Roll & Tumble Press

 Perfect in any modern couple's home, a take on an old fashioned sampler; Sin $20

It's no secret that I'm a fan of letterpress posters for the home, and I'm loving these prints from Roll & Tumble Press.  With a selection of rock'n roll feeling prints that would be great in any fun-loving home.  

The prints are "hand illustrated, hand carved wood blocks, paired with antique wood type( most of it 100 years old), using a hand cranked vintage letterpress…….it’s traditional, a labor of love," and it shows.

Drink, inspired by So Cal tattoos, $20

Gig, $25

These prints, and endless others, are for sale through Felt & Wire Shop which has great ideas for your home and entertaining needs mainly in the form of customized paper goods. 

www.feltandwireshop.com

This is 3.5 years-old

Sophie (left) and Sienna

I haven't been posting to this blog lately because my girls are 3.5 years old and we're always on the go, I've taken on some responsibility outside of the home, and so my free time is at a minimum.   Over the last few months the girls have changed, but yet so much still remains the same.

The girls are becoming more independent and rather feisty.  They count to fifteen, love to play hide and seek, jump on their beds, being read to and "reading" to themselves, and telling stories.

They'll interview you about your nail polish, shoes, and jewelry, and are utterly enthralled if you mention a boyfriend, girlfriend, or wedding.  They appear to love me more when I'm dressed up in high heels and makeup.

They tell their dad he's their prince and "I was missin' you when you were at work."  They tell me they were "missin' me when I was in your belly."

They understand when they're snubbed by another child, but don't quite understand empathy not to do the exact same thing to another kid.  It's all very sad, and mom still has to be constantly alert to diffuse and educate.  I guess that's a lifelong commitment.

When given the opportunity they dress themselves, but their choices have to be negotiated, and most times the actual act of dressing sped up so that we can actually leave the house.  You'll most often still find them in tutus (or sundresses) and inappropriate footwear with sparkles.  They'll only wear jeans and vests for their dad, even though I ask them to every day.

You may or may not be surprised to learn that my children rarely sleep through the night.  Whether it's waking to pee, or just waking and realizing I'm not there, they wake up anywhere from one to three times each per night.  We clearly haven't progressed in this area.  Luckily, I've never been one to need a ton of sleep.

According to their teacher they don't yet recognize their own names by site, Sophie doesn't  pedal a tricycle, but Sienna can but prefers not to, they both aren't particularly handy with scissors, however what they lack in these gross and fine motor skills they make up for in their dramatic play and social skills.

They've been asking a lot about death, and regularly telling me they don't want their dad to die.  They know their paternal grandpa is in the cemetery in town, and that our neighbor died recently.  They're concerned that Larry and I will get old too and eventually die which is totally valid.

That last point sounds a little morbid, but overall 3.5 is good.  There's more explaining to do (they ask a lot of questions), but they're a bit easier to reason with.  Tantrums have become minimal and usually only occur when they're tired, hungry, or generally just messing with mom for kicks (but those instances are pretty obvious).

Wish me continued patience.

The word of the day is mombat....

I recently heard the term mombat,  a very close cousin to the word combat, which by definition is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to kill the opposition, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed.  Mombat refers to mothers engaged in such conflict, in all likelihood without causing physical harm.

I experienced mombat first hand when my children's preschool was nominated in a local Patch poll to determine the best preschool or daycare in town.  

It was a heated race that had parents all over town voting, commenting, and cheerleading for their preschools and daycares.  Actually, mainly just the preschool parents got carried away, the daycare parents were clearly too busy with other things like WORK to comment.  The online commenting got a little ugly even necessitating the local editor and publisher to moderate at times!  One commenter advised everyone to stop getting their "panties in a bunch!" It was mombat.  It was pretty entertaining.  

Clearly something like preschool is a sensitive topic for mothers.  It's one of the first major choices you make for your child, and to imagine that you may not have chosen "the best" could make some suburban moms resort to mombat.  I've heard that kindergarden lotteries and sports tryouts evoke similar instances of mombat, but I'd bet you've already seen that for yourself.

