here and there

we couldn't believe that today was the last day of february (yikes) and then we uploaded the photos from our little camera and remembered where (at least some of) our days had gone. here's a little bit of what we found. (please forgive us for the poor camera quality and bad lighting!)

i bought groceries with a very happy shopper, peeking through a bunch of carrots and a baguette.

we made the best texas sheet cake ever. twice.

mateo saw his first indian dancing in our e.t. group, and i learned a few moves!

it snowed.

and snowed again, but this time with glitter.

and snowed some more.

luke joined a basketball league for the 3rd year in a row.

i did some nighttime cross country skiing on trails lit with candles (and had a lot of michigan love while skiing, i must say).

mateo had fun in the clothes basket,

but was sad after a bath.

we dined over a massive parking lot on the 99 cent ikea breakfast.

i organized my closet by color!

mateo had a breakfast date with his mama.

and had fun bundling up with his papa.

unica celebrated valentines day.
(luke overheard her ask mateo to be her valentine).

we finally tried the homemade peanut butter cup from pie town.

i realized my reading list keeps getting taller.

we made many, many soups, mostly with varied combinations of kale, leeks, potatos, carrots, onions, garlic, and celery.

and we drank lots of tea.

a snow day

and i'm speechless

smartwool. the actual smartwool, the company, heard about my little giveaway. and then a box arrived.

with the most beautiful and most comfortable socks ever! not just a few, we're talking enough socks to fill my sock drawer. for cold weather and warm weather. some for me, and even some for luke! some stripes and limited editions and diamonds and flowers. we've been dancing around the house like crazy. in total awe. and in our new smartwool.

i was already smartwool-for-life. but now? now that i know their company is as cool as their socks? and totally over the top generous? i mean, i just want to buy them for everyone. for all future occasions. and i will! we will be supporting them forever.

this post just doesn't do them justice. seriously, dear smartwool, especially molly at smartwool!, you are awesome. way awesome. unbelievable. thank you so much.

gardenhouse mondays

i've been volunteering each monday afternoon at our neighborhood gardenhouse. it's definitely winter as we walk through 10 minutes of ice and snow to get there, but it is always summertime in the gardenhouse. the day we took these photos it was a glorious 100 degrees inside!

i put mateo on my back in the ergo and we till the soil, plant seeds, water and clean the beds. there's also a lot of sitting and chatting and tea-drinking that goes on.

i can't tell you how nice it is to be inside seeing the green, breathing in all the freshness, and feeling the sun on my skin. i think mateo likes it too. the chard is my favorite - so colorful.

i was a little nervous to begin volunteering with my extremely limited plant knowledge. but my shift manager is really nice and is now a friend. another woman volunteers at the same time, who happens to bring her baby too. we were happily surprised to see each other.

the lettuce i planted while mateo slept on my back

and happily surprised to see a shoutout to the "monday evening mommas" in the neighborhood newsletter this week, inviting other moms and babies to come in as well. love it.

at 9 months mateo

:: loves to explore ::
:: and makes a break for the stairs every chance he gets ::
:: can crawl with his belly up but opts for the army crawl most of the time ::
:: prefers pulling himself up to standing rather than playing with toys ::
:: but still loves to chase balls and pull books off shelves, especially ::

:: eats every fruit and vegetable we've given him ::
:: is getting the hang of feeding himself ::
:: and has a few favorites: applesauce, yogurt, and cereal ::
:: loves to brush his (2) teeth ::

:: is still always moving, always wiggling ::
:: but becomes very still when we turn on any music, and just silently listens ::
:: loves to greet unica, and then the alarm clock, every morning ::
:: lets out a long happy scream whenever he sees his papi or unica ::
:: shows us love by putting his head down on our shoulder and nuzzling in, sometimes with besos, and makes high-pitched soft, squeaky sounds ::

a valentine's mixtape

1. tourjours l'amore / dimitri from paris
2. say hey (i love you) / michael franti & spearhead
3. question / old 97's
4. hold you in my arms / ray lamontagne
5. let's do it (let's fall in love) / ella fitzgerald
6. is this love / bob marley & the wailers
7. somebody loved / the weepies
8. by your side / sade
9. falling in love at a coffee shop / landon pigg
10. slow dance / john legend
11. ice cream / sarah maclachlan
12. beloved one / ben harper
13. come away with me / norah jones
14. wonderful tonight / eric clapton
15. let's get it on / marvin gaye
16. can't help falling in love / ingrid michaelson
17. the book of love / the magnetic fields
18. flightless bird, american mouth / iron & wine
19. forever, now, and then / clem snide
20. my funny valentine / chet baker

a bit classic, a bit jazzy, some new and some nostalgic, a little cheesy and definitely a little predictable. add a little surprise and it's just the way valentine's day should be, right?

anyone else have a mix or any recommendations? what are your plans this weekend? we are crossing our fingers and hoping to do some cross country skiing and maybe escape to ann arbor for the day. have a happy weekend!

ps. let us know if you'd like a copy. :)

all dinos, all the time

ok, so it's not all dinos, all the time, but he does wear some sort of animal every day. luke and i have a longstanding joke about if he were to continue dressing this way as an adult it would be apparent that he was really into animals. like, all of his peers would be sporting nike and talking about skinny jeans and mateo would respond with gusto, "yeah, but what about bears?!"

a new home for the smartwool!

congrats, ann!
send me an email with your mailing info and i will send you your new smartwool asap. i hope you enjoy them!

thanks everyone for entering and for your super kind words. they made my day. :)

an obsession, a confession, and something for you

ok my dear friends, here it is: i have become obsessed with smartwool. i have just two pairs, both green and well worn, and they are so, so comfortable and warm during this michigan winter (but, amazingly, perfectly cool in the summer!). i find reasons to do the laundry so i won't have to wear my "regular" socks. it has come to the point where i have been looking to sell something on craigslist in order to justify buying a $20 pair of socks. you know us - we are super frugal, we don't really do brand named anything, we have no money for socks. i've spent more time than i wish to share searching online for the ones i want (one of my faves pictured above), how i'd wear them (with a skirt or of course, under boots), and searching for a sale somewhere (none found). and more time than i wish to share talking to my husband about how great my feet feel on a smartwool day, and how cold and un-cushioned they feel on a non-smartwool day. he is this close to banning the word smartwool from our house, i think.

so, change of subject for a second: remember when i won this giveaway for a cloth diaper last summer? and how i promised a few times that i'd pass on the kindness? so here i am, 7 months later, without a giveaway. i've thought about making things a million times but 1) when? and 2) the stress of making something and then wondering if anyone would want it is daunting.

so then it hit me. i should be really kind, and give away the thing i want most right now. and right now (and for the past few months) it's been smartwool. that pair of smartwool. i was on a total sock-high when i went to buy them. then, because i was so happy to share them, and a little sad to have them in my hands for such a short time, i treated myself to a coffee (on a savored gift card) and told the barista this entire story. (sorry, james, who asked me what i was up to today).

so, up for grabs in my teaching-myself-a-lesson-and-passing-the-kindness giveaway is this: one lovely pair of new latte stripeucinno in chesnut pair of smartwool. also, our valentine mixed tape, and a few michigan goodies.

leave a comment below to enter, and i'll randomly choose a winner on tuesday morning. if you want, tell me that you will love them too. :)

ps. could this really be our 300th post?

little sleeper

we found this forgotten little clip tucked away in a corner of my laptop. mateo napping, maybe around 2 or 3 months old? it made us smile.

a nighttime walk in the snow

what we did at e.t. last week