day. It was so nice to wake up leisurely, watch the kids open presents, start our brunch of Eggs Benedict whenever we felt like it, and not have to worry about showering or getting dressed. Seth got to take a good nap, and William got to play with his new toys to his heart's content. Even Christmas Eve turned out to be super quiet. Seth still wasn't feeling well, so Seth and Mom and I stayed home while Ed took William to his aunt and uncle's annual Christmas Eve party. William apparently had a blast at the party and kept everyone entertained. They didn't get home until 11:00 p.m.! Mom and I waited up for them in case William wanted to help put out the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots and salad for the reindeer (William insisted that the reindeer wanted salad). But William was fast asleep when Ed brought him inside. He didn't wake up when I changed his clothes, either. He was definitely worn out!

So back to Christmas Day, after opening presents (in addition to the new mattress set we bought ourselves for Christmas, Ed got me a framed print of the Capitol in the spring and a gift card to Ann Taylor), Mom and I made the Eggs Benedict. Seth took his usual nap and the rest of us settled down to watch the new Star Wars DVD that William got. For Christmas dinner, Mom and I made a rib roast, roasted asparagus, twice baked potatoes, and homemade dinner rolls that didn't turn out very well, but the dinner was still awesome. And the boys both ate, which was an added bonus. It was truly a stress-free day, which is hard to come by around here!

Fortunately, Seth is much better now, and almost back to 100%. He's not wheezing anymore, and the bronchiolitis cleared up. His ear is still infected, but he's not done with his antibiotics yet, so hopefully it will clear up soon. He hasn't had a fever since Christmas Day, and he was well enough to go visit Ed's mom yesterday. She is home and recovering from her surgery. The surgery went well and everything was repaired, but she's still in a lot of pain, as to be expected. Hopefully each day gets a little better for her.

As for me, I go back to work tomorrow and Ed is staying home with the boys tomorrow and Wednesday. I get a half day Thursday and Friday off. And then it's back to total reality. I have a feeling it will be rough on the boys. They will have been home for a full two weeks when all is said and done, so the routine of work days and daycare will probably take a while to fall into again. But such is life. In the meantime, we're enjoying the time with the boys and spending time together as a family. Yesterday, before going to Ed's parents, we took the boys to the mall to play in the mall's play area. We ate lunch there, and then let them play some more. There's a little train that rides around the food court area, right by the kid's play area, so the boys got to ride on that twice. They had fun. Today we went ice skating. Ed and William went out on the ice while Seth and I watched. Seth wanted to go out on the ice so bad, but he was a trooper and had fun finding Ed and William on the rink.

All in all, Christmas 2009 was a huge success, despite Seth getting sick, and Ed's mom being out of commission. I don't know if we'll do the same thing next year--keep it small and quiet on Christmas Day, or have lots of family over, or go to someone else's house. We'll see. Some traditions are still being figured out. But whatever we do, it's all good. For now, I have a few more days to reflect on 2009, and to think about all the possibilities for 2010.

Tis the Season . . .

for Seth to get sick again. Poor guy! It seems like he's been sick now since September. He keeps getting back-to-back-to-back colds. Just when the last runny, goopy nose cleared up, he started coughing. Then yesterday, he started running a fever. By the evening, he had started wheezing just a little.

We went to the doctor this morning, and he has an ear infection and has bronchiolitis again. So he'll get nebulizer treatments every four hours for a few days, he's on antibiotics for his ear, and Motrin for his fever. Despite all of his symptoms, he's been in a remarkably good mood. Except for his runny nose, (and the wheezing) you wouldn't really know he was sick.

Actually, yesterday, when he woke up from his nap, I decided that we all needed to get out of the house and play in the snow. I had asked William several times that morning if he wanted to go out, and he kept saying no. So finally, William was excited to go out. After I got Seth out of his crib and changed his diaper, I got William all bundled up. He kept saying, "Can we go now? Can we go now?" Then I went to get Seth bundled up, but I noticed he felt a bit hot. I took his temp . . . hmmmm, 102. Crap. So I did what any good mother would do. I gave him motrin, bundled him up, and we went outside.

Now before you go and call CPS, he was not wheezing at this point. And he wanted to go outside. He kept saying, "Side? Side?" And a little fresh air never killed anyone, right? We walked around to the back and played in the snow (William played while I held Seth) and then saw a father and his daughter (neighbors) with a trash can lid to use as a sled. So we offered them our sled and watched the daughter go down the hill a few times. Finally, William decided he wanted to go down the hill--with me. So as we went down the hill over and over, Seth sat at the top on an abandoned boogie board and watched us. I was a little nervous leaving him up there, but he seemed perfectly content to watch us. And the little girls' father was up there with him, just in case. After a while, William decided he wanted to build a snowman, and then Seth decided he wanted to go sledding, too. So Seth and I went down the hill a few times and he loved it! So it ended up being a great afternoon.

If you're unsure whether or not I deserve the Mother of the Year award for letting my sick child go sledding in the snow, I'll leave you with this picture of Seth.


Yes, that's my iPhone resting on top of him. He was watching something as I changed his diaper, and then William needed me for something, so I put him in his crib with the phone and when I came back, this is what I saw. Poor guy can't even get a decent "rock-rock" or story out of his mom! She just pawns him off on her iPhone. Now you can call CPS!

Snowed In

Wow--did it snow here! It started Friday night and didn't stop until the wee hours of Sunday morning. This is what it looked like behind our house in the late afternoon on Saturday.

This is looking down on our deck from our bedroom window:

This is looking out our front door:

Here's a look at our deck out the kitchen window:

And here's the snow piled up on our deck against our glass sliding door:

And here's Ed this morning, digging us out.

You probably noticed that I did not get any pictures of the boys in the snow, which is unfortunate. But trying to manhandle a camera and two kids in the snow is not fun. Plus it was snowing so hard on Saturday when we were out that taking a camera outside wasn't even an option. But that's okay. The boys loved the snow! We went out Saturday morning and went sledding down our big hill. By we, I mostly mean Ed and me. William did finally go down with me once, and he loved it, but wouldn't go again. And Seth just wouldn't go. But Seth loved the snow nonetheless. We trudged around and made snow angels and threw snow up in the air. When it was time to go in, Seth cried.

This morning we went out to "help" Ed shovel the snow. William and Seth both "worked" very hard at helping to dig our cars out of the snow. William was thrilled to see so many neighbors out. Seth decided to take off his mittens not long after we went outside, and he refused to put them back on. His hands had to have been freezing, but he didn't seem to mind. He pitched a fit when I finally dragged him inside. Poor guy!

Tomorrow is another stay-home day. Although the Senate will be in session (and has been in session all weekend--the poor floor staff!), our office is closed, thankfully. It's a good thing because the boys' daycare is closed, too. Don't know if we will go outside again to play in the snow tomorrow. I'll just play it by ear. Of course, I have a million things I need to do before Christmas that may not get done now. The roads are pretty treacherous, so I'll probably avoid going anywhere. We did make gingerbread houses, but it was pretty anticlimactic. At first, William didn't want to make one, which was the icing on the cake of the whole gingerbread house situation. But after he saw me decorating one, he decided to make one, too. He spent about, oh, 5-10 minutes sticking candy on one, and that was that. Good times.

So we'll see what tomorrow brings. We might have a white Christmas after all!

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Where to start? Yesterday (Thursday) was a much better day. We picked Ed up from the airport after work. We had to stop at Michaels to get more glue gun glue, then we ate dinner at Subway, and then we stopped at Safeway so I could get more OJ cartons for the gingerbread houses. We got home, did the bath-book-bed routine (together!), and then got started on the houses.

We made 8 gingerbread houses and the icing for the houses and were in bed by 10:30. What a difference a helper makes! It was awesome. This morning I dropped everything off at school, remembered to bring the candy and the icing and everything else I needed. Later in the morning, the lead teacher for the preschool program emailed to see if I had the ingredients list for the graham crackers so they could make sure they were peanut-free. I found it on-line and everything was fine. I mentioned that although it was irrelevant to their need for the peanut-free label, I had used the glue gun to put the houses together, so I didn't think the kids would be eating the graham crackers.

Can you see where this is going? When I got to the school at 3:00 to help set up (with the pizzas that I had picked up on the way), William's teacher told me the director had decided we couldn't use the gingerbread houses because of the glue. She was afraid some of the kids would eat the graham crackers and felt that they would be liable. So yeah--let me repeat. WE COULDN'T USE THE GINGERBREAD HOUSES THAT I HAVE SLAVED OVER FOR THREE STRAIGHT DAYS. All I could do was laugh. The kids got individual graham cracker squares and used the icing to stick the candy on those. It was fine--the kids didn't care. But I felt like a total idiot. Talk about some major communication breakdown here.

I understand where the director was coming from, and I should have anticipated something like that. It was fine, and I ended up giving the houses to some of the parents and teachers to take home, and they were thrilled to have them. I saved three for us, so we'll decorate them this weekend. So it's all fine. But it's such a perfect way for this week to have ended. All I can do is laugh.

In the meantime, we are expecting 10-18 inches of snow tonight and all day tomorrow. Woo-hoo! Except oh crap--I haven't finished my Christmas shopping. Doh! Guess I'll be out with the rest of the idiots shopping on the day before Christmas. Should be fun. In the meantime, I hope to make snow angels and snowmen and go sledding and drink lots of hot chocolate (or as William says, "I don't want hot chocolate, Mommy. I want warm chocolate). One of the other moms hit the stores today for snow pants for her kids, and she graciously picked up a pair for both Seth and William. So we're pretty much set! It's snowing outside now and it's really pretty. So bring it on! Maybe a weekend of snowy fun will make me forget all about the Great Gingerbread House Debacle of 2009!

Yesterday Was Not a Good Day

You would think that with Ed being gone, I'd get a little more proficient each day with managing the boys. Not so. Each day has been harder. Yesterday morning, in my rush to get us out the door, I managed to lock my keys in the house. We had to wait 30 minutes until our landlord could get there. Thank God our landlord is local and is so nice. She got there as quickly as she could and couldn't have been nicer. And thank goodness I had already unlocked the car, so we could wait in the car. It was a teensy bit cold outside. (In the 20s.) The boys were fine playing in the car while we waited. And I even got some comic relief.

After waiting awhile, William said that he needed to use the potty. I asked him if he could hold it. At first he said yes, but a few minutes later, he started whining. The few neighbors that I know well enough to ask if we could use their bathroom weren't home. So I told William that we might have to go around back so he could pee in the bushes. He looked at me incredulously and said, "I'm not a dog, Mommy!" I burst out laughing. Fortunately, the landlord got there right at that moment, so he was able to use the bathroom without incident. Hopefully he'll forget that I ever mentioned peeing in the bushes!

In the meantime, I cannot WAIT until we pick up Ed at the airport this evening. And I sure as heck hope he's good with a glue gun! We have to make six gingerbread houses tonight, along with the frosting. Those kids better freakin' LOVE decorating gingerbread houses. It was fun the first night. It was definitely not fun last night. And I have a feeling tonight is not going to be much better. Although maybe if I pick up a bottle of wine . . .

Something Tells Me I'm Going to Be Up Awhile

When I was growing up, we always made gingerbread houses at Christmastime, either at school as a class project or at home. My mom usually organized everything, and she knew exactly how to put the "gingerbread" houses together using milk cartons and graham crackers. She made it all look so easy. So naturally, I thought that making gingerbread houses with William's class would be an awesome project for the kids. How hard could it be to get the parents to bring in pint-sized cartons? Sure--I'll pre-fabricate all the houses so that all the kids will have to do is decorate with candy. Fourteen of them! No problem!

Famous last thoughts. Now I'm in gingerbread house hell. Parents have NOT been bringing in those pint-size milk cartons. They've brought in quart-size cartons, and half-gallon cartons. But not pint-size. And even pint-size are too big. When we were in elementary school, we used the little milk cartons they serve at school. But those are pretty scarce in these parts. So I was dreading having to go and buy 14 pint-size milk cartons. But luckily, we stopped at Safeway tonight after work and I found individual Tropicana 8-oz. OJ cartons, sold in packs of 6. I bought the last two on the shelf, and will try to find more tomorrow.

So, one problem down. After I put the boys down, I emptied the OJ into my almost-empty (fortunately) OJ container and rinsed out the cartons. Then I got out the graham crackers, the glue gun (a little trick from my sister--it's so much easier than dealing with icing!), the scissors, tape, and a sharp knife, and got to work.

My first attempt:

Needless to say, there's going to be a lot of trial by error. LOL! By the time I get to number 14, I bet they'll look awesome! Seriously, though, once they're covered in candy and icing, they really will look great. So I needn't be a perfectionist, right? I'm gonna try to make at least three more before I go to bed.

My house is in shambles, I have three baskets of unfolded laundry in our room, the boys ate Doritos and cherry limeaid (from Firehouse Subs) for dinner, and I haven't watched a Lost episode or read anything in over a week. But it's all good. The laundry's not going anywhere. Neither is any of the clutter around the house. I'm sure the boys ate something healthy during school today. And there will be time again for Lost and books. In the meantime, I'm going to try to put on the Christmas tunes and enjoy where my thoughts will take me as I build these houses. Wish me luck!

_______________________________________

It is now 12:35 a.m. and I totally rocked the gingerbread houses. It only took me 3 tries to get it right! I knocked out six houses tonight (4 good ones, and two not-so-good ones), and I'm fairly confident now that I can get the rest done tomorrow night and Thursday night.

Here's the final version of my first attempt:

And my second attempt (didn't make the roof big enough):


And my final triumph:

So who's laughing now, Laura? :-)

(Yes--I'm aware that they still look awful! But I have to admit that I actually had fun putting them together. So take that!)

I'm Already Fading

It's 9:30 and the boys are asleep, the kitchen is clean (for the most part), the toys are put away and the downstairs is straightened. I have clothes in the dryer and a huge basket of clean clothes to fold. I have a few holiday cards to finish addressing, and I need to finish up the Shutterfly calendar for my mom. But my bed is calling me, tempting me, mocking me.

But seriously, I HAVE to finish up the calendar so I can order it in time for Christmas delivery. And I haven't blogged since Wednesday, so I'm sure there's something significant I have to say about the last four days. And that laundry isn't going to fold itself. Not to mention the ridiculous number of LOST episodes that I need to catch up on.

So I'll have to make this blog short and sweet. (Cue the bullet points)

• We took Ed to the airport this morning and won't see him again until Thursday after work. I miss him already. I'm not looking forward to the morning and getting us out of the house by myself. Which reminds me, I need to go prep for the a.m.
  
• We finally decorated our Christmas tree on Saturday. It's kind of a long story, but I originally hung white lights on the tree, but the last strand wouldn't work. And then Ed said he liked the colored lights better anyway. But during the week, I never had a chance to stop and get new lights, so I finally got them Saturday morning. William liked looking at all the ornaments as I put the hooks on them, but he wasn't interested in hanging them on the tree. Seth spent a little bit of time pulling some of the ornaments off, but after a while, that got old, thank goodness.
• Seth has started speaking with phrases, mostly putting "no" in front of any number of things that he doesn't want or like. William and I have gotten a kick out of this, and we've ended up with one of our first inside jokes. When we were in the car on Friday, (was it Friday? Who knows) William asked me to play "Life is a Highway" from the movie Cars. Seth immediately started yelling, "No Highway! No Highway!" And he pitched a fit about it. William and I thought this was so funny. And when Ed got home, William told him about it. And all weekend, William and I have been randomly saying, "No Highway! No Highway!" and then laughing hysterically.
• When we play in the basement, Seth wants me to play inside the playhouse with him. He loves it when I contort myself and settle into the house. He makes me hot tea on the stove, and we wash our hands in the sink. Even though it's quite uncomfortable, the joy on his face when he's being my "host" is too good to pass up.
  
• Both of the boys still seem to be sick. Seth has either gotten yet another cold virus, or he's teething which is causing a lot of nasal discharge. And William's nose hasn't completely cleared up yet, either. But, if this is the worst we're going to see this winter, I can hardly complain.
• I got Ed an iPod Touch for Christmas. I gave it to him yesterday, so he could take it on his trip. He has a Blackberry through work, but he really wanted the iPod, plus the apps that I get on my iPhone, plus the Internet connectivity (even though it only works with WiFi). So hopefully he'll really like it.
• Both of the boys like hummus! This makes me very happy. In fact, William ate wheat crackers with hummus for dinner. Actually, it was a late snack, but he ate enough that he wasn't hungry for dinner. Which was fine with me. Now if I could just get the kids to eat carrot and celery sticks!
• I'll be one of the millions of people finishing up Christmas shopping this weekend. I don't have a lot--just bits and pieces. But it's those bits and pieces that will undo me!
• I haven't made any Christmas cookies yet this year. I'm not sure any will get made. But maybe we can fit some in over the weekend. We're making gingerbread houses with William's class at school on Friday, though. So that should be fun. (If you call making gingerbread houses with 14 3-year-olds fun.) I have to pre-fabricate the houses, though, and I have no idea when I'll get that done. It's just graham crackers on milk cartons, but still. Wish me luck.
• I finally took a picture of our Santa Claus picture (our scanner isn't working). Not the best quality, but you get the point.
  

Here's a picture of 2007, 2008, and 2009.

And 2006:

So now it's time to work on the calendar. Or go to bed. Probably go to bed. Why can't the days be at least 2 hours longer?

Seth's Stats

Seth had his 18-month well visit today. (We're a little late, considering he's between 19 and 20 months now.) He's still a little guy, weighing in at 22.1 lbs, and measuring 32 and 1/2 inches. He weighs slightly less than William did at his age (which is surprising), and he's slightly taller. And his head is a teensy bit smaller than William's (18.5 inches). But both of them were in the 5-10th percentile at this age. What can I say--I grow 'em little!

The appointment went well, even though I forgot to ask the doctor about total sleep at night, and if it's okay that Seth consistently only gets about 9-10 hours of sleep at night. William is the same. A night with 10 straight hours if a very good night indeed. Otherwise, she said he's ahead of the curve in terms of language and cognitive development, so that's good. He got two shots but recovered quickly and then went back to school. He seemed none the worse for wear when I picked him up this evening.

And speaking of sleep, William's been having a hard time falling asleep the last couple of nights. So tonight I agreed to lay down with him for a "few minutes." I woke up at 10:45 p.m. when Ed got home. Guess someone else needs a little more sleep, too, huh?

William's Me Museum

William's class started the "Me Museum" where each week features a different kid in the class. Parents (with their child, of course) can plan activities or special themes for the week, bring in favorite toys and books, send in special snacks, etc. For William's week, we made this poster:


And each day of the week has a different theme. Today is Space Shuttle/Space day. We brought William's space shuttle, rocket, and lunar rover toys to school, and we brought two books about space to share.

Tuesday is Crane day.
Wednesday is Digger day.
Thursday is Garbage Truck day.
Friday is Monster Truck day.

Each day he'll bring a few of his toys, books, and/or DVDs to share with the class. On Friday, we'll share one of William's favorite snacks with the class--John Deere and fire truck fruit snacks. And Friday will also be pajama day, so all the kids can wear pajamas to school.

Something tells me those kids are going to be really tired of trucks by the time the week is out!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Looking out on our deck

The sledding hill

We had our first snowfall today. It was a wet, mushy snow, but William was dying to go outside and "play" in it, so after he patiently waited for me to do a million little odds and ends, we suited up and headed outside. Being a Florida girl, I don't have any real "snow" gear. But since it only snows here once in a while, it's never really been a problem. But that also means that William doesn't really have any snow gear. So today he headed out in his rain boots, some wind pants over some pajama pants, and fleece mittens and hat.

He had a BLAST though. He ran around in the snow (which wasn't even completely covering the ground yet, but he didn't care) and looked at his foot prints. We made snow balls (the snow was PERFECT for snowballs) and threw them at each other. We trudged around to the back and watched some kids sled down the big hill behind our house. We threw more snowballs. We walked around to the tot lot and William ran around and around in the snow. We stayed out for 45 minutes and I finally convinced him we needed to go inside. His mittens were soaked through and his cheeks and nose were bright red. But it was sooo worth to see how much fun he had.

After we went back in, I headed to Target by myself to pick up a bunch of stuff. On my list was snow boots and a sled. I managed to find some boots for both boys, and I got the last sled in the store. William's eyes lit up when I got home and he saw the sled. I had also gotten a new Christmas Tree stand, because when we put up our tree last night in the old stand and started tightening the screws, the plastic split right apart. So Ed and I had to put the tree in the new stand. William had to wait (almost patiently) until we were done, and it was almost 4:00 by the time William and I suited up and headed outside again. We took the sled around back and William went down the big hill twice by himself. The smile on his face was so huge as he flew down the hill. But the bottom was really muddy and slushy, and he lost his boot on his second trip. So we decided to go back inside.

But I'm so glad I made the effort to take him out to play in the snow. Ed did not want to go out because it was so wet and slushy and cold out. And I would have been happy to stay indoors, too. But when we walked outside and William smiled ear to ear and said, "I'm so excited, Mommy!" it was absolutely worth it.

Playing in the snow was the highlight of a really great and productive day. Actually, the fun started last night, when Seth and I met Ed and William after work at Home Depot to pick out our Christmas tree. (Ed had stayed home with William because he was still coughing quite a bit.) We ate pizza first, and then picked out the tree. I think we looked at two trees before I decided to just get whatever was in front of us. I mean seriously, once you get the tree home and you put on the lights and ornaments, it will look great. No point in spending a whole lot of time trying to get the "perfect" tree. I think we were home by 7:30! This morning we drove into DC and met some daycare friends at the Building Museum, which has a great play area for kids. After we got home and had lunch and Seth went down for his nap, William and I played in the snow. Then I went to Target. When we got home, we switched out the tree and then William and I went sledding.

