i love melanie claire

So this is sort of fun. I've decided to take this week to pass along a few of my favorite things. At the start of this lovely short month of February, I am going to share a few things I love. Because you may love them too. From shampoo, to kids cd's to favorite etsy shops, here are a few things I love.

Today I'm starting with a bang. Melanie Claire is a good friend of mine. She has a heart of GOLD and is a very empathetic listener. She's a joy to be around and if I were to describe her in one word, I'd use the word sweet. Kind, thoughtful, considerate...sweet.

And she makes the most adorable dolls and sells them on etsy and recently in a store in Minneapolis. Here's a question: Do you feel a certain joy when a friend you know opens up their own online venture? Or is that just me? Because I think it is the coolest, most inspiring thing to see someone take their own creations and offer their craft to the world. And to make some money for all the time time, love and labor they put into their craft. I don't know, maybe it's just me. But I'm inspired by people selling their goods.

Especially adorable dolls. Like this one I purchased for Elsie for Christmas, who we have affectionately named Melanie Claire. (Who was very cooperative this nap time for her window sill photo shoot.)

I mean, people. Short, red hair for my red head? Polka dot tights? A chevron skirt?!! How cute could a little fabric doll be? And how fun is it to use Elsie as my excuse to start buying dolls again?!!

Her dolls are getting a little face lift this month, and you can check out her new girl and boy dolls on her etsy shop: Melanie Claire Creates. And be sure to click on the doll faces to see the whole doll...because the outfits are cuter than I dress my own children.

Might be fun to surprise your little one for valentines with a new doll. Might be fun to surprise yourself by buying a new doll just for your own adult self. Might be fun to buy a doll to keep at your house for when your grandkids visit. Just sayin... Because I love them!

Back tomorrow with my new shampoo.

mom hours

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This was a good week for me. Monday during dinner I had a particularly helpful conversation with Rory. Monday was an especially solid day. I felt good about my role as a mama. I played hard with my kids. I ran a few loads of laundry. I had a plan for supper and had it on the table before little children came and threw themselves at my feet to "Eat! Eat!"

It was during dinner, and about the eleventh time I had gotten up to get something that I said to Rory, "hey, would you do bedtime tonight?" He said he would. A few moments later I added more. "And would you mind clearing the table and starting the dishwasher tonight?" He said he would.

And the strangest thought came into my head and I said it aloud. Without the typical exhausted emotions, without being an ounce dramatic or full of self pity I said, "I guess I'd just like to be done for the day. I put in a good days work, I was present with the kids, I accomplished many things, and any boss would be pleased by my performance today. I guess I'm done." I said something like that.

And Rory replied, "You mean, you'd like to go home now."

Bingo.

"Right! I would like to go home and disconnect from my work tonight. I would like to turn on the tv and eat chips and corn salsa all night long."

It was such a funny non-emotional conversation. Usually these conversations are intense with me exhausted and needing an out. But this conversation was so matter-of-fact. I just wanted to go home for the night, come back in the morning and once again give it my all.

Rory did load the dishwasher and I went out to feed the chickens. Then we put the kids in the tub to fill up the last hour of the day. The kids did go down, and eventually I was on the couch watching the bachelor eating corn salsa.

I just had wanted quittin' time to come three hours earlier. Because mom hours are long hours.

ivar quotes

+ A few nights ago we told him he needed to play nicely with Elsie in his room until it was time for her to go to bed. He came down the stairs a while later:

Ivar: I'm so tired of this! I'm so tired of this!

Me: What are you tired of?

Ivar: Of her up so long!

+ We have a favorite Sesame Street book and when he reads the characters he'll say, "and here's Bernie and Ert!" He also calls the remote control the camote untroll.

+ One of his best not-falling-asleep-stalling tactics is to yell from his bed, "I HAVE A BOOOOOGER!" Which means he wants a kleenex. I brought him one during his nap and he let me know, "there are teeny rocks up there."

+ After he and Elsie stayed with Rory's folks while we were at Disney he said to me, "When Papa was my daddy, he put a washcloth on my eyes." I love that so much.

+ Ivar is beginning to quite consistently drop his nap. I am in a season of grieving. While drinking my afternoon coffee, watching tv he came down the stairs quietly, sneaking out of his bed. He came up to me and said sweetly, "After this day I'll try to sleep for a long, long nap. okay, mama?"

And just tonight Rory tried to talk to him about his lack of napping.
Rory: Ivar, how come you aren't sleeping any more during the day?
Ivar: I'm not, because I'm not really into naps.

news from the coop

What a winter to be a chicken! I'm glad God made them with their own down comforters wrapped around their bodies because they need it. We have a heat lamp in the coop that warms the air about twenty degrees, which lately brings the coop to a nice, balmy, zero.

But in the coolest twist (and probably due to the heat lamp and added light in the coop) we are getting our best eggs yet. Four a day, most days, and bigger than they've ever been. And one morning we found two eggs, brought them in the house and cracked them open to find egg slushies. We found those too late, apparently.

So the chickens are doing well. We got a text from our next door neighbor letting us know he's seen cayotes in his backyard a few times this week (during the day!). So that's exciting. We're watching the coop and locking everyone up extra early. So far they're doing fine. And I have witnessed less scuffles and chicken fights. Probably because they have to snuggle to survive.

the land of make believe

I've had this play kitchen for the kids for a year now, but never purchased any food for it. Play food is about as expensive as the real stuff, and I'm particular about the kind of play food I want in my house. (I did see stuff at Ikea before Christmas that I liked, but then never got it...)

Anyway. Yesterday I brought the kitchen downstairs and shortly after Elsie was digging through our recycling. Genius, Elsie. I taped our empty food boxes up, found our old Ikea kids dishes and set up a little restaurant for the kids.

Just as I was beginning to stroke my Awesome Mom ego, Elsie threw the fit of fits. She did not want a graham cracker box. She wanted "A Crakah!" She did not want an empty bowl. She wanted, "Foo!" She looked at me with annoyance, clearly not amused by my taped up, empty boxes. What kind of stupid joke was this. She wanted food.

So I spent the morning teaching my daughter how to play pretend. Well, actually, first I gave her a bowl of actual gold fish crackers and actual raisins. And then I showed her how to pretend eat from an empty bowl. And pretend cut food on an empty plate. She watched me suspiciously while eating her raisins.