~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Because, frankly, I'm a little overwhelmed by all the photos I have to organize on my computer (please tell me I'm not the only one who gets herself into this mess! I even have a system!) and because I realized I have enough (by which I mean a manageable number) on my phone for a whole {phfr} post, that's what we're doing today.
I've already shared some of these on Instagram (you can tell by them being square and/or Instagram-y), where I've been enjoying dipping my toes lately. (Are you on Instagram too? Did you know you can post your {phfr} straight from there, even if you don't have a blog? Just click on the “add your link” button and then look for the little camera logo.)
{pretty}
{happy}
He's been obsessed with Legos lately, ever since he realized that he could follow the instructions to put them together by himself. Now he would happily spend hours upon hours on end doing nothing else, to the detriment of his health and welfare. Ob. Sessed.
I don't do very much thrifting these days; I haven't found many places around here yet where I feel like the pickings are good enough to justify lugging the kids through the store. It's a delicate balance.
But there was an estate sale just a few doors down from us (so easy), where I found a few cute vintage hand-embroidered linens (one with rick-rack! Gotta love the rick-rack.) and some pretty crystal wine glasses. Seven wine glasses, to be precise, which my mother pointed out is much better if you think of it as a set of six-plus-an-extra instead of a set of eight-minus-one.
Previously we had a grand total of five wine glasses, including one random matching pair and three even more random wine-tasting/Marine Corps Ball be-logoed freebies.
Which is to say that I've almost always just served wine in tumblers. I usually tell people that's the way they do it in Europe. I might have made that up, I don't know. But I'll tell you what: I bet the really classy Europeans drink their wine out of estate-sale crystal, just like us.
A few days later, with the thrill of the thrifty chase fresh in my memory, we stopped at the thrift store on base, where I found a stack of vintage Gourmet magazines (! they're getting harder to find!) to add to my collection and a brand new French press. This will replace our coffee pot, which pretty much only gets used when we have company (we're not big coffee drinkers ourselves), and which I refer to as “booby-trapped,” since it spills coffee all over every time you try to pour a cup (our poor sleepy guests!).
{funny}
She may not have much in the way of hair right now, but we try to make what she has, count.
We have a basket that just fits into the tiny little corner that makes up our “landing zone” by the front door. It's not sufficient by any means, and one of these days I'm going to discover the magical solution to our entryway problems. But until that day, the shoes get vaguely corralled into the basket, and the boots (combat and rain) get lined up behind the door.
Because the boots obviously don't fit in the basket.
But when your three-year-old cleans up the shoes without being asked, you don't quibble.
Speaking of not quibbling, we're just going to assume that the front of the dishwasher is clean enough for her to be kissing the baby in it.
{real}
Don't get me wrong: this is adorable. My cute little cruiser discovered that she could balance on the basket and hand me pieces of laundry to fold, which she did, one by one, until we ran out.
Unfortunately, I had successfully put off folding that very laundry for quite some time, and had definitely not intended on catching up on my (admittedly, sorely neglected) housewifely duties at 11:30 on a Sunday night.
But that's what we ended up doing, because when your baby simply. won't. sleep, sometimes you have no choice but to grow in some stinking virtue.
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Mary says
Two precious little helpers!
That profile pic shows a strong resemblance to her brother.
Lorraine says
I totally bought your Europe/tumblers line. And have been repeating it myself. Although I have in fact been to Europe and have never really noticed any wine tumblers…
Mary says
Love that first shot! So sweet.
Mama Rachael says
Okay, it was the legos that caught my eye. My three year old is not interested in instructions, he just wants to build. And I have to put out a plug for lego… great for fine motor skills, instruction following, and the movie turned out to be a ton of fun. The Mom-mom and Daddy-man both enjoyed it as much as Little Man. (That would be us).
And…. we sell legos. Online in a store, piece by piece… you can buy instructions, mini-figs and most any piece. We personally stock several thousands different lego pieces. And a plug for our store: http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=eformo
I think I might have to start collecting lego ideas for my blog.
Diane says
Such a sweet helper with the laundry! She’s starting her housewifely training pretty early 🙂 The look of concentration on Pippo’s face as he reads the instructions is to die for.
Elizabethe says
Make sure it’s not lead crystal!
Paranoid since I got a lead crystal decanter by mistake once.
Love the laundry. My baby grabs each item and shakes it vigorously; I couldn’t figure out why until I realized that she was just exactly imitating the way I shake out the clothes before I start folding. Hysterical!
Leila says
Dear Elizabethe,
Here is a take on lead crystal that seems rather conservative:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/19/science/q-a-945129.html
And lands firmly on the “it’s okay” side of things when it comes to glasses. One assumes that toddlers are not drinking out of crystal wine glasses, and pregnant women should confine their non-alcohol-consumption to those regular glass tumblers.
Here’s another: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/wine/lead-crystal.asp
I like the idea of “decanting” your beverage into your “decanter” and then “decanting” it back into the non-lead bottle.
The point is that the leaching occurs over time, and is still rather remarkably insignificant for adults.
Mrs. Pickles says
Growing in stinking virtue. Yes. 🙂
Pippo is amazingly bright — my son didn’t figure out Legos until he was 5 1/2! Legos are a beautiful thing. …When you’re not stepping on them at 3am, that is.
martha says
The picture of yo9ur son in the plaid shirt building Legos chocked me up! My “boys” are now 32 & 22 and that was a daily sight for me! Thank you for sharing your life with us!
martha says
your…sorry!
Rebekah says
Ah! That wonderful stinking virtue. Yes, I know it oh-so-well.
Jen says
Hahaha! “Grow in some stinking virtue”! That has been happening around here too. Love it! Your little ones seem to have grown so much since your last set of photos. Beautiful kiddos!
Jennifer says
I think our littlest ones are about the same age. Such a cute age it is.
Thrifting definitely loses something with kids in tow. It is harder to even hunt things out. I tried again yesterday and wondered why I keep trying, hoping it will work better.
Kate says
Every time we’re expecting guests, we make a mad run to the thrift stores for wine glasses. As I grow older, I like to have red wine with dinner daily (actually my husband convinced me that it was good for my health and very European to have a steady diet of evening table wine). So there are wine glasses to wash every day and we break a ridiculous amount of them (no dishwasher). But when we’re caught unawares with not enough glasses and wine to serve, we quote a respected and cultured priest who claimed at our dinner table, “Any glass is a wine glass.” Amen.
Lauren says
Love this post and getting to see your life in pictures. Amazing how much we have in common with raising little ones (mine are 4 yrs and younger). I will have to try legos with the oldest (seems more fun than duplos). And you are a good example to fold laundry with the non sleeping baby 🙂 rather than rock and walk and feel frustrated (what I did last night).
briana says
Ohh the Legos. And so it begins. Just watch your bare arches.
Maurisa says
Lovely POV in several of your photos. What sweet little ones.
Ginger says
Our stairway and front entry are in the same spot and we have two unsightly baskets……Your pic made me feel normal….
Cheers
Ginger
Ellie says
I will just add that we live in Spain and there it is very normal to serve wine in tumblers! 🙂