Life Wright Now | February 2022

After a doldrums winter including a bout of Covid for the five of us, February served as a nice pick-me-up for our family. Along with bigger changes -- the return of our beloved nanny and twins officially walking, there's been doses of silly things too. Nugget couch forts, Valentine's Day outfits, beach adventures, sandbox play, daily Wordle puzzles & their corresponding text conversations, and finally learning the board game Azul. Azul was fun, but tricky -- a game I immediately wanted to play again and improve my strategy. 

Watching | Miss Fisher's Modern Murder Mystery 
This is such a fun series and deserves a post of its own (coming soon!). Even amidst the backdrop of murder, it's a feel-good romp. Geraldine Hakewill's character is really fun to watch and her fashion and hairstyle can't be beat. I recommend both seasons, although the pacing really improves in Season 2 -- ten 45-minute episodes as opposed to four 90-minute episodes in Season 1.

Reading | Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Although I can't remember reading this as a child, the scenes and animal cast certainly feel familiar. NLW has thorougly enjoyed hearing the adventures of Mole, Ratty, Toad, and his favorite, Mr. Badger. Inga Moore's abridged version was our starting point, but we've also picked up the classic version, illustrated by Robert Ingpen. Either way, NLW's story-loving self is in full swing, acting out the "Wild Wood" and the "Open Road" chapters. 

Eating | Top Pot
The only craving we had while quarantining as a Covid-positive family was Top Pot donuts. Once we were in the clear, Mr. Fleece drove to downtown (we are still awaiting the day when they re-open along Alki!) to purchase their sugary goodness. We tried the "Pershing" donut for the first time and it's a new favorite! It reminds me a little of Shipley's, a childhood favorite in Texas :) 

Listening | Mister Rogers on Spotify
The best of the best, I love that my children are hearing and singing along with lines like: You are my Friend, Be Brave and then be Strong, I'm Proud of You, You are Special, and It's Such a Good Feeling. Also, his re-telling of Goldilocks and the three Bears is so endearing and thoughtful. 

And the three bears made their beds, and fixed Baby's bear's chair, and divided the lunch that was left. And talked about the girl with the yellow hair who came to their house in the forest...and as they talked together and ate together, they were more and more glad that they were the family of the three bears.

Loving those simple pleasures,

- SJW

Life Wright Now | December 2021

December was a lively month filled with several playdates, a few parties, and the arrival of grandparents! We rounded out our year with the following highlights: 

- Watched the children play in a mini ball pit. CCW was at an all-time happy :) 

- NLW's first time at The Little Gym 

- EDW took her first steps!

- Built a bunch of nugget couch forts

- Attended a "Favorite Things" party with friends

- Had drinks with our neighbors

- Opened presents with my parents on Christmas

- Watched The Wizard of Oz with NLW (his first movie!)

- Enjoyed multiple days playing in a snowy wonderland

- Ate homemade snow ice cream

- Organized my recipes before the New Year, a project I've been trying to tackle for a while

Watching | I relaunched my Netflix account in order to watch Arcane with Mr. Fleece. It's a recent hit made by Riot Games that follows characters from League of Legends, one of the computers games Mr. Fleece plays. Coming in blind with no context, I still really enjoyed it -- to the point of watching the final four episodes in a single night!

Eating | We recently discovered the children's book, What's Cooking at 10 Garden Street and decided to try some of the recipes illustrated in the book. It was a fun and engaging way to cook together in the kitchen, especially after NLW had familiarized himself with the characters and dishes. We made the Meatballs, Little Trees, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies, Green Rice, and the one we would add to our (now organized!) recipe collection -- Coconut Dahl. 

Reading | After all the biography/memoirs this fall, I took a quick detour to self-help lane with The Lazy Genius Way. It was a perfectly fine read with lots of common sense, take-a-step-back practical advice. I liked how she framed things and my favorite takeaway was this perspective about self-care: Self-care is a practice of remembering what you care about and should be a regular practice of doing what makes you feel like yourself. 

Listening | Per my sister's recommendation and birthday gift, I finished Code Name Verity which tells a fictional story of a female friendship in WWII.  It was my first fiction audio book (maybe ever?) in a while and a good one to start out on -- the voice actors were great! I probably enjoyed the story more because of the listening experience, but undoubtedly missed some details along the way. 

Holidays and Happy Times,

- SJW

A Yummy Month

My daily life often feels like a daycare. Lots of children. Lots of toys. Lots of reoccurring and cumulative messes. Coming off the heels of an eventful and celebratory October, I rebranded November as "Slow-vember" for our family and tried not to initiate plans, meet ups, or play dates. The thought was to embrace a slow-cooker approach to my calendar and let my socializing simmer. I wanted a quiet schedule (if not a quiet house :)) and was mildly successful. Even when weeks turned out busier than I anticipated, I'm glad margin and downtime were on the original menu. It helped that I garnished my days with the best spice out there -- Gratitude. Because no matter how fast, full, slow, or monotonous life seems, thankfulness is the perfect dish. Here's what our family is grateful for this season: 

- the library

- garbage trucks

- dishwasher

- pockets of sunshine

- stroller walks

- Hiawatha Park

- swings

- Mrs. Meghan

- pajamas

- peanut butter

- fire trucks

- toys

- pacifiers

- time to read

- Ebony

- hugs and giggles

- muffins

- work from home flexibility

- Google home :) 

Pondering a far-less-catchy "Decelerate-ember,"

- SJW

When Life is Just Playtime | NLW Turns 3

Our oldest child has felt more three-year-old than two-year-old for a while, but today makes it official! Imagination aplenty, he's reciting books from memory and parroting song lyrics and parent phrases alike -- there's nothing funnier than hearing him yell one of our first names up the stairs. He's chatty, observant, silly, playful, inquisitive, active, clever, smiley, focused, pleasant, single-minded, more snuggly than he used to be, and insistant :) There's lots of talk around our house about making requests rather than demands, using gentle and kind hands, checking in with a sibling after an altercation, taking turns, offering trades, sharing, declining in a kind "just say no thank you" manner, and inquiring about pee dances. 

Backyard play, playground play, sandbox play, dump truck play, crane truck play, excavator play, garbage truck play, box truck play, trains play...there's a whole lot of play in our life. In addition to anything with wheels, he loves animals and we regularly ask Google about "The Animal of the Day." NLW can now make direct "Ok, Google" commands and songs from The Kaboomers, Raffi, Casper Babypants, Wee Sing, Nursery Rhymes, and Bedtime Stories and Fairytales fill our speakers. He has a fairly expansive toddler diet, a love for milk, and a passion for peanut butter :) He likes to walk, visit Hiawatha, go down slides, kick balls, throw balls for other people's dogs (unfortunately ours doesn't fetch), check the mailbox, run errands, and best of all, spot garbage trucks. He's a little boy at heart as captured in these photos from the last year: 

We celebrated today with donuts, bowling, and new toys!

More playtime ahead, 

- SJW 

(Find our favorite books from the past year here.)

Story Time | Year 3

I read with my children for the shared enjoyment, togetherness, learning opportunities, language acquisition, expanded vocabulary, and to pass the time!

 

We have a lot of favorites, 

- SJW