Saying Goodbye to January

 Our New Years Resolution chalkboard was one of my favorites and it ended up gracing our wall for the entire month of January. Thursday night it was time to say goodbye to January and that meant putting away our snowmen, New Years decorations, and washing the chalkboard. Pip wanted to get in on the action and it turns out she is an excellent scrubber. 

 Now if only I could harness that cleaning excitement and use it in her playroom. 

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

 

At least once a day I catch Pip reading. She loves to curl up in one of the chairs in our living room and "read" to herself, to the pups, or to one of her babies. I wish you could be here to see her read. She points to the pictures, she uses inflection, and while I have no idea what her babbles mean, she is reading with purpose and she expects her audience to pay attention. Simon and Sophie have gotten quite the earful when they dared to leave story time before Miss Pip was finished reading. I know I have said this before, but I am so loving this stage of life. She has so much personality and spunk! P.S. She dressed herself today. Girlfriend loves stripes and patterns.

Teacher Style Files

I am trying to be more creative with my wardrobe and maximize what I can do with the pieces of clothing I already own. This is my effort to save more money, still be stylish, not fall victim to saying I have NOTHING to wear.

Monday 1/14

Where: School, Play date with Pip in the afternoon

Wear: Purple cardigan, J. Crew; Purple floral blouse, Old Navy, 

Unseen: Hot pink pencil skirt, J. Crew

Thursday 1/24:
Where: School Day, Parent Meeting
Wear: Black Puff Sleeved Sweater, Old Navy, Grey & Yellow stretch pencil skirt, Old Navy, Black Flats, Payless

Sunday 1/20

Where: Day Date of errands with Mr. R.

Wear: Scarf, Old Navy, Khaki Safari Jacket, Ann Taylor Loft, Sunnies, DG

Unseen: Floral Tank, Old Navy, Jeans, GAP

Tuesday 1/29
Where: School Day, mostly lecturing and facilitating today
Wear: Navy Blazer, Gap; Orange strip dress, Banana Republic Outlet; Navy leggings, Old Navy, Brown flats, Payless

Sunday 1/27
Where: Off Broadway Production of Mary Poppins
Wearing: Lace Peplum Blouse, Forever 21; Old Navy Ponte Skinny Black Pants; Leopard Pointy Kitten Heels, Target

Keep your head, standards, and heels high!

Mr. R. calls these my Jersey heels. He created that moniker in honor of the shoe's pointy toes and leopard print. Tonight Pip borrowed my heels for a few laps around our living room. I sent Mr. R. the picture with a text that said, "You can take the girl out of Jersey, but you can't take the Jersey out of the girl". Pip will be our Florida girl, but I hope she gets just a bit of my Jersey sass and attitude, it has taken me pretty far in this life.

Sunday, Funday

Last week we laid low. Mr. R. was crazy busy with work, Miss Pip was on the verge of having a full blown cold (sneezing, coughing, sniffling), and I was just trying to stay afloat, treading water on the both the home and work fronts. I was so looking forward to Sunday. Sunday I had a date with the best girls in the world to see Mary Poppins. The show was amazing! I am still in awe of the broadway rendition of Step In Time. Bert tap danced upside down on the ceiling of the theater! While I was having girl time Mr. R. watched Pip. During intermission he texted me the picture of Pip, she is wearing her PJ pants as a hat. Mr. R. also arranged Miss Rita to give us a date night Sunday night. After the show I picked up Mr. R. at home and we had dinner downtown. We took a chance on a new place and fell in love with Mojo BBQ. I know I should say that I missed Pip terribly yesterday, but I didn't. I had a blast with my girlfriends, I knew Pip was in great hands, and I came home refreshed and ready to tackle this week. 

Pip-casso

Saturday morning Pip demanded to paint. She found the finger paints, carried them to me, and then ran to get her bathing suit. I love that she knows we paint in the bath. I changed her into her suit, loaded the ice cube tray with paint, placed two brushed in the tub and let her go to town. She didn't even want paper on Saturday. She painted the bottom and sides of the tub, she painted the walls, and then she switched to painting her feet and calling her painted toes "shoes". She had a blast and within minutes all the paint and the mess was washed down the drain. 

 Making her own watercolors, finger paint mixed with bath water. 

Pip's New Reading Nook

We lowered Pip's twin bed off the bed frame this weekend. 

Now the box spring is directly on the floor making it much more toddler accessible.

I added a few throw pillows that used to grace our couch, but have been hiding in our linen closet since the summer. We added a basket filled with her favorite Golden books and a few of her favorite stuffed friends. 

 She loves her little reading nook! We found her curled up her the quilt with Sophie, Mickey Mouse, and her cookie monster book several times this week. 