Then we all headed to the mall to see Santa! As usual, Ed was dreading it, and we both had very low expectations. But we timed it perfectly. Santa was on his break from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. We got there about 5:25, and no line had formed yet. So we got in the front (behind one family) and Ed took William to walk around while I entertained Seth in line. Then I took both boys to Pottery Barn Kids and we made it back in the line just in time to see Santa return from his break. We were done with pictures by 6:15 (Seth freaked so we got the classic one-kid-smiling-one-kid-screaming picture), and after dinner at Panera, We were home by 7:30. We ended the evening by watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was a really, really great day.

Tomorrow we're going over to see Ed's parents. Ed's mom will be having open heart surgery a week from Monday at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. She and Ed's dad are flying out on Thursday, so we want to spend time with them before they go. Ed will fly out there on next Sunday to be there for the surgery. He's coming back the following Thursday. Please say a prayer for my MIL, or keep her in your thoughts. I'm sure everything will go well, but it is open heart surgery.

Home Again

We're having another stay-home day. Actually, we got up and drove to work this morning, but William's coughing was so bad that I was worried he would start wheezing. He picked up another bug of some sort, and the coughing started night before last. It wasn't too bad, though, and he was fine yesterday. But last night, the coughing got worse. He slept okay, but once he woke up (at 5:15 a.m.), the cough was pretty constant. I was hoping that as the morning wore on, he'd settle down. But he didn't. And then I made the mistake of mentioning the possibility of us going home within his earshot, and after that, he wasn't going to stay at daycare without a huge fight. So I brought him to my office, checked email, took care of a few things, then we went back to daycare and got Seth and came home.

And I should be taking advantage of this time by doing things around the house, but I'm so freakin' grumpy and tired that I can't deal. William has refused to take a nap and since I can't throw him out the window force him to sleep, I have to accept the fact that I will not be getting a nap. At least he's playing and letting me blog. I'm also cranky because my stupid crock pot isn't working. I set up another crock pot meal this morning (pot roast) and turned it on (making sure to put it on LOW before we left), and when we got home, nothing--nada. Cold as stone. Grrrrrr. William has managed to pee in his pants three times today (which is weird because accidents are really rare for him these days)--once on the sofa--and when I tried to be productive by vacuuming and spot cleaning with the steam clean machine, Seth INSISTED on using the vacuum and clean machine BY HIMSELF and screamed and cried when I wouldn't let him. When I tried to fold laundry, he pulled all the clothes out of the basket and threw them on the floor. This is one of those days when being a mom SUCKS. I need to figure out a way to get myself in nice Mom mode before Seth wakes up.

So as not to end on a sour note, I should mention that William told me today that he didn't want any presents from Santa and he didn't want Santa to come to his house. He thought it would be scary to have Santa sneaking down the chimney. I told him Santa only comes when he's asleep, so he wouldn't even know that Santa was here. But for reassurance, I said we could ask Santa to use the front door, and that Daddy would let him in. LOL!

Seth's language development, meanwhile, is moving along in leaps and bounds. He loves to recreate things that happened. Today I tripped on a fire engine and stubbed my toe. So for the next 20 minutes, Seth pointed to my foot and said, "Toe, owie." Then he would point to the fire engine and say "Mommy, toe." When he sees the tea kettle, he says, "hot tea." Then he tries to whistle, and makes this funny, high-pitched sound. Then he'll point to the sink and say, "more water." He's also learning new words every day. Although his pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired! He's still adorable.

Well, that cheered me up a bit. I'll work on my Yoga breathing, and maybe we can take a walk later. Seth isn't much for walks, but we'll see. For now, I'll try to clean up a bit before Seth wakes up, and while William is happily playing. One other positive thing is that I ordered our holiday cards last night! I never got a cute picture of the boys to use for the card, so I had to go back and use a few that we took over the last few months. I thought about using our portrait sessions photos, but then I wouldn't have been able to Photoshop Clark into the card. Ed said we had to put Clark in there (it's a 3-year tradition!), so that's what we did. Anyway, something accomplished is something accomplished, right?

Brotherly Love

Today was a long day that started with Seth deciding to wake up for the day at 5:15 a.m. This was after having woken up at 4:00 a.m., and then before that somewhere between midnight and 2:00 a.m. Traffic was terrible on the way to work and for whatever reason, William the boys managed to drag out the drop-off. I got to work about 25 minutes late, which isn't really a big deal. But it's just annoying.

Work was fine--stared at a computer all day, pushing myself to finish up a phase of a project. Pick-up was okay, although William the boys managed to drag that out, too. (William has some issues with transitions.) We got home right at 6:00, and William had been asking about Christmas decorations, having seen lots of houses with lights and Christmas trees in the windows. I told him we could get out some of our decorations after dinner.

Ed worked late again tonight, so I was solo for the whole evening. I didn't have a dinner plan, so I reheated mac-n-cheese for the boys. I hate it when I don't have a plan for dinner, and yet, I get in these ruts where I can't seem to pull a plan off. Anyway, after the boys ate (sort of), we went downstairs and brought a few boxes of decorations upstairs. William immediately started pulling stuff out. I didn't want to dampen his excitement, but I was getting frustrated at the prospect of broken ornaments and trashed decorations. I quickly put the box of ornaments out of reach, and fortunately, William lost interest pretty quickly. Then I decided to get the lights out and try to take a few pictures of the boys with the string of lights.

