Unplanned Benefits.

Our floors aren't done. We're on hiatus during the work week, but hope to finish the floors and put in our new door this weekend. But that's won't stop Luca from embracing the change. Her new love is changing into dance clothes in the morning because, in her words, "It's like ballet class in here!"

Every little girl needs a tutu, sparkly shoes, and a daddy who can help her spin.

Eyes in a Time of Blindness

I stole this from Dooce. I can't stop watching it. One of my favorite U2 songs ever, plus an amazing example of awesome heart.

Pretty Doors.

We're still knee-deep in flooring renovation, but the finish line is getting closer and closer. And since we already bit the bullet and invested in new flooring, we decided it was high time to check another item off our 'dream list' for the house (yes, there really IS one of those, on our fridge) and buy french doors to replace our old slider. To keep costs down, we got the kind that are primed and have to be installed by us.

I've been dreaming of painting the interior side a pretty color that would bring some more variety into our rooms. The great room, where the door is housed, is a very soft yellow by Behr called Social Butterfly:

The walls in the kitchen/dining area are Behr's Eucalyptus Leaf:


I wanted to pull a green into the room, but I'm not sure which direction to go with it. Something apple or lime, but not too dark and not too vivid. I also find myself drawn to these bluey-greens, so for inspiration I gathered some pictures:

Benjamin Moore Vienna Green from here.

From here.

No idea what color this is, but I like it. From here. 

Not sure what color this is either. From here.

Not sure what color this is, from here.

Technically a cabinet color, but would work for a door. From here.

Cooking Apple Green by Farrow & Ball, found here.

Cooking Apple Green seen on a door here.

The doors will probably go in next weekend, so I've definitely got some time to make a decision. And convince my hubby.

Through Hell to Get to Heaven.

If there's one thing you can say about Darrick and I, it's that we sure know how to celebrate time off together. Last fall, I took the week of his fall break off and we ripped out our saltillo tile and refinished the concrete.

The big problem here? The sales person who helped us pick the finish for our floors advised that we get a product we pretty much ended up hating. I mean, it looked pretty fresh and light and breezy when we first did it, but there were some serious issues here. First, the product we were sold to fill in holes and divits was useless. Rather than filling them flush with the floor's surface, it created 'bubbles' inside the holes that looked super tacky. Second, the surface of this floor is not dog-and-kid friendly. Dirt gets on it and never seems to come off of it. Nothing short of scouring it on hands and knees with soap and a scrub brush will lift the dirt, and who has time for that? Third, without something on top of the concrete, the baseboards didn't fit back in place right, meaning we never finished freshining them up and re-attaching them to the walls.

So, in short, we have: uneven floor with weird holes in it that are filled with bubbles, dirt that won't ever be fully removed, and missing baseboards. Nice, right?

We decided this 3 day weekend was our perfect opportunity to go up north and get out of the heat. And then, we got sidetracked and ended up cancelling our hotel reservations and spending 7 hours today installing laminate flooring in our kitchen. It took much longer than we'd expected and was tedious and tiring, but the kitchen floor looks so good you could kiss it! At some point today, we had to run to Home Depot to get a tool to help us install the edges and corners, and decided on a whim to buy MORE flooring so we can extend this into the dining room this weekend, and eventually into the great room as well. In my perfect world, our front room (aka the catch-all play/exercise room) will get done at some point too, but probably not for awhile.

It's not how everyone would spend their weekend, but once you see the pictures I think you'll understand why I'm more than happy to spend ours installing floors.

For now, a sneak peek:

Did I mention it was 118 today in Chandler, and we sweated our butts off?

We made a decision today, too, to not put the shitty old stove back in there. Since we had to pull it out all the way to get in the floors, and since it is completely crappy, we're kicking it to the curb and buying a new stove in a stainless finish. We eat at home far more than we used to these days partly because of cost, partly because of health, and partly because Rohan acts like one of those kids in restaurants most of the time. So a new stove is a non-negotiable.

I'll have a ton more pictures to share soon!

A Very Special Customed Lunch Just for Me and Only Me.

It's no secret that Luca is not a big eater. In fact, it would be fair to say she's a horrible eater. Her appetite is small, she is picky, and she would rather do almost anything more than eating.

Several months ago, Darrick and I really started working on changing the way we eat and feed our family. It's not just about what foods we choose, but about our attitudes in general. He has a chip on his shoulder about dairy products, for example, insisting on whole fat products instead of reduced or non-fat. I am super picky and love sweets. We're not perfect, but we decided to start working together to find ways to get more healthy food in our bellies and more positive interactions around meals: shopping with the kids and talking about why we eat certain foods, prepping dinner as a family, letting the kids make their own sandwiches, etc. But one elephant in the room was Luca and her tiny appetite.

Luca is a healthy kid. She is smart and strong and loves healthy foods. But she also loves junk food and doesn't eat much quantity of food, meaning it's really easy to get through an entire day with her and realize she's barely eaten from 3 of the 4 main food groups. We've struggled to get her to eat healthy foods in enough quantity to get her nutrients that she needs, and we have struggled even more over how much we should push her. Like a typical toddler, when we push she pulls, and it never ends well.

So we decided on a new approach. No repeatedly asking her to eat. No nudging her to finish her plate. If she refuses a meal, that's fine; she can eat something healthy later when she says she's hungry. And if meals aren't working, we move to healthy smaller items, like half an apple with some peanut butter and a low-fat string cheese or some slices of turkey and a yogurt. It's not ideal, and it drives my husband more batty than it drives me, but we're conscious of not wanting to make food an issue with her, and so far this method is working.

Most successful? Giving her some options of healthy foods she loves and can eat in smaller quantities. Less of a 'meal' as our generation knows it and more of a healthy plate of foods she can eat and will enjoy, and which will give her the things she needs.

The other night, I gave her some options for dinner, and she ended up with this meal. She not only ate the whole thing, she asked for more. She was so proud of her meal she kept calling it her "Very Special Customed Lunch Just for Me and Only Me." In the end, she ate about 2 oz of hummus, a tbsp of peanut butter, 1.5 pitas (amazing for her, since she's not a bread lover), 8 baby carrots, and a handful of blueberries.

The real winner here was the pita cut out to make the letters of her name. She LOVED them, so I'll definitely try to find ways to incorporate more fun into her fuel in the future.

Patrick.

My new nephew arrived last night at 9:16 p.m. He's absolutely perfect, and everyone is 110% smitten.

Patrick Robert: