What Ana Does

 These nerds are taking guitar lessons together! Every Monday.  They were dressed a like, until Alice realized and pulled on her cardigan.  I love it. 

What do 5th graders wear, is the question I got from Leah as we embarked on our back-to-school shopping ritual this year. I winced, as 1) I honestly have no idea. And 2) I envision the worst case scenario: Short shorts, half-shirts and cheap sandals? My worst nightmare. At this point, I initiated a short conversation about personal style. In a nutshell: Who the hell cares what other 5th graders are wearing, what clothes fit your own personal style? Of course, I'm going to GUIDE her decisions on clothes, 1) because I purchase and care for them, so I feel some ownership. And 2) a girl needs some guidance, right?! I made plenty of fashion faux pas. Let's start with Boden , because I LOVE this shop and given an infinite budget, I'd dress my kids in only Boden. Here are four favorites for the Fall. Fun Leggings - Boden Butterfly Logo Jersey Dress - Boden Super Soft Stripped Shirt - Boden Bunny Meadow Raincoat - Boden Then there's the indestru...

I have a treasured memory of walking across the public library lawn on a sunny but slightly chilly November day in 1984 holding my Mom's hand. The reason I know this date is because we were heading to the polling place to vote for Walter Mondale for President. I was only 8-years-old, but I remember clearly the feelings of that afternoon. Mom was jubilant. Excited. Proud. She was voting for a female vice president - Geraldine Ferraro. This was big. I think she may have even been a bit teary. Maybe my hazy memory is just upping the drama. I really should ask her about it. She was voting for a woman in a presidential election, can you imagine!? The only talk I can recall is her teaching me not to tell anyone who you're voting for; it was a secret. And my elementary-school brain LOVED secrets. Anyway, she was so happy we might have gotten a treat at Dairy Queen afterwards, but, again, I might just be making that part up. I am beyond excited/proud/jubilant to take MY...

Usually I buy a cute outfit for each of my girls to wear to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. In year's past, they've been semi-coordinated (the only time of year I do this, I promise) but often I just strive for something matching and void of stains. This year, I allowed them to online shop with me. This made me nervous because they often point to clothes I think are ugly or ridiculous looking. Am I going to buy them a sweatshirt with a over-glittered "Selfie" written across the front, no! No, I will not. I've been burned on the Disney-character t-shirt they beg for and never wear again, too. Yes, shopping for them is usually a solo effort by me. But sometimes I like to take the "temperature" of what kind of clothes they're "into" this year. I don't want to be accused of not allowing them self-expression, right? And I should be "guiding" their styles just a bit so they don't turn into fashion disasters. (That'...

Here's one for the scrapbook. It's Sunday afternoon and Leah's at a sleepover and all is quiet in Alice's room. I'm puttering around the house and Dave is watching football. I love quiet afternoons like this. Alice has been down a few times for supplies, including a coach pillow she needed to have in her room "forever." Later, I'm getting her ready for bed and finally enter her room. Here's what I find: Three pillows set-up with blanket "chairs" and a swatch of doll hair taped to each pillow. There are hair brushes on each pillow. The Barbie is set up on a "desk" ready for the demonstration of how to correctly brush hair. Nearby, three dolls now have much shorter hair. Is it wrong that I just laughed and laughed? Anyway, she quickly enrolls me in her hair brushing class, which I pass with flying colors -- I'm happy to add. Alice is an excellent instructor and shows me a few times the right technique. ...

And just like that ... school is over and the girls' day camp program is up and running. Suddenly, we're done with bus stops and homework, and thrown into packing swimsuits, sun screen, lunches and water bottles in a daily backpack. Soccer is also over for the season, which opens up our evenings and empties our weekends. So now I'm looking at a handful of weekends open for adventure. Of course I'm thinking about road trips, travel and house projects to take advantage of the three months of tolerable weather here. I'll make a list with the best intentions. But, as usual, we'll probably enter the Fall regretting all the hours we squandered in the house. But for now, let's be optimistic. It's summer! Related posts: More summer planning

Leah as a two-year-old was especially outspoken about what she wanted to wear each morning. So early on in this mothering-thing I decided one thing for certain: I was not going to argue over clothes. As long as it was weather-appropriate, so be it. Pick your battles, moms, and this is one bridge I wasn't going to die on. Besides, clothes are a form of self-expression. So why curb it if she was so insistent on choosing? Because of this, I am often amused by the outfits they pull together. Alice's outfit today was a doozy. Long sweater shirt, non-matching skirt, knee-high socks (because it's chilly today), a polka-dot sweater two-sizes too small and red shoes. The Whole Look Knee-High Socks with Inside Out Characters Totally adorable. Brief aside: I do break this rule on trips, because I pack for them. And when they ask me to help them decide what to wear -- which Leah almost never does. Of course. 

When the house gets really quiet, the first place we look for the girls is in the office. They love playing with the Photo Booth app on the desk. They have taken 100s of photos and videos of themselves being crazy, and I clean them out occasionally. And they are hysterical. Let's Get Crazy! 

I snapped this photo just before I sat down with Alice for her first little sewing lesson. And it's possibly the world's most beautiful picture -- of a kid at a sewing machine. Clearly, I need to quit my job and Instagram/Photograph people sewing for the rest of my life.

Because I got her this new hat with little sheep all over it. Her "Coy" Look I'm a little jealous of the hat, actually. Wish it came in my size, but I have a gigantic head.

