Tristan the Baker

Tristan and I do a lot of baking together; mainly chocolate chip cookies aka "Wookie Cookies” which were inspired by our Star Wars cookbook.  When we aren’t baking for real, he likes to play with his kitchen set, making us dinner, birthday cakes, or coffee. 

A friend of mine gives her kids cotton balls to play with, so to help with his creativity I gave Tristan some to use in his “cooking” but they ended up pulled apart strewn about the apartment.  Of course that didn’t  work so out well with me and my excessive need for things to be clean and in place.  So last night I decided to let him use a Costco sized bag of Dove chocolates for his imaginary baking.  (The rule was he could play with them, NOT eat them- and he abided).  That kid played all night with those silly chocolates- and Hayden even joined in.  I’m glad we put the chocolates (which have been sitting in my pantry since Christmas) to good use. 

 

Nesting

My pregnancy “nesting” instinct has kicked into high gear!  Since they baby will sleep in our room for the first few months (okay let’s be honest, the first two years) I can’t really set up a nursery, so instead I focused my energy on decorating the boys’ room.  They have never had a “decorated” room (they spent the first years in our room and once we moved to Seattle, they got bunk beds and their own room, but we never decorated it with anything other than hand-me-down blankets and a black sheet as a curtain to block out the morning sun) so this was a real treat for all of us.  (I even want to move in- it’s so cool).  Thanks Mom for the duvet cover that got this all started.

 

As you can tell, it’s a Star Wars theme.  I made the top bunk’s duvet cover by sewing two navy blue flat sheets together (much cheaper than buying a real duvet cover).  The vintage artwork on the wall is Star Wars prints Olivier’s parents gave him when he was a kid!  Thanks Syma for sending them to us!  We framed 8 of the prints and the kids LOVE looking at them and discussing the back story to each. The sketch above the pillows on the top bunk was done by a local pre-teen who was selling his art at the “Kid Farmer’s Market” in Redmond ($12- a steal).  Another item we framed was a poster and Star Wars stamp Olivier bought at the post office last year.  We got the Darth Vader bucket at Target during Halloween last year (Hayden was Darth Vader and Tristan was Obi Won).  Our last project (although I don’t know when we’ll actually get around to doing it) is to make a Death Star “globe” to hang from the ceiling.  Now I can’t wait to decorate another room!    

A Fabric Sample

This post is just to show off some fabrics that I fell in love with.  When it goes on sale (presently it’s $12/yd) I’ll grab several yards and save it for my little girl’s room.  The other two fabrics that go with this are a light beige and the palest beige/yellow each respectively with a faint floral and honey bee pattern. They were out of swatches otherwise they would be highlighted as well.  The fabric and color pallet are even prettier than anything you could find at Posh Tots (and much cheaper).  Now I just have to unpack my sewing machine..oh, and have the baby!

 

 

My Haircut from Tristan

This afternoon as I was playing chess with Hayden (he won) Tristan came up behind me and started playing with my hair.  He said he was going to give me a haircut as he ran his fingers through my hair and flipped it around; I said that would be great and continued with the chess game.  A few moments passed and Tristan bolted out of the room, and I kept playing (knight to D4 or nd4).  The next think I remember was hearing a “schwit” sound, and then another.  Oh my gosh!  Tristan was really cutting my hair. 

I turned around and he was proudly standing there with his scissors in hand, and smile on face.  I wasn’t mad but I screamed because I didn’t know what else to do.  I looked down and there was a pile of clean hair on the floor.  I ran my fingers through my hair and out came another clump.  Just as I began to scream again I looked at Tristan and his smile melted into utter shame.  He began to cry…uncontrollably.  He stared to run off but I grabbed him and cradled him in my arms saying “It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m not mad, I love you.”  He could not stop crying and begged me to let him go to his room to be alone.  I obliged, but only for a few minutes. 

As I walked into his room he hid his face in the bed covers and wept.  I curled up next to him and kissed his head, stroked his back and just cuddled.  Finally after what seemed like an eternity he calmed down enough to tell me he was sad and he would always feel sad from now on.  My heart was breaking and I wasn’t sure what to say.  (my assurances that I wasn’t mad or upset weren’t working).  I realized that his reaction wasn’t about how I was feeling, rather what he was feeling.  Total sadness. 

This was a great opening for us to talk about feelings (yes, republicans have and talk about feelings).  I tried to explain that feelings come and go; that he may be feeling sad now, but sadness would go away and happy would “come in” (pointing to his heart) or silly, or mad, or poopy (the poop word always makes him laugh and I was desperate to make him laugh- it did the trick). 

Now that he was smiling again I challenged him to a game of chess and off we went.  Happy had come in.

A Clean Kitchen

Let me clarify for anyone who may be confused as to what constitutes a “clean” kitchen. 

1. ALL dished must be cleaned (either by hand or placed in the dishwasher).  They don’t have to be put away- I don’t mind if they are placed next to the sink to dry, but everything must be cleaned.  If a wine glass doesn’t fit in the dish washer, don’t leave it next to the sink dirty (or in the sink where it could break!), just wash it by hand.  If you make a cup of tea after the kitchen has been cleaned, just put your spoon and mug in the dishwasher when you are done. It’s not that hard. 

2.  ALL counter surfaces must be wiped off.  Be sure to lift any kitchen accessories stored on the counter such as knife block, toaster, coffee maker etc.  I prefer to wipe the counter first with a sponge (a different sponge than the one used for washing dishes so you don’t spread dish soap on the counter) and then with antibacterial spray and a paper towel. 

3. Wipe clean the stove top…and oven hood!  Sometimes the front of the oven needs to be wiped down too, so don’t forget to check.

4.  Empty all garbage (the idea is to have a fresh bin for the next day’s garbage). 

5. I’m not too picky about the floor, but if you feel grit on your feet, SWEEP IT already! 

6. Sink should be rinsed out and sponges squeezed (better yet, spray some antibacterial cleaner on said sponges then squeeze dry) and placed in sponge basket- do not leave lying on the sink floor soaking wet.

See, only six simple rules.  It’s not that hard and when done the right way everyone can relax and have a pleasant evening (and a fresh clean morning). 

Technorati Tags: My dream kitchen,except I'd prefer carrara marble over granite.

Seattle Science Fiction Museum

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This weekend we spend the afternoon in Seattle at the Science Fiction Museum.  The cost was $15 per person (Tristan was free) but luckily they accepted the ever-so-handy Microsoft Prime card and we got in for $5 per person.  The museum was okay, but I would have been greatly disappointed if we’d spend $45 to get in.  It was dark inside and displayed were all kids of science fiction characters and paraphernalia- most of which were really scary, so the whole time Hayden and Tristan cried (or whined depending on your level of compassion) that they were scared and wanted to “get out of here.” 

The Star Wars stuff was cool.  That’s about all I can say.  I’m more of the Barbie Museum attendee than the Sci-Fi kind.  The more fun part of the day was just spending time roaming about Seattle with Olivier and the boys, Tristan wearing his Obi-Won Kenobi costume the whole day, the delicious Nutella crepe Tristan and I shared and the dinner out at Zeek’s Pizza afterward.  Next weekend it’s off to the Doll Museum in Bellevue! (Just kidding Olivier). 

End of no TV week

Well it’s been a week (and two days) of no TV and I survived.  There were a few times I cheated, for instance, Thursday morning Hayden woke up at 1am and could not fall back asleep.  At 3:30am it was clear to me that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep either so we tip-toed into the living room and watched Prince Caspian together until 7 and then the morning news. I also cheated in the early evening a few times; when the kids went to bed I watched mindless TV for a bit just to regroup for the evening chores that were waiting for my attention.  I did keep it off at bedtime, which was a huge step forward and I was successful at keeping it off in the morning too.  Breakfast at the table with the Wall Street Journal is preferable to gagging at the horrible “news” coverage on the network morning shows.

As for the kids, they didn’t seem to notice their drop in TV allowance.  Maybe because I didn’t make a big deal of it (I didn’t say anything to them at all) I just kept their attention focused on doing other things.  We even had a couple of nice days where they played outside for a change.  It was muuuuuddy outside thus they got muuuuuddy, but I just had them strip down to their underwear before they stepped foot in the apartment.  

I can confidently state that I will keep the small changes I’ve made and continue to do better.  Maybe even one day I’ll take the TV out of our bedroom altogether!  Oh, and I can’t wait to have a house with real rooms (separate from each other- no more dining room, living room, play room, kitchen all in one room) and then have only one room specifically used for TV viewing.  It’s the little things isn’t it?