Choosing Paint.

A quick word to the paint companies:

"Garlic Clove" vs. "Cookie Crumb"? "Mayonnaise" vs. "Cream Pie"? The list could go on.

Why would you even put these names next to each other on a paint swatch? You think I am not swayed by the names you give your paint? I love garlic, but the thought of that being the color of my walls? Just thinking about it makes my house smell.

Name influence case in point - the colors I chose the first go round for my house: "Beach Glass", "Seashell", "Idyllic Isle", "Babbling Brook"... The only one that worked out in real life was "Idyllic Isle" and the jury is still out on the tastefulness of this choice. But you can see what images I am swayed by.

And another thing - the configuration of the paint chips. I admit, I am a sucker for Ralph Lauren and their perfect squares and silvery font - not to mention enchanting names - perfection! But Martha Stewart - for all the things she does right - paint swatches is not one of them. The problem being that each main color has complimentary color suggestions on the swatch. A feature, while helpful to some, I find utterly distracting.


With drywall up in the new house it quickly became time to make some decisions. So about $100 in samples and three days of checking said samples in differing light later - we have the winners.

Inspired by nature (like these rocks behind our house)...

Our main body color, can be found in the great room (kitchen/dining/living), entry, halls and utility room....drum roll please... "Overcast" by Benjamin Moore. As quoted by a designer in House Beautiful - "I think of this as celadon or blanc de Chine. It's the color of water in a bathtub, of the pale early morning sky. When you look at it on a chip it's not very exciting, but once it's up on the walls it reflects itself and becomes richer."

It's the color of masking tape.

Next up, master bedroom and kids bath. Afternoon Shade by FreshAire. The color can be seen on a wall here.

Master Bath: "Sneak Peek". Looks like a slightly greener version of Afternoon Shade.

Guest Bedroom/Office: "Beguile" by Valspar. Ben picked this one to which I replied "what color is that?" with a disgusted look on my face. Descriptor - bluish greenish gray. But guess what? I love it. It's one of my favorite colors we chose.

Lastly, the kids bedrooms. "Idyllic Isle" by Pittsburgh Paint and "Reflection" by Devine Paint. The kids bedroom are mirror images connected in the middle by a double pocket door. Which for now will be sleeping side (bunk beds) (Reflection) and playroom side (Idyllic Isle). Eventually this could end up being separate living spaces for them but for now we like the idea of one giant room.

Adios Mustacho.

The contest is over. The classification of Ben's win? "Most Likely to Run a Taco Truck"

I know I promised that once we left Hawaii you wouldn't have to view anymore pictures of Ben topless. Sorry, I was wrong. But it's a welcome sight (the shaving of the mustache) boobs and all.

Spring Forward!

Tonight is my favorite holiday of them all. (Technically I guess it's two am tomorrow) If they made cards for the occasion (I'm not sure that Hallmark doesn't) I would send one to myself. One more blessed hour of evening for the next 8 months or so in exchange for losing one hour of sleep - gladly. Even if you don't like Pres. George W. Bush for other reasons surely you can appreciate his lengthening of DST by a month.

Pres. Warren G. Harding ,who didn't like the idea of DST, said something to the effect of - "If you want more daylight then get up an hour earlier" Well that's fine, only this girl needs the time to change by government mandate to do so.

I don't know why we we ever "Fall Back". Of course I am very excited for that one day that I get to have one more hour in the day to do whatever I choose - unfortunately I usually squander it by watching an entire episode of SNL. And that hour we get is really just on loan until they take it back in the spring. So I can do without it for the greater good. We did without it in Hawaii and we survived just fine - maybe Pres. Obama with his island roots will institute the change.

Not that kind of Thank You.

Scenerio: I have just vacuumed the floor of crumbs in the kitchen. I am helping Avery soak her rose plant overnight. She tries to help by transferring clumps of soil from one side of the sink to the other. It gets all over the floor.

Me: Oh Avery! Thanks a lot.

Avery: I'm sorry.

Me again: I just cleaned the floor. You should ask before you do something like that.

Silence. A few seconds pass.

Avery: Mom, I know what you meant when you said "thanks a lot". You didn't mean thanks a lot like when you are smiling. You meant the kind of thanks a lot you say with a mad face. It doesn't mean the same thing.

Anger Diffused.

