Simplicity Parenting

At first glance, our "cleaned out" playroom might look like a success.  My goal was to curb the screaming / fighting / yelling that is pretty much constant. Took all the Little Tikes plastic loud stuff to the yard,  removed the little toys that just get thrown, painted a little Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray (cut 50%), an Ikea rug to damper the noise, garage sale dollhouse, and leather trunk from the trash.. the TRASH! (THE TRASH!) to throw everything in at the end of the day.  Simple, basic, open.  I've been following  Alexis over at Fern & Feather (a college friend who has the best taste, the best outlook, and is a treat to follow in the blog world) as she's hosted a virtual book club on the book Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne.  Simplify the toys, the diets, the schedules, and the demands on our children.  Let them explore, create, think, stew, sleep and be bored. We actually came here, to this little town across the country, to do this.  What's not to like about this.  Of course it makes sense, and I think I'm seeing a gradual change in the mood, attention spans, temperament of my kids.   They are very happy, there are lots of new games, lots of new words... but lets not kid ourselves. Coco is about bash Hugh with her horse, and Hugh is pulling back his home-made arrow to shoot at Coco.  Brother and sister fighting no matter what the circumstance - that's pretty simple.

In my kitchen

The farmhouse sinks are gone (boo hoo) and we now have a new little kitchen area at our mailbox house.  I like it.  I don't love it.  The last time we did a kitchen, we spent months choosing every little detail ( 100 hours alone on how big our trash can drawer should be).  Everything in this picture was chosen during an episode of Wonder Pets.  Once we get a backsplash up, we'll be done. I would have liked pull out drawers instead of cabinets, the floating shelves just don't look right to me, and oh the fridge.. its in the laundry room.  So, while it isn't perfect - it will work and it will certainly grown on us. 

PS.  When Colin came home and saw the change he groaned  "there's no refrigerator." I told him it just didn't fit in, but I did squeeze a wine fridge in. "Ah, perfect."  See.. priorities.

Ground Breaking

Mother's Day:  Donut (half-eaten) and coffee (half-spilled) delivered to me in bed. Chores, dishes, grocery store.  Then the real fun came when we headed outside for groundbreaking on our "garden" / "vineyard". The exact use of the plot is still in negotiations, but step one is done.  We're starting small - about 300 sq feet.  The kids watched as the tractor plowed our plot.  Next up... tilling.  We still have time to decide if we are going to grow veggies or grapes.  Guess who wants what? Coco wants to grow flowers, Hugh wants to grow peanuts. 

Barn Envy

Good barns make good neighbors.  When we first came here three years ago, none of our boxes arrived in the mail.  I tracked them, they said delivered but nothing was at the door.  Later that day, a gaggle of girls came bouncing up our walkway with a wagon filled with our boxes. They were delivered to their house.  Our neighbors have our same last name.  Four  little girls, great parents, and a pretty fantastic barn.  We spend a couple of evenings a week watching movies, running around, having drinks here.  It really is picture perfect.  Expect to see lots more. 

PS.  They rent it out for parties, weddings, etc. Mandana Barn.

Garage Sail

 

Three years ago, on the last Sunday of our summer here, we went to a yard sale down the street and bought a boat.  These people were moving, they had to sell it, we had enough cash in our wallets to buy it (shows you how much the boat was) and they promised us it ran.  We used it for the next three days, ignored the water that strangely pooled in the bottom, and put it away until the next year. The following summer - big surprise - the boat got us to the middle of the lake and never ran again.  Colin became good friends with the marina mechanic, Nick, and on the last day of that summer, Nick said that he would just "give" us another boat if he could stop working on our garage sale boat.  So here we are, with boat #2, a give away boat.  Every penny that is spent on this thing makes my skin crawl.. but considering that Colin lets me get away with murder with my 'little' projects around the house, its a fair trade.  We have a don't ask don't tell relationship now with home projects and boat expenses.  I'm sure Suzie Orman encourages this type of thing.  Anyway, we are excited to have you all out for  a three hour tour!

Score

On Saturday, we went to the Skaneateles High School "Family Fest" and all came away winners.  Hugh got his face painted (like a robot, duh), Coco won a pie playing roulette, and Will came home with 6 new  toys (courtesy of the Silent Auction where clearly no one else at the event was interested in toys).   So, while the ride around town in the police car  went for a few hundred bucks - we picked up some nice wooden toys, a play kitchen, a ride on dump truck, and some books for a song.  We almost felt bad....but Coco did blow an insane amount of cash at the roulette table so I think we're good. 

PS.  Photos above are from two months ago.. but we won this same little HABA clutching toy on Saturday. And, I really really really like my baby in these pics.  So I might be posting these a lot.

First Friday

On the first Friday of the month,  the stores are open late and wine and music pour out into the streets until sundown. We sent the littles out on the town with their new babysitting duo Oksana and Olga, then hit the wine tasting at the bottle shop, grabbed two slices and headed home to 2/3 sleeping kids.  Not bad for a First Friday. 

Sinks

Not many people have a sink in their living room, but I had two.   Now I have none.  Tomorrow, I will have one.   A little miscommunication with the contractor (me: add a shower in the bathroom.  him:  I went ahead and took out your sinks in the living room) and the sinks were gone.  Tomorrow, a new bank of cabinets goes in, the living room becomes a  kitchen / living room.  The old kitchen is now a new bedroom for Coco.  So, while I am glad we now have a room for each of our light sleepers, I still am sad that my sinks will never be used for this again..

Clean Slate

Our farmhouse had white painted floors when we bought it, but they were jagged, uneven, and soft. And, there were big holes in the floor where little critters from the outside were coming in, and where my little critters were constantly dropping crayons, pacifiers, keys.... but, the white floors really grew on us. They make it feel like vacation.  So, this is our new floor.  1/4" thick  4ft x 8 ft plywood, cut into 8" by 8 ft strips, painted white, nailed on top of floor (well, first I laid down this moisture barrier that you lay under laminate floors). Came across this blog, - and this method - and voila.  Thanks Frugal Farmhouse Design for the tips.  PS. I love them. PPS.  I went (way) over budget. 

Materials -
14  Plywood Sheets (I chose pre-sanded ones)
5 rolls of this underlay
About 10 bottles of glue 
5 gallons of low lustre deck and floor paint (Moon Rise by Behr)
Nail Gun, table saw, and labor all from my neighbors son - (did you think Colin did this??)

We're Here

Goodbye Pasadena, California.  Hello Skaneateles, New York.  I'm not saying we're home.  Just sayin' we're here. Now. Living in here and now works for us....for now.