Tag: activities

Busy as a. . .

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I really want to write, but I have been running around in fifty different directions since the beginning of the month. I can’t even say it’s because of having a new baby in the house. I mean, it is in part, but the other part is that we are just always doing something, even when we aren’t doing anything, there’s something going on that needs my attention.

Sure, sure, I always say that I’m busy, but here’s how busy I’ve been. . .

I haven’t been on Pinterest for five weeks! Shocking!

I will definitely recap all of our adventures, but for now, I just wanted to check in and ask that you stick with me.  Our regularly scheduled catalog of recipes, foolishness and photographs will resume forthwith.

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IN: ON: August 24, 2012 TAGS: , , , BY: Hilary
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Home Stretch

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Tomorrow is August 1st.

We are coming down to the end of Summer 2012 and what a summer it has been. I remember sitting at my desk back in March, surrounded by pamphlets and print-outs of the various activities I would enroll the girls in once school let out. The plan was for them to do an activity for a week, then have a week at home where they did nothing and so on for the duration of the summer. The whole thing would culminate with our family trip (notice I said trip, not vacation) to Martha’s Vineyard in August.

After I had completed sign-ups, remitted payments, bought supplies, and made all the arrangements, part of me felt like I had over-scheduled the girls.  I mean, it is summer time, afterall.  When would they just sit around and get bitten by mosquitoes? Catch lightening bugs and run through the sprinkler? Would there be time to grill out, get their mouths stained from Flavor-Ice and get their knees all gravelly  from doodling up the driveway with sidewalk chalk? Add the early arrival of their new baby sister (SN: of course a baby is new, isn’t it redundant to say “new baby”? is there such a thing as an old baby?), it seemed like the summer plans were off the chain in their up to the minute busyness.

Then, I looked at the calendar. July 31st. Everything is done.  They’ve been to Riverside Outfitters, they’ve been to RMS Survivor Camp. They’ve been to art camp and swimming lessons.  They have spent the week with my parents where they ate Chinese food for breakfast, stayed up late every night, and had a free-for-all in the Dollar Tree when my dad gave them each a fiver  and a shopping cart.  They’ve gone to the museum, the zoo, paint your own pottery and the playground.  They saw fireworks, waved sparklers and ran around with glow necklaces and bracelets as the sun faded from a red welt into a purplish haze.  They’ve gone to the movies, the pool, and have played, played, played upstairs in the playroom.  They’ve been to Target, to Barnes and Noble, and Build-A-Bear Workshop picking out books and toys.  They are having the best.summer.ever.

I’m jealous.

August is peeking over the horizon and I’m stunned.  The summer had stretched so far in front of us for so long, I’m surprised to actually see it come to an end.  I feel like I was just writing about our plans and how I was looking forward to the start of the summer.  Thankfully, we’ve got our last hurrah before it’s all said and done — the Vineyard.  Even though we’re going to be driving (*shudder*), I have to say that I’m really looking forward to it.  We’re committed to making this pilgrimage part of the Dixon family history and this year, we’re going to introduce Miss Vivi to it.  The guest room has become a staging area for towels, sheets, beach gear, clothes and the usual detritus that makes its way into suitcases and duffel bags.

The end of the summer is always a transition and this year is no different.  I’m marveling at how in a few short weeks, I’ll have a seven year old (August 23rd, and yes, Mo is reminding everyone and anyone in a 2 foot radius), a rising kindergartner and a 3 month old.  Fast forward another week or so and we’ll be full on into the school year and all the stuff that goes along with it (you know I’m talking about all things pumpkin!).

But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Time to enjoy the last few hours that July has to offer before fully wrapping my arms around August.

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IN: ON: July 31, 2012 TAGS: , , BY: Hilary
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June

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The girls get out of school in about 5 days.  Then the summer will officially begin.  Oh sure, there are a few camps in the mix, but when those requisite summer activities are completed, it will be a summer of no plans. Shock of all shocks, right?

