The Housewife Project

The Sweetness of Easter

Stephanie — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:39:40 +0000

As everybody who has ever met me or read this blog knows, I am a holiday person. Like whoa. I love me some seasonal celebrations. And with the weather warming up and the cherry blossoms beginning to bloom, it can only mean one thing: right around the corner? Is Easter! When I think of the Easters of my childhood, I remember dressing up for church in frilly pastel dresses, white patent leather shoes that pinched my achilles tendon, my mom’s elaborate dinners with ham and scalloped potatoes and green bean casserole (and hours spent making little bunny place cards that my family totally ignored), hoping with all my might that the Easter Bunny would finally bring me a real live rabbit this year (never happened), and competing with my sister for the most gorgeously dyed, stickered, and otherwise decorated egg.

But the best thing about Easter as kid – and let us be honest, still the best thing today by far? THE CANDY.

Far superior to the candy cane, the conversation heart, the candy corn, or anything you can throw into my Halloween pillow case, Easter candy is THE BOMB. The jelly beans. The Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs. The hollow chocolate bunnies. The chocolate eggs. And of course, the be all and end all of candy everywhere: The Cadbury Creme Eggs. MY GOD THE CADBURY CREME EGGS. I wait for this stuff all year.

I know I’m like 30 and I’m supposed to be a mature adult who eats veggies and whatever. Which is why it’s so great to have kids. Although we’ve enjoyed coloring eggs, and Easter Baskets, and even a White House Easter Egg Roll so far, Luke’s first two Easters have been kind of a candy free bummer. He was a baby, after all, and even though I was on a total Easter sugar high, I am not that bad of a parent, so up to this point, his Easter baskets have contained responsible things like Wheat Teething Biscuits and Eco Friendly crayons. But now he is two and a half. And I think that’s quite old enough for an Easter Basket in all it’s glory. While Scarlett is stuck with the Wheat Teethers, this year Luke gets this good stuff. This year the Easter Bunny can officially bring my kid candy. And although he’ll probably be wired for a week, he’ll be getting some jelly beans. And some chocolate. And anything Cadbury can churn out. And it makes me SO HAPPY. Because as incredible as the egg is, and as adorably magical as a bunny can be, this is the season of kickass candy. It’s the joy of the season.

So for the next month or so, I’ll be hopped up on the goodness of chocolaty peanut butter and fake egg yolks and now, so will my son. Cuz that’s what Easter means to me. Woohoo!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hop blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

The Most Wondeful Time…for Mail

Stephanie — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:29:32 +0000

I just got my Christmas cards. This is the first year I am sending really nice ones. For years I sent the generic ones that come in packs of 12 at the dollar store, and looked forward to the day when I could special orders the ones with my own little babies on them. Then I actually did have a baby, and lack of sleep + lack of money = no Christmas card at all for Luke’s first Christmas. I did get my act together a little bit last year, putting Luke in a Christmas sweater and after a failed photo shoot with the dogs, got his smiling face on 100 postcards. But not this year. I figure we have two kids, they are unfathomably cute, it’s really time to spread the Christmas spirit in a serious way.

Enter Shutterfly.

I truly love Shutterfly. As a somewhat obsessed amateur photographer, I am constantly ordering photo cards from them as Thank You and Birthday cards, but even I was impressed when my Christmas cards actually came. They offered both flat and folded cards, but for some reason the flat ones say “Christmas” more to me. I think I made the right choice.

They are SO NICE. Not only are the photos beautiful (seriously – THE KIDS ARE THE CUTEST, am I right?), but the cards themselves are gorgeous. They are sturdy and oh, the finish, it feels so nice. I just want to touch the silkiness over and over all day long (but I won’t too much ’cause my friends and fam don’t really need my icky fingerprints everywhere). And if you are one of my 50 closest family and friends, you will be getting one of your very own. Which, if you are reading this, let’s assume you are (hi Mom!).

If not, you, too, can get some awesome holiday cards from Shutterfly (you know you want to). And if you are a blogger, you can get 50 for free! Check out their designs, you will find something awesome. We could even get cards that match!

Happy Holidays!

