Expectations

This afternoon we came home from a playdate with all the cousins (five total) at the "bouncy place" (one of those indoor bounce houses, a la Bounce U) and as we were walking in, I saw a package in our mailbox.  I was excited that my book finally came, as I am planning on painting up a version of one of the illustrations inside for Juliana's room.

by Claire Keane from Rapunzel's Amazing Hair

This is my progress so far...

So, pretty much done.

I grabbed the package (which seemed a trifle light) and opened it up with Juliana's help. It definitely didn't have a book inside, but it did have one of those little drawstring mesh bags inside, you know:

And I thought, oh, Stephen got me a present!  How fun!! So I (thoughtful wife) pulled out the packing slip instead, so I wouldn't ruin the surprise. Logically. And on that innocent piece of paper I read, regarding the contents of the box which was lying open on my dining room table while my two babies played on the floor nearby: "Shipped: praying mantis eggs, 400."

I screamed (as one does) and threw the box outside, scaring both my children and causing them to cry. 

After some digging I figured out that they were sent here as a (wildly misguided) birthday present for my husband.  Well, not that misguided I suppose, as he is thrilled, but they definitely will not be taking up permanent residence with us.  I'm not sure any bug gives me the heeby jeebies as much as (shudder) this:

I couldn't even bring myself to Google "praying mantis" for a real picture. Had to go with "cartoon praying mantis."

Birthday Fun and More

~Pretty~

Samuel just had his first birthday party (Pixar's Up themed) and I loved how the decorations came out! Mostly thanks to my crafty sister and her new Cricut (that I gave her for Christmas... definitely not in order to extort cute decorations from her).

The banner says "Adventure is out there." I saved it to go up in Samuel's room.

And here's one of the birthday boy and his floating house:

Carl Fredricksen never looked this cute.  Do you see the adorable "Grape Soda" bottle cap cutout?  It was all just so darn cute.

~Happy~

I mentioned in my last post that we got a new Peter Rabbit teapot and have been having tea parties in the afternoons.  I actually got the idea from the Ambleside website. The essay suggested an afternoon tea to help with the evening pre-dinner sugar crash as well as to sneak in some poetry and conversation. I loved the idea so much I implemented it immediately.  Here is Juliana with her very own teacup listening to some Beatrix Potter (appropriately enough).

And she only spilled three times!

~Funny~

I don't know why she does this.  Do your toddlers do this??

Yes, that is our dog's bedtime crate. She loves to go in it. So. Weird.

~Real~

I recently had the really brilliant idea of letting my two year old finger paint inside ("Well, that's understandable, it had to be inside," you're thinking, "it's winter!" Nope. California. It's 82 outside.).  At the kitchen table, which is white, without paying much attention to what she was doing (I was painting too).  I looked over after about 10 minutes, and this is what I saw:

I just. I mean. I really should have seen this coming.

So, you know, business as usual around here.

Go see Leila for everyone else's pretty, happy, funny and real this week.

Five Favorites - Volume 1

I love favorite things lists (mine and everyone else's)... such a fun way to reflect on the little things each week.

1. We found a new item at Costco this week: Lee's coffee concentrate.  Oh my goodness. Have you had this coffee?  It is AMAZING.  And now I have enough of it to last me an extremely long time and it's at HOME.

2. This new L'Oreal lip gloss in Endless Red. It's sort of a weird formula that's part stain/part gloss, but I really like the color and the stain stays put quite well.  It's definitely a bolder color than I normally wear, but I like it.

3. I am mildly obsessed with these.  They are SO GOOD.  I make up excuses to go to Sprouts so I can buy them. 

4. If you're a stay at home type, you want to read Quotidian Mysteries. An excerpt:

We want life to have meaning, we want fulfillment, healing and even ecstasy, but the human paradox is that we find these things by starting where we are, not where we wish we were. We must look for blessings to come from unlikely, everyday places-- out of Galilee, as it were-- and not in spectacular events, such as the coming of a comet.

I love Kathleen Norris, and this speaks to me where I am right now.

5. I found this Peter Rabbit teapot at a thrift store last week and Juliana and I have been having tea parties with it.  Tea and literature!  It doesn't get better than that!

Hallie has lots more at her place-- go visit!