Seth freaked when I turned off the overhead lights and plugged in the string of lights. Well, actually, he freaked when I put the string of lights in his lap. It was so sad, but so funny. I held him in my lap and took a few pictures of William with the lights. Two of them turned out okay, but they're not really Christmas-y.

Anyway, after William's nebulizer treatment, we did bath, and by this time, I was feeling pretty grumpy. It was later than usual, and I just wasn't in a great mood. I got William out of the bathtub first, and while I was trying to convince Seth to get out of the tub, William thought it would be funny to pee on the bath mat. As I was trying to clean that up. Seth thought it would be okay to pour a container of water all over the floor. Since I was already grumpy, I kind of, maybe, sort of overreacted. I think yelling may have been involved.

I immediately scooped Seth out of the bathtub, and whether it was my (possible) yelling or the fact that I took him out of the bath, he started wailing--the kind of wailing that instantly makes you feel so horrible. I set him down beside William, and William--sweet, big brother that he is--wrapped his arms around Seth and said, in the sweetest voice, "It's okay Seffy. You're alright." All of my anger and frustration and grumpiness evaporated into thin air. I watched William comfort Seth, and I felt so proud of William. And so guilty that I had lost my temper. And I even felt a bit left out, because for a moment, they didn't need me. They had each other.

The rest of the night was fine. We went back downstairs after putting on PJs so that William could finish his dinner. Seth finished his dinner, too, so all was not lost. I read one story to Seth, and he went to sleep peacefully. I read two stories to William (both Christmas stories), and spent the rest of the night plowing through the storage room, looking for Christmas decorations. I know there will be more stressful days and grumpy moments between now and December 25. But I hope that I'll keep getting small reminders of the spirit of Christmas, the way I did tonight. Lord knows I need them!

Thanksgiving Come and Gone

Every year I marvel at how quickly the Thanksgiving weekend comes and goes. And this year is no different. For a few weeks, I couldn't wait for the "holidays" to get here, and now, well, that panicky, there's-so-much-to-do-and-not-nearly-enough-time-to-do-it-all feeling is setting in. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Thanksgiving was great--I might almost say relaxing. (But really, with two boys ages 3 and 1/2 and 1 and 1/2, is anything really "relaxing"? I think not.) My mom (Baba) arrived on Tuesday night and ran some errands for us on Wednesday, including hitting the dreaded grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving. She also started cooking. I went to work on Wednesday, and the boys went to daycare (after staying home both Monday and Tuesday--not a bad work week!), and I picked them up right after their naps. The boys played with Baba until dinnertime. After the bath-books-bed routine, Mom and I stayed up late making apple and blueberry pie tarts. On Thursday morning, we made a few side dishes and then headed over to Ed's parents' for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The boys had a great time, despite no naps and not eating, and we didn't get home until after 9:45 p.m. We were all tired, but it had turned out to be a stress-free holiday, which is the most anyone can ask for, right? On Friday, Ed had to work, and since the boys woke up super-early, despite their late bedtimes and lack of naps the day before, we laid low and played at home all day and guarded the naps. We did not participate in Black Friday, so no spectacular deals. But I'm really not a Black Friday kind of gal, so it's okay. (Although after reading some blog descriptions of the deals scored, I may have to give it a whirl next year!)

While we did not go shopping on Friday, we did get out both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Mom and I took the boys to Target and then to buy new shoes. On Sunday, Mom and I went out while Ed stayed home with the boys, and Mom spoiled me rotten. New shoes for me, a new duvet for our bed, some toys for the kids, and some Christmas decorations--retail therapy at its finest! And when we got home, Ed had taken the kids to the mall to meet his parents, so I came home to a quiet house and was able to rest before everyone came home. Not a bad way to end a busy weekend!

So now I'm staring down the barrel at Christmas, and trying to stay focused on the pleasure of the season, and not the stress! Our plan is to get the tree up and decorated this weekend, along with the rest of the house. I have a few activities I want to do with the kids--make gingerbread houses and cookies and homemade ornaments. I also want to take them to get their Santa pictures, but I'm thinking we may play hooky one day to get that done. I've gotten most of the shopping done, although I have no idea what to get Ed. Usually I have least have some good ideas for stocking stuffers, but I'm drawing a complete blank this year. I may have to go with the meat-of-the-month club! LOL. Regardless, let the madness begin. I vow to control the things I can, to let go of the things I can't, and to keep expectations low! Mostly, though, I'm loving experiencing the joy of Christmas through the eyes of a 3 and 1/2 year old.

Thanking My First Commenters

I saw this post by Jennifer at Playgroups are No Place for Children, who got the idea from Neil at Citizen of the Month. I went back to my earliest posts, in September 2006, and in my first month, I got exactly 3 comments. (Not bad!) The first was from my sister, who doesn't have a blog, so I can't link to her blog. The second was from my friend, MJ, who didn't have a blog then, although she does now. And my third comment was from my friend Becky, who also doesn't have a blog, but who has been a loyal reader since the beginning, and whose comments always make me smile!

LauraC, whose blog inspired my blog, was my first "stranger" comment. I was beside myself when she first commented, since she kind-of had "superstar" status at the time. Of course, she still has "superstar" status, but it seems funny thinking of her as a stranger now, since we have actually hung out in each other's houses and she is now definitly a "real life" friend!

My SIL Cheri was an early commenter, and I'm very touched that she enjoys the blog so much.

My two most "famous" commenters were Jennifer from Playgroups, and Liz from Mom-101. I still can't believe that they took the time to comment on my blog. They have hundreds of readers and their blogs actually make money and they speak at conferences and go on TV and stuff.

