Monday, July 22, 2013

Here's the scoop


Photo from Boston Magazine


Our little Bean is turning 3 and we're looking forward to partying it up three-scoop style for her big day!



Invitations include a sweet little photo on the back of our girl enjoying a frozen treat.



Now the invitations are done, but there is still much party planning to do.

I love this old fashioned make your own sundae bar from Kara's Party Ideas, though I think we'll need to keep it a little simpler than this.



Loving these ice cream cone pinatas froOh Happy Day.


These ice cream cone bubbles found on Amazon could be a fun party favor.


Now to just figure out how to get all the party plans together in the next two weeks! 

Monday, July 15, 2013

A little laundry nook makeover

When we moved into this little 1900 dutch colonial, we knew we had our work cut out for us. The "to do" list was miles long and right up there at the top was this back room space that included the laundry. Since those first days, our laundry room has gone through quite a few changes. When we moved in, it looked like this—scary. 


And then during the big mud room/laundry nook/bathroom renovation project, it looked like this... not sure which was scarier, the before or the during.


Then finally, the walls were up and ready to move the washer dryer into their final place that we have dubbed the laundry nook.


And we topped it with these stained wood boards to create a finished countertop. The only problem is that the counter became a dumping place for just about everything and it often ended up looking like this. We decided it was time to tackle the laundry nook clutter.


First I found these Akurum cabinets at Ikea. The size was perfect to fit on each side of the window and the price was right at $37 a pop. 


But shipping was close to $50 so into the swagger wagon we went in search of cabinets with my little helpers.


Finally it was time to hang those babies up. After a quick half day instal project, voila!


We checked out some possibilities for a closed cabinet to go above the two side cabinets, but since it is a shallow space, we opted to build our own open shelf to sit above the cabinets. I kind of love how the dark wood crate and baskets look on the open shelf above the white cabinets.






What do you think? Makes all the difference in the world and I especially love having closed storage for my laundry and cleaning supplies!

Now to the rest of the "to do" list... 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Following up on the Fourth

10 days, 2 parties, and 34 kids later, I am recovered enough to write about the fantastic fun that is turning 5!  The highlights:

The party games never seem to be just for kids!

A little musical statues seemed to get the party rockin'!

Face painting fun - I'm still trying to find out which parent paid Rebecca to get the Union Jack

Group Shot Shouting "Go Yankees"!

Apart from the grocery delivery turning up 15 minutes before the party and running out of gas for the BBQ, I think it all went off well...Thanks to all our friends near and far for Rebecca's birthday wishes...we are loving these Love and Life Moments!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Happy Fourth of July!

This will be my 13th Fourth of July being an American living abroad.  More importantly, it is also my daughter's 5th birthday!  It is really frightening to me how fast the time is flying, and also how bad my memory is getting!  Her school has been learning about America this term which means instead of Hello Kitty and Princesses, she wants a "proper American BBQ" party.   Whilst planning said 5 year olds birthday party, I've found I can't remember much of what I did as a kid or what's American and what's British so I have 4 days to get it together!

1)  Love and Life Cards Custom invitations:

2)  Food:  Corn on the Cob, Speidie's  (if you are from Upstate New York they are a must and the kids are sure to eat them), Fruit skewers, Veggie Tray w/Ranch Dip, and a real bakery birthday cake from Costco.
3)  Party Games:  Three Legged Race, Balloon Relay, Limbo, and Egg and Spoon with medals for prizes to show the true meaning of American fun - competition!
4)  Activities:  Cupcake decorating, flag making, and a lemonade and popcorn stand (if I can find the right popcorn buckets)
5)  Party Bags:  Thanks to Claire for doing the party bags and to my Sister in Law Mary for bringing the most important ingredients - Candy!  MandM's and Smarties will be a nice treat as we can't get them over here.

What are your plans for the 4th?  Any traditions you could pass on to make our own celebrations complete?  Wishing you all a wonderful Independence Day from Love and Life Cards...

