03.11.10
Posted in Family at 12:14 am by rachel
The first third of this month has flown by, especially because of our fun trip to Milwaukee for Monica and Jeff’s baby shower. Since Jax and I left Seth behind for that weekend, last Tuesday we had a family swim night as a special treat.
Since the pool is on the way to the best Chinese food we can find up here (we still miss Chinatown), and since Asian cuisine of any sort is always a huge hit with the whole family, we headed to the Oriental Diner after 45 minutes of chasing each other around the kiddie pool.
Jax just can’t get enough of the lo mein and the moo shu chicken!
Jax loved playing the piano at Grandma Barb + Grandpa Chuck’s house.
…and riding on the rocking horse my dad built for us when we were kids.
We had lunch last Thursday with Aunt Laura, followed by a trip to the salon for new haircuts.
The excitement of it all!
He’s still perfecting the pouring technique. Here, pouring oatmeal with Auntie Grace.
At the baby shower: the parents-to-be!
Here’s a special shout-out to my faithful blog readers Laura, Lynda, and Alyssa. So fun seeing you!
On Sunday we went straight from Laguardia Airport to a wedding in Long Island. Here’s our favorite 17-month old in his Sunday best:
And now my computer is telling me it is somehow Thursday already. Whaaa? Hope everyone is having a great week and keeping up with things better than I have been!
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02.10.10
Posted in Family, Travel at 9:59 pm by rachel
Blogging on the fly means only iPhone pictures for now. I have many other friends and family members to show off once we have the “big” camera’s charger and cable set-up, but here is a start of what we’ve been up to this week.
First, we hung out in LA, and got to visit The Getty with friends Philip and Stephen. There is an awesome kids’ area there that our favorite toddlers loved. In nicer weather, the gardens are great, but this was a lot of fun too – so take your kids there when you’re in the area!
Jax and Stephen create a modern sculpture.
Then we went to Santa Monica and tried out the slides:
The next day we toured the boats Uncle Chuck drives, and Jax got a balloon from the captain himself.
Then it was off to Travel Town to see – and ride! – trains.
Today, our first full day in San Francisco, Jax and I checked off a lot of the tourist must-dos while Seth did his MacWorld thing.
Pier 39 and the sea lions:
He loved imitating the bark of the sea lions.
and climbing:
Then we had a lovely lunch for two at Fisherman’s Grotto, complete with chowder and harbor view:
We checked out the various fountains at Ghirardelli Square.
He pointed out that there was “dah-tu” (water) and a “tutle” (turtle) in this one.
We then grabbed some hot chocolate, at which point both the camera and phone were dead. We were pretty pooped, too. Since we had gone the whole day on foot (from Union Square to Fisherman’s Warf), we took the easier and more exciting cable car back to the hotel. Jax was really excited about the “a car” (cable car) but the vibrations going up and down all those hills put him to sleep.
And now begins tonight’s quest for delicious noodles and the continuation of our California adventure.
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01.26.10
Posted in Family, Travel at 8:57 am by rachel
December 24, one of the few beach-worthy days:
You can’t keep this kid out of the water!
December 25:
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01.24.10
Posted in Baby, Cuisine, Family at 2:32 pm by rachel
We hosted a baby shower yesterday for friends Amanda and Jonathan. It was a blast, from the planning with a cool friend of the mom-to-be to enjoying the company. And the parents-to-be took away some nice loot and heartfelt well-wishes that I hope helps them feel prepared – and maybe even more excited! – for the arrival of their baby girl.
Doilies don’t seem like the most modern of party decorations (and I was trying to avoid anything over-the-top girly, since that’s not really Amanda and Jonathan’s style), but I thought they contributed an interesting visual element to the dots and circles in the ribbon and other decorations, inspired by this modern baby shower.
I made the mobile-esque hanging decoration out of an embroidery loop and some paper circles glued to ribbon.
Cucumber Boats from this Vegetarian Times recipe.
Honey Baked Brie: Just bake a honey-drizzled round of brie on parchment paper at 350 for about 20 minutes. It sounds weird and looks weirder, but trust me on its tastiness! I meant to add thyme as well but forgot.
I used this sugar cookie recipe and cookie cutters from here.
Vanilla pudding with berries (a cheater’s version here).
Pots of chocolate mousse with grated chocolate topping (the cheating version here).
The parents-to-be!
Guests included 2 other little ones around Jax’s age.
Present opening begins!
Favors: sugar cookies wrapped in parchment paper with a doily wedge accent, all tied together with ribbon.
The aftermath of a successful grazing station.
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01.21.10
Posted in Family at 9:17 am by rachel
One of the things I absolutely love about Jax’s preschool is that each day we get a report of what he did. There are lists of activities and moods and foods that are circled, but there is also a hand-written summary of the highlights. Yesterday’s report was sweet, so I thought I’d share:
Jax was so helpful to one of his friends today. He tried helping Tyler up when he stepped on the toy and went down on his bottom. At sensory play he laughed while trying to lick applesauce off his mouth. He danced and said his name “Jax” when I showed him his photograph.
I’m saving the reports in a binder and it’s fun to look back at the progress he’s made. Since he started going in August, Jax has come so far, from crying and crawling to walking and talking.
