Mostly Normal Mom

June 21st, 2013

Super Artwork

Sorry it's been so long! My camera is not working any more, so I haven't been taking pictures of the girls (other than on the webcam). Note: mostlynormalmom is now accepting donations for a new cell phone! Haha.

Also, it was Shire's birthday last week! She's 4 now (hopefully some other people took pictures and can share them with me). 

Here's a quick picture of Shire's artwork these days. She's really good, I think. That's Super Shire in the yellow and Super Mom in the blue; I think she really nailed my hair style, ha!

March 29th, 2013

TypeM Photography Session

These pictures are from the talented Mara Greaney of TypeM Photography. They were taken right in our dining room--how great!

March 13th, 2013

Girls' Room

We play up in the girls' room a couple times a day. I find a change of scenery during the day is pretty essential, especially since it's so hard to get out of the house when it's still snowing and miserable (despite being mid-March). Mostly for my sanity, I keep the toys up in their room to a minimum. Right now, it's just dolls/house/cooking supplies (to go with the playhouse) and their books. 

Tea party in progress. I recently repainted the little rocker to match with the yellows of the rest of the room. It turned out pretty decent despite my poor painting technique. 

The girls' gallery wall continues to grow. I'll admit, it's one of my favorite things. 

The playhouse is still pretty much the same as when it was built last fall, with a few small additions.

This is a little memory-foam bath mat (which we already had but weren't really using). This lives at the bottom of the ladder. Freya's been climbing up the ladder since we built the playhouse, and she figured out how to go down a couple months ago too. I'm amazed that we still haven't had a fall off the ladder, but I feel a little better knowing there's a cushion at the bottom.

Peek-a-boo! I also added some little curtains to the upper windows (from two mini tension rods and a set of brown embroidered place mats that I've probably had for five years and never used). How fanciful!

In the downstairs, there's a small room for the girls' doll cradle. It's tall enough for Freya to stand up in, but everyone else has to crawl.

And opposite that is the kitchen area.

I think maybe next I'll make some curtains for this lower window (or maybe some shutters?) so they can use this as a puppet area. 

February 24th, 2013

Happy Birthday Freya!

Lunch, cupcakes, and ice cream and Ella's Deli with mom, dad, sissy, bamma and papa, and aunt KK. A few friends managed to stop by too. A good afternoon. 

November 4th, 2012

Charlotte's Web

Yesterday, Shire got to have a special date with Mom and Dad to go see CTM's production of "Charlotte's Web." I bought the tickets for the show a couple of months ago, and Shire and I read the book together (yes, she's gotten to the point where she can sit through a chapter book a night with mom!)

The play was in the lower level of the Overture Center, in a little theatre called The Playhouse (appropriately). This area outside was a nice place for kids to run around before having to go sit down in the theatre. 

Speaking of seats, here we are: front row center. I couldn't believe that we were right next to the stage. 

The view from our seats (yes, I snuck a picture after the play was over). The set was really beautiful, with the centerpiece being the large metal web that the actress playing Charlotte hung from and crawled around. 

Speaking of, here's Charlotte. She did a wonderful job; I especially loved the music and otherworldly quality of her voice. It was exactly how I've always imagined Charlotte sounds.

Also, the play was really special because my friend Alex was playing Templeton! We know him both from Ring Game and because he's the drummer in the band that I started a couple of months ago. He was an amazing Templeton--he completely stole the show (as you can imagine). 

Afterwards we celebrated with Chocolate Shoppe ice cream. 

Chocolate, of course.

It was a pretty great day for everyone. 

September 21st, 2012

Playhouse: Step by Step

So, I'll try to have Stewart hop on here with me soon to provide more details about the actual construction process. But for now, here's some "in progress" pictures. 

Step 1 (Monday, September 3rd) -- removed closet doors, purchase lumber.

Step 2 -- removed interior shelving, cutting begins...

Step 4 -- constructed a frame to support platforms and walls. 

(Wednesday, September 5th) -- second platform completed

Step 5 (Friday, September 7th) -- floors in place and secured to platform; exterior design cut with jigsaw and secured to frame.

Step 7 (Sunday, September 9th) -- constructed door and ladder; purchases decorative supplies.

