it's good to have a sister

a few crazy moves and the clouds are lifted.

hope you all enjoy your weekend. our first baby turns six on saturday. six.

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for the curious, eve's outfit up top: old navy boys blue oxford, american apparel floral leggings (she's been loving them since september), necklace made by us- huge shout-out to jenny who answered the "what do we do with these felt balls?" question that i've been asking myself for the past six years (not exaggerating), short brown boots from the winter sale at bu and the duck.

best snow day of all time

the last two weeks brought valentine's day, a week-long winter break for the girls, a busy week back to school and the best snow day in rich family history. school was cancelled, again, but this time even chip stayed home. we tromped to the park as the snow clouds and the sun took turns filling the sky, went sledding on plastic garbage sacks (hilarious and ridiculously fun), built snowmen and ice forts and made our way home with all three children frozen and sobbing. the next morning we made our way back to the park, armed with a real sled from a generous (pitying?) neighbor and more layers of random clothing.

chip's nine-foot snowman had been knocked down during the night, so he went to rebuilding, adding a wife and child while he was at it. aunt and uncle m + m (who, awesomely, live just one block away) joined us in the sledding and crashing and walking and building and snow-angeling. we ran into friends and we loved our park and our city and the snow. winter didn't seem so bad, in fact, it seemed magically perfect and everything i thought it should be as a child. i was glad to be in brooklyn. and to have a ton of delicious black bean brownies to snack on when we got home. protein intake via a brownie is pretty magical too.

today is tuesday.

today i am doing the laundry. 

ruth is being "mama bear".

charlie just wants to be held. 

chip is on a business trip. 

and eve bowled a 36 on her class field trip. highest score in the group. 

not a bad day. 

. . .

thank you, all, for the easter dress love! to those who asked, if i can get myself to speed up and focus a bit, i plan to put some sort of instructional for the flower neckline together soon(ish). you'll like it, it's time consuming but fairly simple. 

april first

until this morning april 1st meant only the start of a new month to the little girls. but now. now a new world has opened up. a world of little jokes and happy pranks.  

of course, it took some explaining for eve to get that the noisy balloons flying all over as she first walked out of her room were a silly joke, something to laugh at. but by the time her milk magically turned purple as it was poured onto the cereal (thank you food coloring hidden under the cereal, please be as safe as you say you are) she was giddy with the april fool's fun. cries for "more! more april fools tricks! i wonder what's gonna be the next trick!" rang out as we shuffled her off to school. 

this is what's coming next: when eve returns home she and ruth will be greeted with a refreshing glass of undrinkable "apple juice" (lemon jell-o). i think she'll be entertained. and if she greets it with a scowl (even a five-year-old forgets over the course of a day) i know i can count on little ruth to get the joke and laugh enough for everyone until eve joins in.

happy april fool's day everyone. it has been a long time since i celebrated, and never has it been more fun than today with these little girls. i can already see the wheels turning in their little heads... for now i've got to get busy figuring out a way to make something that looks like mac n' cheese, but isn't. that would blow their minds...

boys have birthdays too

and eve knows that because her daddy has a birthday and she remembers when charlie came out of my tummy, and that was his first birthday ever. but he was zero, which is a little funny. 

so, because they have them too and because i believe in the glory of two-in-one, we now celebrate birthdays with this banner. one side for the girls. one side for the boys. or if the kids decide to break free of the gender-specific color regime, they get to choose whichever side they like the best. either way, this thing is going to be around forever. i love thinking of hanging the banner up 10 years from now when these exact shades and designs are decidedly out of fashion and the kids think it's so ugly, but love it still. because it is tradition, and you can't help but love tradition. 

if you don't already have your own and are thinking of the awesomeness of reversibility and segregating colors, this is a fun project. great for using up fabric already in your stash, in fact, i like this so much more knowing i used only what was on hand. and even though it sat in the "almost finished" pile nearly a year, it really is quick. especially if you sew the triangles, wrong sides together, and use pinking shears on the edges rather than spending the time turning each right side out, which i'm happy with, but am not sure was worth it when pinked edges are fun too. and faster. 

. . .

things are most likely going to be calm around here for the next week or so. i've got my hands full watching over little charlie as he recovers from a terrible burn on his left hand. my chest is tight with guilt just thinking about his sad bandaged hand. i will never doubt his determination or strength again. nor will i assume that trains and a chair barrier are enough to distract him from the heat pipe of his desire while i wash my face. as i was waiting with him in cornell's burn unit, clowns came in to cheer the room up. people laughed. a lot. but i couldn't look at them, it was too sweet and right and made me want to cry for little charlie, that we were in a place where clowns come to cheer up the sad and broken. but i was so grateful all the same. people are awesome. 

