What We Be Doing

I'm working on Halloween costumes these days.

Ruby is going to be a:











May is going to be a:











Olive is going to be a:

Jolly Green

If any of you were hurt that I picked green even though you said "Definitely red!", you are among friends here at the Reynolds household. Well, at least with Ruby. A couple of days ago, I caught her looking warily at my new green chair.
"You like it, Rubes?"
"Mmmm...no. Not really."
"Really? Why?"
"I just don't like that color."
"You don't like the green?"
"Yah. It looks like the color of what I think I'd find in between a giant's toes."

Week 28

Grandpa Hinkle

My Grandpa died last night. He was a wonderful man with a good heart, a hard work ethic, always spoke with a gentle tone, had a great belly chuckle and was the best bear-hugger. I'll miss him but I firmly believe I'll be able to see him again once this life is over and get one of those famous Grandpa Hinkle hugs again.

Green. It Was Always Green.

Late night thoughts

I realized today that I am not the blogger I once was. I think I'm a
better blogger when I'm pregnant. I'm feistier, more observant and
definitely more irritable, which is always blogging gold. I'm more
chill now that Olive's here and less likely to get worked up, which
makes for more boring blogging. Instead of always being annoyed with
the world around me and thinking "this would be a great thing to
blog!", I'm just always tired and thinking "I would so rather be lying
on the couch watching Unsolved Mysteries right now."

Sent from my iPhone

The Best Email Ive Received in a Long Time, Take 2

...in which Josie inquires how Olive got that modeling gig with Martha
Stewart.

The Best Email I've Received in a Long Time

Sent by Josie:

"How did olive score a modeling job with Martha Stewart?"

Week 27

Olive had her 6 month dr. appointment yesterday,

where I found out things I already knew:
She's tall!
She's chubby!
She has a small head!
She's so alert!
She's so cute!
She's such a good sport!
She spits up a lot!




You likeee da tutu? Get one here.

Cast your vote

the chair: red or green?



(those swatches of fabric on the side are the main fabrics of a table runner,
the creamy yellow is the wall,
the wood is the floor,
the rest of the stuff are the main components in the room)

and even though i'm asking you to weigh in, i think i've already decided which route to go...
but i still love you.

This Might Help

I found this little cutie-pie-in-need-of-a-good-home-and-a-little-love
at a thrift shop this morning.

$5.

Well, hello mojo.

Olive is a Big Fat Mojo Stealer

I don't know what my problem is but I've become really slackery in the
past 6 months. Like not cooking that great of meals, not starting many
projects, not finishing the few I do start, leaving dirty dishes in
the sink longer than I should, not getting to the grocery store as
often as I should, getting behind on the laundry, the checking account
balancing, the cleaning, not reading the piles of books I have, not
making the easy home improvements I could, almost getting late to the
bus stop like every day, lagging way behind on thank you notes,
watching junk on tv instead of doing something constructive, taking
weird little naps in the middle of the day, and a handfull of other
neglected things. I don't know what my problem is. Is this how my
"baby blues" are manefesting? Gross. I feel like I've reverted back
to age 14 through 19, aka My Slacker Years. I need a kick in the
pants. I need a surge of creativity. Of energy. Of gumption I need
motivation. I need my mojo back. I think Olive took my mojo. It's lost
somewhere in the depths of her fat rolls.

Sent from my iPhone

Terrariums

These are what we made last week.

They're still kickin', so I guess we did them right.
Each terrarium has a worm who lives inside the soil and was named by each of us.

May's: Hershey

Ruby's: Rosabella

Go's: Herbert

Mine: Ryan

Week 26

On Sunday, she'll be six months.
CRAZY.

She is so over sucking on her bottom lip.
This week, it's all about the tongue...
Which seems really, really big for her mouth. And she's got a huge mouth.

This is Olive chortling at May,
who is dancing off camera.
May and Olive have recently discovered each other,
which was something I almost thought wouldn't happen.
It took nearly 6 months,
but May finally acknowledges Olive
and even said she was "so cute" the other day,

which is the highest rank one can achieve in May-dom.

Olive thinks everything May does is hilarious
and May also thinks everything May does is hilarious
(no, not a typo)
so it works out.

