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Growing up my mom used to call me a junk food junkie. I LOVE horrible food. Not so much deep fried or anything like that. I can take or leave french fries and crisps, and I would rather not eat candy then eat the sugary stuff aka sweet tarts, nerds etc. My junk of choice is chocolate, with a little ice cream on the side and washed down with a freezing cold soda. My mom didn’t let us drink soda as kids except for special occasions, like birthdays or Christmas. We would also get a can of our favorite in our field trip lunches, which incidentally were always the best lunches EVER! The fact that I ate a ton of crap as a teenager never seemed to have much effect on me. I swam competitively through my freshman year at college so this meant I was working out several hours a day. Instead of the freshman 15 I was down to my smallest weight since I was a young teen. This was mainly because my diet consisted of nothing for breakfast, a candy bar and soda for lunch and something carbie for dinner. I chalk this up to the fact that I lived in an apt freshman year where you made your own food. I just decided it was easier not to eat. Honestly if my mom hadn’t come down once a week with some groceries I think I might have become malnourished ha! Once I stopped swimming competitively  my mom warned that my metabolism would catch up to me. Honestly I was genuinely scared about this. Ironically enough though when my metabolism did catch up to me it turned out I inherited my dads. He could always eat what ever he wanted and only fluctuate a few pounds in either direction. What is completely unfortunate about this is it meant I didn’t change my habits at all. I STILL eat horribly. I never eat breakfast. It is always the most hectic time at our house. Chris sits down and eats with the kiddos so there is a parent there while I am running around the house like a mad women trying to remember all the various “show and tells” and “theme of the day” items. Once I get Sawyer on the bus and the rest of the kids in the car to take Finn to school I have kind of lost that hunger edge and figure I will just wait for lunch since I will be running around all morning. Once I drop Finn off generally head one of three places, Target, Giant grocery store  or Costco. We are always in “need” of something that I forgot on the last trip. We race through the store and I toss in my favorite, a york peppermint pattie and a coke at the check out. This now becomes my lunch because by the time we pick up Finn and get everyone back in the house the kids are demanding various items for their own lunch and before I know it the girls are down for naps and it is Finn and me time. He doesn’t especially like when I am distracted during this time so there goes my chance to eat some sort of normal lunch. Evie wakes up, we all head down to the park and wait until we go meet Sawyer at the bus stop. Sawyer of course being Mr. Social has already scheduled a bazillion play dates so we stay outside until Dad gets home. At which I time I think “Dang it! Dinner!” I attempt to throw together some semblance of a meal. We have family time, bathe the kids, get them in bed and I sit down for “free time”. It is now I realize I am still hungary so I grab some oreos or another coke etc. This goes around and around. Often dinner ends up being take out because I have forgotten a key element in what ever dinner I miraculously thought to thaw the meat for. Where is the water? Where is the fresh fruit? It isn’t that we don’t have them. Our kiddos are fruitaholics. When we are out of apples I literally get a lecture from Sawyer. Now maybe I should be grateful that I have a speedy metabolism.  The thing about it is, I feel awful. My Dad (Dad if you happen to be reading this I love you!) is a slender guy, he plays tennis several times a week with buddies. A few years ago he went to have a body scan and they found some heart trouble. He ended up having a sixtuplet bypass. SIXTUPLET! I didn’t even know that was possible. Looking at him you would never think we would have a heart like that but guaranteed it is due to all the horrible food he eats. My mom used to say you are what you eat and apparently I am junk. I am just horrible at food planning.  I really genuinely want to make a change but it seems so over whelming. Where do you start? Have you seen the rise in cancer and other diseases? I swear it is because we are such an unhealthy society. I don’t want that for my kids, but I have no idea what to do. How do you handle it? Is there a book I should read? A method I should follow? I want this to be realistic. We are not going vegan. But there has to be some way that I can make us healthier with out dominating my life. We have tried weekly schedules but it gets so boring. I guess what I want is someone to tell me “when you go to the grocery store get these items A B & C this will mean you have everything to need to make these meals X Y Z”. I would LOVE to find something before we head to Paris so then when we get there we can just pretend to the kiddos that paris doesn’t have fruit snacks and goldfish crackers etc. I know this is a big change, a lifestyle change but I am beyond ready to make it. So, I am asking for some friendly advice. If someone has written a healthy cook book for the none healthy cooker that would be perfect I know ya’ll have some suggestions lets hear them!

