Dining in style

First it was new living room furniture, now we're dining in style as well and feeling like grown ups! A local store was going out of business and we scored a great deal on a new dining room table and chairs, as well as a buffet and hutch.

It's amazing how similar our styles are. After looking through the entire showroom and feeling sort of "eh" about a few things, Patrick and I both saw this table and said "YES!" It was actually already sold and set aside for someone else, but we were lucky enough to finagle a deal in getting another one from the warehouse. The same kind of thing happened with the cabinet, which was in another location. As soon as we saw it, we loved it.

For "before" pictures, check out this post. The table was a hand-me-down from a friend, and had to be at least 40 years old, with chairs that were literally falling apart. The china cabinet didn't fit our china, and looked dwarfed, even in our teeny dining room.

And now...voila!

You gotta love how much class the high chair and booster seat add to the ensemble!

I absolutely LOVE the china we picked for our wedding, and now we're able to show off all six place settings that we have.

(Note to self, pick up a few more of those when you hit the lottery!)

It makes me happy to pick things out together with Patrick and to shed some of the remnants from our single days.

Work out

Usually, while I'm putting PJ to bed for the night, Jack will "help" Patrick clean up from dinner. He loves to help out (even though it's usually more work for us). He likes putting the silverware in the dishwasher and cups in the sink.

The other evening, I came downstairs and instead of finding them doing dishes, I found them doing this.

Pardon the jiggling camera - I was trying to contain my giggles.

I love my guys!

All you need is love

Jack and I baked some Valentine cupcakes yesterday.

Well, I baked them, but he dropped added the eggs, put the paper liners in the cupcake pan, and ate put on most of the candy hearts.

I'm no Bakerella, but I thought they turned out kind of cute, even though the oven's thermostat is broken and they all collapsed halfway through baking because it turned itself off.

I never had a Valentine before I met Patrick. (Well, except for my Dad, who always had flowers for my sister and me. He's the best Dad ever.)

Now, in addition to Patrick, I have two more Valentines. Check out these cutie pies! (Pretend the flash didn't wash them out. Gosh, I'd love a new camera and some photo editing software.)

Patrick came home from his trip the other day with these beautiful tulips for me. Now he's the one who gives me Valentine's Day flowers! That makes me happy.

There's a whole lotta lovin' going on around here!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Imagine that!

Within the last few months, Jack has started to imagine that his toys can talk to him. He'll do their voices - deep, low voices for things like dinosaurs and squeaky, high-pitched ones for his little Corduroy bear.

The other day, we saw that James the Red Engine was lying on the floor on his side. Jack decided that James was sleeping. He thought he should give him a pillow, so I suggested we use his red mitten as a pillow. Then, of course, he needed a blankie, so we used a dishtowel.

Ah, yes. That's just right!

Night night, James.
Jack likes to get right up in the faces of his smaller toys, say hi and whisper sweet nothings to them, often giving them kisses and rubbing noses.

"Hi, James. You gonna go sleepies," he whispered.

James could use a bedtime kiss.

Watching Jack's imagination develop definitely makes me smile!

See Spot Swim

I'm sure you realized I wasn't waiting around to see what the answers were to yesterday's question. I decided to take five minutes for myself after putting the boys to bed, and as I was sipping my Diet Coke, I was wondering what to do first. I thought it would be interesting to see how others would have tackled the situation.

I did B first. Figured that was a no-brainer.

Then I did A. Patrick isn't a neat-freak, but he appreciates at least an appearance of order. (I hope he doesn't peek in the garage or open the laundry room door! By the way, does anyone watch The Mentalist? I had that on the other day and he made the comment that messy women make great lovers. It gave me a glimmer of hope.)

And I actually had time to work on C. Especially since Patrick's flight was delayed and he was about an hour late.

It was so nice to see him, and a good time was had by all.

So on to the topic du jour.

Patrick and I are both dog people. He's allergic to cats, and I think cats are fine when they're at other people's houses. I don't mind petting them, but I don't want to clean the litterbox or deal with their moods. Maybe someday if we live the dream and get a big farmhouse, we'll have a few outdoor barn cats.

We've talked about getting a dog for quite a while, but they can get expensive. After having two babies back-to-back, we decided to wait until things settled down a little before we ventured into the exciting world of pet ownership.

Well, yesterday we bought Spot. Jack named him and has even learned how to feed him, which is helpful. He's friendly and clean and quiet (I hate those yappy dogs). Both boys love coming downstairs in the morning and playing with him. PJ laughs nonstop as soon as he sees him. He fits right into our little family and we couldn't be happier.

So, without further ado, I'd like you to meet Spot.

Seeing the kids see Spot swim makes me happy.

Do you have a pet?

Reunited and it feels so good...

I'll spare you my Peaches and Herb impression. (But I've always wondered, is that "herb" as in oregano, or "herb" as in Herbert Hoover?)

Sometimes it's nice to spend time apart from people you love. I find I'm always more patient with the boys after I've spent an hour or two away from them. They always seem to have gotten cuter while I was gone.