(and so were your treat suggestions! it's almost scary how many delicious things there are to shove in my mouth. . . i haven't stopped dipping my apples in honey since jackie suggested it and i can't wait to get going on all the other favorites. but slowly. because charlie and his paw need more attention than my belly. . .) 

five! five! FIVE!

this little love is FIVE today. i can remember being five. i got a tea set, loved my rainbow-sleeved shirt-tails shirt and had my first official friends birthday party. what will eve remember from this day? will it be riding daddy's shoulders to school? waking up with the birthday banner (finally) finished and displayed in her honor? ruthie shouting over and over and over "it your birthday, eve! it your birthday!!"? maybe she'll remember her baby brother swatting at the shower curtain, trying to get in with her and soaking himself in the process. she might remember me sewing her birthday shirt seconds before she needed to leave (and minutes after). possibly she'll remember sitting on our bed opening birthday cards (cards in the morning, presents at night) from her dear family. she might remember her own disbelief "am i really five now? really? five?" or she may remember none of it. but i will remember. i will remember rushing and sewing her shirt to help make her special day just a little more special. i will remember ruth and charlie and chip slowing our usual morning routine to celebrate. i will remember looking at this big, beautiful little girl and feeling about her now the way i felt the moment she was brought into view and placed on my chest. absolute amazement. i will remember sitting here typing, my eyes stinging as i think of how much this little one is to me, to our family. she is our first. the protector, the encourager, the comforter. she has so much growing to do, so much to learn and be. but for now i will not think of that. i will freeze time and sit in awe as i think that she has been ours for five years. . .five years. . .

and then i will get busy. because this one is also a taskmaster. banana cupcakes to bake, crowns to cut out, goodie bags to tie for our class celebration this afternoon and then there is the dinner to prepare, rainbow cake to assemble and gifts to wrap for our family celebration tonight. we'll see how much happens. regardless, we'll be having a fun day. the perfect day. just like five years ago. 

the birthday shirt with the number eve is now thrilled to claim as her very own, thanks to my recently re-united best friend; freezer paper. disregard non-ironed back. and wet, messy hair. there's only so much a sentimental procrastinator can get done on a great morning like this. . . happy friday the 13th! (clearly, always a lucky day around here).

monday evening

after eight years in new york it finally happened. we got mugged. it was different than i imagined. i never imagined it happening in the daylight. i never imagined a mugger in his 40s. and i never imagined it happening while my kids played games around our feet.

i stared at his painted-on beard, at the upper lip filling the gaps where his teeth should have been, at his long brown coat, at the half smoked cigarette in his left hand as his right held the partially concealed revolver. he needed money. he had kids. he loved kids. our kids were beautiful. he didn't want to hurt them. he didn't want to shoot us. but he had $900 rent due. he needed $900. he wouldn't go to a shelter. he wouldn't put his kids on the street. he needed $900. please. he didn't want to kill our kids. he loves kids. 

i searched my pockets. i had $0.75, maybe $0.80. i had a $20 watch. i took it off and handed it over. he didn't want change. he needed $900. what were we going to do for him? he had no choice. i fished some more. another quarter. chip shifted charlie and pulled out his wallet. i stared at that beard. was it shoe polish? was it a disguise or just to look good? was that gun real? it looked too small to be real. i was calm. i calmly told him to chill out. but i was also irritated, really irritated. chip handed over the wallet, empty of cash, full of credit cards and id's. i wanted the id. he would mail it to us. i wanted to get it now, i didn't think he didn't need my husband's license. he'd put it in the mail. i persisted. he raised his voice. don't push it, lady. i didn't. my hands went up. he told us to go to our apartment. "go inside mama." he didn't want to hurt no one. he just wanted to go. we just wanted it to be over. it finally was. 

i went inside to cancel credit cards. chip pulled out his phone to call 911. "no! you only call 911 if there's an emergency!" eve cried. they had no idea what had just happened as they giggled and played and we talked with the man in the doorway.

i always imagined being scared, too scared to scream, too scared to think. but i wasn't. strangely, i was not scared at all, only irritated. maybe because chip was at my side or maybe because the man kept shifting his body so the girls wouldn't see the gun. maybe because he seemed affected, almost tortured when he first saw eve's face. maybe i believed him. or maybe i've been in new york long enough. or maybe i just couldn't believe what was happening, that his man was mugging a family of five, my family of five. 