More About Miss Scarlett

Stephanie — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:33:11 +0000

I mentioned before that we have a new addition to our family. Scarlett! She will be four months old next week. She is cooing, smiling, laughing, and rolling over. She loves to play with our Chihuahua, Johnny Drama and she absolutely adores her big brother, Luke!

Is she cute or what?

She, much like her brother, is a giant baby. 93% in weight and 95% in height for a girl. Good growing, baby! She is named after Scarlett O’Hara, obviously a continuation of our theme of naming all living things after movie & TV characters. We picked Scarlett Sophia because our favorite movie is Lost In Translation, starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Sofia Coppola. We call her Scarly or Scar or Princess or, Luke’s favorite, Bee (maybe this is why I dreamt we named her Beatrice?) short for Beebee, his word for Baby. We like her alot. I think we will keep her.

He Speaks…sort of.

Stephanie — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:49:56 +0000

Luke is learning to talk! He can say lots of members of the family now. Check it out:

Fall Fun

Stephanie — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:35:36 +0000

This year we went to Hollin Farms for our pumpkin picking needs. We chose them for a few reasons: 1) We had done some peach picking there last summer and the peaches were great 2) I had a groupon for $15 worth of produce for $7, and 3) Luke had his first dental appointment, and his dentist’s office is halfway to Hollin Farms.

We got a 14lb pumpkin, 2 pecks of apples, and a bunch of decorative gourds. Luke tried to roll pumpkins down the hill, but we managed not to smash any of them. They also had a few animals (goats and chickens) and a corn maze. All in all, it was a fun afternoon, and a good photo op of course!

Happy Fall!

Housewife 2.0

Stephanie — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:31:14 +0000

We are getting this party started back up again. So much has happened since my last post, um, a year ago. Most awesomely, this:

Our baby girl, Scarlett Sophia, born July 24, 2010

And our other little guy? He’s big now!

Yeah, so there’s all that, and other stuff I want to talk about so I’m starting this back up.

See you again real soon!

It’s The Holiday Season

Stephanie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:11:12 +0000

I think I can safely classify myself as a holiday person. For my entire life, I have loved everything about celebrating any holiday – decorating and dressing up, playing games and singing songs, throwing and attending parties. Whether we are spending Easter at the White House, Thanksgiving at Medieval Times, or driving all day to make it to a family Christmas inNew England, around here we seriously do up the holidays. If it’s festive, we’re there.

Having a child has only made each holiday that much more fun and exciting. We get to experience childhood tradtions from the other side, where they are not only delightful but important. And Santa means something again! (And I feel better about myself taking my son to sit on Santa’s lap, instead of my dogs…)

To celebrate the premiere of Dora’s Christmas Carol, Nickelodeon and TwitterMoms is having a blogging contest that asks moms to share our favorite holiday activities we like to do with our kids. Right up my alley! I started all the traditions as soon as I could, even though Luke was a tiny baby, so I am super happy that this year Luke can actually participate in the holiday fun this year. Here’s my top 5 holiday activities:

1. SINGING
I’ll admit it – we already have the Christmas music playing. As I type, Luke is bopping to Bruce Springsteen’s Santa Claus is Coming To Town. I think Mele Kalikimaka Hawaiian Christmas Song is his favorite so far. We are pretty into music around these parts, so I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t begin the caroling ASAP. It’s an essential part of any of my kids’ musical education. (Side note: does anyone else think they need to make a Christmas Rock Band for Wii?)

2. EATING
Last year, Luke and I spent the entire Thanksgiving dinner nursing in my Mom’s guest bedroom while the rest of my extended family enjoyed the buffet without us. Not so in 2009! We were blessed with a good eater, and I can’t think of anyone who will enjoy diving into a feast of turkey and cranberry sauce than my son. I can’t wait to give him his first taste of hot chocolate and candy canes as Christmas gets closer, too. Yum!
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3. CHOPPING DOWN A TREE
I was all about cutting our own Christmas tree last year, but nature changed our course when the whipping winds at the tree farm prevented Luke from being able to breathe. We sadly had to get our tree from Walmart. Again, not so in 2009! This year, Luke is sturdy and love the outdoors. And he is a huge fan of trees – I am sure his reaction to one in the living room with be priceless. As long as we can figure out how to get it from there to here with our tiny car, we’ll be heading to Ticonderoga Farms for our Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving! Wish us luck!