It's the same with Patrick. He works from home, so there are not too many days that we don't see each other, but he's been away at a conference since Sunday morning. I don't like it when he's away, but it does give me a chance to miss him, and think about how much I love him and want to be with him. We're both anxiously awaiting his arrival home tonight. Today, that is what makes me happy.

That said, I've just put the boys down for a nap. I can count on about 45 minutes to an hour that they'll both be sleeping at the same time.

Should I spend that time:

(A) cleaning the house (since the boys and I were gone for a few days and it looks like our suitcases and grocery bags threw up in here)?

(B) showering and shaving my legs (since the showering part hasn't happened yet today and the shaving part hasn't happened yet this week...and...well...you know)?

or

(C) preparing something special for dinner?

What would you do?

Wine time

I've never been a big drinker. I didn't have my first drink until I was 21. It was a mudslide, bought for me by my friend, Kerry. Since then, I've come to find that I enjoy a sweet drink here and there (amaretto sours are nice), I love a gin and tonic on a warm summer evening (extra limes, please), I like a nice, hoppy beer (but you can keep the Budweisers or Coors Lights), and I have an affinity for wine.

I'm no connoisseur - far from it. I know what I like and I know what I don't like, and I have no idea about earthy undertones or slightly woody cask flavors. I love Cabernet Sauvignon, but I can't stand Merlot. I like sweet whites like Chardonnay and Riesling, but not Pinot Grigio so much.

But more than anything, I just like sitting down with my husband after our boys are in bed and having a glass of wine together. Or two.

In the summer, we'll sit out on the deck, play some music and light some candles and just marvel at how wonderful it is to be together.

We shared some Shiraz on Friday night (inside) and it reminded me how much I love sharing that time with him.

How about you? Are you a wine lover? Is it a passion or just a casual affinity like mine? Which vino is your favorite?

(Oh, and what do you think of the new layout?)

Dwight K. Schrute

Although for a while there, I was worried that The Office had jumped the shark, I think lately it's redeemed itself.

There's just something about the caricatures of the kinds of employees found in every office that cracks me up. I've definitely worked with my share of Stanleys (though they were usually female), Kellys, and Phyllises. But there's something about this guy

that makes me laugh. Dwight is my favorite character on The Office. Who is yours?

Snow, glorious snow!

This is an easy one.

In my mind, there is nothing more fun about winter than the possibilty of waking up in the morning to find that an unexpected snow storm has blanketed your yard with a fresh, untrodden coating of the white stuff.

Maybe it just reminds me of school days and mornings spent crowded around the television set hoping that our school was going to be listed as delayed...or closed!

Love it! It definitely makes me smile, and that is just what happened here last night. It wasn't a storm of epic proportions, but enough that we had to break out the shovel, and the piles at the corners made good mounds on which Jack could play King of the Mountain (if he weren't so busy just picking up clumps of snow and dropping them on the sidewalk to watch them break. Come on, Jack!).

So at about 9 a.m., I bundled up the boys and out we went.

PJ loved it. Here he is, all snug in his cute little snowsuit, ready to embark on an adventure that would prove to be a life lesson for him. Poor kid, he doesn't have a clue.

Jack was so excited to pull the sled.

For the first thirty seconds.

Jack learned how to walk, and get back up, in snow up to his knees.

Here, we're in our back yard, as Jack heads over to the slide and PJ and I prepare to sit for a little while and watch him go down a few times.

Such a cutie pie, PJ is loving being outside with his big brother. Look at that face; he still has no idea.

He sits, sucking the snow off his toasty, covered hand while we watch Jack.

He starts wiggling to get out of the sled and I figure, what the heck? He can sit next to me here in the snow. But rather than sit, he was anxious to be on the move. The suit had no little gaps for the snow to get in, so I just let him go.

He passed the slide and was having a ball, crawling quickly through the snow and peeking back every now and again to see if I was chasing him.

We can all see where this is going, can't we?

Yup. Here.

And then...here. I said the suit had no little gaps, but it did have one big gap right around the face. Yes, PJ, snow is cold!

What kind of mean Mommy not only lets that happen, but is hysterically laughing (not to mention snapping pictures) while it's happening?

This girl!

One day he'll look back at these and laugh.

What kind of weather makes you smile?

It's the little things...

I've got a case of cabin fever, and have obviously been having a little of the mean reds too, so I've decided to reflect on the little things that make me happy.

February is a short month, but I'm sure that if I write about one thing per day that makes me smile, my spirits will be soaring before I know it!

If you join me in my venture by posting a comment for every day through February 28th, I'll do a drawing for a free children's book!

(Yes, I'm promoting those Usborne books again. They really are great!)

So today's thing that makes me smile is PJ's motivated laugh. It's not the belly laugh he makes when I tickle him, but the sound he makes as he's making his way over to me when, say, I look at him across a room and smile. It's this sucking in/breathing out combination that sounds a lot like the noise you hear when you move your straw up and down inside the lid of your medium Diet Coke at McDonald's. Love it!

How about you? What's one little thing someone does that makes you smile?