Weekend Update

The husband and I were graced with a kid-free weekend, thanks to my parents. They took Ava and Davis Saturday morning, and Morgan and I went to the UNC game for a day of fun. It really couldn't have been a more perfect fall weekend, weather-wise. The game was fun (although so boring, from an athletic perspective. Not like I really ever watch the game anyway.). I got to hang out with my old friend Katie. We lived together, along with two other girls, back when we were in our early twenties and single. Lots has changed over the last 14 years or so, but we always have a great time. Here were are cheesing it up for the camera. Someone needed to tell me to tone down the smile. Geez.

Thank goodness for big sunglasses. 

We spent the whole fall day in Chapel Hill. Sadly, I had come down with a nasty cold and almost totally lost my voice (perhaps to the delight of my husband). I was exhausted when I got home. I got in bed, watched my DVR'd episode of Revenge (which, by the way, may be my favorite new campy drama of the season), then The Rachel Zoe Project. I was ASLEEP at 9pm. I slept all the way until 7. TEN HOURS! 

We took advantage of our empty house and finally put together the IKEA bookcase I got for Ava's room. (Yes, this is how you take advantage of a kid-free house when you've been married for 9 years). I'd heard some horror stories of IKEA furniture assembly and was prepared for the worst. After laughing at the pictures in the directions:

....we got started. Assembly was a cinch. I think we were done in half an hour. Here's the finished product:

I need to work on that top row of shelves a little. I'm not loving how I've got stuff in it, but I'll get it worked out. At first I was worried it was too big in the room, but once I filled it up and then moved some other baskets out of her room, it was perfect. I figured Ava would hate it, just because she's not comfortable with change of any kind, but to my surprised delight, she loves it. 

After my good IKEA experience, I am now obsessed with the idea of an IKEA kitchen. Especially since kitchens are 20% off. 

How do you inspire giving in kids?

I have no business blogging right now. You should see the state of my house. Gross. Dust, dirt. But I've got something on my mind, so here we go.

I've no doubt my daughter is a bit of a hoarder. I'm hoping she won't end up on an A&E reality show one day. Luckily for all of us, she does like things in a certain place, and she isn't horribly messy, but she doesn't like to dispose of anything. The girl likes to hang on to her stuff. Once a week or so, I have to do kind of a clean sweep through her room to dispose of some of her treasures. I've recently tossed out about four American Girl catalogs, numerous gum packages (not wrappers, thank goodness), and a random assortment of things like paper clips. She has a drawer in which she keeps things that are "special." One look in that drawer and you'd know it's not hard for an item to be considered "special." It's absurd. But, I like for her to have her own space, and as long as I can clean it all out once in a while, I just sort of go with it.

Since school started, Ava has started quite the collection of key chains on her backpack. She started the year with two, I think. Now she has 15. See?

(love Instagram for cool-looking iPhone pics!)

So, the thing is, many of these key chains were given to her by her sweet little classmates. I would estimate that five friends have given her one of her chains. That's really sweet, isn't it? So, yesterday, when yet another friend gave her a key chain (another light-up shoe from McDonald's, bringing the tally of those to three), I suggested that maybe she should share the love and give one of hers away to a friend, too. Yeah, that didn't go over so well. The conversation went like this:

me: "Ava, wouldn't you like to give one of those to your friend?"

Ava: "Um, no. I don't think so."

me: "But honey, think how good it makes you feel when one of your friends gives you something of theirs. Don't you want to be a good friend like that and share?"

Ava: "But all my MY key chains are SPECIAL!!"

I give up. 

So here's my question: how do you make children that give selflessly? How do you promote genuine altruism in young kids? We all want our kids to be smart and successful, right? But a child that grows into a generous person, one who gives without thinking of what he or she is giving up? To me, that is the true mark of success, at least in parenting. And maybe it's not even something that's taught, although I do think it can be. Maybe some people are just more giving. Maybe it has to do with birth order. I don't know. But I do know that a kid with fifteen key chains needs to learn that giving one away isn't going to kill her. And it might even make her feel pretty good.