Steps 8--13 (Monday, September 10th - Sunday, September 16th) -- cleaned up all the construction dust, painted the interior and exterior and ceilings, cut and installed carpet, cut clear acrylic to fit upper windows, cut vinyl peel-and-stick floor tiles for faux stone finish, adhered "stones" with super glue. 

Step 14 -- put the toys back and opened the playhouse for business!

September 17th, 2012

A Playhouse

So our (mostly Stew's) free time has been totally occupied the past couple of weeks as we undertook a construction project for the girls. Specifically, I had the idea to turn their unused closet into a playhouse, and things just kind of escalated from there (like they always do). A lot of dust, debris, and hammering later, we were able to do the finishing decorative elements (painting, carpet, and the faux stone accents). I'll post more details later (along with more "in progress" pictures) but here's just some pictures of the finished playhouse. 

September 6th, 2012

First Day of Ballet

Not happy to be posing for a picture. This is a classic Shire face. 

Beginning of class stretches. It took Shire a little while to get involved, but she went and sat down right away with the group.

There was a lot of capering about (not sure if she's actually qualifying as "dancing" quite yet), but it looked like she was having a lot of fun. So, good day!

August 25th, 2012

18-Month Stat Shot

Name: Freya Anduin Williams

Nicknames: Doodlebug, Doodle, Frey, Frey-Frey, Frey-Free, Frey-Fee, Foo-Fee, Foof, Foof-a-doodle, Schnoodle, Walder

Height: ~29.5 inches

Weight: ~19 pounds

Hair: fancy light blonde wavy mullet

Eyes: light blue

Teeth: 3 on top, 4(ish) on bottom

Sleep: ~12 hours at night with 1-2 naps (1-2 hours long)

Words:

Mama, Dada, Shire, dog, book, bye-bye, hi, hello, nana (=food), milk, thank you, no, down, bath, KK (=Kelsey), hippo, nigh-nigh, blankie, baby, walk, peak-a-boo, chicken, cat, hot, nose, teeth, eyes, belly, ah-kee (=yucky), uh-oh, oh-no, poo-poo, diaper, hungry, bite? (=give me a bite of that), 'side (=outside)

Favorite foods:

pasta, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, strawberries, beans, basically anything

Favorite things:

hippo (her lovey), Penny, bath time, music/dancing climbing, anything Shire has

Least favorite thing:

Car wash (too scary!)

Talents:

walking (staggering) up to 10 steps, climbing into her highchair, singing pitches and rhythms, flirting

Bad habits:

Pulling Shire's hair, taking dad's glasses, spitting (eww)

Now with bi-ped action!

Also, in case you were wondering...

August 7th, 2012

A post not about Children 

So this is just a little photo evidence for you to laugh at involving me doing stupid athletic things with some of my more athletic associates. This one was called the Rugged Maniac, and it's a 5k course with 18 different obstacles (a lot of climbing and crawling. A little mud, water, and fire as well). As of this point, Stewart has made the excellent decision not to participate in this kind of mass sado-masochist activity, but he might be convinced to do the next Zombie run with us next year. We'll see.

So I went to Wilmont, WI with Chuck, Katie, Galen, Beth, Chris, and Liam this weekend. Chris and Liam were just there as spectators (obviously, since Liam is 3). As far as I remember, I finished the race in around 54 minutes. 

Here we are, being rock stars before the race. Can you tell how hot and sunny it was already at 8:30 am? 

Showing off the backs of our shirts, which I made. They're supposed to be funny/awesome (that is, if you get the Magic: the Gathering reference...which nobody did other than the dorky guy working the front desk at the hotel). 

At the starting line, waiting to go. Surrounding by other hot, nervous people. 

Look at me: I'm trotting! And totally about to pass that 55-year-old lady. Rock on.

Here I am going over one (of many) obstacles like this. Lots of climbing. 

The next time the camera (Chris) saw me was after the 3-mile mark. Here I am after crawling through this tiny underground tunnel for what seemed like 20 minutes (dude, I'm completely clausterphobic for the record...)

Here we are after the race, under a tiny patch of shade, 80% passed out. Apparently I was the only person that had cleaned up at this point. And that was my weekend. I have a ton of bruises/scratches and every muscle in my body is sore, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.