Play Room

This is a fairly good sized interior room in our basement right at the bottom of the stairs. It was used as John's office for a while, but his office is better suited in a corner room that isn't a thoroughfare for children all day long =).

The walls are floor to ceiling bead board. And since we wanted to spend as little as possible on this reno, the bead board stayed. And I slowly and laboriously painted it. Brushing between every groove.

before:

after: We added trim about a foot down to break up the bead board a bit.

There is still a bit of art for the walls, and sewing projects I would like to complete for this room,

but the kids love it and come down to play daily.

Making it a success!

Little Secret

While in Princeton a few months back, my mother-in-law sneaks in to the laundry room one morning while I'm assisting one of the children with something rather, holding a piece of waffle for me to try....."do you think he'll notice?!" she asks as I try a bite.

John is a little picky. Though he has improved immensely in the last year or two. Where Thai, Japanese, and Vietnamese food used to be a no-go, now he is the one asking me to pick up a few rolls at the local Japanese restaurant.

But these waffles are a different story altogether. (Just got carried away there). They are super amazing, and yet oh so sneaky. Oh, AND super easy. I hated the old "whip the egg whites till stiff" recipe. So time consuming, and so I would always revert to the pancakes for our Saturday breakfast. Now the waffles are my quick go to, yummy, delicious breakfast meal!

And wouldn't you know, I found the recipe on my own a few weeks later in the More With Less cookbook. (I love that cookbook.)

High Protein Waffles:

Throw all ingredients in a blender, and whirl at high speed for 1 minute. Then bake in your waffle iron. (It says, or pancakes in the recipe, but they were not good as pancakes!)

1 c. cream-style cottage cheese
4 eggs
1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. milk
1/2. tsp vanilla


Did I mention John hates cottage cheese? And on the drive home from Princeton later that day, he starting going on about how amazing the waffles were? I couldn't help but laugh.

A few recent photos of

My girl!

21 months old! We are approaching the big "2"!

Conversation with a three and a half year old

I found it's hard to tell C about "bad" people. Maybe because in their sweet little world there are none - and cluing them into the sad realities of life is giving up a piece of their innocence.

A few days ago me and him were in the front yard cleaning up the last of the piles of leaves we had raked a few weeks ago. He ventures off the to side of the house, heading for the back yard. I call after him, telling him I don't want him to go where I can't see him.

He comes back to "help" me and I'm off in my own world within a few minutes. Then I hear him chirp "why do you want to see me?". I quickly try to figure our what he is referring to and remember my last comment.

I go on to explain that I don't want him to go get hurt, and that not all strangers are good. Some people are bad and could try to take him away. That would make me so sad....

I thought this was a great time to have this little chat, and ventured into some scenarios for him.

"So, what would you say if someone tried to give you candy and get you to go with them."

He hangs his head, and smugly replies with a sigh,

"thank you."

I guess some of our talks about manners are getting through. We'll have to work a little more on stranger danger at a later date.