 Bedtime books were read in her room Saturday night. 

Her new favorite book is Cookie Monster and the cookie tree. 

Coloring with Snow White

Snow White is still the favorite Princess at Casa Republican. Last Thursday Pip pulled out her dress-up box and changed into her Snow White dress for an evening of coloring, lego building, and cookie baking in her play kitchen. I love the nights we play dress-up, who doesn't like piling on necklaces & bracelets and wearing tiaras? I think tiara Thursday should be a new tradition in our house. 

'cessories

Pip has become increasingly interested in dressing up. She wears her Princess dresses often, but also borrows her Daddy's baseball caps along with my scarves, purses, and shoes. She still wears her witch hat from Halloween and if I dare to leave my jewelry box open, she covers her neck in as many necklaces as it will hold. 

She calls her dress-up clothes her 'cessory, meaning accessories. Last week she claimed my purse and sunnies as her 'cessory and wore them both on our walk through the neighborhood. 

Joy Filled Monday

Things have been a little quiet on the blog and I apologize for the unexpected break in blogging. I meant to just take a few days off and here I sit over a week later with a pile of pictures and stories to tell. Here are a few things that made my smile last week.

We have been having lots of tea parties, some in the morning before work and some at night in our pajamas. She makes sure everyone gets a cookie and a cup of tea, even the pups. She also only serves you one cookie. She is all about portion control and moderation. 

 Miss Pip has been requesting pigtails, sunglasses, and to pick put her own clothes. She is very opinionated about what she is wearing. She has also taken to writing recently. We get lots of little notes from Pip on our mail, lists, and notes to each other. We tell ourselves they are little love notes 

 I am still running. 

Running has become my free therapy. It's my time to run out my stresses and take care of myself. I blast my music and run as fast as my legs will let me. 

 Mr. R. and I have been on two dates in the last two weeks. 

Last Sunday we planned a date around our typical weekend errands. We made the grocery, Costco, and Target rounds while squeezing in coffee at Starbucks and a dinner date at California Pizza Kitchen.

We ordered the roasted pear pizza and it was amazing. I have been dreaming about it since last week and I am determined to figure out a way to make it at home. 

 We both had last Monday, MLK Jr. day, off. 

We spent the morning at our neighborhood park. Pip is a huge fan of the slides and the swings. 

 I captured this picture as we were leaving. I think she looks to much like my side of the family here. 

In fact, my sister has claimed that Pip is her doppelganger.

Baking with my girl.

It is well known that I am not a baker. I can cook dinner with the best of them, but something happens when I bake. My cookies go flat, my brownies become chalky, and we will not even speak of the pie incident. But every once in a while a recipe comes along that looks relatively easy and I decide to put my baking woes aside and give it a try. 

Tonight Pip and I teamed up to make M&M cookie bars. 

And the end result, deliciously chewy chocolate indulgence with a few cute photos to boot!

Joy Filled Fridays: She loved life, and it loved her right back.

A quick recap of a few things that brought a smile to my face this week.

I love how excited she gets when her Daddy takes her our on the town for a date. I also love that I get a few hours on my own. Today I drank my morning coffee on the couch while reading and then I got to run 5 miles solo. I love these two with all my heart, but I also love that my husband understands I am a better wife and mother when I have justalittle time to myself.

English Muffin Bread

 There has been a bread recipe going around pinterest for a while claiming to taste just like English muffins. We love English muffins at Casa Republican. But in an effort to eat healthier/cleaner, English muffins have been on the "No, thank you list". 

We have been trying to avoid/eliminate preservatives and white flour. Flour and I are not friends anymore thanks to a little thing called gluten.

I tweaked the recipes some, subbing in whole wheat flour (a little better for me, but still NOT gluten free) and eliminating the butter. A little olive oil on the bread pan or a few squirts of pam does the same things. 

And 2.5 hours later we had homemade bread, perfect for Pip's breakfast and Mr. R.'s afternoon snacking habit.

I tried my piece last night and I can tell you it tastes amazing with strawberry jam. 

I think the best part is even the slices have the famous nooks and crannies. 

Made my Monday

 Three things are making my Monday tonight.

1. Time to read an actual book. I haven't read several chapters at once since before Pip was born. Glorious I tell you. Glorious. 

2. Getting to the half mark in couch to 5k. 4 weeks in, 4 weeks to go.

3. Pip fell asleep before 7:15 tonight. It's 7:45 and I am already in pjs, fuzzy socks, and drinking my pre-bed cup of tea. I am ecstatic to be heading to bed at 8:00 PM. This girl is tired, way tired.