Weekend Away - to the grocery store...

The theme for this week's Copy Cat Closet was "weekend away", and while we did enjoy a few small trips this summer, these days my biggest outing is to get groceries every week. That said, in Brazil, most women go out to do their shopping all gussied up and I usually feel under-dressed and under made-up so it's nice to get some inspiration and go out feeling somewhat put together.

Here was the inspiration from Natalia,

And from Christie,

I used to own some awesomely colored pants, but lately it's been jeans and yoga pants for me. So here's what I put together,

Dark grey capris with a bright green top, a stripy scarf, big black earrings and my uber comfy green/turquoise/gold sandals. I just wish my scarf was a little bigger for a more similar look to Natalia. I tried to do a really high messy bun, but my hair is so long and so heavy that it just dropped down. Plus, I'm running low on bobby pins.

Here's a few more shots, just for fun!

me thinks I look super weird without glasses!

awkward posing....

Looking forward to next week's inspiration!

Our New Digs

A while back, I posted about moving and promised photos "in a couple of days" - HA! Well, here I am finally getting around to posting some photos of our new house. I had to laugh after a friend commented that she was glad our "dream house" had worked out. Our house is not perfect, and I don't think I would describe it as our dream house, but it is what our family needs right now. Plus, I have way too many ideas and dreams for a home that I don't think would all fit into ONE house! :)

So if you think our house will look something like this,

   get ready for a shock...         

As with most urban areas in Brazil, space is at a premium, even in our little city of Mogi. And our neighborhood is quite spacious compared to others. Here's a birds eye view of our house - we have a very long and narrow plot that is 85% filled with the house. The rest is for parking and a little alley along the side.

The red box shows our house. 

Here's the front of our house.

Don't mind the crooked photo - we live on a slight hill. 

As I did with our last apartment, I'll show you our floor plan (because I love floor plans :))

We have two parking spots which is nice, because having only one car it gives the kids a little space to run around. We were also very thankful to find a house with covered parking. So you can see the width of our house/land is about as wide as two parking spots.

There are two entrances, one into the living room, and a "service" entrance which leads to the open alley/laundry/kitchen door. I have been so happy with the laundry space. In our apartment I had about 3' x 3' to maneuver between the washer and the hanging drying rack. Here I have a nice long alley with two laundry lines as well as a free standing drying rack. I use my kid's old stroller to push my laundry basket as I put up/take down the laundry.  I just have to be careful when it rains as the whole alley is not covered. So far I've only had a few pillowcases get an extra rinse. 

The kitchen was the first room we saw when we first viewed the house as we came in the service entrance. I would probably say it was the kitchen that sold me on the house because it is so much bigger than our previous one and was already furnished with all the cabinetry. 

Off the kitchen is a long hallway that connects all the other rooms. So nice to have a bathroom close to the kids room, especially with potty training going on in full force here. The rooms all basically look the same with a nice big window (looking into the alley - but we get a good amount of light). The kids have a lot of space for playing in their room as well as tons more space in the living room.

While our office doesn't have a separate door, the one in the middle of the hallway basically serves to close off the back half of the house as the "parent's" space - with our office, bedroom and bathroom. This is very useful during the day to contain the kids (and their accompanying mess) to only one half of the house. 

We were also surprised to find a "bonus room" above our bedroom that is accessed by stairs at the end of the outside alley. It is currently serving as a storage space, but we have ambitions of making it a working guest room/craft room. It also has a built in BBQ (very common in Brazilian homes, but not so common to have it in a completely closed off room.)

So I will save all the room photos for one day when the house is fully decorated and clean (ok, that day may never come, but I'll try!)

I will leave you with this photo of our awesome kitchen. I probably have three times as much counter space and cupboard space as I did in our previous apartment. (If you can't tell - it was TINY!)

There you have it - we are loving our new house and the space, and we can't really even remember what it was like living in our old tiny apartment! 

One Eyed Mama

I am fortunate to be a good sleeper. I can fall asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. The only problem I used to have with sleeping was my snoring husband. Of course, having children and being exhausted quickly solved that!

Over the past few years, dealing with newborns and toddlers, I have developed a technique for coping with those multiple wake-up calls in the middle of the night without actually having to wake up too much. It's called the "one eyed mama" - and it is very simple; when you hear your darling little angel crying at night, needing water, a diaper change, or a lost pacifier, stumble out of bed using your hand to guide you and only open one eye. This creates just enough vision to get to the crib/bed and tend to your little one without thinking too much or allowing too much light into your eyes, thus waking you up.

This is not me, but another mama who writes
about using the "one eyed mama" technique here

I imagine I look something like this when I'm found wandering the halls of our house in the wee hours of the morning - albeit with very messy tied-up hair, no make-up and definitely no earrings. Ok, so I look nothing like that, but you get the idea. Once my hubby saw me in my "one eyed mama" state and just laughed. But, hey, it works! Sometimes the next morning I will have no recollection of just. how. many. times I woke up to see to my cherubs during the night.

Mamas out there - how do you deal with waking up in the night? Or do your kids sleep through the night? Somehow we have hit a stage (coughing, potty training etc) where a full nights sleep is a rarity!

