Archive for December, 2011

December 23rd, 2011

merry christmas from rudolph.

just in case driving a mini van wasnt quite embarrassing enough i got an early christmas present this morning…

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ohgoodlord. the things i will tolerate for my children.
special thanks to our neighbors for convincing justin to borrow their reindeer vehicle costume. it’s lovely.
and we are officially that
family.

this christmas, beyong antlers and a red puffy nose i am eternally grateful and humbled by the blessings in my life. for my amazing family and friends. for the tornado of toys, baby dolls, marbles, crumbs, thomas trains and superhero costumes created by my healthy and [mostly] smiling children.

may you all have a joyful holiday. hold on extra tight to the loves in your life. think often of those shining down on us from above and be grateful for all that you have.

even toyota sienna the reindeer.

December 16th, 2011

just {not} gay enough.

last weekend we devoted our time to a serious overhaul of the basement.

it all started with the most terrible musty, mildew, rotten onion smell permeating from who-knows-where in the basement through the entire house.

awesome.

even scentsy couldn’t deliver on the ‘ol coverup.

we moved stuff up and out – with the help of some friends to the dump (thanks d&e!) and other need-to-save-but-don’t-want-to-see stuff to the eaves.

and as justin said, you know you’ve surrendered to the fact that you’re going to be living in a house for a long time when you enter the eaves for storage.

thanks zillow.com for the second ever lowest assessment. we might be stuck here forever.

which brings me to the topic of this post: attempting to buy a chair for our dining room.

as we decided, if we’re going to be in this house for the foreseeable future we need to make a small sitting area in our dining room; for people [who always end up in the kitchen] to chat with and feel connected to.

which brings me to tjmaxx/homegoods, naturally.

where i found a ton of awesome options. which i emailed to my husband.

i was so excited about sharing i couldn’t wait for his reply so called instead.

to which he said a few things but the only words that lingered after the sentence was finished were i despise all of them. wait. maybe that was the entire sentence.

to which i got instantly pissy and short and wished for the one thousandth and forty third time that i was a lesbian.

pretty sure if called my wife at home with those same photos the conversation would have ended with all six chairs in my trunk.

ok. i could have guessed he wouldn’t be super stoked about the purple ones. but all of them?

how he can’t see the pop of colors and textures blending perfectly with our new farm table and added throw pillows i’ll never know.

probably shouldn’t have called, huh? next time it’s purchase and run baby.

sigh.

December 15th, 2011

merry {and happy} to you.

in years past we’ve ordered enough christmas cards to send out to the entire town of swanzey, nh. this year, we opted for a much lesser quantity in an effort to be more eco and wallet-conscious. (insert pat on the back here.)

if you didn’t get a hard copy of our card please don’t feel badly. truly we mostly sent them to our ‘aunt edna’ sorts (i.e. those loved ones who don’t know what that fangdangled thing called a website is) or those who have the page entitled family holiday cards 2011 already waiting in their scrapbooks (i.e. our immediate family).

so, without further ado here is our photo shoot winner and 2011 christmas card.

wishing you a joyful holiday and a momentous 2012

December 15th, 2011

gettin’ a little craft-ay.

a few weeks ago my kids and i were at a friends house (a rad-o mama named jen) and she had this super cool craft for us to do. by us, i mean moms. score!
and it was so easy and so cute and clever that i wanted to share.

we’re making a few ‘batches’ of these and putting them atop some presents to add a lil something extra and homeade.

first up, you need some paper. we picked out these colorful beauties from a local craft store. (you can also use paintings or drawings your kids have done or perhaps a photo. or better yet, get them involved paintcutpaste style and have them decorate some plain circles!)

then you need a bag of these clear glass rocks – you can find them in your local craft store (usually in the floral aisle). they are round on one side and flat on the other.

small round magnets (sold in packs of 6-12), a few tin boxes (pictured above) and some clear glue. i used a glue gun but you can use any quick drying clear stuff.

i had roughly 20 glass stones so i cut 20 circles out of the paper i had chosen.

then i glued the cut paper onto the flat side of the glass rock, pattern side down. (when you push the paper down the glue will spread evenly around.)

next up, adhering the magnets to the rock/paper. again, dap a small amount of glue on magnet and push onto paper/rock.

and…voila.

some pretty funky little magnets. if you can’t tell from the photos the glass rocks magnify the pattern and make them look really neat.
(also why if you had a small photo of your child this would be way cool as a grandparent, etc. gift. someone give it a try and send us a pic?)

i picked out these holiday themed tins but i think jen used altoid boxes for hers – would be super cool for any occasion to use funky or vintage tins.

will wrap with ribbons to use as gift toppers or a small stand-alone gift.

super cute, i’d say.

and while i was doing this little project i was also cutting circles from solid colored paper (and handing over the occasional funky stuff) for my kids to make gumball machines. (i drew the outline of the gumball machine and asked them to add the gumballs.)

yay for multi-tasking and keeping everyone satisfied and stone cold silent for over 40 minutes. now that is an accomplishment.

December 5th, 2011

friending.

a friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.”
- arabian proverb

there have been a few times during my three and a half years as a momma that i’ve come across [what justin calls] potential bff’s. and by this i mean that woman who you come across by chance who just looks like she has a lot in common with you. not becuase she’s wearing the ‘right’ jeans. or has the perfect blend of high and low lights. it’s in the little things; the way she speaks to her kids, the free flowing small talk that feels right-on. the similarities in the way you walk and talk and carry yourselves, the unknown overlapping of paths.

often justin – who very lovingly knows my desire for like-souled friends – will whisper in my ear or give me a look that says, well? go talk to her! or did you exchange numbers? ah, no.

seriously. why is this so hard?

i mean, i would consider myself fairly outgoing. fairly confident. i always chat with people i come in contact with, especially those potential bff’s at the playground.

but then what? what happens after you’ve had a lovely conversation about the similarities in your kids? about their names and how you chose them. about where you live and what preschool your three year olds attend.

today, i met a [seemingly] rad woman named becky. she was at a local playground with her three kids. her youngest was a little girl the same age as h. we chatted and danced the mom-chasing-kids-at-a-playground dance around each other.

she got ready to leave and [at least i] fought with the urge to give her my email address or exchange phone numbers. but how do you do that without seeming pathetic, lonely or a total spaz?

it’s like dating. but for friends. friending.

i wonder if anyone has ever met a wonderful friend because they offered up their digits at a park?

is it just me or does this happen to others?

becky, the rad mom from northwest park if you somehow read this…i promise i’m not a freak. and, ah, you can email me anytime at hannah@tothemoonnback.net. i’d love to grab a margarita sometime.


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