This fall our family is hitting a major milestone. For the first time since Leah arrived in our lives, we will not be paying full-day daycare tuition. Cue the trumpets! With Alice starting Kindergarten and Leah in third grade, my property taxes will now be funding their education -- instead of handing over a percentage of my paycheck. Lovelies!  So, I'm starting to consider after-school options with the knowledge that: a) Leah's homework load is expected to double. b) Alice is going to be in morning Kindergarten, and should be in the afternoon KEEP program at the day care she's in now -- to give her a little stability. (That's an out-of-pocket expense, but a much smaller one.) And, c) Leah cannot continue in her current after-school program, as they are not supporting her academically. ("There was no time to do homework, Mom.") This is where I get on my see-saw and start wavering. With them at school all day -- and lower school bills -- it's t...

We had an amazing weekend at Disney World in Orlando. The girls are just at the PERFECT age to really enjoy the parks ... and the princess! They were in total awe meeting Cinderella and Rapunzel -- totally adorable. We loved the roller coasters, the Mickey ice cream pops, the parades, fireworks, the hotel pool, shopping (obvi) and meeting the characters -- we filled autograph books and they're our favorite souvenirs.   Here are a few favorite pics I took with my phone. Dave brought the big camera, too, so a photo book is in the making.  Taking on the Magic Kingdom! We Just Loved That Castle! Mickey Pops -- A Favorite Treat to Keep Cool

Disney -- the only place where you can love your kids so deeply, then want to throw them in Cinderella's moat in the span of 11 minutes. Meeting Jesse! She Was Fantastic And I can't quiet understand adults who wait in line to meet the characters. Really? Does that seem weird to anyone else? Lastly, I give it up to the parents who have two or three kids under 4-years-old and choose to come to Disney. Their huge strollers and multiple meltdowns. Whoa! And to the reeeally pregnant women walking around in the heat with small kids ... medals of honor should be given. Every time I wanted to complain, I would look around at these crazy mothers and think I have it EASY in comparison. Related posts: All the Traveling With Kids stories

Since moving away from NYC, we've traveled back each year with the kids for the Parkinson's Unity Walk that David attends for work. It's usually the end of April. And the weather is usually a bit iffy. This year Grandma bought tickets to see Cinderella on Broadway with all her granddaughters. So, the trip was scheduled around an afternoon with my in-laws, nieces and sister-in-law. Otherwise, Friday and Sunday were all up to me. And I took some care this year on finding some BIG events for us to do and make this trip memorable. Because, at this point on, these girls are going to start remembering these trips. Highlights included: Statue of Liberty, morning in Central Park, Top of the Rock, SoHo for cupcakes with Sonja, evening at MOMA, breakfast at Alice's Tea Cup and FAO Schwartz. Plus, while the girls attended the show, I got some solo shopping time. Looking Out At NJ Broadway Boogie Woogie! Contemplating Jackson Pollack Breakfast at Alice...

With all the snow and freezing temps, we've enjoyed a lot of time in the house (no cabin fever here, I love puttering around the house!) and with our neighbors over this winter break. On Sunday we ventured out to paint ceramics. Alice picked chicken salt and pepper shakers and Leah painted an owl bank. Not to be outdone, I painted a bowl. Can't wait to pick them up next Sunday! While Dave is watching football, this is a fun activity for us to stay out of the cold and get creative. I love time with my girls.

So excited to welcome a new family member! The free piano, who I will name Edith or Henrietta, just got delivered. And though I'm not sold on its placement, I'm so excited it's here. She needs a tuning and some little girls to learn proper fingering and how to read music.  I'm day dreaming of recitals and Beethoven!!

Leah's List This was a very important weekend to get things checked off on my todo list. There are only a few precious non-visitor weekends before the holiday craziness and, therefore, much to do. Leah helped me out by writing out the tasks. Plus, there were several she didn't include. As of Monday morning, I'm feeling very good about all we achieved. Holiday cards ordered. Hanukkah gifts under control. Dave cleaned out and organized the garage. Bunk bed ready to move back into the house (though not close to being finished). Light bulb changed. Drain-o used on the girls' tub. See? Little things that just needed some focus. Done and Done! We even booked a babysitter for Saturday night and saw "Thor" -- which was like a mini-vacation from all the work being done. Soo good! Hooray for ToDo lists and empty (stormy) weekends to do them in.

The owl wings are done! And I'm more than just a little proud of the work I did on this. Hooray! Leah is an Owl!! Hoot! Hoot!  Here's the breakdown: It took about two weeks (in the evenings, while watching TV) to cut out the "feathers." Most of the fabric is upholstery that I got at Loomcraft. Some was scrap I had left over from other projects -- like the red corduroy. The yellow-y fabric is from a set of napkins Mom found for me a few years ago.  Because I used upholstery fabric, the wings are heavy. So I tacked them to the orange shirt she is wearing.  I also used ribbons to tie the wings to her wrists -- so she can fly! And, more importantly, hold on to her trick-or-treat loot bag.  I could have used the brown base-fabric and fashioned a smock or vest to sew the wings to, but decided against it. Too much work and not much return.  The best time-saving advice from the instructions I used was to sew bias tape around the borders for a quick, clean l...

I know ... I was going to make the curtains for the girls' bedrooms. Heck, I even got fabric! Carol sent me some cute yellow gingham she was going to use in Adriana's room (abandon for store-bought curtains) and I found some cool, geometric-print fabric for Leah's room. But, the task required me to do some solid math to make alterations since the fabric was too short or not wide enough for an easy fit. I've been keeping my eye out for some pretty patterns that I might like a little better -- in store-bought curtains. A few weeks ago, I found them on Land of Nod. And with a 15% off coupon (free shipping, just about) I ordered them. And tried not to feel guilty for not sewing them myself. Today, I asked the girls iron them.   Tomorrow, I need to buy rods for Leah's room and get them hung. Can't wait to see the final results! Related posts: More posts about curtains