Cocoon of Chaos

Date in the woods

 

 

I love dates, not the fruit, but the thing the mister and I used to do a lot pre-kiddos. In the beginning of parenting, dates were a big deal that involved big preparations, new outfits, and hefty babysitting and cocktail bills. However, as time has gone on, we've learned as much as we still love getting all dapper and heading out, it is nice to replace my heels with boots and head to the woods. It's not where we're going that matters so much, but rather who are with. 

So, today started with us making a nice breakfast at home, reading in blissful silence for 30 minutes, then heading out to the woods. A light dust of snow speckled the ground and it was just so lovely, so splendidly silent and serene. A nice recharge that we needed so very much. 

I happened upon an Instagram feed, called Unboxed, a service that sends you a monthly box of date night activities to keep the spark, the spontaneity and the fun in dating. I loved this idea but also knew I'd enjoy my ideas better than what comes in a box. This idea has really inspired me to think outside of the box in planning dates. I have a date night category on this blog o'mine and am committed to blogging two different date ideas a month. If you're interested, curious, whatever, hit the subscribe button! Have a wonderful weekend, my friends.

 

Sunday in the Canoe

Late Thursday night, a knock on our front door jolted me out of bed. I opened the door to a very kind police officer who was sent to inform me that someone very dear to me was found dead in their house in California.  I think I'm still in a state of shock, and to be honest, walking through a fog daily. However, I know he would be angry with me living that way, so at our family date on Saturday, I suggested a ride in the canoe. Sitting at home does me no good at all, I find great solitude, peace, and humility in nature. The kiddos love the canoe, too,  so off we went.

Oliver wanted to pack his own stuff he thought he might need in the water safe container: goggles, chapstick, Capt. America keys, his penguin, Waddle, and hair product. Because one must look good, even if you're stranded?!

We do this canoe ride many times a year but today we saw more wildlife than we've ever seen. We saw brand new goslings, a beaver within touching distance, a blue heron, and many turtles.  It sounds cheesy, but being amongst nature's destruction and rebirth humbles me to the core. This loss was unexpected, sudden, and painful. I've come to this space of mine and tried to write about him, but I just can't get it out. Grief, uncertainty, and the responsibility that lies ahead is choking my words but I know when the time is right, the words will come, as they always do when I'm ready. 

I must say, I'm floored at the amazingly loving people I have in my life. Special deliveries of cards, flowers, text messages, and wine have filled my heart with such gratitude for those in my life. I've not only cried tears of mourning, but tears of appreciation as well. For all of the love coming my way, thank you a million times over. 

Tea in Paris: A Party for my Pippa

This year, Pippa asked for a relaxed party. We wrote down some ideas and she settled on a tea party, but a tea party in her very favorite city, Paris. Being that I have quite a collection of tea cups and a love for tea partes, it worked out perfect. So, we headed over to Pinterest, collected some ideas, tweaked them a bit and had a blast. 

main tea table, complete with floor cushions and Paris Cafe playlist on Spotify

treats included macaroons from our favorite bakery, mini cupcakes, and Trader Joe's croissants (they are in the frozen section and are amazingly delicious)

we made fancy tea hats using bowls, tissue paper flowers, feathers, and stickers

we played Paris bingo, found on Pinterest, and redesigned by glueing onto Paris scrapbook found at Michaels

and using silver pipe cleaners, we attempted to recreate the Eiffel Tower.

Favor bags included Paris stationary, fancy pencils, Paris sanitizer, fancy hair clips, and every guest recieved a vintage tea cup. It was so low key and so lovely. As Pippa said, "I just liked hanging out and being fancy with my friends." Girl after my own heart.

Sunday Dessert: Quick Gluten Free Brownies in a Cup

This week's Sunday Dessert was a on the fly, quick one....and actually done on Monday. We are not usually microwave cooking people, but with 3 eager, hungry bellies on a school night, this worked!

2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons mixed hot chocolate (leftover from one of the girl's afternoon cocoa)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons all-purpose gluten free flour
Directions:


In a 12 oz coffee mug, add mixed hot chocolate, butter, vanilla and dash of salt. Whisk well.

Add cocoa powder, whisk well. Add sugar, whisk well. Add flour, whisk well.

Microwave for 60 to 90 seconds. Center should be slightly molten. Careful not to overcook.

Be careful brownie will be very hot...let cool at least 3 or 4 minutes. Enjoy with a spoon. 

Going forward, I would probably add some chili powder and coffee ice cream for a little spicy treat for the mister and I. 

What started as something Pippa wanted to do, Sunday Dessert has become a Come Together activity for our family. Bea is in charge of recording the recipe, I am the photographer, Devin is the culinary choreographer, Pippa the main baker, and Ollie the mess maker. It is quite a lovely way to end our week. 