Linking up with Monday Mom Musings with Jellibean Journals

Mommy Slump - Closet Copy Cat

Most days I am fortunate if I can wake up before the kids to shower and throw on the nearest jeans/sweats/t-shirt/sweater. I don't usually have the luxury of standing in a towel leisurely perusing my open closet (the towel would get pulled off in a minute by a little munchkin for sure), so most days there is not really a lot of thought put into my outfits. Hair gets pulled up into a quick, messy ponytail, usually wet, and more often than not, hardly combed. Occasionally the next day when I get to my shower, my hair is still damp from the day before. Yeah, gotta do something about the hair situation...

So, when I stumbled across a blog "challenge" called Closet Copy Cat I decided to give it a go. It's all about taking some inspiration photos and seeing what you can pull together from your closet to imitate the look. Since my kids are in pre-school every morning, I figured I would give it a go!

Here was the inspiration for this week - Button Up in Summer

Of course, being in the Southern Hemisphere it is technically winter, so I gave it a whirl and also came up with a "winterized" version. Some days it feels like summer, and others more like fall.

(aside - I'm a little surprised at how nervous/anxious I am about posting photos of myself on my blog)

But on to the challenge - a loose button up shirt, paired with shorts, cute sandals, an up-do, natural makeup and big earrings.

I picked out my blue Old Navy top (not really a full-on button down, but hey, it has buttons) and paired it with my brown bermuda shorts. Were it actually summer it could go with shorter shorts but it was a cold, grey, rainy sort of day so I really created a spring version and a fall version of this outfit. Warmer outside? Wear brown wedge sandals. Colder outside? Put on your boots and a vest/sweater. Kind of felt a horse rider kind of vibe from the boots and shorts. :)

I tried one of Natalia's up-do's: a three bun knot, but no matter how much I tried, I could only make two buns. Ok, so I didn't really try that much, but I only have so much time! :)

(aside: sorry for the horrible photos - I tried to take them myself with my phone and a mirror.....)

Looking forward to next week's inspiration - goodness knows I have way too many clothes in my closet, and too few ideas of how to put them together!

Wordless{ish} Wednesday - Shadows

Walking home from school under the bright, hot (winter?) sun! 

Linking up with The Paper Mama, Three in Three, and Live and Love Out Loud

Back to School Goals

No more school for me, but that doesn't mean I can't set "back to school" goals. School means something different for me now as a mom; kid-free time. I'm not going to say "free" time because as every woman knows, there is no such thing as free time when you have a household to run! But it sure is easier to get those day-to-day chores done when you don't have two toddlers underfoot.

Now that my two kiddos are in nursery/pre-school every morning, I've had a few people comment "wow, what are you going to do with yourself without the kids?"

So, without further ado, here are some of my goals for this new season of life:

1. Get Smart - Back into Portuguese studying. I have a passable vocabulary, and can get around and read quite easily, but I have lot more to learn!

2. Get Fit - It's no surprise that this body needs a little work after two kiddos. We have a park down the road that has outdoor exercise equipment, and my goal is to get there twice a week.

3. Get Blogging - I love writing and designing and am hoping to overhaul my blog, give it a new look and write more.

4. Get Creative - I opened an Etsy shop a few months ago, but with an unexpected move I basically went on hiatus, so I want to get back to that and keep developing my designs.

5. Get organized - I am ashamed to say that we've been in our new house for almost two months and there are still boxes to unpack. I also want to stay on top of the household chores, laundry, cleaning, cooking, dishes, toys etc.

So you can see, there's a lot of stuff to fit into five mornings. Throw in a birthday party for my little sunshine (2 this month!) and a baby shower in September (for my sister-in-law), and I won't really have time to miss my kids!

Kids say the darndest things...

Everyone knows kids say a lot of cute, funny and crazy things. Now that we've got a real talker in our family, we routinely hear hilarious things from Lucas and occasionally from Elena. Here are a few for your reading pleasure:

Upon finding a peculiar piece of wood that looks like it belongs from some furniture...
Momma: Lucas, do you know where this came from?
L: It came from outer space!

Daddy is trying to give Lucas a boof kiss (raspberry) on his tummy...
L: Daddy, don't eat my belly. I need to have a baby in my belly!

Lucas has recently started asking to be carried "like a baby" but one evening after wearing an Elephant shaped tea cozy on his head, he asked,
L: Momma, carry me like an Elephant!

During our potty training, I have mentioned to Lucas that if your pee is too dark it means you're not drinking enough water...
L: Chocolate milk makes my pee white? (clear)
M: No Lucas, water makes your pee white.

And a sweet one from Elena;

After washing our hands in the bathroom, I am holding Elena up to the mirror...
M: Who's that pretty girl in the mirror?
E: Momma! ... And Eyena!

Precarious, but precious!

Linking up with {Monday Mom Musings} from Jellibean Journals

My MIL will be proud of me for this post, since she is always reminding me to write down the funny things that happen, the milestones, the progress of my kids. Leave your funny kid sayings in the comments! Always good for a smile :)