New Pals

More of the same summery goodness lately, made even better because we have made friends with the neighbors across the street.  They have a little boy six mo. younger than Ingrid and one just a couple months younger than Otis.  It's been instant BFFs around here! 

Today after nap time we had them over to play.  I'd made this paint I saw on Pinterest, which did not really turn out like paint so much.  It's simply flour, water, and food coloring, but all I had on hand was whole wheat flour, next time I'd try regular flour and hope for a better consistency.  But all in all it was a nice messy project for the kids on a hot day.

We had a pool of cold water ready to wash them up, and of course, popsicles.

The other day we stayed inside for the hot weather, and the AC must have been cool enough because we baked cookies.  I'd gotten some cookie cutters from Ikea that Ingrid desperately wanted to use, so we made moose sugar cookies.  They were delish.

Chicago

Yesterday I took the kids to Chicago to visit friends.  Actually, they're in Oak Park, which is amazing, seriously!  The park we went to was gorgeous, as it should be with the tax rate there...All sorts of Frank Lloyd Wright houses there, it's like rows and rows of the most beautiful houses you've ever seen.  I'll have to go back sans children someday and walk around. 

My kids could've cared less about the houses, they just wanted to get out of the damn car.  And once we were out, they got to run around, play with baby puppy Shirley, and pester big kid Keagan.  Ingrid has a bit of a crush on Keagan, so she kept bothering him, much to his dismay. 

It was the sweatiest, stickiest day, but we managed to have a good time and it was great catching up with one of my oldest and dearest friends!  But really, next time will be without kids so we can have an actual conversation that does not include "Stop hitting!  Use your words!  Put the dog down, she does not want to be held by her neck!"

The Cutest Little Naughty

Oh, Otis is so naughty lately.  And I know it's not because he's really "naughty" like doing it to piss me off, he's just frustrated with his lack of words and doesn't know how to communicate these intense feelings he has.  But nonetheless, when he flings guacamole all over your forehead while throwing a loaded chip across a Mexican restaurant, it's naughty.

But he has this sweetness to him that I hope stays.  He loves to cuddle.  He stands in his crib and calls "Mama, Mama, Mama!" in the morning (well, middle of the night?  4am when he comes into our bed...)  He loves to give hugs and kisses.  He gives thee most flirtatious looks to random strangers that say hi to him. 

As a friend said, kids are cute so their mothers don't eat them.  Indeed.

Ikea

A friend and I went to Ikea on Wednesday.  I love and hate Ikea.  I can sit and daydream with a catalogue in hand, imagining a comfortable sofa, tons of clever storage, bright colors, and a happy family.  And then I get in the store and find what I thought was cute is actually really cheaply made (thus the $30 price tag) or it's not the color I thought it would be or there's no way it will fit in my car. 

However, I had a specific list of things I knew I wanted, so the trip was pretty fast and fun.  Having no kids along was an added bonus--I saw all the other moms with screeching kids yelling "stop touching that!  Just keep your hands off!" and I sighed a contented sigh and went back to  my leisurely browsing.  Suckers.

I got some Expedit shelves for our dining room.  They look so much better than the cheap Target bookcases we had before!  I got some baskets for the top, too, that have cleaning supplies I had nowhere else to put.  Now the top of my refrigerator is bare!  It's amazing.

You'll notice my trim is still not painted.  I intend to remedy that this weekend.

If I can find a dining room set I even kind of sort of like I will get it and then the dining room will be done.  I have not found a thing I like though.  Boo.

Other fun items purchased at Ikea were curtains for Ingrid's room, measuring cups, wooden spoons, and food storage containers.  I am so old and out of it that it is a happy day indeed when I have new wooden spoons!

The Perfect Saturday

Yesterday we had friends over for a cookout.  I was a little worried about how hot it's been, thinking we'd end up hanging out inside in the air conditioning, but luckily the heat wave broke a bit and it was in the high 70s instead of the high 90s.  And there was a nice breeze blowing, it was perfect!  We got outside bright and early, of course, to clean up the backyard and set stuff up.  Ingrid moved all the chairs into a train for her dolls, just like I used to do.  Otis helped by singing Rock a bye Baby to Ingrid's doll.

 Our friends came after naptime, and we had fun being out in the now cooler weather.  I made a tent on the clothesline that all the kids liked to play in.  They had some little pony toys and Goldfish crackers and were in heaven.

Ingrid loves her friends Camryn and Ellie.  They had so much fun together, we didn't have to watch them at all, they just ran around and played all day long.  For some reason, they decided to dress up in Ingrid's pjs and bring out musical instruments to give us a concert.

 Poor Otis tried to keep up with them, but he just couldn't.  They would run up and down the stairs while he was trying to crawl his way up the first time.  Then he'd sit there and cry, go back down, and watch as the girls ran back up the stairs again.  Oh, just you wait, Ingrid!  Next year he'll be able to keep up with you and you won't be able to get rid of him!

The party lasted until bedtime, when both my kids passed out from sheer exhaustion.  Honestly, I may have also passed out soon after.  In fact, I may or may not have gone upstairs and gotten into my pjs while Brendan was still saying good bye to our friends.  When your kid gets up at the crack of dawn, I think you should be excused if you want to be asleep by 9pm, am I right?

Harvesting

Yesterday we went to check on our zucchinis and found five enormous ones just waiting to be picked!  One is so huge, it's like the size of my forearm, and so heavy Ingrid could barely hold it!  Nothing like homegrown produce.  I made a loaf of zucchini bread last night, it is amazing!  Our green beans are flowering and our strawberries are late bloomers, hopefully the birds won't eat them.  Also, our lettuce is finally not being eaten by whatever was nibbling on it, so we actually have beautiful big leaves.  I'm so happy to have a little urban garden, how fun!

4th of July

Too hot to be clever.  My brain is melting.

Yesterday we went to the cottage.  We melted there, too.  Went swimming.  Went boating.  Drank beer from a keg.  Ate ice cream sandwiches.  Played with cousins.  Sweat. 

Then we came home to sleep in air conditioning.  Ha!  Jokes on me, the A/C was broken.  I opened up the windows, turned on all the fans and tried to stay comfortable.  All night was horrible, just laying in bed made me sweat.  Otis woke up and was drenched.  He spent the night in my room and then proceeded to wake up all cheerful and ready to go at 4:30am.  Again. So we went outside and spent a lovely morning with our new neighbor friends while waiting for the repairman to come. 

Then I found a magical light switch that manually turns on and off the air conditioning.  It's about two feet off the floor, perfect for a little man to turn on and off.  Mainly, off.  Air conditioning not broken, just turned off!  Relief that I didn't have to shell out hundreds of dollars to get ours fixed, pissed that it was a simple fix I could've done LAST NIGHT.  Lesson learned!

The house was up to 96 degrees, it's taken a few hours but it's finally down to 80, which seems like the Arctic compared to what it had been!  Screw this heat, I'm done with it!

Hot Street Fairs

Yesterday was really really hot.  I spent it outside in the sun, at a craft show.  It was fun but sweaty!  Luckily I had an EZup from my inlaws, it came in SO handy.  And I felt like a pro, since most of the other booths also had theirs.  Three shows I've done and now I feel like I really "get" how to do them!  Next stop, get a Square reader so I can use my iPad to take credit cards, won't that be fancy?

My helper had to leave me to go let out her wee little dog who can't be left alone for more than a few hours, so I was stuck by myself.  Brendan was a doll and packed me a picnic, bought me beer, watched my table so I could go to the bathroom.  What a guy, huh?  It was super helpful.  The kids enjoyed themselves, as there were bands playing and lots of people milling about.  Ingrid really likes to hand me a bag when someone buys something, so she sat and helped me for awhile.  They stayed for one of our favorite bands to play--Milwaukee's own Promise Ring was the special secret guest, I was so excited!  They're always fun to see, even though it was a little surreal to be holding a kid while dancing to the music...Brendan and I looked at each other and just said "damn, we're old!"

Otis fell asleep for awhile, even amidst all the noise.  That kid was tired, he's been getting up before 5am lately.  What the f**k?  Not cool, dude.

He's lucky he's so cute, amiright?

Today we recovered by being super lazy, eating Kringle and watching TV.  We played outside for awhile, went to the wading pool, and then the kids were in bed promptly at 6:30pm.  Sigh...time to relax finally!