weekending

Posted in familyness, Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

i have no pictures of my little lassie running around this weekend because…

she wasn’t here. darla spent the weekend with my parents and hubster and i enjoyed a lovely weekend.

so here’s how i spent my ample amounts of time: dinner date with husband. put some finishing touches on the holiday decorating. cleaning. rearranging darla’s room into a “big girl” room. accepted a spur of the moment movie lady date to see anna karenina. costumes and cinematography were exquisite. consumed my first white russian in about 7 years. dinner with friends. i rocked the mic at karaoke with husband and friends. more cleaning. reading. extra long gym time. extra long shower time. extra long everything! weeeeee!

but i’m ready to have her back.

7Dec2012

st. nic’s feast day

Posted in familyness, Shopping, zero waste home by ElaineMarie

we did our st. nic’s feast day tradition of leaving darla’s shoes out over night. we didn’t go as big as last year and it made not one bit of difference to darla. just a few small sweets and some books and nail polish was all it took to make the girl happy.

in the interest of full disclosure we regifted her the nail polish, just wrapped some holiday candy we already have and i got some used books that the library was taking out of circulation for 50 cents a piece. that approach appeals to my zero waste sensibilities much more. i feel a bit foolish about going so over the top last year. oh well.

and in further disclosure, i had purchased darla a new pair of shoes for 2013 but they didn’t arrive in time. we’ll just put those under the tree for christmas i guess.

nativeshoes not gonna lie, very excited about these cute Native Shoes coming our way :) just a small bit of consumerism creeping up in me i guess.

6Dec2012

birthday

Posted in familyness, love and happiness, yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

we had a birthday celebration yesterday. can you tell which one of us was excited about it? jump

i really wish that pic had turned out clearer bc it was pretty great. darla was leaping over mike’s legs when we told her we’d do a backwards dinner: dessert first, dinner second. somehow, this worked. she ate more dinner than normal. but, i don’t think we’ll make it a regular thing.

we had brownie rocky road a la mode.

darla and i gifted mike a custom, handmade leather belt fashioned by our friend, lance. it’s super sweet. so if anyone needs any leather work done…well, i know a guy.

happy birthday to all the december babies young and old :)

5Dec2012

lightz

Posted in Run Da House by ElaineMarie

awww, cordelia, you look so pretty in your holiday getup!

4Dec2012

i’m dreaming of a green christmas

Posted in Run Da House by ElaineMarie

whoa, life just got REAL busy, huh?

i’m feeling it. i know you’re feeling it, too. i keep reminding myself: “don’t just get stuff done, get the right stuff done.”

but anyway,

i was starting to let myself get sucked into the consumerism culture that is christmas this past weekend. my mind was dwelling on hypothetical presents darla should get so she doesn’t feel deprived when she is older. guffaw.

well, the universe knew what to do with me and put this book in my path. literally in my path when we spent monday at the library. i was reminded that christmas eve and day are the two most waste producing days of the year around the world. it brought me back to center.

my child does not need an abundance of toys or candy. she just needs a few carefully selected gifts and a whole lot of love.

i wrote a bit last year about our homemade decorations projects – our snowflakes from coffee filters and junk mail, our popcorn garlands, handmade wrapping paper from re-purposed darla art. I think we’ll carry on those traditions this year and add a few more. I came up with an advent calendar from some reused wrapping paper.

what about you? have you thought of ways to reduce your waste output this christmas? what tricks have you come up with?

4Dec2012

everyday

Posted in Momma Needs a minute..., parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

it’s an ongoing discussion in our house about the proper use of the furniture. most objects in life become darla’s personal trampoline.

i just put on a movie for her after lunch and removed myself to the kitchen because for the love of zeus i need to get some stuff done. i heard her jumping but decided to just let it go for today. shortly thereafter she came running into the kitchen visibly excited and exclaimed “i wish everyday could be just like today!”

“what do you mean?”

“i wish i could jump on the cushions everyday! it makes life so wonderful!”

oh geez. is it really that big of a deal if i let her jump on the couch. it’s old and busted up anyway. why do i make such a big deal about it on a regular basis? do i need to continue to set the boundary of no jumping on the furniture or do i need to give it up as one less thing i need to control?

if anyone has any ideas let me know.

ps. she kinda regulated herself after a couple minutes and moved the cushions onto the floor and jumped on those. maybe the universe is trying to remind me that things work themselves out when i just let go.

2Dec2012

Advent-ageous

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya, Run Da House by ElaineMarie

hope you enjoyed the first day of december. hubster pulled the tree out late friday night and we finally set about chrissmafying the house. good times.

here’s just a bit of silly from our week:

darla as a balloon, stretching out the garland and chrismas fail.

1Dec2012

bed time

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

darla had a less than stellar bedtime tonight. one in which i probably could have been a little more patient and kinder.

sigh.

my client has messaged me that she’s having signs that baby might be on it’s way soon. now i am heading into a guilt spiral thinking about my first night cuddling darla almost 4 years ago annnnnnnnd i’m wrestling with the urge to bring her into my bed. the fact that i might be absent from her day tomorrow is leaning me towards yes on this one.

either way i’m going to bed. good night!