I'm Not Pinterested In That

I would never, ever go on and on and on about a pin I saw on Pinterest. Just like I never start a conversation with "So my facebook status was ..." I mean, it's the internet. It isn't real life. Boundaries, right?

So the last time I was going on and on about a pin, my husband says, "I'm not Pinterested in that." He grinned a sly grin. Little did he know this would make him the target of a Pinterest campaign.






I know what you're thinking. What if dear husband becomes Pinterest-addicted! He'd be all Hey, let's try this goat cheese pudding recipe! And Don't you want to make these Russian handheld firecrackers for the kids' birthday parties? And Maybe we should run by Michael's to pick up some puffy paint for some more Christmas sweatshirts. It could happen.



No. We don't want to create another Pinterest addict in the family. But, since the husband has a few days off this week and I have none... Is it too much to ask the hubby to do a kid-friendly Pinterest project?

Let's take a vote! I've posted images of Pinterest projects throughout this post. Which one should he should do with the kids? Sharpie Tie Dyes? Rainbow Volcanoes? or Homemade Hershey's Syrup? Vote in the comments section.

Keep in mind he is a former stay-at-home dad extraordinaire and pretty much capable of anything!

Not-so-lazy Sundays (and Saturdays)

Ah, lazy Sundays. I remember those. Breakfast at 10:30, pajamas until noon, maybe a few hours in the sun. Lazy Sundays don't exist once you have kids. But Sundays are still great.

And today was all kinds of fabulous. Family swimming, lunch with friends, Art Walk at my son's school (he's a brilliant artist, and I'm not at all biased).


Then we were off to the park with other friends, and a yummy dinner with a Lychee Gin Fizz that was not-too-shabby.


Oh. Did I mention there was no pinning?

That's right. No pins. No projects. No Pinspiration to speak of. (Wow, that sounds a lot like perspiration.)

And if today was fabulous, yesterday was pretty great. Also with no pinning.

Yesterday was the Easter Egg Hunt.

Rather than take awesome Pinterest-inspired Weibo eggs we took (are you ready for this?) plastic eggs. (GASP!) They were filled with rubbery salamanders that stick to the wall when you throw them. Yeah. Well. The kids loved them.

The fun in the Easter egg hunt is not only finding the eggs, but later discovering what treasures wait inside! So in that sense, plastic eggs beat "my mom is super crafty and we made these Martha Stewarty eggs filled with ... well, yolks, which, by the way, you can't eat because they've been sitting out all day and the Salmonella's been a-multiplying"." Am I right?

Speaking of Easter Egg treasures. My son found an eggs filled with "money!" Plastic coins, to be exact. Which he is now referring to as "Hannukah money!" I suggested "Passover money" might be more seasonally appropriate, but he insists on Hannukah.

My kids have been curious about all things symbolic of Jewish holidays since their early days at Dad's Group. In fact, about a year ago, the elder of the red-heads (then 5) wanted me to tell her everything I knew about Hannukah. It happened to be Spring and Sesame Street was running a Passover special. It went into a fair amount of detail and the kids were sucked right in. SO even thought it wasn't exactly what she asked for, I let Sesame Street do the parenting and it seemed to work out. Until later that night...

We just so happened to be spending the weekend at my mom's and the kids were sharing a bedroom. The boy (3 at the time) had a hard time going to sleep and was keeping his sis awake. I went into their room with a serious "GO TO BED NOW" mommy face and he yells, "Oh no! It's the scary Jewish monster!" Laughed so hard I peed a little.

Hopefully the Scary Jewish Monster doesn't steal his Hannukah money!

Translation, please!

A few days ago, I repinned this lovely little Easter egg project.

I thought, "lovely", promptly made an "Easter" board and pinned it without clicking on the link. Rookie mistake.

We are going to a huge egg hunt tomorrow. We are supposed to bring eggs.

So like the procrastinator I am, I click on the link tonight at approximately 1:22 am, only to realize the text is in a language I do not understand. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what language it is.



带优雅植物叶子水印的染色水煮蛋》我们常常要给鸡蛋染色，比如制作复活节彩蛋和庆祝BB诞生的红鸡蛋等。也有妈妈为了让宝宝更乐意吃鸡蛋，也会用植物染料给鸡蛋染色。








And while the step-by-step pictures are gorgeous, I'm not so super-crafty to be able to intuit the process.

Suggestions? I really want to make these eggs!

Clementine Lassi

1 cup plain yogurt ... ideally Greek
1-2 tablespoons honey or agave (or sugar in a pinch)
1/2 cup ice
Juice of 4 very juicy clementines







Blend well.
Sprinkle with cinnamon (wanted to use cardamom here, but we were fresh out).

Enjoy.

The 6 year old and I loved the tart, semi-sweet flavor. The 4 year old ... not so impressed. Next time we'll go with a banana lassi and let you know how it turns out!

More Fun Than Disney

"This is the funnest day ever." These are the words I overhear my six year old saying to my four year old. Then she elaborates, "I think home is more fun than Disney, don't you?"



My four year old hesitates. He loves Disney, with its princesses and candy apples.