Sexy, Cool Art

I discovered Polaroid transfer prints by She Hit Pause Studio on a fall trip to Brooklyn's flea market. Photographer Matt Schwartz's large scale polaroid transfers feature surf images and his version of pin-up girls.  I love the soft, hazy light in his images, they seem nostalgic yet still contemporary.

  

8x10 prints $75 or $150 framed and 11x17 prints $95 or $200 framed; shehitpausestudio.com

Girl Surfing 

One of the pinups.

Boy + Girl Surfing

Home Renovation Part 1- Parlor

When we bought this old house in April, we had some quick fix plans.  All it needed was some new paint,  cabinets, and floor refinishing.  Impressed by magazine articles featuring interior designers own tiny, once ramshackle homes, that are transformed via a coat of paint and nice throw pillows, I thought we could make it charming. 

Everything original to the house, which could have been redeemable, had been stripped over the years, and details like wood paneling, ceiling beams, wall-to-wall carpeting, and factory finished cherry floors were added in the 80s.  Instead of trying to recreate its colonial roots, we decided to embrace our love of  contemporary.

BEFORE

 AFTER

I still haven't decided whether to add window treatments.

The home lacks a proper foyer and the parlor acts as entrance and pass through to all of the other rooms on the main floor.

Light fixture from Shades of Light

An antique store purchase gives a nod to Red Riding Hood.

Chelsea Gray - I'm addicted!

We repaired, sanded, and stained the original Douglas Fir floors and painted the walls Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray and paneling Wisp White (white with a hint of gray).

Unsure how to treat the wood ceiling beams, we eventually decided to paint them white.  Purists would likely disagree  with some of our choices, but I think it made our mid-century furniture feel more at home.

Looking like Laura Ingalls

Kids today look a lot different than we did.  Did tutus and princess costumes even exist in the 70s and 80s.  If they were available, then why I didn't I know?  All I know is that I wanted to look like Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.  In fact, I had my mom and aunt sew me numerous prairie dresses and bonnets to achieve said look.  See below.  That's me looking like I'm an extra on the set of Big Love.

This is me at my fifth birthday party.  I cropped my little friends out of the image, but none of them were wearing bonnets, which is kind of hilarious, so I may have been the only kid reading the Little House books and watching the series in reruns.  I can't be sure.  I stuck to this look for quite a while.  Actually, I think I was still dressing like this until we moved to the only 'urban' neighborhood in a quite suburban town in 1985, and this look was no longer going to be tolerated.

Reproduction Junction

Larry, Sienna, and Sophie - Beth Israel Hospital, Boston

Now that our girls are three-years-old it seems we have a major life decision to make: will we try for another child?  No. 3?  Numero tres? 

Well-meaning people have been asking whether we would try for a third child pretty much since my twins were born.  I thought I'd hit the jackpot popping out two healthy babies at once, but others seem to think a masculine child would make my family complete.  I believe women are equal to men,  so having only girls seems completely acceptable, which is shocking to some.

Luckily my husband feels the same way.  He doesn't seem to need to recreate his childhood with a boy.  In fact, he realizes that we probably have our hands full with the two children we already have.

I don't want to say that there are definitely no more babies in our future (I've had to eat my words too many times to be that decisive about anything).  In fact I wonder what it would be like to have just one baby.  Would pregnancy be less uncomfortable?  What would it be like to cuddle one infant at a time, or to read with one baby?

For a little added pressure, my girls regularly ask for a baby sister.  They also ask for a big sister, which would be a little more complicated.  Surely we can't have another baby just to please them.  They already make too many decisions for us, and besides, I already gave away all of the baby stuff when they turned one, quite confident that there would definitely be no more babies in our future.

We're headed into good territory: the girls are in preschool, one's potty-trained, they're becoming more independent, and travel (with them) seems possible. I'm also looking forward to working again in the near future, and another baby would put that on hold.

I haven't come to any conclusions yet.  We still have time since my Implanon contraceptive implant (yes, I'm over sharing again) is good for a few more months.