Tag: <span>crafts</span>

Published September 6, 2016 by

A Family Affair

Labor Day is always bittersweet. It is the summer’s last hurrah providing families and friends with a sun-filled opportunity to spend time together before the start of the school year. We made the most of the three-day weekend starting with Ladies’ Night on Friday. Evan was meeting a friend of his for dinner/drinks and so the girls and I took Old City by force on a beautiful First Friday. They loved visiting the galleries and felt so sophisticated sporting their purses that Baba bought them in Budapest. 

Saturday was just as action packed with a visit to my in-laws for a bit of time in the country, followed by a double birthday celebration for our cousins who turned six and seven. I loved that my family gets together for kids’ birthdays and spends time together just being while the kids play. The rest of the weekend was decidedly lower-key and craft filled. The girls spent most of the day on Monday at their Baba and Deda’s house and the highlight of the day was their visit with my sister. I am so grateful that she made time for her nieces and they were over the moon from all the attention.

We did continue decorating and setting up Sophia’s room with goodies we find in our basement from our previous residences. I originally picked this rug out for Sophia’s nursery but we ended up putting it away in our house in Maryland after she started walking. It really fits into her space now and makes for a cozy play corner with her doll-house and a sitting pillow. We’re not ready for the school year and for fall in general but we did enjoy the weekend.

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crafts decorating family kids rooms labor day

Published August 15, 2016 by

The Great Escape & Taking Stock


If you live anywhere in the between Washington D.C., and New York you are most likely well aware of the great heat wave that has been sweeping our neck of the woods for the better part of the week. The heat and worse yet the humidity helped simplify the list of activities we could partake in down to two: the pool or play indoors. Having tried the latter on Saturday, Evan and I piled the kids into our car and braved the 1.25 hour ride to my in-laws so that we could all jump into the pool and try to keep cool. The girls enjoyed their time at Grammie and Pop’s house and so did we. Sophia and Eliza played with toys that are new to them and Evan and I got to unwind in the country.


In other news, we’ve recently gotten into a few new (to us) books, crafts, and activities and thought we’d share our fun finds here.

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Life

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Published March 28, 2016 by

Superhero

Mondays are tough for everyone. They are even tougher if they start at 4 AM as last Monday did for me. I had a one-day business trip to Richmond which resulted in a 4:30 AM departure so that I could drive there in time for a 9 AM meeting. My day ended earlier than I expected, but 6 PM still felt late. The best part of that very long day was coming home and seeing the surprise on the girls’ faces.

Monday was just the beginning and the week culminated with us hosting our nephew Alex at our house for a few days. His and Sophia’s spring breaks overlapped so we invited Alex to spend a bit of time with us in the city. He arrived Thursday afternoon, hands full of my sister’s hand-made hamentashen and other non-edible treats for the girls. The girls didn’t skip a beat with the face paints that he gifted them, or the hamentashen for that matter.

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Evan had special plans for Friday. He took the day off and, as a surprise to them, took Alex and Sophia to the Science Behind Pixar exhibit at the Franklin Institute.

 We spent Friday evening with more face painting, pizza, a trip to the ice cream parlor, cartoons, and general family togetherness. 

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Building with blocks, home-made pancakes, and crafting rounded out Saturday morning and Alex’s visit with us.

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I could say that I felt like a superhero this week because it isn’t easy having a business trip and a house-guest all in one workweek, but the real superhero is Alex. I have rarely seen someone bear/give so much attention to these two little girls with great care and grace. It isn’t always easy being twelve and entertaining a four year old and a not-yet-two-but-already-acting-like-it. Their relationship is a deep one, rooted in love and a sense of family.

I am sad that the weekend is coming to an end, but grateful to have had such an eventful one.

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Life Moments

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Published February 16, 2016 by

President’s Day Weekend

What long weekend? We spent ours cooking, cleaning, packing, packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking, and … packing. We saw family and stayed mostly indoors trying to cope with the frigid temperatures.

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This picture reinforces that there is no need for cupboards full of toys to keep children entertained. All or most of what they require is in their heads and their curiosity provides the best entertainment of all. We have downsized our toys by 75% and couldn’t be happier.

It snowed again on President’s Day and we decided to turn a dreary, snowy afternoon into an impromptu science lesson. While no longer frigid, it was still cold and so we brought the snow inside and observed its properties under a variety of conditions. We touched it, scrunched it, melted it, and even licked it.
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The girls spent Saturday at my parents’ house. Sophia also spent time crafting with my sister and Eliza got a special visit from Alex that afternoon. I truly believe that just like a PhD or Esquire, aunt, uncle, are titles and must similarly be earned and maintained to be relevant and applicable.

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Lastly, but most deliciously, I am trying out weekend meal-prep for the workweek. We made raisin and turkish apricot kugel, cauliflower and walnut salad with a lemon and parsley dressing, seared lime shrimp tacos, pico de gallo, guacamole, shrimp cocktail, beef stew, and chocolate brownie cookies. It was quite a lot of work to accomplish but we’re reaping the rewards of that labor all week long.

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