I’m hoping that me and the three love-bugs will spend many days outside just watching the clouds roll by and waiting for the delicious melody of the ice cream man rolling through the neighborhood.

There will be sidewalk chalk.
There will be bubble juice and every conceivable contraption to make bubbles.
There will be sprinklers and new bathing suits.
There will be trips to the pool.
There will be trips to the playground.
There will be Popsicle stained mouths and dirt stained knees.
There will be bug bites and lightening bugs trapped in jelly jars.
There will be cook-outs with ketchup stained paper plates.
There will trips to the Vineyard, to the grands.
There will be smiles and laughs and happiness.

Let’s get started. . .

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IN: ON: June 1, 2012 TAGS: , , , BY: Hilary
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photography projects & DIY

Thoughts on a Tuesday

I’m Type A. I know that about myself and I embrace it whole heartedly.  I love making plans. I like lists. I like nothing more than taking a piece of paper and filling it with the fine minutiae of what will suck up the minutes of my day. Even simple things that are part of our everyday routine, like “Drive the girls to school” make it on the list so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off when I’m done.  It’s the little things in life, right? Well, that and new pair of shoes. . .ooooh, I’m going to add that to my list.

Anyway, finding some time to write and something to write about has been topping my list as of late.  I haven’t been any busier or any more tired than normal. I just haven’t felt compelled to write. Or more likely, when I do have a minute to write, the great ideas I had slamming around in my head have disintegrated into “What am I going to have for lunch?” and “What happened to that ice cream I hid behind the frozen peas?” and stuff like that.

Sure, I have thoughts on Trayvon Martin, Samantha Brick, Sandra Fluke, placenta pills, red-shirting your kids, and the on-going SAHM vs. working mom vs. OAM debate.  There’s a lot to discuss out there and I’d rather have a meaningful discussion about it with some friends over coffee than just put my two cents into the mix, step back and see what happens.  A lot can get lost in the translation between my head, the keyboard, and whomever chooses to read what I’ve written.

So, I gravitate towards lighter fare.

Photographs and pictures that inspire me.

I do believe in mermaids. I do, I do.

Recipes that I want to try.

Pie in a Jar

Clothes that I’d like to have (and somewhere schmancy to wear them to).

All dressed up with places to go.

Crafts I’m (pretty sure) I can make.

Where we met, married and live map

Places I want to visit.

Ahhh, Venice.

Books I’m reading.

I don’t know if I’m impressed or depressed.

At first, I was going to take this blank space of a post and write about how I’m already planning Co’s 5th birthday party.  Yes, I have OAM tendencies, but I’m taking medication for that.


SN: My mom got on my case when I whipped out my folder of ideas and notes. “Her birthday is still in September, right?”


“Yes, Mom.”


“And you do know that it’s April, right?”


“Yes, Mom.”

After my first paragraph about list making and my internal monologue about “proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance”, my train of thought took a different course. And I just started writing just to write.  I have come across several other bloggers giving tips on how to get started with blogging, or how to improve your blog.  Sometimes, I want this blog to be a little more than it is.  I want it to have substance (the word gravitas keeps flashing in my head). I go through periods where I’m ready to scrap it as my personal sounding board and really try to pinpoint some topics that I think are worth intellectually stimulating.

I want it to be something that people say, “Did you see what was on the One L today?” (of course, that would necessitate more writing, but I’m working on that).  I want to have fully formed, thought-provoking opinions on topics that matter.  BUT, I also just want to look at pretty things, eat good food, read books that have me thinking “Just one more page and then I’ll put it down”, and take pictures of my family and friends that really capture just who I am and what I’m about.