I think those of us who blog can all agree that comments are awesome and very validating. I think I would still blog even if I got no comments, but thinking about my "audience" often inspires me to get off my butt and post. I have met so many amazing women through blogging, and I love the feeling of community that we have all built up together.

And of course, I love my "real life" friends and family who read my blog and either comment on my posts, or send me emails (TF and ME), or tell me that they read my blog when they eventually see me. Sometimes it's a bit disconcerting, and I have to admit that I do censure what I write, knowing whose reading my blog, but that's okay. I think that's all a part of it. If I was only writing for myself, I doubt I would have kept this up for so long.

So thank you, thank you, thank you to all my readers--those of you who take precious time out of your day to catch up on my life. It means a lot to me, whether you comment or not! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, with fabulous food, family, football, and fun! (How's that for alliteration?) And I am determined to get lots of family pictures this year. I say that every year, but this year, I'm really going to follow through!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Casa Hahn

And so we begin. This is our "home." I put it in quotes because we are renting. We signed a 2-year lease, but I think Ed would be willing to break it if we find the house of our dreams. At any rate, this picture was taken in the dead of winter, so you don't get to see all of the green plants and flowers that grow around the foundation. You also don't get to see my pots of pink geraniums and variegated ivy that are still blooming on the front stoop, nor my pots of pink begonias that are also still blooming. I know I should have done the mums and pansies a while back, but I really don't like mums and pansies. Anyway, moving on.

When you open the front door, this is what you see. Living room and dining room when you walk in, then straight through to the eat-in kitchen, and a bump-out family room. I should mention that this townhouse is really big. I think it's about 2500 sq. ft., and the ceilings are 9 ft. Not bad for a townhouse!
This is the view of the front door and hall closet from inside, with the stairs going up and the stairs going down.


This is a closer view of the living/dining room.


The living room from the other direction. Now I can start telling you a little bit about our interior design theme. We call it, "put all the inherited crap together and call it a room!" The couch was Ed's parents' living room couch going back to the early 80s. It's actually comfortable, so I don't mind it too much. The club chair and ottoman belonged to Ed's aunt and uncle. It's a hideous paisley pattern with turquoise blues and pinks. It goes so nicely with the garden-theme rug from Ed's parents. The coffee table belonged to my parents. It goes back almost 50 years. My mom and I stripped it and refinished it a while ago. It's kind of rickety, but it's the kind of table you can put your feet on. And Seth loves to climb on it. It has rounded corners as an added bonus. The entertainment center is actually the first piece of furniture Ed and I bought together. I like it, even though entertainment centers are so yesterday. I don't like the speakers on top, but whatever. The cabinet in the window is actually a cool piece of furniture--it's a wet bar: the doors open and the top flips open and there's all kinds of compartments and drawers inside for storing liquor. I don't really like the style, though. I think it's Danish teak. At the very least, it's 50s mod (Art Deco LJ?) and just not my style. So, that's the living room. Moving on!

Dining room: This is where we crammed the rest of our furniture! Ugly ugly Danish teak table that I will be so happy to get rid of! Ed inherited it from someone--don't know who. The china cabinet is from Ed's grandmother. I like it a lot, but it's pretty beat up. Regardless, I'd like to eventually get a table and sideboard to complement it. The piece in the corner is a 1919 Victrola. It works, and it's really cool. But it's big and there's no good place for it. I got it for Ed for his MBA graduation. The piano is awesome, but not in the dining room. The little table to the right of the piano is kind of cool, but it's just there because we have no other place for it. It's also in terrible condition, but I think it came from Ed's grandmother, too. Finally, the picture over the piano is one of the few pieces of artwork that we actually have on the walls. Because we're renting, Ed is very disinclined to hang pictures. They're all stacked in his closet, still in their bubble wrap. It does seem like a huge effort to get them out, hang them, only to have to repack them and then Spackle and paint walls in less than a year and a half. But I know it would make the house look so much better if we would just put stuff on the walls. So my compromise is to find light wall decor that we can hang with the 3M sticky stuff or very small tacks. Still working on that.

So then we get to the kitchen. I actually like the kitchen a lot--not the wood cabinets so much, but the layout and size. There's tons of cabinet space, and I love the island.

This is the view from the other side, looking back into the living/dining room.


What I really love about the kitchen is my pantry. I don't think I can ever live without a pantry again. All of my appliances and platters and serving dishes are in one place--by the kitchen! In my past two houses, I had to store that stuff in the basement. But no more!


Moving on! Looking past the kitchen, you'll see the "family room," with the eat-in part of the kitchen to the left. The family room is a bump-out, maybe 10 x 10. We didn't put any furniture in this area, preferring to use it more as a playroom for the boys. To the right is a glass-sliding door that leads to a little deck. Unfortunately, there are no stairs leading from the deck to the ground below. We have to go down to the basement to go out the back.

Also, if you look closely at the above picture, you can see the pictures we had done of the boys at Picture People a few weeks ago. I haven't even unwrapped the picture yet. I don't think we're going to hang it there, anyway, because it's not big enough, and I have another picture I want to put over the fireplace. But I do want to hang the picture somewhere!

Anyway, this is a closer look at the kitchen table area. It's screaming for something on the walls. I have something in mind, but I just have to convince Ed that we can use tiny, light nails.

We also have a powder room on the main level, to the left of the kitchen as you're walking in. I did frame some of the boys' artwork in plastic, acrylic box frames, and I hung those in the bathroom, and over the desk area in the kitchen.


So now, moving upstairs. When you get to the top of the stairs, you'll see our laundry room. (It's actually a closet, but whatever.) I LOVE having the laundry room upstairs!