Then she elaborates. "Disney is close, but home is better. Right?" My son nods in agreement.

What a boost to my MomEsteem!

So what made for such a great day? Aside from the fact that the stars aligned and everyone woke up on the right side of the bed?

Maybe it was the grand tea experiment - the kids filled buckets of water and added spices (carefully selected from some of my older, out of date, rarely used spices) to make an assortment of "teas".

Maybe it was the homemade play doh.



Perhaps the clementine lassis (recipe coming soon!).



Or maybe, just maybe, it's spending time together.

The Waterfall Braid

So when I wrote that I'm not that kind of girl, I should have also mentioned that I'm not that kind of mom.

You know the type. The mom who spent the previous evening printing templates, cutting out felt, lining up googly eyes, puffy paint tubes, and glitter for the next morning's crafts.

Or the mom who grows her own veges, uses it to make her own salsa, and then puts it in jars with homemade labels.

There is nothing wrong with these moms. It's just not me. I couldn't be those moms if I tried. I'm more the let's stomp in the puddles, paint your heart out even if the painting doesn't resemble anything I can identify, and, btw, isn't it time for your weekly (monthly) bath and shampoo? kind of mom.

So when Lindsay asked me to do the Waterfall Braid my palms started to sweat. It's not that I didn't want to. But come on. I'm lucky if I can get a brush through her tangles without tears (hers and mine). I don't "do" my own hair (unless blowing it dry counts). I'm just not skilled in that particular set of mom skills.

Well. I put my mind to it and it turned about quite pretty. This was our third go, but even the first and second try earned compliments from friends. And most importantly, I could see how proud Lindsay felt about her new do. Thanks Pinterest!

My Very First Pin

Dare I say, my virgin pin.



Cranberry-lime infused vodka. The glasses came from the Container Store. The vodka came from the ABC store. Kettel One, to be exact.

Unfortunately I didn't get to try the vodka, as I gave these away for office Christmas presents.

But I can't imagine it was bad!

Not that Kind of Girl

I'm really not that kind of girl. The kind of girl who not only crafts, but also snaps some photos and blogs an instruction manual.
The kind of girl who throws on some organic lip balm and a head scarf and swirls out of the house in a cloud of fabulous. The kind of girl who spends Sunday making seven whole and healthy meals for the week ahead.

I know what you're thinking. But really. I'm not.

I'm the kind of girl who spends too much time in front of the computer, usually in sweats. The kind of girl who flips on the TV the minute the kids are in bed and wonders why the house isn't clean. The kind of girl has 7 or 8 blogs, each with 1 or 2 posts.

(BTW, that photo ... not me ... that is the uber fabulous Keiko Lynn.)

So here's to all of you out there. Girls like me. Waiting for Pinterest to change your lives! Pin away, ladies!

And may, some day, your house look like this ...

contemporary kitchen design by dc metro architect AHMANN LLC

Instead of this ...

Clean and Green

One of my Pinterest Boards is entitled Clean and Green. It was one of the motivations behind this blog.

I can't tell you how many times I have vowed to be done with environmentally toxic household cleaners. Then the bathroom mirror gets painted in window crayon and mom is visiting and "notices you didn't have any window cleaner". Or your husband goes out on the nightly Oreo run (what?) and returns with grout and tile cleaner. Or there is this really, really big sale and you can buy 13 bottles of Brand XYQ Laundry Detergent for 72 cents each and, really, how can you say no to that?

Meanwhile the bottles accumulate. Each one filled with its own questionable list of ingredients. And each one in its own, brand new plastic container. Which you may or may not remember to recycle.

So that brings me to today's post. Homemade window cleaner! Which, if I'm being honest, I made yesterday. Yes. Technically I squeezed 2 Pinterest activities in on my first day of blogging. What can I say? It was a Sunday. A family day. Perfect for Pinterest Projects. And I'm working 11 hours tomorrow, so I want to be prepared with a post, even if I don't carry out a project!



While at Lowe's (picking out the previously mentioned drill) the kids each picked a colorful spray bottle for about $2.75 at Lowe's. We filled with 2 cups water, 1 cup vinegar, 1/2 tsp dishwashing detergent (7th generation ... yay!), and 15 drops peppermint essential oil. This was the recipe for glass cleaner and it worked well, but it also worked well on the linoleum floor and the base board (which is covered in more dog hair than I care to admit).

The best part? The kids were begging to clean. Usually I'm reluctant to let them use window cleaner and other chemicals, but I had no reservations about this. I turned them loose and simply wiped behind if they left too many streaks or too much spray.

These Boots Were Made for Planting

We've moved quite a few times since the kids were born. And each time we move, we clean out the closets, throwing out everything that isn't being used. Yet for some reason, I have not been able to bring myself to toss out these super cute rain boots. They were too dirty for ebay or Goodwill but too cute to trash.



So when I saw the rain boot planter idea on Pinterest, I knew it was a project I could handle!

Unfortunately, it required the purchase of a new drill.



But once the drill was purchased, it was really a piece of cake!



Simply drill holes in the bottoms, add drainage rocks and potting soil, plant your flowers and, Voila! Super cute boots!