I focus on the tidbits that make up my little plot of earth:  how my girls are the smartest and funniest bundles of the best parts of me and my hubs, how we’re getting ready to become a family of five, and my attempts to be a better person.  I show off a few things that I’ve made — I just finished making little ribbons for Co’s soccer team (pictures forth coming).  I’m still working on those Norfolk Mermaids.  I’m slowly growing a photography business. I’m busy in ways that matter to me and that matter to those people who are most important to me.  I might not be the wittiest, the funniest, the craftiest blogger out there, but I’m doing what I know how to do the best way I know how to do it.  
In college, when I became a member of my sorority, I was given a name that represented who I was and who I had become throughout my sorority experience. At the time, I didn’t really get it’s significance, but as I’ve *ahem* matured, I’ve come to appreciate it even more.  I’ve definitely grown into it.  I understand how it truly represents the person I’ve become.

e·thos

   [ee-thos, ee-thohs, eth-os, -ohs]  Show IPA

noun

1.

Sociology . the fundamental character or spirit of a culture;the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs,or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions ofa people or period: In the Greek ethos the individual was highlyvalued.
2.

the character or disposition of a community, group, person,etc.
3.

the moral element in dramatic literature that determines acharacter’s action rather than his or her thought or emotion.

This blog is just an extension of that.  This is what makes my blog my own.  I don’t need to be like every other blogger out there. They’re already filling niches; why cram myself in? I’m going to stick with what I know. Just doing my own thing and crossing things off my list as I go.

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IN: photography projects & DIY ON: April 17, 2012 TAGS: , , , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Office Space

One of the things I like about our new house is that there is a room on the third floor that I have claimed as my own. I have an office! With a door that closes!  Woo-woo!

When we moved, this coveted space became a wasteland for all of the post-move detritus.  Boxes of books, holiday decor, old children’s clothes, my Stampin’ Up! stuff, and more boxes of books.  There were piles of random electrical cords, computer attachments, and instruction manuals.  A VCR/DVD combo unit took up residence alongside a bag full of totebags.  Seriously, there was a big Nike gym bag full of assorted soft bags.  In the middle of this melee was our “computer desk” and chair.  I use the words computer desk lightly because in truth, it was just a table we scored at an office firesale many, many years ago.  I mean, give me a board and two saw horses and I could fashion a better desk.

My goal has been to de-junk the office, get some real office furniture and truly make this place my own.  It’s been a process, but I’m nearing the home stretch. I’ve gotten most, if not all of the boxes unpacked. Those that aren’t or can’t be until we can conjure up some more space in the attic have been artfully tucked into these little wall cut-outs in the room.  When it came time to get those things off of the floor and out of sight, I was stacking boxes like I was playing Tetris.

I’ve got a for real desk that I put together myself:

and I got a coordinating chair, that yes, I put together myself!

Talk about a labor of love. You know that construction is going to be time consuming when you make a mental note that there are more pouches of screws than letters in the alphabet (anyone see packet PP?). And there was in fact a piece missing from the box that the chair was delivered in, but I haven’t fall out of it and it hasn’t fallen to pieces, so I’m calling this a win.

I scored some green accent lamps at Target, along with one of those 9-cube bookcases to house as many books as I can squeeze in there.  There’s been some overflow, but for now, most are displayed and I can put my hands on what I’m looking for when I want to.  Plus, the top of the bookcase makes for a great display shelf of some of my sorority paraphernalia.  I think the last time it was displayed was probably when I crossed!

I also scoured through all kinds of Container Store and Hold Everything type of places until I found the right shade of green photo archival boxes.  Once and for all, I went through all of my loose photos, even the ones dating back past high school, and categorized them.  Opposite the wall-cut outs, there are some built in shelves.  In went the photo storage boxes (strategically placed) amongst some camera equipment, some books, and Craig’s mini collection of die cast Porche 911’s.  In my head, this is my office, but I deigned to give him a shelf so he feels included.

After all the DIY of the chair and the desk, the unpacking of books, the place was looking kind of crusty and dusty.  So, I hauled the vacuum cleaner up the stairs and actually vacuumed.  You know, the vac and I have an on again, off again relationship, so this is a big deal.  Nothing beats seeing fresh vacuum tracks in the carpet, though, right?  Ahhhh. . .  the place is clean, airy, and ready for work.  And I really enjoy coming up here and putting in some work, be it to edit some photos, work on a blog post, hide from the children.