To the left is the master bedroom. We have a duplicate of the lovely garden rug that graces the living room. It goes so well with the duvet cover on the unmade bed. (My bed is always unmade.) I hate that we sleep on a boxspring and mattress, and don't have a real bed. We bought a bedroom set when we got married, but were too cheap to buy the bed. Plus our last bedroom wasn't really big enough for a full headboard and footboard. But that was a BIG mistake.

Anyway, the bedroom is huge and has two walk-in closets. My closet is on the right. That's also my computer desk to the right. It's a cheap little desk that I bought when I first moved in with Ed. It does the job, I guess. The master bath is the door to the right. The bathroom is over the bump-out family room on the main level. It's huge!

It's also ugly! I'd replace the vanity and paint the walls if this was my house. But it's not. So I don't even bother using matching towels and accessories. What's the point? It has a great soaking tub, though, and that's where the boys usually take a bath every night. The shower stall is to the right of the tub, and sometimes the boys will shower.


Speaking of the boys, this is Seth's room. I took this picture at night while he was asleep. Holy flash! If you look closely, you can see him in the crib. I want to hang the curtains that go with his bedding, but again, why put holes in the walls if we're gonna leave soon?

I hung William's valences, but only because the little hooks were already there. And I hung them on those cheap rods that are meant to be covered. It was supposed to be temporary, but I have a feeling it will stay like that until we move out. The furniture in William's room was Ed's when he was growing up, and it was Ed's dad's before that. Eventually, William will get our bedroom furniture, and Seth will get this set.


This is the boys' bathroom. At least I hung a shower curtain!


Now we're moving back downstairs and down one more flight of stairs to the basement.

The couch and chair in this room were part of Ed's family room growing up. It's This End Up furniture, so it's basically indestructible. For that reason, we'll probably always keep it to put in the playroom or basement or whatever room the kids hang out in the most. The rug is the infamous "monkey rug" that we bought off of overstock. We thought it would be whimsical and cute for our family room in our old house. We were going to return it, and then our cat threw up on it. So it's ours forever. I think the pale yellow and greens nicely complement the light blue and mauve tones of the aztec-style sofa cushions, don't you? Actually, I can buy replacement cushion covers, so my thoughts are to switch to a tan and white, tight check pattern for the sofa and chair--eventually. For now, who cares? Anyway, looking straight back, you can see the ever-popular vertical blinds that cover the glass-sliding door that leads outside to the patio and the "back yard."

Standing with your back to the couch, you'll see the Ikea Expedit book shelves we bought last Christmas to hold all the toys. (Joanna--this is where we keep all that crap those toys!)


Standing in the back of the room, this is the view. You can see the playhouse and the train table.


The basement bump-out is Ed's office. The green couch came from Ed's grandmother. It's hideous, but you can tell that it's a quality piece of furniture and probably worth something. And Ed likes it. So here it is. The cat likes it quite a bit, as you can tell from scratches on the arms.


There's a full bath in the basement. (Thank goodness! A Godsend when potty training.)

And finally, there's a room that we use to store all of our junk, and where the cat does his business. I guess it could be a bedroom, since it has a ceiling fan and a closet. Or it could be a craft room or an office. But for now, it's a junk room.

So your tour is done. That's our house. There's a lot I'd like to do to make the place look better. (I guess I could start by making my bed.) But when push comes to shove, we always decide that we don't want to spend the money right now, or make the effort right now. But I can tell you that in our next house, I will not put up with that attitude. I will paint walls and hang pictures and spend money when I need to. Maybe by then we'll actually have a little more money. Then again, who am I kidding? We'll have a mortgage, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be more than we're paying in rent!

Sick Day

We are home today because Seth developed a fever overnight. He's had a cold for 9 days now--goopy nose and chest congestion. I thought he was getting better, but then he must have gotten new germs on top of his old germs. Lucky us. We went to the doctor this morning and fortunately, he's fine. No ear infection, throat looks good, lungs sounded clear. Just a virus! He's been sleeping horribly, but I think that has more to do with teething than his cold.

Despite all of that, we had a good but low-key weekend. Ed worked most of the weekend again, and since both boys have colds and I do, too (I'm pretty sure I now have a sinus infection), we didn't go anywhere more exciting than the grocery store. I got a few things done around the house, including dusting and laundry. Mostly I just played with the boys. William has started asking me to play with him, so we played trains and tower crane and built a lot of things with blocks and I rode in the monster truck or digger or dump truck or whatever it was the couch happened to be at that moment.

Which brings me to something I forgot to mention in my toy post on Friday. One of William's most favorite toys is not a toy at all. It's our sofa. He is forever pulling the cushions off and building forts and stuffing his cars and trucks between the cushions and bring kitchen utensils to use as digger controls. He and Seth love to pull the cushions off and jump all over it. And while there are times (okay, usually) when I wish we had nicer furniture and a more put-together house, when I watch them playing with the sofa, I'm glad that it's a hand-me-down from Ed's parents, and that I don't care if chocolate milk and OJ and snot and pen marks and God-knows-what-else gets all over the sofa. When the boys get older and we have more money, we'll get nice stuff. For now, our house will have that nice, "lived-in" look.

Speaking of that "lived-in" look, Laura challenged her readers to show off their houses. At first, I thought, "No way." I'd be pretty embarrassed for some of you to see my house. But on second thought, I figured, what the heck. Who am I trying to impress? This is my house, and my blog is supposed to chronicle my life. So I'm going to let it all hang out. So stay tuned for my next post: Casa Hahn!