police came, chip went to the precinct, detectives were assigned. i dreamt about him all night and awoke remembering every detail of his face. i left to the suburbs for a happily pre-planned overnight stay. chip got a call at work. a kind stranger found his wallet and called his credit card companies to contact him. everything was there, except the metro card and his driver's license. maybe the mugger put it in the mail after all. or maybe he took it out to spite me. . . who knows. 

how's that for heavy fare? but, after the many many talks with the girls about the choices we make, taking responsibility for those choices and controlling our emotions, we're back to our usual business. . . like making a scarf in commemoration of our group mugging experience. one four inch wide strip cut from black and white striped knit and wrapped around neck. not one stitch of sewing. i'm certain i made this in less time than the mugging lasted. . and don't worry, the girls don't know what this is "in memory of," that's my little secret. . .

hideout skirt

the stiffest denim known to man. sometimes i pull fabric out of the hatch and wonder what i was thinking when i bought it. . . especially when there is three yards of it taking up our very very precious closet space. . . but then i make a skirt for my daughter out of it. not only does the indestructible skirt look fine on the child, but in a desperate situation, it could also serve as a lampshade. brilliant purchase after all. 

you should have seen the eye-roll eve gave me when i mentioned the skirt-as-lampshade nonsense. i thought her eyes might actually fall into the back of her head forever. apparently, much more serious business was at hand. business like finding the perfect "hideout" for the family of dolls on the run from "mean animals . . . so they won't eat them up." but apparently the family can spare their feet. . . who's rolling their eyes now, eve? 

obnoxious mothering aside, i really think a nice, wide hem goes a long way in making a simple handmade skirt successful. it looks great and you've got the option of lengthening when needed. especially useful for those years when kids never seem to get wider, only longer and longer. barring any unforeseen run-ins with mean animals. 

monday favorite: chip rich, the great

so, apparently, neither chip nor i had any issues with self-confidence as children. i find chip's  borderline arrogance charming, my own disgusting. so, i hold back on sharing my own uppity entries rife with hideous self-righteousness (ages 11-13 are the worst so far) and share a bit from young chip's record. unfair? maybe. 

who does this account book-turned-diary belong to? why, "chip rich, the great" of course. not only did he, at the young age of eight, skip up to level nine but he was also invited to two birthday parties. not bad, chip, not bad. 

this spread may be one of my favorite in this journal. can you read it? please do. after being blamed for throwing a balloon filled with orange drink, chip reports that no underwear was hung from the flag pole at his sister's girl's camp and that the classic film, real genius, "was great." didn't we all think the same at age eight? and on the right side you get a little feel for the good sport he was. i am certain that after this outing he went home to watch himself flex in the mirror. because that's the kind of humble champion he was.

i suppose it is better to have too much confidence as a child than to be heartbreakingly short of that self assurance. however, i am hopeful our children think of themselves a little less than we did and reach out to others a little more. although, i admit that if they start referring to themselves as "eve the great" and "ruth, the great" i will be so entertained and insistent that they learn some magic tricks. 

monday favorites: on thursday

monday favorites, along with our little family, took a holiday in honor of martin luther king, jr. this week. we ventured to the home of some lovely friends where we made a snowman, frolicked in the snow, ice skated on the neighborhood pond (i know) and made and ate a ton of sushi. 

tuesday chip flew across the country to shoot a commercial. eve woke up and burst into tears when she saw only charlie and me in our double bed. taking some comfort from the letters- complete with cartoons of the girls- that chip had left for each of them, eve decided to write a letter of her own to her daddy. as she dictated the letter to me (later to be copied in her own writing) she could hardly keep from total break down. she made it through the morning and went off to school with the news of her daddy's departure to share with teachers and classmates. 

clearly, a paper chain was in order. we love the paper chain countdown. to anything, really, but especially for a loved daddy's return. six little circles linked together and hung in the window to encourage my sad little girl who cannot stop telling me "i just didn't want my daddy to fly on that plane to california." she was giddy as she clipped off the links for wednesday and thursday. and i was a little bit, too. things really are better with a paper chain. 

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an hour after i typed the above i walked out of the kitchen to find an empty window, paper chain scraps on the floor and scissors in an ecstatic ruthie's hands. "mommy! now it's evie's birthday! now it can be here!! hooray!" i love barely-three-year-olds. eve will not be happy. but at least now we we have a reason for another, much longer, paper chain.

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more diary entries to come for next week's "monday favorites." more awesomeness from young chip. also, when i get the chance i'll put together the quilt tutorial. you will laugh with glee, it's so easy.