4. WATCHING TELEVISION
Holiday Specials were a big part of my childhood, and I forced Tom to watch them even when we were just a pair of single adults. Luke has zero interest in TV (other than the hours he spends turning it on and off. Ooh! Buttons!) but I know he will love holiday specials. I already have The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Santa Clause on the DVR to try out on him. If nothing else, I am sure a marching band or two from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will grab his attention. This forcing television onto a toddler may seem like bad parenting, but really, it’s for his own good.

5. STAYING COZY
My parents always gave my sister and I new pajamas on Christmas Eve, as my dad’s parents did for him and his sisters. This is one of the best traditions we had, and I of course adopted it for Luke. I added one more thing to it last year to make into more of an activity – a new Christmas book.

I hope to do this each Christmas Eve, so we can curl up for storytime in our new pj’s and be comfy and snuggly as a family. As general warm weather people it gives us something to look forward to in the cold months! I already picked up a pair of pajamas for Luke from Old Navy, but I am still in the market for a good holiday story. Any recommendations?

What are your favorite holiday activities to do with your kids? Let Twittermoms know and you could win a $25 gift card and a Dora Christmas Carol DVD. Happy Holidays!

Watch Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure Dec. 6 on Nickelodeonif (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget(’0a0277ef-bb32-4ef8-b222-ce4abc3d23ce’);Favorite Holiday Activities with KidsGet the Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)

Melon Head

Stephanie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:29:45 +0000

The other night I pretended it was summer – broke out the George Forman grill and grilled up some hot dogs, served with corn and potatoes, and some watermelon. Luke had never tried watermelon before, but he was pretty confident that he would not only like it, but be able to eat a whole slice like everyone else. Luckily it was seedless. He was a little confused at first and tried to eat the rind, but he got the hang of it later. Yum!

Luke Tunes: Vol. 4 (Beatles Edition)

Stephanie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:08:35 +0000

Since 09/09/09, it’s been Beatlemania at our house. Tom bought a bunch of the remastered CDs and we’ve been listening to 1 a month. So far we’ve rocked out to the White Album, Revolver, and Abbey Road. Throwing in our super awesome $79 deal for Rock Band: The Beatles, we are pretty much eating, sleeping, and breathing the Beatles. It is awesome.

Luckily for us, Luke is into Rock-And-Roll. None of the Baby Mozart stuff for him! Hopefully that means he will be grow up to be somewhat cooler than me, who was raised on Richard Marx and Michael Bolton. I am enjoying my musical education as well, with my faves being Rocky Racoon, And Your Bird Can Sing, and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window. Of course, these are neither Angelia nor Time, Love and Tenderness, but hey, they are still pretty good. HA!

Anyway, here are Luke’s favorite Beatles tunes so far:

Yellow Submarine – Luke is a fan of any whimsical Ringo song, but this is his favorite. Probably because his bathtime book, which we have read to him at every bath since he was born, has a submarine in it. Or maybe just because it is awesome.

Come Together – Luke was already familiar with this song because I snuck the Kris Allen version onto his CD of baby songs we played in the car for a while. I’m sure he appreciates the Beatles version much more. He has good taste, after all.

Yer Blues – It’s clear at this point that Luke’s preferred musical genre is The Blues. This was the first song he responded to, with a cool head bob. Kind of depressing lyrics for such a little kid, I guess, but as long as he’s not hearing prophetic messages from Helter Skelter, I think I’m okay with it.

I Want You (She’s So Heavy) – Luke finds this song inexplicably hilarious. I was driving the other day and he just burst out laughing. I couldn’t really figure out what he found so funny until the song came on again and the same thing happened. This song makes him the happiest of anything in the world. Maybe he’ll turn out to be a badass guitarist or something.

Our December album is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I am sure something from that will end up on Luke Tunes: Vol. 5. I’m betting on the bounciness of When I’m Sixty-Four, but the kid is unpredictable so you never know.

Did I say “awesome” yet?

For Veteran’s Day

Stephanie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:00:33 +0000

Luke with his Great Grandaddy (WWII Veteran) and Great Uncle Andy (Vietnam Veteran)
and Tom after Great Granddaddy’s Honor Flight from Charleston, SC

11/07/09 at the WWII Memorial in D.C.