Friday, January 31, 2014

A Few Favorite Things

I was thinking the other day that I hadn't done a Josephine's Favorite Books post in a long time, and have never done one for Genevieve (d'oh), and I would do one right now, but we have been reading the same book day in and day out for over a week, and it looks like it's not in print anymore, so it's not like you could go get yourself a copy anyway (just in case you're in interested, it's Popcorn by Frank Asch)

But, there are a few other things we have been loving lately that I thought you might also need in your lives. (Affiliate links, because I could use the 10 cents if 100 of you click the links.)

First up, a collapsible step-stool:


My mom got a very similar one for the girls to use at her house, then she bought me this, and it is awesome. It folds right up and fits between our vanity and the wall so we don't have to lose precious floor space in our miniature bathroom. It's light enough that Genevieve can easily carry it around the house but holds up to 300 pounds. Highly recommend. 

Next is a stacking toy:

So simple, and we have other stacking toys, but this thing is the best ever. I got it for Genevieve for Christmas, and she has played with it every single day. Josephine also steals it from her every single day, because it is just that awesome, apparently. The square one is a little hard for Genevieve, but she stacks them any which way and loves it.

I had totally forgotten about these reusable sticker pads! They still exist!
Melissa & Doug Reusable Fairies Sticker Pad, $6.83

My dear friend Andrea sent us a care package when all four of us were sick, and this was inside. I about died. I LOVED these when I was little, and Josephine loved them just as much as I knew she would. 

Bonus fun story about this product: When it arrived, one of the pages had been punched incorrectly, and I felt so sad about it that I called Melissa & Doug and they sent a new one, no questions asked, and without requiring me to send in the damaged one. I was having bad luck with Melissa & Doug products lately and losing my love for them, but that brought me back around so quickly that I will recommend their products forever.

Last but not least:


The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, $24.96

My favorite as a girl is now my girls' favorite. SWOON. I could not be happier. When the first notes of music begin to play, Genevieve screams with delight and then begins dancing. Josephine talks like all the characters (today she told me she needs some "H-h-h-help" like Piglet, and she loves to say "Yes, yes, of course, of course" like Owl). This version that my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law got them for Christmas is the DVD/Blu Ray/digital copy version.

There you have it. A few of our favorite things. Are there any favorite things that have changed your life lately? Hit me up in the comments!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Roku, Daughters, and Scraping

Three unrelated things (aka, blogging at its finest):

1. We've been trying to ditch cable for a long time now, and have tried every which way to figure out how to keep a few important things for the least amount of money, and now I am thinking about getting a Roku. Those of you who have them -- love them? like them? hate them? worth the money? do we need a roku 3 or will 1 or 2 do the trick? I love crowdsourcing from this group of lovely people.


2. Josie is really upset that she doesn't have a daughter. She keeps telling me her two best friends are her daughters, and while I think it's funny and sweet, for her sake I thought it prudent to explain that they were not her daughters. We have been having long, rambling talks about how only grown-ups can have daughters and sons and how you should also wait until you've met the person you want to spend the rest of your life with until you make a baby or adopt a baby. I think maybe if she were a doll person, I would give her a doll and tell her it's her daughter and to take care of it and call it a day, but she doesn't care about dolls at all. This morning she told me there was a baby in her belly and it had the hiccups and it was kicking her SO LOW in her belly. So I guess my question is, should I worry about her talking about her daughters and her pregnancy in public? She has a few times, and people are shocked and weirded out, but is that really such a weird thing? If you heard a three-year-old talking about her daughter or her pregnancy, wouldn't you just chuckle and move on with life? 


3. I just got done scraping all the wallpaper off of two "accent walls" in our bedroom, and OH MY GOD, do I ever want to punch the original owners in the face. They used so much glue, it took over twelve man hours of scraping, even with the scoring and glue-dissolving spray method. I am completely broken. At this point, we should be ready for painting, but we also took down this weird little half-wall that was actually just made of paneling (?) and a four-foot section was glued to the wall where there was an overlap, so now I have some more hours of scraping ahead of me before we can start our big, awesome bedroom makeover. 


Hold me.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Super Happy Fun Time

Jeremy sent me this gif in an email letting me know that he has Monday off:

The Office

Then we proceeded with a celebration gif-off, and I thought you all might enjoy our efforts.






58 Essential Dance GIFs


58 Essential Dance GIFs










P.S. Who won?

P.S.S. Just kidding. I know we're all winners. Happy Friday!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Two Months in a Nutshell (Nailed it)

I have this problem every year. The end of the year rolls around, and the stress from multiple Christmases, the inevitable sickness, the new year, our anniversary, then the thank you notes and feeling guilty about not making resolutions -- it's too much for me. I get a little overwhelmed and drop the ball a few places, and this was one of them. No posts in two months might be a new record!

I've tried to write a million times and didn't have time to finish, so let's play catch-up in a very disjointed manner, shall we?


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Last you heard from me, I was preparing all the Christmas magic, and I got a little overwhelmed trying to figure out the best way to do so. In the end, instead of scheduling them ahead of time and making an advent calendar, I decided to just make a list, hang it on the wall, and try to accomplish as many fun Christmas activities as we could before the 25th. Dang it if we didn't do an amazing job!



Boo-yah! We had Christmas magic out the friggin' wazoo. And Josephine had the crafty Christmas of her dreams. She would wake up in the morning and shout "A Christmas project!! I want to do a Christmas project!!!!" and as soon as one was done, she would hold her hand out for the supplies for the next. It was exhausting. 


 A small smattering of Josephine's favorite projects

 Should have spent the money and put it on canvas :)

Josephine made FIFTEEN new ornaments this year. NOT including the ones she gave to all her aunts and uncles and grandparents and great-grandparents. Oy.


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Then we had seven Christmases. BOOM. 







Super cute, right?

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Then as soon as the last celebration faded away, I got super sick. Then got tonsillitis and strep. Then everyone else got sick. Then I cried that we would never be well again. But we're fine now.

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The only upside to Jeremy being deathly ill for two days is that he called off for the two days he was supposed to go back to work, then the polar vortex hit (when I was still sick and hadn't been grocery shopping since before Christmas), and he had two snow days! So he had the longest vacation he has ever had. It was so awesome having him home.

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Oh, but right, I was sick as a friggin' dog on our five-year wedding anniversary/New Year's Eve. Perfect. Maybe we will make up for it on Valentine's Day? 


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New Year's Eve. Sigh. I love it, but then there's New Year's Day and I feel all guilty that I don't bother making resolutions anymore, and I have a few panic attacks in the beginning of January because of it, but I did a little better this year. I wrote about it over here.

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But now that we're all officially well and I FINALLY got life back in order (the laundry back-up was terrifying and bleaching ALL THE THINGS took two solid days) and Christmas packed away and the house restocked with groceries, I was way behind on other things that send me into panic mode, such as thank you notes. I'm having Josie write hers this year, and it takes about two hours per note. No joke. And I have to sit with her. So ... we're almost done, but it is taking forever. I still have lots of other things I am way behind on that make my stomach eat itself at night, like updating my "Things the Girls Said and Did" journals that I am MONTHS behind on, but I have confidence I will pull myself from this slump like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

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I don't know. That might be it. I'm calling this update successful and hopefully will be able to blog again without feeling anxiety. We'll see. 

I missed you all! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

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Okay, maybe just a few more pictures. You know I can't help myself.




















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