A Letter to the Masterminds behind the Rainbow Loom

Yes, this letter is to the designers and fabricators of the ever popular Rainbow Loom.  

Thanks for taking a break from rolling around in the piles of money that you made during this past year to read this letter.  

You successfully marketed a product under a seemingly benign campaign of "inspiring a child's creativity" in such a way that every little girl I know owns one of your looms.  Parents felt obligated to purchase one of your looms because, surely, they did not want to thwart their child's creativity.  

Oh sure, they all played with the loom for a couple days, perhaps even a week, crafting beautiful bracelets for their family and friends.  They got creative with the color sequences and designs.  And now, the sad and forgotten remnants of the seven thousand rubberbands lay all over the home, sometimes in the most unlikely of places.

But the genius didn't stop there, did it Designers?  You somehow were able to fabricate the rubberbands out of some space age plasticized rubber blend that is impervious to the vacuum cleaner!  Try as you may, parents, but the rubberbands won't suck up into the vacuum cleaner for easy cleanup.  Which means that we parents get to spend time on our hands and knees hand picking the small circles out of floor crevices and corners, muttering under our breath. 

I know that right now, you may be ready to introduce the new spring color lineup so that we are once again inundated with the new batch of pastel colors to scrape off our shoes.   But this time, we parents have wised up to your schemes and will steer our children clear from your part of the toy aisle.  But, Designers, we know that you have likely covertly partnered with the Grandparents in a conspiracy against us and that somehow, someway, the new spring lineup of rubberbands will still end up in our homes.

Well played, Designers.  Well played.  

Sincerely,

Laura

Complicated.

The kiddos have been out of school the past two days due to extreme cold temps.  It's difficult to think of things to do when it's so cold outside.  So, what did I do for entertainment in the cold?  I put my babe into a pink knit peapod and took adorable photos of her immobilization.

I did manage to hang our bulletin board in the mudroom.  It sounds like such a small thing, but like the female brain, things are all interconnected (ahem, complicated).  Hanging a bulletin board was done in 7 NOT-AT-ALL-TIME-CONSUMING steps (note sarcasm):

1. To hang the bulletin board, I first needed to find and purchase a non-puncturing apparatus to mount it to the wall so that a nail wouldn't pierce the china cabinet on the other side of the wall.  I found some velcro strips at Target used for picture hanging.  I attached them to the bulletin board.  Check.  

2.  Next, I needed to paint the part of the wall that the board would hang on.  But hey, while I have the paint can out, I should touch up around the trim that we recently put up to mount our hooks onto.  I should also should touch up the paint in the kitchen around the china cabinet where some of the stain got on the wall.  And why not touch up some other spots around the house where the paint has been nicked up?  Rinse and clean paintbrush.  Check.  

3.  Wow, this mudroom is such a disorganized mess.  I can't hang the bulletin board in all this chaos.  I rearranged the shelves and drawers and made new labels for boxes that I scored on clearance at Target.  I made files for the girls' pile of schoolwork that's been accruing in the mudroom since the beginning of the year. But where's my box of files?  Go dig in the basement through boxes until I find files.  While I am in the basement, I switch the laundry and bring a basket of clean clothes up and fold them.  Put files in filing cabinet.  Put newly folded clothes away.  Check.

4.  The rug in the mudroom looks awful.  I need to clean it to get the soot and dirt off of it from the day the guys hauled the boiler out of the basement.  While I have the carpet cleaner out, I should also clean my living room rug and entry rug as well.  During this process, I ran out of carpet cleaner and had to go digging in the basement for a different bottle.  While I'm in the basement I switch the laundry and haul up the clean clothes basket.  Carpets clean, clothes folded and put away…check.

5.  Order more carpet cleaner. Check.  

6.  Now there's a big clog in the carpet cleaner from the wool rug. I empty the dirty water container for the carpet cleaner and rinse out the wool.  But there's still some stuck in the machine.  I grab a screwdriver and take a couple parts off the machine and clean out the wool.  While those parts are off, I give them a quick rinse in hot water to get the storage dust off of them.  Reassemble carpet cleaner.  Check.

7.  Hang the bulletin board.  Check.  

See, so easy!  

Cold.

As I am sure most of the country knows, we in Wisconsin are experiencing a polar vortex.  I saw someone post on Facebook that it was colder in Wisconsin than in the South Pole or Antartica.  Our pipes in our upstairs bathroom are frozen, and the bathtub won't even drain.  

Needless to say, my kiddos have been out of school due to the cold.  So what have I been doing in this weather (besides picking up their endless piles of construction paper)?  Well, it's too cold to go outside, but LUCKILY I have access to the finest restaurant in Milwaukee.  It's so exclusive that your name has to be on "the list" to get in.  

Luckily for me, I was on the list that day. And the menu serves locally sourced food.

I am not a foodie, so I didn't order the snacka.  I do recommend the "derzerts" and "other stuff like that".  Very decadent.  And served with very chic sippy cups.  

It's been a nice couple of days to hunker down at home and eat soup and drink coffee but I am certainly ready to get out of the house and get back to society again and do exciting things like look for sectionals and get groceries.  

Go away, polar vortex.  Go away.

                     

Celebrating

Greg & I took the two little kiddos to a new cafe in the third ward this past weekend to celebrate the one year anniversary of Luciana's adoption.

It was nice to think about the past year, how full and adventurous it's been.  We adopted Luciana, purchased and renovated our home and now we have Marielle: two kiddos and a new home all in a year!  

No wonder I needed coffee.  

It was a lovely morning. I hope you all had a great weekend as well.

                         

Marielle

My little toots is two months already.  She's sleeping about the same as she always has, but she is doling out more smiles now.  She really makes you work to get the smile though!  

Such a sweet little monkey.

Photos with Marielle

I have a friend who is very gifted in photography, among her other talents.  Megan did some photos of me with the girls earlier this month and came last week to take some photos of Marielle & I. She takes beautiful pictures.

This was my first time that I had a newborn photo session and Megan was amazing at making the session feel natural, candid, and fun.  

Now I just have to overcome some mother's guilt about not doing a photo session with the other kiddos when they were newborns…. :) 

Megan works in the Milwaukee area if you'd like to contact her for your own special photos.  It was a wonderful morning with her!                           

meganmanne.com