Before I leave the blog for now, I have to share photos of our young Frenchman-in-the-making. Jax is now the proud owner of a beret and a Citroën Deux Chevaux. Merci, Josiane et Gérard!
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01.18.10
Posted in Family at 9:43 am by rachel
We came back to find lots of snow, and then some new snow fell. This is the view out the back window.
Thanks to Abby, I have found some great ideas in this book about Montessori methods. To practice pouring liquids, the editor suggests using lentils first. It was fun, but still a tad messy.
It’ll soon be time for haircut #2.
Trying out snow boots for the first time. Jax wasn’t a huge fan.
He is a huge fan of shapes, so I cut up a sponge into various shapes and we played with paint. We used a cap for the circle.
The play table is an end-table I found in the garbage and refinished. The chair was also a garbage find our neighbor offered to us. It’s a work in progress and I’m not quite happy with the results yet, which is why I haven’t blogged about it until now!
We took a day trip to Beacon this weekend. It’s a way-hip artsy place that is home to a fun burger joint. Here, Jax is enjoying the fries under the artwork on display.
We checked out Dia:Beacon, a contemporary art museum. Jax found a playmate for a staring contest.
He also enjoyed throwing snowballs and watching them disintegrate.
The major development this weekend: Jax loves to brush his own teeth now that he can reach the sink! He’s jealous of Seth and my electric toothbrushes, however, so we’ll build on that enthusiasm and get him one of his own.
Lastly, we made a reading corner out of a dog bed we picked up at Home Goods. The pillows need some decorative work to look more enticing to a 16-month-old. I’d like to do a fabric-collage kind of thing using some souvenir dish towels from Europe. But the cozy corner is already a hit!
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01.10.10
Posted in Family, Travel at 2:00 pm by rachel
Happy new year! In my typical fashion, I have failed once again to post anything new while we were away. After sorting through 850+ photos, here are some highlights of our holiday season. This first group is from our stay on Florida’s sunny east coast with Seth’s parents.
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12.07.09
Posted in Baby, Family at 9:17 pm by rachel
Can you find a better toy than a diaper box?
Me, circa 1979
Jax, December 6., 2009
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10.31.09
Posted in Family at 11:07 pm by rachel
Happy Halloween!
To prepare for today’s festivities, we carved our first jack-o-lantern last night (after playing in the leaves, photo above):
Then this afternoon we had to get serious about dressing ourselves up.
Costume #1 for Jax was a lion, which Jax wore at preschool. He wasn’t digging the restrictiveness of the hood today, so we moved on to a last-minute costume #2:
Cowboy!
But the hat refused to stay on, so we moved on to impromptu costume #3:
LumberJax!
And that one stuck for a while.
Jax, Seth, and I had a fun time seeing all the trick-or-treaters come in some pretty cool costumes. He was a wonderful greeter and a big hit with the other kids (maybe that’s because he was giving out playdough in addition to candy bars?)
Even though I don’t think he could make sense of it all, Jax was definitely in a festive mood – and stayed up waaaay past his bedtime!
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10.29.09
Posted in Decorating, Family at 12:41 pm by rachel
We moved over four months ago and are still settling in: there are so many projects we’d like to get to! Updating kitchen, repainting, installing ceiling fans, new windows, adding a deck… but for now we have barely furnished the place and are still staring at a lot of bare walls. The tag sales around here have been great in helping us furnish the empty rooms in what still feels like a mansion. What a difference an extra 1100+ square feet can make.
So keeping in mind that this is a work in progress, I present to you our first official house tour, from front to back:
The front view in mid-summer, with blooming perennials.
This side is the only sunny outdoor space we have, so the previous owners put up several window boxes to grow herbs and vegetables.
First lawn-mowing.
Check out the tropical flowers to the right! Oh yeah, and to the left is a sweet baby testing out a tricycle.
Living/Dining Room
A couch will line that wall on the left. We’re looking for something contemporary to balance out the antique-y feel of the other furniture.
Living room stained glass window, made my one of the house’s previous owners.
The fireplace we have yet to try. We now have a screen in front of it now, and plenty of wood in the backyard.
This artwork keeps changing spaces, but once we have some of our paintings out of storage, we’ll have better-decorated walls.
Dining area: We plan to get a rustic dining room table made of reclaimed barn wood (there are a couple of places in Connecticut and Massachusetts that make them).
Dining area looking out to the back yard.
Dining room stained glass
The kitchen, facing the front door.
The den, which also serves as my office. My “desk” is a family heirloom: a farm table from Hoosick Falls, NY. The chairs we picked up at an antique store and could use a makeover.
Heading upstairs…
Stairway window
Jax’s room is purple at the moment. I’d like to paint it an aqua color, but we’ll get to that in the spring.
The crib is also a family heirloom from the Hoosick Falls farmhouse, which was completely redone to meet today’s safety standards.
The upstairs full bath has the most cheerful Provençal look to it.
…and more stained glass!
Our bedroom takes the space of what was originally two bedrooms.
Plenty of room for the port-a-crib, for a certain 1-year-old who likes to be close.
I love my dressing nook.
With my own south-facing window. The stained glass piece also came with the house.
The backyard in June (it’s covered in leaves at the moment).
Our gigantic oak tree.
Set for many dinners al fresco.
Come visit!
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