Happy 5 Year Family Day!

We celebrated Oliver's 5th family day like we usually do, spending time together doing Oliver's choice activity.  He picked adventure city an amusement park for little kids age 1-9.  It was perfect for him, and Lydia liked playing there too.   He loved the rides and he enjoyed riding them over and over and over and.... We ate his choice dinner, shrimp scampi and cake with ice cream for dessert. 

Like every year let's look at some baby Oliver.  Have you seen these photos before?  You probably have.  Previous to age 20 months my collection is pretty sparse.  Oliver always enjoys looking at his "baby" pictures.  He never remarks they are the same ones, he never comments on how there are so few.   I wonder when will he start asking more specific questions about his biological family, his stay at the orphanage, reasons he was there, etc. These are all things we've shared with him, but he's not the kind of kid that needs to talk about it much.  Oliver's basic view of adoption is.... my first family couldn't care for me the way I needed,  I went to an orphanage, orphanages are places that take care of kids that need a family, being in a family is better than being in an orphanage, mom and dad knew that so we decided to adopt, the agency helped us find each other. 

Our first photo of Oliver

I left a camera at the orphanage, this is one of the pictures they took

Busted out!!! 
A three hour ride from his orphanage to my hotel

Sweet baby's passport photo

Saying goodbye to Moscow

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2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Adoption remains firmly seated at the top of the list of hardest things I've ever done.  It's okay to do hard things. He was worth the work.  He was worth the hoops.  He was worth the jet lag.  Worth our time and heartache and money.  His life is important and special, all their lives are important and special, orphans are waiting for someone to come along and realize that. 

This James Blunt song came out after Oliver's adoption, but I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking yes, all that. 

"This world is getting colder.
Strangers passing by
No one offers you a shoulder.
No one looks you in the eye.
But I’ve been looking at you
For a long, long time
Just trying to break through,
Trying to make you mine

Everybody wants a flame,
They don’t want to get burnt
Well, today is our turn"


Many times we are told that Oliver is so lucky to have been adopted.  Lot's of adoptive families don't like to hear that, we aren't anything special.  The truth is that all parties involved are pretty lucky. 

We are lucky to be a family together. 

Go adopt or foster or support someone who is going through the process. 

stinky feet, and how to fix them

Oliver has the smelliest feet/shoes...especially in the warm weather, and it's always the warm weather where we live.  

First I set a bench up in the garage right before coming into the house.  Your shoes may not come inside! I also put up a little IKEA mesh shoe holder.  Then we have our amazing new foot powder in a glass jar with a small spoon.  Essential oils should not be kept in plastic, which is why we use a glass jar for this foot powder. 

supplies

 Foot powder recipe. 

1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup cornstarch
20 drops of lavender essential oil
20 drops of tea tree essential oil
20 drops of eucalyptus essential oil

measuring

mix

Whenever Oliver comes into the garage he takes his shoes off, puts a small spoon of powder in each shoe and rubs some on his feet.  It works really well.  Once you begin doing it regularly the shoes start to smell less and less until it isn't actually necessary to powder every time you take your shoes off. 

So if you have a kid wearing those stinky stride rite sandals you must make this.  It's a game changer. Or if you're not a kid and you have stinky feet, you must make this.  

I don't sell oils, but I have friends that do if you need a hook-up, let me know.  I also purchase some from the Whole Foods. 

milk carton gingerbread house

I signed up to be a room parent in Oliver's classroom.  Lucky for me there are a couple other ladies with that job title also...since I'm not actually allowed to help in his classroom.  An application, a clear TB test, and a yes vote from the board are all required...as well as someone to watch the other kids I'm in charge of.  So yeah, I do work at my home and bring it to school. 

This Christmas season I signed up to make 25 milk carton gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate at their party.  I'm still a little confused why public school kids even have a Christmas party, but whatever, I just do the job I'm assigned.

You need

-milk cartons

-graham crackers

-butter knife

-serrated knife

-royal icing (the glue)

-I didn't, but you could totally use a fine tip piping bag to help assembly

Good glue is critical and this icing recipe might

as well be spackle

You’ll need 3 cups of powdered sugar, 2 eggs whites and 1/4 tsp of Cream of Tartar. Whip the egg whites until frothy, add the other ingredients, and whip for 7-9 minutes until the volume has increased and the icing holds stiff peaks. Put your icing into a disposable piping bag or use a knife.

I would have purchased the normal rectangle graham crackers

but someone else did the shopping and got these square ones. 

I started by gluing a square to each side.

A nice blob of glue frosting is required to get the roof on.

The absolute hardest part of this job is cutting these ridiculous triangles to fill

in the roof gap.  I recommend a fine serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion.