Look at that mouth.
If you drew it, it would just be like 4 "U"s right on top of each other.
Tongue, bottom lip, chin, double chin.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Right in a perfectly slobbery row.

This is her feigned-innocence "It wasn't me, Mom," look.
Something tells me she's going to be giving me this look a lot.

Life is good when you can rest your cheeks on your chest.

09.09.09

I thought I'd take a break from

to wish my little brother a Happy Birthday.
I don't even want to think about how old he is
because it weirds me out.
In my mind, he will always be 4.

Because I'm feeling nostalgic today
(An hour of Beatles Rock Band will do that to a person)
I thought I'd post some old pictures of the two of us,
all in black and white of course
to go along with the nostalgia theme of the day.
Now all I need is Joe Cocker covering "A Little Help From My Friends," Wonder Years-style.

Happy Birthday, John. Thanks for being my buddy for the past 26 years.
I love you.

An Amazing Profile

Look at those cheeks.
Those neck rolls.
That double chin.
Those cheeks.
That nose.
Those ears.
Those cheeks.
Hm.
Where to nibble first?

Week 25

Olive's really into sucking her bottom lip lately.

She's also into Grandma's quilt.
It was so weird, I just walked into the room and there she was. She was like:

"Hello there, Mother. Would you like to see my quilt?"

"Look at all these different fabrics. Aren't they divine?"
"Here's my favorite one."

"Really? That's your favorite, too? No way!"

A Housewife, Yes. Desperate, No.

I've never quite understood the term "Desperate Housewife." To me, my life as a "house wife" is pretty awesome. When people think of housewives, they think of cooking, cleaning, and laundry, right?

Well...
Yes, I cook meals, but it's delightful since I love to cook and love to eat delicious things.










Yes, I clean, which isn't necessarily fun, but the results are heavenly and I usually listen to This American Life or The Moth podcast while I do it, so it's totally enjoyable.







Yes, I do laundry, but it's a most excellent task. It enables me to watch TV during the middle of the day without feeling like a loser. Unless you watch white trash TV like I did today: Criss Angel's Mindfreak special. BUT, I will say the yucky Criss Angel and his man-jewelry did inspire deep thinking. Specifically on the subject of his finger bling. Criss's rings are so big. And he has so many. Do they play a vital role in his illusions, like does he hide stuff in them, like ropes and pullies for his tricks? Or are they meant to be a sparkly distraction while he's doing something crazy with that king of clubs? Or maybe he's using his man-jewelry to fill an emotional void? Did his father not play catch with him? One thing is for sure, he certainly doesn't abide by Coco Chanel's accessorizing advice: "Before you walk out the door, take one thing off." Men just shouldn't accessorize. Period. I don't care if they've got Daddy issues, jewelry is for women.






So. Cooking, cleaning, laundry. No, not glamorous (like Criss's sparkles!) but certainly not desperate.



To me, desperation would be being confined to a cubicle, watching the clock all day, counting down the hours until you could escape the My Heart Will Go On being playing on repeat by a nearby co-worker for the past 8 hours. Man, I'd choose the unsavory of all unsavorynesses (ie. poopy-bottom wiping, naughty children disciplining, vomit clean-up, insurance provider arguments) over Celine Dion any day of the week.








So yah. No desperation here. To prove my point once and for all, tomorrow on the docket we have:

sweating

harvesting and grinding

imagining

creating

preserving

baking (and eating)

finishing up

laundering

watching and being inspired

making and devouring

Not bad. Not bad at all.

She's Ready For Costco

I Like Maps

Did anyone else love the part in Sleepless in Seattle where Tom Hanks' character pulls down the map and shows Jonah how far it is from Seattle to Baltimore? Was anyone else, like, 12 years old, sitting in the theater thinking "I must have one of those maps in my house some day," ?
Because the class-room type pull-down maps are $$$, I'm doing the poor man's version. I bought two aesthetically pleasing 30"x50" Rand McNally laminated maps (the colors! the border! the fonts!)--one U.S. and one world. My plan is to attach them to boards and hang them gallery-style in the big blank wall in our kitchen above the huge vintage desk that we recently acquired. I know the maps will be super functional because the girls are always asking geography-based questions, but also I'm thinking they will end up making charming art pieces. I love it when form meets function.