kidding around

I adore my house. It may not be in the best neighborhood or have the best floor layout, but it is such a joy to raise my kids in this home. I love that this nest is a place that my children feel safe, my husband finds comfort, and I can create.

Not to sound corny, but I just looked around and just felt unbelievably grateful that we have a warm house (it’s 9 degrees right now!) and beds to sleep in. It’s the simple things that really get to your heart.

And since I am so visual, I felt like I needed to share some of the festivities taking place!

The playroom with the kids tree and our stockings. I think the kids are more eager to open up the stockings than the wrapped gifts!



I love this little owl. After decorating our living room tree with snowflakes, cardinals, red and white glass ornaments, I had to include him. He is the wise old soul tucked in the tree looking over our house.

I feel like I am on such a low note right now. The stress of being a mother can just be so overwhelming. It’s not the schedules, the constant need for me, or even discipline. It’s the stress of other kids not liking my kids.

Yesterday, I asked Simon if he liked playing with his friends at school. He said that he asked everyone to be his friend and no one wanted to…ugh. I wasn’t all sure that he was telling the truth, but it came clear to me that the other boys in the class do not accept him…ugh. I was watching him sit in the circle that his teacher has them all get into before class and each time he tried to sit down the kids would move away from him. It was so heartbreaking that I wanted to take him with me and never look back.

As I was leaving, with tears welling up in my eyes, I asked the aide if he has a hard time with the boys. She just matter of factly said that he is a loner. I know this is not a bad thing- but I certainly did not anticipate dealing with this at age 4 soon to be 5.

How do some of you moms deal with this? Better yet, even if your not a mom I know we all can identify with sort of social ugliness. I am very tempted to pull him out in January and just have fun going to museums, classes, etc.

My sweet Simon.

I know awhile back I was mentioning the whole Christmas decoration stance (wait and do it closer, focus on the season, etc.), but I totally caved in. I am so busy with work, especially on the weekends and Nathan is not home 2-3 times at night that I did not want my kids to totally resent our schedule.

So, on Saturday we packed up the kids and went to a nearby tree farm and chopped down our own. We pass through this farm everyday on the way to school so it was even more fun to stop and get a tree! For the winter, I plan on putting it on our deck and feeding the birds with it. This will be fun since Simon has taken a real interest in bird watching.

Below is our story of our special tree:

The Shack family security cam.

Sorry for the dreary shots- it was a gloomy day on Saturday for sure…I should have utilized my iPhoto. Oh well. Off to build towers with Simon. More tree shots later…

More craziness. There were so many of these fun platters and most of them were half off. I figured they would make great gifts with homemade buckeyes or sugar cookies…

Yesterday I actually noted in my head that if my thrift store had one of these I would need to snatch it up. Well, this little guy was waiting for me at the entrance waving a $3 price tag. It looks cute in the kids playroom and hopefully they now don’t think I am such a bore!

I have had my eye on this tray for about 2 weeks now. It was 1/2 off and begging to come home today.

When I saw this coffee “creamer cow” it took me back to interstate pancake houses, long road trips, and the smell of cigarettes (that was when there was barely smoking/non-smoking sections in restaurants).

On a more worrisome note, my sweet Beatrice is sick! Nathan and I have been cleaning up after her for a few days now and I got over my denial and took her to the vet. We are waiting for the test results, but hopefully she got into something and is working it through her system. On my way to the vet today, I had tears in my eyes thinking about how much she is apart of our family. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Also, is there a superstition regarding a black DOG crossing your path? While driving, a black lab crossed the street and gave me a spinning head…I almost hit it! So that gave me even MORE emotion…sheesh.

Now it’s time for me to go to work and bake. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Give me any reason to visit my favorite store and you don’t know what you are asking! Simon has been slightly obsessed with dressing his bear and we thought buying some clothes at the thrift store would be fun. Ha, fun for him, fun for me, not so fun for Penelope. I decided just to take a look at the Christmas stuff and I came home with some fun things.

The above trinkets were in a bag all together…all old candles that Penny thought she should snack on.

I just love these ornaments. I will be hanging them in my dining room from my light fixture. I already have some hanging mirror garland to add more sparkle!

These light bulbs were 75 cents…how could I resist? I know the exact bowl they will eventually end up in!

After posting this photo, I realized that the person at the end of the line belongs on the front sled. The photo is funnier now!

Want to be in my club? Actually, I am making all of these cuffs for all the girls I work with…I know they will be surprised because they have no time to read my blog! My co-worker gave me a cuff last winter that she knitted and I just loved it…I felt like a rockstar or at least a tad bit reckless while taking my daughter to school. Then, after visiting the Renegade Craft Fair I bought myself a terrific cuff with an embroidered bird and HAD to make some for myself and now for people I love. So these cuffs will be for all my pals that are tireless, perky, and exude fun…they don’t know it, but they are in my club!

Okay, I hope these girls want to be in my club! Lulu is still here while her mom is in China…she is recovering from pnuemonia and is being totally spoiled with love from Nana and Papa. She and Penny had a good time together and I was totally happy to have this little girl in my lap for the morning!

Come on! Look who is so CUTE!!

Six months ago, Nathan and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. I thought sharing these photos was appropriate since today we woke up to glittery snow falling at 6:15 am- the first of the year. I love the power of photos and how it can take you back to a mild evening in June!

By the way, for our anniversary we spent it with the kids and enjoyed dinner and an evening cake picnic. Later that night, mama and poppy popped open some champagne to make it more “official”. We also spent the entire next day and night alone in the city pretending to be as carefree as ever…