Come Together: A Thankful Tree

We woke up Sunday with one little not feeling too well, November introducing our first taste of winter, and another little full of the grumps. So, I decided what we really needed was a way to turn the day around. Things have been a bit sorted in this house and we needed to refocus as a family. What better way to realign our thoughts than a dose of daily gratitude? This was totally off the cuff, but turned our day around.

We used the stuffing from a recent purse purchase as our trunk

used our math skills to figure out how many leaves we would need for the 5 of us to have a leaf every day for 30 days

Exercised our motor skills and cut the left over paper into "wittle weaves" for the bottom of the trunk; this boy of mine LOVES to cut.

We committed to filling out a gratitude leaf every day and I'm extending this to my social media life. Every day for the month of November, I will only post my gratitude posts on Facebook and Instagram, because really, there is enough negativity out there. I'm happy to report, this quick activity turned our day around. Coming together to do small, simple things always leads to extraordinary moments. Happy November, friends.

 

Come Together: Treasure Hunt

We have all been home together for over 30 days now and well, it is starting to show. I am finding myself more referee than mum and quite frankly, it is exhausting. After a day of me completely losing my cool, I decided my not so gentle reminders to be nice to each other was falling on deaf ears. Awhile back, I saw a cute egg carton treasure box on Pinterest and a treasure hunt was on Oliver's summer bucket list, so while the mister slaved away at calculus, I designed a treasure hunt.

I designed a treasure map using a little compass, painted the egg carton, filled it with some goodies, and wrote a little note. All in, it took 30 minutes.

A word to the wise: if  you're ever lost in the woods, get lost with Pip, she has a crazy sense of direction.

Supervising

Guess who found it?

Cooperation was rewarded with Smarties at 9:30 a.m. Candy is a rare, treasured treat in the Grant abode, especially before lunch! Win for mama watching them play nicely and working together, and win for the kiddos. It is easy to forget, but play really is the best teacher sometimes. 

Vlog: Family Date Night

The mister and I have been trying very hard to have more date nights and while getting ready for one such occasion a few weeks ago, Ava asked, "Well, what do you do on dates anyways?" So, I promised her we would go on a family date night in the near future. Well, the near future arrived last night. . So, here you have it. Our night began with an early evening movie, Epic, which happened to be Oliver's very first movie, then moved onto one of our favorite dinner places, Sugar Cane, and was supposed to end with coffee and gelato at a local favorite, but they ended up being closed. So, as a consolation prize, we put on jammies and played a game of Charades. My heart is full this morning because we all had such a blast together and have plans to have more family date nights. Bea is obsessed with a great app, Video Star, on her iPod and wanted to make a movie about our night...Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

 

Vlog: Donuts on the Beach

Some go to church on Sundays, but us Grants head to the ocean for our peace, our spiritual connection, and our family time. Happy Sunday, my friends.

 

Come Together: Jelly Bean Count and Art

In an effort to do more as a family, the mister and I started thinking about "come together" activities (see here). Over lunch on Saturday, Oliver was digging his hands in the jelly bean bowl on the table and I had an idea. We all made our best guesses as to how many jelly beans were actually in the bowl, jotted them down, then began to count.

So, let's see, we estimated, grouped, and counted by 5s. For a lady who hates math, I'm making a concerted effort to incorporate it into more activities. This was indeed great fun.

and then the art began...a little nod to the calaveras during Celebracion de Dia de Muertos. It ended with tummy aches all around and we all decided we're good if we never eat another jelly bean. 

And you, dear readers, any great activities to come together as a family? Share in the comment form, I'd love to try out some of your ideas.

Come Together: Building Owen the Skeleton

While on vacation in California back in February, Devin and I had many conversations about how nice it was just being together as a family. Not tied down to chores, obligations, activities, etc., that tend to tear us a part as a family but rather in our relaxation, we were able to connect. In doing so, we realized how much we needed this as a family. So, we decided to implement Come Together Activities on the weekend. Our first one was to assemble a skeleton from a kit that I found at our local thrift store. 

I was a bit nervous about how this would work with a very restless and hands-on three year old, but as we put each part together, I had him look for it on his own body, and that bought us some time. (Years of working with small children make you very quick on your feet!) 

The kit came with an informative book that we all really enjoyed. Every single one of us learned something about our amazing bodies, thanks to our new skeleton friend, whom we lovingly named Owen. On a side note, I'm reading a great book, The Bizarre Body with one of my fourth grade reading groups at work and it is chock full of interesting facts that I just never knew. One of my favorite classes ever was Anatomy and I used to dream about being a doctor, but my friends, I get queasy cleaning my kiddos' ears, so that is not going to happen! I'm just as happy surrounded by my family on a cold Sunday afternoon building a skeleton. That was indeed in my dreams somewhere, I'm sure. Happy weekend, my friends!

Do tell, what do you do to come together as a family? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear!