Fire Island kids

I came across this picture on the computer and it made me realize: she has my hair.

Birthday Boy

We had a birthday here this week.  Adrian enjoyed his taco dinner and chocolate cake.  The girls came downstairs the morning of his birthday (May 21st) asking how the 1 year old was doing.  I feel amazed that we have gone through one more year of babyhood--and amazed at how fast it has gone by--faster with each kid, so it seems.

The big house phase 2

We moved to this house almost exactly two years ago.  I know because we just got back from our annual trip to California last week and two years ago, we got back from California, I worked a 24 hour shift and then we moved the next day.  And because of a pushed-up closing date on our old house, we moved into what was essentially total chaos: no kitchen, major renovations on the first floor, only one functional shower (that remains the case today).
So we moved from a normal-sized house to this crazy huge house and felt like there was so much room and everything was so chaotic that it kind of didn't matter where we put things.  Who needed to be organized when there were so many bedrooms and closets?
Well fast-forward 2 years to now.  Things may look a little better on the surface--the windows open and close, the kitchen has walls and appliances that work.  But the chaos is there still, its just lurking out of site.  Three examples that spring immediately to mind: the kids art cabinet, the coat closet, and...horror of horrors, the basement.  I can't even really discuss the basement without experiencing an anxiety attack of sorts, so we're not going to go there right now.  Instead we're going to ''accentuate the positive" and take a look at The big house, phase 2, step 1.  The pantry.  A few weeks ago, the girls and I emptied EVERY LAST THING out of the pantry, wiped down all the shelves and put everything back in a more orderly and sensible way.  We also disposed of some long-forgotten pantry items that were either past their prime or never going to get used.

Hooray.  Witness, the re-organized pantry.

Look at all that space on the shelf!  Just look at it.

My goals for this summer are to deal with the spaces in this house just like I would if it were smaller and every inch had to be carefully planned and thought out.  Obviously we have enough space in this house.  If there is nowhere to put shoes, then it's because I haven't figured out the right system yet.  So I'll be on the hunt this summer for all kinds of organizing tips and ideas plus I'll be purging stuff that doesn't work for us and trying to get things straightened out so the house is easier to keep neat and more pleasant to be in.  Stay tuned.

I think my iphone has ruined me for blogging

Like my friend Nikki, I think having an iphone has really ruined me for blogging.  I just never sit down at the computer anymore.  Right at this moment, it feels so old school to be sitting here at a desk, using a big keyboard and looking at a big screen.  How weird.

But I still like the idea of blogging, and I feel nostalgic at the thought of stopping, so I'm going to make an effort to persist.

So, I made a Japanese knot bag last night.  It was mother's day after all.

On the bright side

We got a beautiful woodstove installed in our living room about 2 weeks ago.

Hmm. Not a very good picture.  Did I mention I can't find my camera and have been taking pictures with my iphone (love it) only for the past month or so.

Well, the woodstove is great and it's really perfect for just embracing the February funk--hot chocolate, popcorn and knitting.  Sounds like dinner.

February funk.

Oh February how cranky you make me. 
I feel like Alexander from 'Alexander and the terrible horrible no good very bad day.'

The baby didn't sleep well and got up early so I won't be able to take my morning run without messing up his nap, and Al got me up 20 minutes later than I asked him to, so I had to rush to get the girls to school and it was colder than I thought it was so I had to give Penelope my scarf and then my neck got cold and I couldn't find my sour cherry jam, so I had to use strawberry, blech.  etc. etc.  And it's only 10 in the morning. 

Better late than never

Maybe I should rename the blog 'better late than never' since that seems to be a theme here.  Anyway, some belated pictures from December which was (as always) a really really busy month.  The girls both played their flutes in 2 performances (and I use the word 'played' in the loosest sense) and had their ballet recitals (no pictures of Claudia for some reason, but damn she looked cute).  Diego turned 8 (8!) and I sewed and sold a bunch of dolls.  I decided to be a little more official on the business end of things and now have a website and a business card (and a little notebook with lists of ideas and orders!--I love a little notebook).  The website is philadelphiadollco.blogspot.com but there's nothing on it yet.

I also sewed the dresses for the girls' flute recital.  I did Penelope's well ahead of time with the beautiful Anna Maria Horner striped fabric and the black flowers.  I used this pattern (obscure) which I had used before.  I like the pinafore portion much better than the underdress.  Claudia's dress I sewed up super quick the morning of the recital and it is a Simplicity pattern (don't have the number handy) which I have made about 5 times before and LOVE. So simple and easy.  The pattern calls for bias binding at the armholes and neck, which I have done in the past for summer dresses, but since this was a warmer corduroy dress, I opted to just line it instead.

P and I have been reading Hitty and really want to buy this kit but I'm trying to hold back and be reasonable, since I'm really working a lot on the other dolls lately (3 orders for January!).

I got an iphone--more on that soon.