Take a look

as seen on instagram and facebook, my favorite picture of the night. 11/2013

Let me begin by telling you all we had a fantastic weekend. It really was! Our colds are all finally just little annoying coughs here and there and despite Carl studying hard early in the morning and late into the night, we managed to have a huge birthday party on Saturday. I really wanted to throw a party for Carl as we both enjoy the company of good friends. There was a moment during the party that I was feeling doubtful of my decision to invite every young family I knew as 12 kids raced around our small quarters, weaving in between all the adults, but that moment faded as quickly as it came because this kind of chaos was good. Parties are supposed to be fun, loud, crazy. Everyone was fed and we all pigged out on a variety of cheeses, Spanish meats, cream puffs, Costco cake and vanilla ice cream. Good company, good food, what more could make a great party? It was a happy 31st birthday.

Thanksgiving is literally just a few days away. In all honesty, I am excited to have a low key holiday and staying at home. Carl only has a week or two left of class and they are of course filled with final exams and research papers. He's a stud. I don't think I could ever be a grad student. I'm not even sure I ever want to go back to school. HA. Between school and our busy month of December visiting family, a low-key Thanksgiving is just what we need. We are even considering starting a new tradition of seeing a movie in the theater the morning after Thanksgiving- Frost or Free Birds look like they could be really fun for the children.

- I'm considering using Prinstagram to print my instagram pics. Anyone use their service or similar?

- I am obsessed with old homes. I definitely have home-envy for Oh Happy Day's new home in San Francisco!

- This is kind of sweet, but also slightly creepy.. Not sure how I'd react to a grown man falling asleep on my shoulder.

- wow. an all-in-1 card! Very cool!

- tips for conversation starters or activities during Thanksgiving dinner if conversation is not your forte.

- Movember is coming to an end soon, here is the proper way to say goodbye to your mustache

- Ok, Rett&Link from youtube are hilarious. I am not a Breaking Bad fan (gasp!)- I watched the first 3 episodes and then read about the remaining seasons' plots on wikipedia- but this middle school musical version of the show cracked me up. Check out their other middle school musicals too!


As always, video overloads. Love them. Have a good week everyone and especially a wonderful Thanksgiving! We will be drinking lots of hot chocolate and watching movies together under fuzzy blankets here. We got a few inches of snow yesterday!


xoxo

Take a look

glorious, glorious persimmon

No, that is not an orange tomato. It is a sweet and delicious persimmon! When I saw them at my favorite store, I willingly averted my eyes from the price tag and bought a case. No regrets as I've eaten about 2/3 of them. They are quite possibly my favorite fruit. They can be eaten a little soft or crunchy, similar to the way a good pear can taste amazing when it is crunchy or softer. Their taste- indescribable. Persimmons. Yum. Each time I bite into a freshly peeled one, I am reminded of my childhood- my mother would frequently peel a persimmon for me after school or as a post-dinner dessert. I have never eaten them any other way but fresh, so I'm not sure how I feel about jams and baked goods... go find a persimmon! (note: buy fuyu persimmons, not the pointy/diamond-like one- you will sorely regret eating the latter if it is not mushy and ripe!)

Aside from my persimmon love, I regret to inform you all that this household is still stricken with illness. Well, the children have improved significantly and only have a slight lingering cough. Carl still has a bothersome cough, but seems to be improving day by day, and I, well, I have bronchitis. BOO. hisssssss. My symptoms were all beginning to improve last wednesday and then I started to have nagging cough, then I worked and had a coughing spell and injured some rib muscles, which led me to go to an urgent care on Saturday to get a chest xray and pain relief, resulting in fresh prescriptions of albuterol, cherrytussin, prednisone, and zithromax and I am (hopefully) on my road to recovery. Thankfully, Carl was home to help this weekend and I did get to rest quite a bit. I will add that my cough sounds like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. *gollum*gollum*

Due to sickness, I have not been on the Internet much, so links are weak. Here are a few that I did come across and enjoy:

- trapped in ikea! funny prank :)

- too sweet- a toddler and his puppy sharing naps. can't wait to have a dog again someday!!

- dinosaurs come to life! Parents: WIN!

- curious about vaccinations for your children? This is good list with reliable resources regarding myths that haunt the parenting world. Community Immunity!

- fascinating picture series on fading secluded cultures/tribes around the world!

and finally with Thanksgiving around the corner,

- how to set up the kids table via DesignMom. We have an ongoing joke (but truth) in my family that my sister and I have never graduated from the kids table. Even my children join me at the kids table now.


Hoping everyone is healthy this week!

Take a look

I love reading Wikipedia. I can sift through one page, click on another link on that page, and then another, and learn in about 30 minutes how Frida Kahlo became such a popular artist and had many affairs . True story. I did that Sunday night. Carl has had to drag me away from the computer or take my phone away from me before when I get too caught up reading. Especially the tragic stuff. Oh the tragic stuff. I can get caught up reading about little obscure wars I never heard of growing up for 1-2 hours. However, most of the time, I only spend 10 minutes or so "educating" myself. Yesterday, Google highlighted Shakuntala Devi, who was also known as the "human calculator." She was quite a phenomenal human and I cannot believe I never heard of her! I highly recommend this quick Wiki-read if you are interested in learning about a fascinating woman.

- One more Halloween recap: healthy candy. "I threw up" "You threw up, ok." SO FUNNY!

- I love this photo-illustration series

- Easy DIY polka-dot tights. Seriously, too easy- why have I never thought of this??

- a chart on winter. Ha! This is for Toronto, but for me, it applies to Milwaukee and Rexburg :)

- Heard of the facial growing frenzy this month, but don't know the difference between Movember and No-Shave November (there is a difference!)? Well this post clarifies fairly well! Carl is getting a little furry this month :)

- mystery flavored dum-dums REVEALED!!!

The awful cold seems to be finally leaving the Leder home. It just makes me want to stay indoors and ward off any visitors with garlic and crosses. Just kidding. We love company and the poor kids have been dying to interact with their friends. Here's to hoping for a healthy winter!

Take a look

not-quite-ready lemons from my mother's garden, 9/2013

As much as I don't want to admit it, I am a little LOT addicted to my phone and really, the Internet in general. For awhile, I was checking out Facebook multiple times during the day, always disgusted that at least 1-2 hours of my day in 5-10 minute increments with the kids awake was spent reading the news, catching up on my friends, family, and strangers' lives. One day, I deleted all my social media apps and blocked access to those fun sites on my phone. I feel that my days have become more meaningful and every other day when the children go to bed or are napping, I hop onto the computer to see what's going on in the world. Much better.

While I have cut back on my social media drug, I still enjoy my time spent scouring the Internet and discovered these gems:

- ever use a #hashtag? #everydayoninstagram #itsreallydumb #istillusethemanyway #hahahaha
- I'm in love with all these handmade stamps
- Birthdays are pretty simple in our home: 1-2 presents, a party without extravagant decorations, etc. I love these 10 simple birthday traditions shared!
- Ready for Halloween? Hoping I never get photographed at a haunted house
- I don't really eat eggs, but 1000 eggs to do this??
- just wow. commemorating fallen soldiers and civilians at Normandy beach
- I need to try these homemade vegan protein bars!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day! Looking forward to sharing my single mom travel experience to CA with two kids this weekend!