Cheers!

Kelly

(as I write this I polished off my pattie and coke from Target….yeah this is sad)

The first time I was introduced to Birdsong was on one of my favorite photography blogs Peekaboo Photography. I drool over that site and am always wondering where in the world she gets her girls adorable accessories. Now I know!

What I love is that you aren’t purchasing the actual bows but e-books teaching you how to make your own!

I love this because then I can choose the colors and patterns that I specifically want.

Plus it means I can make an unlimited amount for half the price actually buying a bow like this would be!

It isn’t just hair bling over at Birdsong though. Look at this amazing ribbon cockade ornaments:

You know what I am making for Evie’s birthday party in a few weeks!! Plus they just added this adorable tote pattern:

I am actually pretty excited for Evie and Chloe to get into Barbies. I was HUGE into them when I was little. When she does we will totally be making this tote for bringing them to playdates!

Please take a moment to hop on over to their Etsy store here: Birdsong Bows or their main website HERE and support this lovely new sponsor! You can also follow along on the lovely blog HERE.

Cheers!

Kelly

(This is one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken of him. It was 5:30am while we were vacationing with friends on a tiny island off the coast of East Timor. It was too hot to sleep and Sawyer begged to go swimming. This is him on the dock getting ready to jump in) 

Sawyer is positively thrilled to be six. After his birthday while I was tucking him in he said “mom I totally can’t believe I am six!”
I can’t believe you are six either Sawyer! Time goes by WAYYYY to fast.
Though I have to say I am loving this age! He still believes in “magic” and doesn’t know for sure what is real and what isn’t. But can be reasoned with and understand actions and consequences so much better. The other night after watching Kung Foo Panda 2 we had this funny conversation:

Sawyer: “Why wasn’t monkey hurt when there was fire on his head?’

Me: “Because this isn’t real Sawyer it is a cartoon. Panda bears also can’t do king foo”

Sawyer: “I know that. Just tigers can do king foo”

Me: “Sure bud. I think we should go to the zoo again for a reminder of what Pandas and Tigers actually do”

He is such a sweet boy and we are so infinitaly blesses having him as the big brother in our family

So adorably goofy at times

He already takes this role very seriously and really tries to be a good example to his brother and sisters

He is extremely tender. He still gets scared relatively easily

He is like me and doesn’t like to see other people be embaressed. If there is an awkward moment for someone on a movie he hides behind his hands

He and his brother are best friends and 99% of the time Sawyer is extremely patient with Finn.

He still lets me snuggle him and reminds me every night to give him good night kisses!

In each class he as joined in the past year his teachers always remark on his ease in making friends.

He has a talent for including everyone and making sure no one feels left out

He LOVES apples and will literally eat almost the whole thing often spitting out the seeds.

He adores “creating” and art. Given the choice of playing video games, legos etc or an art project he will hands down choose the art.

He has become a really good sport about having his picture taken and will often ask for it to be taken.

He is becoming a better reader every day, even if he hates wearing his glasses

I have a fun shoot planned for his birthday but didn’t want to drag him out ON his birthday and force him to do a big photo shoot so that will come soon enough

Today I decided it was high time I go through our kids clothes and get things organized. This was also spurred by the fact that I did SIX read it SIX loads of laundrey, and our apt has those big ‘ole industrial washers. I figured while I am washing basically everything we own I might as well pull out the horribly stained or too small items. I am not going to lie, I absolutely enjoy doing this. I know, some of you are gagging at your computer. I also love to iron but that is another story ha! I have been crazy about organizing the kids clothes since Sawyer was little. This picture was taken in our toy room at our law school home after one such feverish organization session.

