We’ve begun counting down to Théa and Gus’s 5th birthday at my house. It’s only 8 ½ weeks away. Yeah, they might be jumping the gun a bit but they sure are excited.
Read MoreYou guys. I have a problem. I can’t stop buying cookbooks.
I went into the bookstore the other day to pick up a cookbook for my mom (Cook’s Illustrated’s The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook) and to check out another (Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist), and I came out with my mom’s cookbook plus Cooking Together, a Williams-Sonoma cookbook for kids. (I couldn't find Bread and Wine, but also came out with four children’s classics and Domino: The Book of Decorating, but these purchases are a story for another time.)
Read MoreWhen we left off yesterday, we had discovered that Théa and Gus share the smallest room on the planet and that Hazel, Théa's wanna-be American Girl doll, needed a new closet. Hazel scored an amazing closet with the help of a little Ikea trip and some creativity. Oh. And my husband's handy skills. He's the winner, really.
Read MoreWelcome to Gus and Théa’s room, formerly known as my laundry room. This is a teeny-tiny bedroom. It is about 9’ long and 8’ at its widest. Oh, but it isn’t rectangular. That would be too simple.
Read MoreI mentioned last week, or maybe it was the week before, that we were going to be doing a fair amount of cooking out of The Disney Princess Cookbook in the near future. Cue the falling on the floor laughter.
Are you still here? It’s ok if you are. I won’t call the hipster police. I know what we are about to talk about is completely ridiculous. And I’m sure there are better options for kids’ cookbooks. In fact, I have a few kids’ cookbooks in my arsenal already that are probably better for a lot of reasons. But sometimes it is all about the packaging. Let me tell you something. This book has got my youngest kids excited about eating and cooking.
Read MoreWhen I started dating my future husband, his children were seven, five, four, four, and 2 ¾. I had met each of the kids maybe once or twice when I found myself in line to see Santa at the Nordstrom flagship in downtown Seattle. Now, if you live in a city with kids, you totally know the chaos of waiting in line to see Santa at a department store. It takes forever. Forever. Like best ride at Disneyland forever. And here I was in a new relationship with a man with five children under the age of eight waiting to see Santa. It was a bit surreal.
Read MoreYears ago, my friend Sharon shared several of her family Christmas traditions that I thought were just genius. My favorite was her story-a-day tradition. As she packed up Christmas decorations after the holidays, Sharon would wrap all of the kids’ Christmas books in leftover paper. The wrapped books were pulled out at the beginning of the following December and her kids opened one book per day to read together before bedtime. Brilliant. Wrapping things the kids already owned? Reading a Christmas story together at the end of the day? What’s not to like?
Read MoreFor the last several years (read: since we got married), my husband has been trying to get me to tone down the Christmas gifts. I try, really, I do. But sometimes I forget what I’ve already bought then feel like I have to “make it even”. Sometimes it isn’t even me that makes the tree look like Santa has dropped his entire toy load in our living room. It’s simply the fact that we have seven kids and they have five grandparents on our side of the family alone plus cousins and aunts and uncles and godparents. It isn’t much different than when I was growing up. Lots of kids equals lots of gifts, even if you personally don’t buy a whole lot.
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