Snapshots II

The kids threw a celebration party soon after we found out little guy is a boy. Costumes, music, choreographed dancing, friends. Between that and Will climbing into bed with me every morning to snuggle my belly and whisper animatedly to his little bro inside - it's overwhelmingly sweet how excited they are.

Summer continues to sprout. Nothing like an imminent new baby to make your previous baby seem suddenly enormous and mature.

Happy to report she has finally weaned (I was increasingly nervous about managing milk supply for 2 children - this was new territory for me to even be able to feed so long...)

Fortunately, her new love of babydolls has eased the bedtime transition as she gathers 5-10 each night and we rock them all to "sleep."

We found a cool frog in the neighbors pool one afternoon. (It received endless boogie board rides.)

her new favorite perch - you better watch out if you try to sit there

And so much yummy food has been gracing our palates these days. Thanks to Pinterest I have been going to town in the kitchen whipping up all sorts of yummies with loads of fresh motivation. 5-minute homemade granola bars? Yes, please. Fresh peach pie? Okay. Artisan pizzas? Sign me up. Spinach artichoke pasta? Yum-O!!

my current obsession: fresh figs (and notice how Will has surpassed me in his level of Vegemite Love)

Addiction?

We all know and love the genius invention that is the internet. And we probably all appreciate by now the dangers lurking therein. With the good comes the bad, and while life today can be elevated to incredible heights through the convenient access to valuable information which recent technological advances have brought us, of course, there are the flip sides too.

One of which is a tendency toward addiction. dun, Dun, DUN...

I've successfully steered clear of any "addictions" so far (incessantly checking Facebook/Twitter/email/blogs/technology in general) but I'm afraid I'm coming dangerously close to one: Pinterest.
 


Yes, I heard it all before and delayed intentionally, but last week I finally took a peek and man, that is some good stuff! Favorite thing about it? The simplified process of browsing, searching and storing the information most valuable to you. For those of you still new to this particularly brilliant sensation - it's an online pinboard that virtually eliminates the need to catalogue your "favorites" in other ways. No more clipping magazine or newspaper articles and pictures! No more endless online bookmarks! Hey, no more labeled file folders for all your great "to do someday" ideas! Just pin anything you find online, whether it's from a website, blog, news article, or random image/video. Then it's all there safely stored and accessible whenever/wherever - a series of individualized "boards" filled with compact, tidy pictures, properly linked to the original source or website for whenever you get around to following up. Plus the capability of sharing all those brilliant ideas with the world by the click of a mouse. Browse your boards, those of similar-styled friends, or search by topic/keyword for new ideas others have pinned already. What's not to love? Sure scales down those massive Google searches. It's like reading your favorite magazine without any ads or lame articles- just flipping through page after page, wanting to dogear every last one. That buzz you get from pinning image after image of lovely/brilliant/timesaver/clever ideas for everything from parenting to date nights to decorating to deliciousness. My brain's simply bursting with all the new tips, tricks and inspiration to enrich, beautify and yes, even simplify my life. It's beautiful and fun and ADDICTING.

So, you've been warned. (But I still highly recommend it!) Now if you'll excuse me while I go "pin" some more St. Patrick's Day crafts or genius educational activities for the kids or my favorite: amazing food recipes. Click HERE for my boards as an example of how it works. (It's okay, I'm giving myself one more week before I clamp down with some concrete limits.) Happy Pinning!