--Carter

Girls' weekend recap

Well, I'm back and refreshed after a super-fun shopping weekend with my mom. My first trip to IKEA was lots of fun. We stayed there for about 3 1/2 hours. I came away with the Expedit for Ava's room, as well as a new dresser for her room. Poor girl was using the dresser I had gotten when I was about 10, and besides being, well, not really my style (white wicker), it was starting to get a little shabby. It's now on Craigslist. We opted for this one, which will take up less room while also providing some much needed larger drawers:

Obviously, it's nothing fancy,but at $199, it's a great little versatile piece that should last through her little girl years. I'm dying to completely redo her room. It's currently a way-too-bright green, and I'm thinking of scaling back to a soft lavender and white, with celery green accents. Or to keep costs down, I may just change the wall color to a very soft pink and then keep the pink and green bedding she already has.

From IKEA, we went to North Carolina's shopping mecca, SouthPark, in Charlotte. That is one serious mall. I thought we had gotten a little upscale here in Raleigh, but no. SouthPark has Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Tory Burch, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, and even Hermes. We did a lot of drooling. A lot. In Neiman's, I tried on these TB boots:

I'll tell you something. The difference between the $150 I usually spend on boots and these is the fit. I don't have skinny calves, but cheap boots tend to be either too big around my calves (so I don't know what you seriously skinny girls do), or they bunch up at the ankles. Yuck. For the bargain price of $495, the Tory boots fit like a damn glove. To be honest, I don't really even want black suede, but it was all they had in this boot, so I just tried it for the fit. I love the look of the black suede, but if I'm going to drop that kind of dinero on footwear, it's gotta be for something that I can wear all the time. Suede is not the way to go there. Brown leather? Yes. But, I used my better judgement, polished up my Bandolino riding boots that are in their third season, and left the store. And, to be honest, I've had my eye on these Frye Paige boots for a while now, so I may have to ask  Santa for them:

However, I did not leave empty-handed. How could I? We all know that shopping out of town is not REAL shopping. It's sort of like being on vacation. I did get a cute new pair of wedges, that I deemed perfect for all occassions, including church. See? 

Yes, you're right. I may have a small Tory Burch obsession. I can't help it. And when you go and look around Hermes and then the Chanel and Prada collections at Neiman's, Tory starts to look downright reasonable. Which is absurd, really. (Seriously, the woman in front of me at dropped about $1400 on some Prada boots). 

But these days, I don't buy a lot of shoes, so I like to love the ones I have. And really, I have bought a number of Target shoes, and they last exactly one season. I'm coming up on my fourth season with my very first pair of beloved Revas, and they still look good. 

See how I can justify that? It's an art form. (I can teach you, if you're interested).

After our day of shopping, my mom and I drove back home (her home) to meet my dad for dinner. It was so much fun to spend such great time with my parents without the distraction of my kids. Don't get me wrong. I love seeing my parents with my kids. But I'm a little selfish, and I still like to hang out with just them. We had a fun, grown-up dinner, and then I got to get a really good night's sleep in my old bed. 

The next morning was wonderful. My mom made coffee, and my dad went out to pick up biscuits at Biscuitville. (Vacation food is like vacation money, right? Calories don't count). We spent a lazy morning talking and just hanging out before going out to lunch. It was back to Raleigh for me mid-afternoon, where I was greeted by two very adorable, very excited children. And one exhausted husband. 

Honestly, the husband is so good with the kids. I have to admit, though, I loved it when he said, "I'm not really tired, but I've been  more irritable than usual." 

Guess he understands now why I'm not always Mary Sunshine when he gets home at night. 

Thanks to my parents and my husband for a fantastic weekend!

IKEA Excitement

It's Friday....yay! I'm so excited about my weekend. I'm getting up early tomorrow, driving to meet my mom, and then we're heading to Charlotte to check out the IKEA store there. This is my first-ever trip to IKEA, and I'm more than a little excited. I've been wanting to buy the Expedit bookcase for Ava's room for a few months now. Her room is small-ish, and she has lots of crap stuff. I'm tired of it being all over the place, so we are getting her organized ASAP.

I thought I could just order it online, but shipping costs were outrageous. No way was I going to pay $129 in shipping for a $129 item. Silly, right? So I've been trying to figure out a good time to get down there, and it's finally happening.

Even better is that it's just my mom and me, for the first time in AGES. Post-shopping, we're going back to my parents' house where I will spend then night. I almost invited Ava to go with us. She's a decent little shopper, and just adores my parents. But after much consideration (about 30 seconds), I decided I deserve a little time away. (Now, if someone could just explain why I feel a little guilty about it).
.
Anyway, back to IKEA. I also want to check out this toy storage system:

I would love to have this in our playroom (which is really our dining room, but playroom is much more functional these days). I love the drawers. 

Of  course, not far from IKEA is the fabulous SouthPark Mall, which houses North Carolina's only Tory Burch shop. 

In the unforgettable words of Liz Lemon, "I want to go to there."

-Carter

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Dinner in a hurry.

Despite everyone's hectic schedules, I'm really trying to get some halfway decent dinners on the table most nights. Some nights, it's just not possible. Tuesday, for instance, will always be Chickfila night around here. Ava has dance until 6:15, and then I go straight to tennis once she gets home. But I'm trying to come up with some quick, healthy meals that we can all eat. I've also been trying to seriously cut back on grocery bills. I sort of hate couponing, though, so it's better for me to just simplify meals. 

On Monday night, Ava made a random request for tomato soup. That worked out well, because I had decided to make a frittata, and I didn't have enough eggs to feed the whole family. So, Ava and Davis got tomato soup, whole wheat crackers, cucumber slices, and oranges. Good enough. Morgan was working late, and I was hungry, so here's what I made for us: (excuse the iPhone pic)

Spinach, sun-dried tomato, and feta frittata, served with acorn squash. It was all stuff I had on hand, and so yummy and easy. For the squash, I just sliced it in half, topped with some melted butter, brown sugar, salt, and pepper, and roasted it at 400 for just under an hour. 

If you've never made a frittata, they are so easy. I used 4 eggs, which were beaten. I chopped up my spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, then kind of mixed it all into a bowl. I dumped that into a pan (sprayed with cooking spray), and crumbled some feta cheese over the top. You cook over medium heat until it's kind of soft-set, then it goes under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes. Voila. Dinner. And even though my kids had a different dinner that night, this is definitely something they will eat without complaint. And, if you're looking for other varieties, asparagus and goat cheese is one of my very favorites!

I'd love to hear your quick and tasty weekday dinners in the comments section.

I'm not above bribery.

Happy Monday, friends. This past weekend I embarked on something I had been dreading: streamlining my 6-year-old's bedtime. It had gotten beyond absurd. I think I've talked about it before. First, there's getting into pajamas, brushing teeth, using the bathroom, etc. Easy enough. No problems there. Then we're in bed, where two books are read, either by me, or by Ava. That all just depends on how tired she is. Since I think that bedtime has gotten a little too late, I've been trying to cut down to one book. Plus, now that she's six, the books tend to be longer.

Post books, there is a family hug, then a lullaby (the same one we've been singing since she was itty bitty), then multiple hugs and kisses. After that, she likes to read books on her own in bed. I get that. I like to read in bed, too. Besides, I'm not one to discourage a love of literacy.

The problem is that Ava likes to read her books until about 9:30pm. And during that time, she tends to get up a couple of times, then "requires" that someone (me) walks her back to her bed. And finally, once she's ready to go to sleep, someone (again, me - her preference at night) "needs" to take her books out of her bed, cover her up just right, place blankets on the correct side of her, and then give one more hug and kiss. After that, there is much talk of being scared. Then we leave the lights all on and she falls asleep.