It was good if one triangle was perfect and the other broke

It was a miracle if they both stayed intact.

oh and a judgy assistant can be helpful

Here is where the piping bag could be useful.  I used a

knife, but I wasn't going for beauty, only function.

Add glue to the sides of the roof and squish on your triangle.

Glue together the top seem, call it done, and repeat 24 more times...

At first it feels like it won't hold together.  Do not fear.  This frosting

dries so hard this house isn't going anywhere. 

Cranberry Bliss Bars

I remember my first one.  I was at Starbucks in Beacon Hill grabbing a chai on my way to work when the Bliss Bar caught my eye.  It looked amazing.  It was amazing.  It's $2.75.  Let's make them at home instead.  They taste even better, cost even less, and are wonderful for sharing.  Get to it. 


The Bliss bars have 3 parts.  Bar, Icing, Drizzle.  Sometimes I skip the drizzle, it's really just for show.

Bar
-2 sticks of butter, room temperature, or you know 20 seconds in the microwave
-1 1/4 cups of brown sugar
-3 eggs
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp ground ginger
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 1/2 cups flour
-3/4 cups crasins
-6oz white chocolate chopped into chunks

Icing
-6oz cream cheese, softened
-3 cups powdered sugar
-4 tsp lemon juice (I just squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon and call that good)
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-sometimes I need to add a splash of milk to obtain the correct consistency

1/4 cup crasins

Drizzle (so you can look fancy)
-1/2 cup powdered sugar
-1 TBS milk
-2 tsp shortening

Directions

1. Oven on 350* Line a 9x12 pan with foil or grease it.

2. Beat the butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, add vanilla, ginger, and salt. Slowly add the flour.  Dump in the crasins and white chocolate and mix gently. 

3. Bake in a 9x12 pan for 35-40 minutes

4. While that's cooking make the frosting.  Beat the cream cheese with lemon juice and vanilla, then gradually add the powdered sugar.  Set aside until the bars have cooled, then spread the frosting on.

5. Sprinkle the frosted bars with crasins

6. Make the drizzle by mixing the powdered sugar, milk and shortening.  Drizzle over the bars with a fork or use a fine tip on your piping bag. 

7. After everything has set cut the bars into rectangles and cut each rectangle on the diagonal to make triangles...because while it will taste perfect in a rectangle shape, it's just not right. 

What's under the tree?

Last week I got a request to share what's under the Christmas Tree for the kids.  Almost everything was purchased from Amazon so if you decide you need something from the list it will still arrive before Christmas....well before if you have prime.  The only thing I hate about Amazon is how quickly they make my recycling bin fill up. 

Confession.  I purchase things for the kids that I want to play with. Also, for us, it's not a quantity thing.  We don't buy them a ton of stuff, but what we do buy is good quality toys that should last a long time and hopefully hold their attention for a long time. 

Oliver, age 6

A set of 60 unit blocks made by the always wonderful Melissa & Doug.  Unit blocks are the basic blocks that every kindergarten class has had, before academics completely took over.  I pretty much think they are the perfect toy, a castle, a house, a garage for cars, a zoo, ramps, endless options.  Oh and I was lucky enough to catch these blocks on lightening deal so I got them for $35, which is a total steal. 













Snap Circuits.  Setting up circuits to get stuff done, like a fan and a siren, and a flashing light.  


Lego City Police Crooks Hideout  This swamp police series is Oliver's favorite set of Lego books, and he has a few of the smaller sets that go with it, so I think he'll really enjoy this.



One thing Oliver specifically asked for was a doctor kit.  He saw a doctor kit in a teacher store magazine, but it was one of those little kits with all plastic instruments and I wasn't sure it would hold his attention that long.  So I hit facebook to ask friends what should go in the kit, then I hit amazon and purchased a bunch of real, but cheap, doctor tools. I found a doctor bag and put everything in it and wrapped it up as one set. 

Lab Coat, yikes the current price is much more than what I got it for.
Reflex Hammer
Blood Pressure Kit
Ace Bandages
Otoscope
Eye Chart  Eye Occluder (the thingy you cover one eye with while testing the other)
A doctor bag to carry it all in
Oliver has some x-rays on his amazon wish list

Flatbed truck with off road vehicle.  These Bruder brand trucks are the best, their price is the worst.  Amazon is NOT the place to find these.  If TJ Maxx has one around Christmas time, I buy one, if not, I don't.  Last year he got the mobile crane and he loves it still, so I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy this.  I loved that I paid $29 for it, not $77. 





Lydia, age 3

A set of 60 unit blocks made by the always wonderful Melissa & Doug.  Because 120 unit blocks will be way more fun than 60. 