Monday, June 24, 2013

An instagram a day



Last Friday was the first official day of summer... yay! Since I am home all summer with my three ladies, I have decided (and told everyone I know) that I am going to be living at the beach all summer. Sounds like a pretty nice way to spend the summer to me. But let's be real for a minute... I probably won't get there EVERY SINGLE DAY. In fact, I'll be lucky to get there three days a week (might be my new revised goal). Despite my revised plan, I am determined to make this a super fun summer to remember with just the right amount of relaxation, a pinch of adventure, and lots and lots of fun in the sun (nothing like a little pressure to really get the relaxation going.)

I've recently fallen back in love with Instagram (we had a short lived affair last fall that didn't last.) I decided to start a mini summer project of taking one Instagram picture every day, with the hopes of documenting something fun or memorable we did that day. 

Here are a few of my favorites so far this summer.

Sidewalk chalk

Strawberry picking

Afternoon at the beach
I love all the effect options Instagram offers for photos. I am especially loving the filter I used for the beach photos called Earlybird

I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the photos - a collage of some kind perhaps? I have found plenty of great ideas on Pinterest, but that is a whole other blog for another day!

To follow our adventures on Instagram go to http://instagram.com and follow sonarevette.

Happy summer all!

Monday, June 17, 2013

A summer reading list for the whole family to enjoy


My oldest daughter has really been enjoying chapter books recently so I began to create a summer reading list of books for us to read together. We just finished reading Pippi Longstocking and she has loved it. It had been a while since I read Pippi and I quite enjoyed this hilarious book too. So I thought... why not choose more chapter books that L loves and that I actually like reading too? I think I've done just that with our latest pick. We are reading The Silver Crown now and last night when we finished the chapter we were on, I sent L off to bed. My husband came into our room a few minutes later and caught me still reading. Our conversation went something like this. 

Husband: Are you reading ahead? (smirking)
Me: Well... err.. yes. 
Husband: Didn't you just tell L only one chapter a night?
Me: Um... I need to check ahead to see if it's appropriate for a five-year-old. (guilty smile)

OK, maybe I am enjoying this most recent book a bit too much. Or maybe it is just perfect for our family to read together. I have always been a big fan of Young Adult Literature so why not enjoy this new phase of chapter book reading as much as the kids? 

I don't know if we'll actually get to read all of these titles this summer, but here is our proposed summer reading list:

The Silver Crown

Ballet Shoes

Mary Poppins

The Ordinary Princess

Harriet The Spy

Little House on the Prarie

Do you have a summer reading list? Are you as into Young Adult Literature as I am? Are you reading chapter books with your little ones? What books do you recommend reading together? 

Monday, June 10, 2013

4 (or more!) kids is easier than 3!?


A recent study from TODAYmoms.com claims that three is the most stressful number of children to have. As a new-ish mom to three little girls, I believe it! And of course three is harder than two. You're outnumbered! But say what? They are telling me that adding another to my brood would actually make life easier? I don't know that I'm buying what you're selling todaymom.com. 

So what's the story? Do you just get to be an expert on child rearing when you hit four+ kiddos? Or is it that you just give up on ever getting anything done again? The article seems to suggest a little bit of both. "There's just not enough space in your head for perfectionism when you get to four or more kids," claims Dr. Janet Taylor. And then later in the article Taylor says, "The more children you have, the more confident you become in your parenting abilities." 

Another theory is that the older children start helping with the younger children as you add more. I can see that in a situation like The Duggar family, but when the oldest is only six, I'm not sure that the help they give would be enough. 

My vote is that no matter how many kids you have, be it one or nineteen, we moms need to find some time to relax, to regroup, to recharge. One of my favorite activities every week is getting together with a group of moms and our two-year-olds. We started the weekly playgroup for our little ones who weren't quite ready for pre-school, but who needed some social time. It turns out, the moms needed some social time too! Even during the craziest of weeks, when I've barely had time to shower, let alone exercise, I love knowing I have my Thursday morning playgroup to look forward to! 

So what do you do to keep your sanity? Meditation? Time out with friends? A day (or an hour) at the spa? 

And we would love to hear from moms of four or more out there to tell us. Does it really get easier???