Binkless

Today marks four weeks of Miles without the bink. We weren't planning* on having him give it up just yet, I was still using it as a bribe for potty training, sleeping and general good behavior when we were in all of these stores we have to go to to pick out stuff for the house. But one day we forgot it and it just happened. The first couple days were painful - for me - I had to hide the binky stash from myself so I wouldn't give it to him. But he never missed a nap, and his behavior was the same. He asked for it for a few days, finally I gave him one I knew he hated to see what he would do. He said "not this one" and he and his dad had a ceremonial tossing (dunking really) of the bink into the trash. You could see the regret flash on his face for a second as he realized what he had done but was quickly cajoled into some chest thumping and celebrating his victory over that bit of silicone and colored plastic. We are now binkless.



*When Avery was two we were on the road - a new home every six weeks for a good portion of the year, thus we felt she and we, needed the binky. But as our travels came to an end we knew it was time to get rid of the pacifier - and give her a few months without it before a new baby came into the house and had one (which she stole all the time). But our great plan with her - because I think usually there should be a plan and some sort of explanation that the kid can wrap their mind around as to what happened to their little plastic friend - was that we would have accidentally left the binky on the plane and we'd have to get it next time we would be on a plane. She was a little sad, but our little scheme/trick/lie works and everytime she would see a plane fly by she would point and say "my binky!"

February Recap

February always goes by super fast and this one was no different. So here's the long of it for the short month:

Ben - Mustache still growing. Since I cannot stand to look at him for very long I don't know what else he did.

Miles - Ramped up the potty training to level two - venturing out of the house without a diaper. Unfortunatly, he also doesn't want to wear big boy undies - so commando it is - luckily when you are two, there is not much there to hurt. And while he is no where near getting the potty training achievment award he does insist on standing while peeing and can get the stool (the kind you stand on), pull down his pants and go by himself - and manage to get most of it in the bowl.

Avery - Started ballet and insists that she is as graceful as a swan.

Me - The list of things I did not get done in Feb is certainly longer than things I accomplished. For instance I didn't do: my taxes, finish writing thank you notes from Christmas/kids bdays, clean out my junkified car, organize the pile of stuff in my closet, get a Facebook account etc. etc. But I did go to a lot of tile showrooms, stone yards and hardware stores. And of course started my gymnsatics class.

I also got bit by our neighbors dog. I did cross over the electric dog fence to knock on their door so I guess I was just asking to have three large dogs rush me and bite me through my jeans leaving a puncture wound and bruising. I didn't know which dog it was until Ben got bit on the arm by the Weimaraner a few weeks later (He called it a nip but he had the same type of wound I did). Apparently this type of dog does not like strangers but are friendly to children and aggresive in play. Looks like we need to familarize ourselves real quick. And not go over the fence line.

Recap Continued...

I almost forgot the best part of my month. Valentines weekend! Usually I don't care much for the holiday. Ben and I are not super romantic so we don't worry about exchanging gifts or ordering flowers - although I was hoping for a Shop-Vac this year. And I did get some delicious chocolates via FedEx from my dad. The kids got some cards and treats in the mail too - always fun. But thanks to my mom who made a last minute trip up to see the kids and to Priceline which landed us a sweet deal as always, Ben and I had a getaway to Seattle. It was a quick trip - maybe not as quick as my mom thought it would be - she thought I was joking when I said she could find us at the Sheraton in Bellvue - and that we were only going to dinner. We did go to dinner by the way - a great one. I researched restaurants (Frommer's never fails) near our hotel and we ended up at the Seastar Restaurant where we never got past the appetizers and then skipped to dessert. We had scallops three ways, calamari "poppers" stuffed with spicy ahi, the Super Dave Roll - Scallop, crab, avocado, & tobikko (flying fish eggs) topped with salmon, crab bisque* and then some lovely chocolate caramel dessert with dulce de leche ice cream.

The next day we got a few things done in Seattle for the new house - such a different experience without the kids! We also went to Whole Foods where Ben salivated over the prepared foods and ordered a few different items - gaining him an apprecition of the store. When we got home the next afternoon grandma and the kids were out on the town. Avery came home with some white tulips for me - my mom asked if she thought her dad might get me some flowers to which Avery said "No, he's too shy". So that rounded out a delightful holiday weekend!

-

* When inquiring as to whether he should get a cup or bowl of the soup - the waitress said - well it's pretty rich. To which Ben replied- "well so are we". Poor waitress didn't know how to respond to that one and I couldn't decide if I should laugh at his joke or if that would make us look like jerks or if I should say "no we're not" which would then insult her ability to get a joke. And all I could see while I tried to decide what to do was that ridiculous mustache...