Yup, those are alllll boy clothes for the first year. Scary right? I went a little over board with the boy clothes ha! Today it was mainly about Chloe. I had received a big package from my lovely parents containing her 6-12 month hand me downs. I love this process because along with the fact that every outfit has a memory it also shows what I was “into” with each child. Getting Chloe’s clothes organized for example showed me I apparently could not get enough baby legs with Evie ha! This is probably only half the collection of leggings I had packed away.

It is kinda funny because as I folded and put them away I realized they were barely worn, some didn’t seem like they had EVER been worn. I think that is because while I liked the idea of baby legs I just never remembered they were there ha! So cute but not really all that practical. I was sad packing up Chloe’s 0-6 month knowing that we personally will never be using them again. knowing that they would be handed of to another Crawford munchkin I went through and removed the ones covered with stains and the ones I thought I could oxyclean the stains out of and put the rest of the items in one of her size one diaper boxes. I also put a yummy smelling sachet in each or at the VERY least a scented dryer sheet. This is my storage method of choice, though the boy’s clothes were all in labeled tupper ware bins just like Rachele on Small Notebook does:

The main problem that faces our family was that Foreign Service homes rarely have ample storage. Do we really want to use a large chunk of our weight allowance for clothes we might or might not ever use? This is why I am fairly heavy handed when it comes to my sorting. If I loved something and it was worn often (but doesn’t look shabby) then I will keep it. If it is in pristine condition you can probably bet I never put in on one of the munchkins and thus goes into the donate pile…. I know giving away perfect condition clothes seems silly but why keep it if you aren’t going to wear it right?

Before we started our life in the Foreign Service we would store all our children’s clothes in my in-law’s basement. They had a huge unfinished basement and this was where all six of Chris’s sisters would put maternity clothes and children’s clothes that they weren’t using. This was trickier for us since we quickly moved to Williamsburg after Sawyer’s birth but if you have a large family with lots of hand me downs having it in a neutral place is AWESOME. That is if you have a willing party with an empty basement If you are overly concerned about water or moister in a basement or storage unit Attempting Aloha suggests using comfortor bags you can buy at the dollar store:

Our kids clothes are now clean and organized ready to be shipped to Paris! Hooray! As a side note while I was looking through our family blog for pictures of previous organization sessions I could not believe how much Finn and Chloe look alike:

I love how you forget things so quickly. Chloe already has two teeth. Chris and I have both been saying how this is the earliest any of our kids have gotten teeth. But Finn is only one in the picture above and already had a mouthful! These two share a bond that goes beyond look alikes. Finn proposes to Chloe on a daily basis. I love how these two have connected. They are both such chill kids that I think they like being around one another. Today Finn told me he needed to become a ninja to keep all the bad guys away from Chloe. Best reason I have hear to become a Ninja!

Anyhow, do you have any tips or tricks for packing away your hand me downs? Do you tend to hoard or purge? Have you ever gotten rid of something only to regret it horrible a week later? (I have soooo done this!)

Cheers!

Kelly

all images are linked back to their original location…. just in case browsing turns to buying ha! All are $15.00 or under

Vintage:

here

Numerical:

here

Dots

Nerdy

Found here

Turquoise

found HERE

Red

Found HERE

Green (The color most often mentioned)

Found HERE

My personal favorite: Awesome

found HERE

or….

found HERE

Thank you so much everyone for participating. It was really fun to organize. I can’t wait to see the packages that are created from it. If you get a chance please email me a picture of your creation!

Cheers!

Kelly

The time to join is now over (so sorry if you missed it but we had to stop sometime and we promise to do it again in the Fall). We have well over 150 people to swap with woo hooo! I can’t even count the number of countries…. I mean I could…. but am to lazy ha! I decided for my swap I would see just how much BAM I could get out of only spending 15 bucks. Now this will stink if you get me for your swap becuase you will already know what you are getting but here is just a sneak peak into the box I am sending out and yes this cost me under 15 dollars to put together:

One of the Sailor Necklaces I made for the gourmet club I am part of

Some super cute Washi tape and cute thank you cards (read on to see why they are a set to me)

I keep mine in my purse with some thank you cards and oh my word has it saved my bootie countless times… like this week when I drove past the bus stop and saw all the cute items clutched in tiny hands then had a flash back to my white board calendar where it said in big letters “TEACHER APPRECIATION” awwwww man!!! It was okay though because there was a Starbucks on the way to school, I had thank you cards in my purse and cute washi tape to slap it on with:

picture courtesy of my horrible camera phone then sent to my sisters awesome iphone then uploaded to facebook for me

Nothing says thank you like one of those cool reusable cups and a giftcard right? Unprepared? Says who?

Moving on, one of these:

But made with awesome chevron print oh yay!

Half a yard of fabric from this lovely collection:

And finally a fun graphic print that makes me giggle every time:

I love a good challenge!

Hope the suprise in your mail is something amazing!!!

Cheers!

Kelly

PS If you are participating and do not receive your recipients name and address before Monday May 14th please email me so I can remedy the problem.

When she saw me taking pictures of them she immediately pulled out her favorite and pulled it on:

It is simply a long rectangle of fabric sewn together to make a circle, hemmed on one end, gathered on the other and then sewn to 2 inch wide elastic sooooooo easy!

We just throw on a pair of leggings and a comfy top and she is happy as a clam for the rest of the day. No more sloooooowly removing layers until she looks like a mess.

I love a good compromise!

If you want a complete tutorial you can check it out HERE. The only difference is I attach my elastic by putting right sides together and stitching around the top then flipping it right side out.

Cheers!

Kelly

Location: Poolesville MD     Light: Completely overcast and in the shade aka dark     Time: 5:45 pm     Lens and settings: 24-70mm 2.8 F/3.2  S: 1/123  ISO: 300 @35mm

Straight out of Camera

Isn’t our little Alice so cute? So it was a bit dark and I wanted the light to kiss her a little more and I ended up with this:

Recipe:

Sharpen/defog

Patch tool to remove blemishes and hard lines

Levels adjustment layer

Soft light layer at 20%

Dodge/Burn on grass

Florabella Blue Ginger overlay

Jessica Drossin free texture Downpour, removed texture from “Alice” with lasso tool and Gossian Blur

I still don’t know how I feel about textures, but that may be because I don’t use them often enough to know when to use them and which one ha!

Cheers!

Kelly

Sand Fly Fever in Kuwait

A year after we were married and the day after Chris graduated from undergrad he was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

During this 18 month activation he knew he would need to take the LSAT so we could stay on track with our educational goals. After jumping through several hoops it was arranged for him to take the LSAT while in Kirkuk where he was stationed. He would take in his barrack with his commanding officer acting as proctor. He had studied diligently for months and was beginning the count down to the test. Two weeks before he contracted Sand Fly Fever (maybe he shouldn’t let squirrels crawl on him?) That is another fun thing about getting sick abroad, all the fun names: Sand Fly Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Chikungunya (pronounced Chicken-goonia) etc. Sandfly Fever or the technical name: Visceral leishamiasis is the second largest parasitic killer after malaria.  This particular time Chris was completely out of commission for two weeks straight. Imagine trying to rest and recuperate in above 100 degree temperatures, sleeping in army baracks.

Not so much fun. The first day he started to feel better was the day of the LSAT. Thankfully he still did well and now we have a fun story about the LSAT!

Dengue Fever in East Timor

RIght around the third week after arriving in East Timor I was going to go on my first ever mommy vacation to Bali, Indonesia with my wonderful friend Meredith.

I would be taking baby Evie with me but it was still a “mom” trip and I was so excited. Chris and I had gone to a local Timorese orphanage the first week in country and both had been bitten by several mosquitoes. The night before I left for Bali I woke up in the middle of the night freezing cold. I just could not get warm. I sat in a burning hot bath and then Chris piled the blankets on me. Nothing helped. The next day all of my joints ached horribly. I could actually feel my elbows. Have you ever “felt” your elbows? It is horrible. I have a new found sympathy for people with arthritis. I muscled through because there was no way I was going to miss this trip.

We headed to Bali and I sweat I got the Dengue massaged out of me. Chris on the other hand was not so lucky. I called after I arrived and the poor guy was slammed. I really think it hit him much harder then me. Of course you don’t want to call in sick the first few weeks at work. The poor guy was so sick and had both boys to take care of al weekend long. When I came home he was still pretty whipped out and it took right about a month for him to feel 100% again.

Mystery Disease, Falls Church

As I mentioned in the last post this past week I helped Nichole Van with her lighting workshop in Richmond. This was my first ever night away from all the kids. You know that part in “Date Night” when Tina Fey talks about sitting in an air conditioned hotel room with no one touching her while drinking a diet sprite? Yup, that was totally me, though not sprite, I only drink that when I am sick. Chris had started to seem a little slow on Saturday. I had a photo shoot in the morning but then we planned on driving down to our favorite farm in Williamsburg to pick strawberries. I had been talking about doing this since before we left Timor. I got home later then expected from the shoot though and when I casually mentioned skipping the trip Chris jumped on it and then fell asleep. He pretty much slept for the next 36 hours. Nichole and her hubby Dave were coming up to DC to do some exploring in between workshops and were coming to have dinner with us. I had spent the day trying to quietly entertain the kids so that Daddy could sleep AND simultaneously get ready for our dinner guest. Once dinner was ready to go Chris joined us and sat stoically at the end of the table. One of my favorite things about Chris is his chatty nature. Usually I have to shoot him the “you are dominating the conversation please let our guests get a word in edgewise” look. This time he meekly excused himself and headed back to the bedroom where he went back to sleep. I didn’t even get to speak to him before I left the next morning. I just typed up a note explaining everything. The mom in me though, yup, it stinks to be sick but when Monday rolls around you just got to suck it up and get up because those kids aren’t getting to school themselves. Thankfully I have some AMAZING girlfriends who I had arranged to take care of the kiddos while I was gone. Suddenly kids were being taken to buses, others to parks and meals were being made. I am telling you, there is nothing as wonderful as a mom-friend in a crisis. Us moms are amazing right? I also love modern technology. I received texts and instagrams throughout the day giving me updates on both the kids and Chris. His dangerously high fever was breaking, he was now vomiting, he was sleeping etc.

Chloe in bumbo curtousey or themoonlitnest instagram

When I saw he was going to the hospital I thought it was time I leave the workshop and come home. He told me not to and promised to call if they found out it was something serious. After ten pounds lost, 2 bags of saline and some meds later he was back home and passed out again. I came home in the evening and began the detox of our apt. all beds were striped of linens, towels, sheets, pillow cases etc. washed. Tooth brushed were trashed and a gazillion clorox wipes later I think we are all save (knock on wood). What is ironic is there never really figured out what in the world was wrong. They just told him it was “viral”. I am just really glad he is on the mend and was able to go back to work today!

I guess in the end it doesn’t really matter whether you are in your home country or not, sick is sick. You just want somewhere quiet and dark to rest your head. Have any of ya’ll been sick while abroad? Hopefully not while on a vacation, that is the WORST! Any suggestions about weathering sickness abroad?

Hoping everyone in your family is health and happy!

Cheers!

Kelly

The kids had an absolute blast playing in the very shallow and extremely muddy river. Evie kept vigilant watch for crocodiles (paranoia left over from Timor ha!) This little spot is under a bridge and as we hiked out a park ranger came up behind us. He said he had never seen people down under the bridge before and wanted to make sure we were okay. I think he saw Evie and Finn sopping wet and was worried. “Nope, they just got bored of the picnic area”. He smiled and said it was no problem just wanted to make sure. Sawyer asked him a few questions about being a park ranger and then we were on our way. Although I did not get what I originally came for nor did we even get to the original destination it ended up being a fun family outing anyway! You got to love serendipity!

Cheers!

Kelly