I told you it was absurd.

So, on Friday, I decided it was time for that insanity to be put to rest. (Pun intended. Sorry.). Morgan was out of town, and honestly, it's easier for me to deal with a meltdown when I'm all alone and don't have another adult to commiserate/feel guilty with. The new bedtime routine stops after we read books, say prayers, etc. If she wants to read on her own, that's fine, but no one is coming to remove her books or tuck her in again or give the 103rd "last" hug/kiss.

As you can imagine, there was LOTS of pushback. Lots. After about 45 minutes of crying, screaming, and generally melting down, she was asleep. Ahhh. Saturday night was pretty much a repeat of the same. Davis even had an opinion about the situation. When Ava's protests got too loud, Davis, who was securely in his crib, yelled, "Be quiet!!"

The weekend was hard, but I just knew it had to be taken care of.

Yesterday, Ava and I were at the mall for a little girl time. She came across an Angry Birds stuffed animal that she wanted. This one, to be exact:

She was really pushing hard for it, but I wasn't about to buy that stupid thing for no reason. I know good and well that it would take only a few days for the poor red bird to be relegated to some distant corner of her room, never to be played with again. 

But. I am not above a little bribery. No, not at all, my friends. I made a little deal with her that if she gets through this week without fighting me on bedtime, the bird will be hers. One week. Long enough to get in the habit of an easier bedtime. Short enough to keep the reward in sight. 

I'll let you know how it goes. I think it was easier to hear her cry it out when she was a baby and couldn't talk. I resolve to stay strong. And when this is taken care of, I'll work on getting rid of Davis' pacifier habit. Now that's one I'm really dreading.

I'm in lu-lu love.

Despite my love of all things I really can't afford, I've never felt that I was above anything at Target. For the last few years, most of my workout apparel has come from Target. I've always loved C9, and really, at those prices, you can pretty much stock up on it. Besides, I've never really wanted to invest big bucks in clothes that I just sweat in.

Recently, though, I've been going to classes at Pure Barre. 

(Please be aware that I'm kind of hesitant to even admit to going to classes there, just because I feel like if you see me, you're going to be expecting some kind of amazing results, and I don't want to disappoint anyone. Please lower your expectations now.). 

So, I've noticed that all the regulars at Pure Barre do their workouts in lululemon athletic gear. It looks great, so I had to check it out. Naturally, I first looked online, but we have a small showroom here in town, so I had to go check it out in person. That was probably a mistake, at least for my checkbook. I got these two pieces:

 Wunder under crop pants. Seriously, people. You don't know comfort until you've worn these pants. They suck everything in, but in a flattering, no-muffin-top sort of way. I hate all other clothing now. I just want to live in these. All the time. 

My plan was really just to get these pants and just work out in them with all my Target tops. But then I just had to try on a few tops. And I walked away with this one, the Power Y tank:

Love it. It totally stays put during a workout. No riding up. And for those of us who are uh, less fortunate in the chest, the built-in bra offers plenty of support. I love it. I need more of them. So, without further ado, here is my lululemon wishlist:

In Stride Jacket:

My friend Heather just got this for her birthday and I am completely jealous. Clearly, it's perfect for fall, so I can't wait until Christmas to get it. It's a must-have. Winter morning runs? Check. Cute for running errands around town with a 2 year old in tow? Check. Comfy. Check. 

See that nice, longer length? How it covers the bum? Love that. Thanks, lulu. But do you have to be SO pricey? 

Last, but only for now, I guess I need some full-length pants, too. It's going to get cold eventually, right? I'll just take a pair of these Astro Pants Thanks.

Santa is definitely getting a lulu wish list from me this year. I have never, ever been a fan of living in lounge wear. I just feel better if I'm dressed. But honestly, if I can wear cute athletic wear that not only feels great for workouts, but looks good for daytime errands, I'm sold. 

Check back with me on Monday, when the topic will be "Crying it out: harder at six years than six months."

Have a great weekend, all!