74 piece set of Magna Tiles.  Lydia got a 100 piece set for her birthday last year.  Everyone likes playing with them, we needed more.  Combine a target gift card, a coupon code, and target RedCard savings and we got them for a great price. 




This set of windows, doors, and fences, to go along with the above blocks.  I've been told they work together. 



Playmobil playground.  Lydia is really into playing with figurines and acting out different events and I really think it's helping her speech. 




and a few small sets of playmobil people

Mom & kids

Lady with puppies, puppies!!

Boy driving a car


I can't wait to play!  Is it Christmas yet?  We are celebrating Christmas on the 24th since that's the day Jim officially has off.

                                                                              last year

Happy 3 Sweet Lydia

She started out as a surprise, her arrival was a surprise, and the person she is becoming surprises us daily.  Lydia is a cool girl.  She's quiet but adventurous.  She loves to travel and explore new things.  Loud noises  make her nervous, she hides out in the guest room while I blend her smoothies.  If she loves you, she'll let you know it.  One of my favorite things she says is "my mommy, my favorite." And it's obvious that her favorite place to be is right where I am, my it be so for years to come.  Lydia loves to build with legos, play with her baby doll, ride her balance bike (she's a pro), paint herself, and occasionally paper.  She's beginning to count, learn colors, and her speech is coming along.

More on speech.  Lydia had a transition meeting last week.  She transitioning from working with infant toddler services to receiving services through the school district.  When Lydia started receiving speech services it was because she had very limited language...she wasn't saying much.  She has language now.  I wouldn't say Lydia is chatty, but she talks now, which is fun.  The services she will receive now are for articulation.  She's talking, but apparently, according to the evaluation she is only 61% intelligible and someone her age should be 80% intelligible.  I understand her, but that doesn't really count.  Starting Wednesday she will receive 30 minutes of one-on-one speech therapy once per week. 

We haven't even looked for a doctor for us of the kids, so I'm not when she'll get her 3 year check up, but I think she's around 31 pounds and about this high. 

 Today was our first birthday party out here in California.  We played outside, it was 73 and sunny, and pretty close to perfection.

we decorated inside with our birthday bunting

                                            some art we snatched from Lydia's room

                                         and the crazy ribbon curtain we made last year

outside we hung up a bunch of balloons and put a bunch of stuff to play with out in the yard

watercolors on the outdoor table

                                                                          ready to sing

she had no interest in even attempting to blow out the candles

I'm excited to see what three brings, with Oliver I think three was my favorite.  This year Lydia will be traveling to Boston and Scotland in July and will probably start preschool in August...I hope I'm ready for that!  Other than that it's more of the same, exploring Southern California, playing at home, avoiding shoes, meeting new people, and playing toys. 

guest bathroom makeover

The family that lived here before us began to update the house.  They painted much of the interior, did a great job in the kitchen, and decent work in the master bathroom.  However, once you start fixing up a home the parts that you haven't yet gotten to stick out and seem to yell "help me!" I've already saved our walk in closet, our bedroom, Oliver's room, and Lydia's room.

Now, welcome to our main floor bathroom/guest bathroom/laundry room

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first we demo

Project list

-new floor

-new toilet

-take down the blinds and frost the window...I didn't, but I now know, you should do this project at night when light isn't shining in the window.  When the window is lit up you can't really see many air bubbles and you think you're fine. At night, it's a whole other story.  oops. 

-new sink and faucet, lowes.  Jim didn't think I could do it, but I totally ripped out the sink myself and replaced it with a new one.  I could have done the faucet too but the pipes were really corroded and I couldn't get the supply lines removed to replace them so I swallowed my pride and called a plumber. 

-new mirror, Ikea

-paint the walls, polar star by valspar made in the sherwin williams sample size.  The Sherwin Williams sample paint is my new favorite...it's a decent size and only 3.48, it took two to paint this space. 

-paint the cabinets, blanched pine by valspar

-replace the shower control knob

-hang the ironing board, large coat hooks
-remove the medicine cabinet and patch the hole.  We have textured walls and I didn't know how to recreate that so I hired a handyman to help...he taught me how to use my air compressor to make the texture, so next time I need to texture the wall I can totally do it myself. 
-replace a piece of trim. I had to rip out a piece of trim around the sink because it was such a tight fit for the new sink.  I was finally brave enough, and had enough time, to learn how to use my nail gun and air compressor...it's super easy. 

So lovely now!

yes, I know, the light is off center
why did the builder not center the electrical work, unknown?
what I do know is I wasn't willing to move it over...yet. 
but isn't the mirror beautiful?

   

plain and simple has always been my favorite style

Up next I'm going to work on our tiny off the garage hall where coats light sweaters and backpacks and shoes live.  Considering a board and batten (ya! nail gun) wall with plenty of hooks.