It’s so nice and organized in here.  It’s great, but I think I cleaned up too well.  There are about half a dozen things I can’t find: my tripod, my extra camera bag, my box of poetry books (because sometimes I really want to read some Langston Hughes), my Modelogic portfolio.   I have a sinking feeling that they’re tucked in some kind of suspended animation in one of those wall cut outs, way behind the remaining boxes of stuff.  It’s going to take a stick of dynamite to move that stuff.

Maybe I don’t need those things right now, afterall. . . .

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IN: ON: November 15, 2011 TAGS: , , BY: Hilary
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Something New

I’ve gotten bored with running.  I came up with a pretty good circuit around the neighborhood, but now, I’m getting tired of passing the same ol’ mailboxes and what not.  Don’t even get me started on the Y. I mean, I really like the Zumba classes that I’ve been taking, but on the off days, trying to get on a treadmill is like standing in line for bread during the Depression.  I burn more calories trying to will people off the machines than I do actually moving my bod.

I’ve been driving around town (quelle surprise), and I kept passing the shopping center up the block from our house.  I noticed that one of the end units is undergoing some kind of renovation.  “Another restaurant,” I mused.  On one of my runs, which takes me past said shopping center, I saw they’d hung a banner in the window: www.richmondkettlebellclub.com

Hmmmm. . .consider my curiosity piqued.

I visited the website, and after a quick read through of the various tabs.  Here’s my Cliff-Noted version: Russian based physical training program involving a cannonball with a handle.

Oh, I’m totally all over that. And yes, I know, I know, I’m tardy to the party.  But, like with my forays into Pilates, P90X and Zumba, better late than never.

I called them up and inquired about their free trial class, which I will be trying out this Saturday.  Sunday, I’ll probably be trying out Ben-Gay and Icy-Hot in various applications.  No pain, no gain, right?

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IN: ON: September 1, 2011 TAGS: , BY: Hilary
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photography projects & DIY

Painted Walls, Happy Girls

When we broke the news to the girls that we were leaving Norfolk for Richmond, Morgan was particularly vocal in her reluctance to leave.

She listed all of the reasons she didn’t want to leave Norfolk, why Richmond wouldn’t be any fun, and all possible scenarios that would render her post-kindergarten summer the worst on record.  Not easily swayed by the drama she puts forth, seeing as she does so on a regular basis, Craig and I heaped reason after reason why a move would in fact be a good thing.

She wasn’t buying it.

So Craig resorted the one, true trick tool every parent calls upon at one point or another: bribery.

And it worked.

We told the girls that with a move to a new house comes a new room for them to decorate.  Ever the skeptic, Morgan asked, “Decorate however we want?”

Within reason, we assured her, but certainly, think of the possibilities.  Craig enumerated all the ways they could make their new room their own.  He mentioned hanging up the Norfolk Mermaid poster we had framed, putting up canopy beds. Then he pulled out the big gun: a mermaid mural on the wall.

Whoa.

And of course, Morgan heard that and well, it was done deal.  For days thereafter, “When are we going to Richmond and when are we getting the mural painted on the wall?” became her constant call.

As we boxed up the Norfolk house day after day, as the movers came and carted stuff onto the truck, she kept reminding Coever, “. . and when we get to Richmond, we’re going to get a mural of mermaids on the wall! I’m so excited!” She’d clench her hands together up under her chin and bounce on her toes in anticipation.

When we rolled up to the new digs, you can imagine what she said. When she and Coever raced up the stairs to their room, you can imagine what she said, immediately followed by, “Well, where is it?”

Thankfully, Craig had been in touch with several artists, trying to obtain the best one for the project. We decided that when the girls spent a week with his parents this summer, we’d get it done while they were gone and it would be ready to surprise them when they came home.

Which is exactly what we did.

Morgan and Coever as mermaids
I love the detailing of the puffs and the eyes.

Many thanks to Emily Z. for the great design and speedy work!

 The girls love it.

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IN: photography projects & DIY ON: July 24, 2011 TAGS: , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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