The Butterflies are Here!

Now we have 4 butterflies. The first one was named "Butter", but the rest have no names. Have a look at "Butter".

Lazy Summer Days

Not much going on at the Little House in Takoma lately, as I've been pretty homebound with my cough and now my toe. So here are some cute little pics of the girls.

First, Painted Ladies. We are raising some Painted Lady Butterflies, and the baby caterpillars came in this cup. Very fuzzy picture, but anyway, here they are. Also, Mia and Laney both have painted themselves recently, something that irked me at the time, but Mom taught me well to FIRST grab the camera, THEN get mad and clean up. And finally, the chrysalises.












Next, New Backpacks from Grandma and Grandpa! Just in time for the new school year and our beach trip in September! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!










Lastly, Dancing, Kitties, and Popsicles. Note: The kitty is Taboo, our next door neighbor's cat, whom we love love love and who visits us just about every day. He's even left me a bird on one occasion. Thank you, Taboo, and yes, we love you too.

A Broken Toe?

I think I broke my pinkie toe.

I was rushing up the stairs and ran into a chair, heard a loud CRACK, and my toe was looking a bit funny. And, of course, it HURT!!

So here's a picture of my foot. Gross, I know, I think feet are totally gross anyway, but for those of you with morbid fascination, I thought you'd like to see, too.

Poor Margaret, my "running" buddy. With me being sick, she's been out a running partner, and now this. It's only been 2 days since I got back into it. ARggh! I feel like a complete idiot. And you would completely understand, too, if you could see the chair I kicked. It's not like it sticks out in the way, and the little leg of the chair is tucked under the leather upholstered edge. I don't even know how I got my foot under there without any real effort. Bizzare. Anyway, enough ranting - here's my toe. Enjoy.

Hello Dolly

Ok. I have been reading blogs and news articles about Hurricane Dolly, and STILL, even after Katrina in 2005, many people refuse to leave their homes and seek shelter when a hurricane is projected to hit their area.

I have to ASK: Why?!?

It dumbfounds me. Do they really think they can save their homes and possessions by staying put? Are their earthly possessions so valuable that they would be willing to risk their very lives to try to protect them? Or do they really just think that if I pretend it's not coming, it will blow the other way? I know staying in a hotel can be expensive, and staying in a shelter is not convenient or comfortable. And after Katrina, we can wonder if shelters are any safer than staying at home. But still - do something. Anything. Get out of the way. We have radar, superdoppler, satellite imaging. We can be prepared and be safe. Why don't people take care of themselves?

Anyway, just a friendly reminder for anyone on the East Coast or South - get your 3 day emergency supply kits ready and keep your gas tanks more than half full. Your lives may depend on it.

Lion Reunion on You Tube

If you haven't yet seen the Lion video, you HAVE to watch it. Absolutely amazingly heartwarming. Warning, though: it's a tearjerker.

Go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U&feature=related

Summer Pics

A few pics of the girls in the backyard...


















And, some mini ice cream sandwiches...














And, some fruit salad Mia made all by herself to help me get better...

Summer Flu?

Well, yes. It's a case of the Summer Flu for me. I guess I was just doing too much. (right- in the summer?!?!?) Anyway, I'm pretty much through the trenches and only the nagging croupy cough remains. If history has taught me anything, it's that a lingering cough can stay with me for many weeks and annoys even the most patient of acquaintances.

On a lighter note, Laney is now in a BIG GIRL BED!! We found wonderful beds on Craigslist for a great price, and I'm so excited about them, but I don't have pictures yet. Hopefully tomorrow you can see them, but for now I'll try to describe them. They are actually a girl's bunk bed set in white wood that can be made into two twin beds, using a tall head board and a short foot board each. We have them set up right now as the bunks, but not on top of each other. Basically, Laney has the top bunk: two short foot boards as her head and foot board and we attached the rails as well to keep her from falling out of her bed; and Mia has the bottom: both headboards as her head and foot boards. Again, both on the floor, not on top of one another, lest you think we'd put our two year old on a top bunk in bunk beds. No way.

And, just as Mia got to pick out her bedding when she got her first Big Girl Bed, Laney and I went shopping last Monday to pick out hers. I had no idea she was so opinionated about design. It came down to plaid or Hello Kitty, so I steered her towards the plaid, which matched better with both Mia's spread (they share a room) as well as my general dislike of licensed characters in bedroom decor.

PS: Mia now has a bedrail as well. We switched the girls' sides of the room in order to fit the taller headboards in the taller space, and Mia fell out of her bed. She didn't wake up! I had to wake her. Anyway, amid all sorts of protesting, we put the old guardrail up until she gets used to her new setup. Poor sweetie.

UPDATE: Here are the girls in their new beds!!

Laney Turns 2!

Happy Birthday, Laney!

Laney shares her birthday with our country, so there is a lot of hoopla and hurrah around when her day arrives.

We started the day with the Takoma Park 4th of July parade, but unlike last year, we got to walk in the parade with the girls' preschool, which was a whole lot of fun! Mia walked the entire way, Laney rode in our stroller, and our wagon was lent out for the tired little legs of our friends.


Then everyone headed back up to our house for some grilling and cupcakes to celebrate the big 2! Laney took a nap while the kids took turns giving wagon rides, jumped on the trampoline, and played on the swings! What a fun party!

After a dinner of Annie's Shells N Cheese (Laney's favorite) and a few more cupcakes, Laney got to open her presents and play with her sister and her new trike. The night concluded with the National 4th Celebration on TV, glow necklaces, and a peek at the Takoma Park fireworks out on our front porch. What a fun day!

Infrared Paint Stripper

Or, as our neighbor calls it The "Hot Swedish Stripper". This gizmo is so COOL! I have to admit, I'm nerdy in many ways, so you may not think this as cool as I do, but look how it takes off all that paint in one swoop! I would definitely do a commercial for this thing. I love peeling things as it is (yes, I know, OCD and gross and stuff, but I do) and this just is so, well, satisfying!

So, this is how it works. I guess it's like one of those space heaters you can get to heat a room in your house, but it's smaller and mounted on a handle with guards to make sure the heating elements don't actually TOUCH the wood. You place the contraption over the wood you want to strip (or hold it up to it, if said wood is still attached to your house), you wait about 30 seconds to a minute, and then you just peel the paint away with the scraper. The best part, of course, is that there is no nasty chemical smell (well there is a little "hot metal" smell), AND there are paint chips and huge paint globs (<-- see picture), but not the paint dust that you can get with sanding. Since we live in an almost antique house likely ridden with lead paint and especially since we have small children, that is extremely important, too. Anyway, if you were thinking of getting one and you wanted to know if it really works like they say, YES, it does.



Oh, and here are the boards after one final sanding to remove remnants of linseed oil: all clean and ready for re-installation.

Mia's Birthday Party

Mia's party was a lot of fun, and definitely worth the extra week of cleaning, purchasing and cupcake eating baking. The party started out with a little horse decorating, where the kiddos got to color faces on their hobby horses and then they took them to Patrick to add the stick and bandana. Then, outside, we had swings, panning for gold in the sandbox, bean bag and ring toss games, a chalk drawing and bubble blowing station, snacks and juice boxes. Later a hot dog lunch was served along with cupcakes and a pinata finale. The pinata did not burst forth with it's goods, however, and we had to tear it to get the goodies out. But it was sure fun for the kids trying to hit it. Mia had a great time seeing her friends that she's missed over the summer and loved her party - we were so lucky to have many of her friends available for a second date.

And here's a funny video of the Pinata Whacking: