Forsyth Family Blog

my favorite house lately

Francesca Forsyth — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:23:59 GMT

I really like www.apartmenttherapy.com ... I check it a lot. I came across THIS awesome little cottage today and thought I'd share.

It has all of my favorite things combined into one tiny cottage:

all the walls, doors, fixtures are white
they use a TON of color throughout the house
it has a vintage style about it
a good use of teal and turquois furniture and accents
the outside is painted yellow

Check it out ... here's a teaser picture:

Once you go to see this house at the above link (and I know you will) click on "enter house tour" to see all the pics .... so cool.

My Little Buttercup

Francesca Forsyth — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:39:36 GMT

I think Christina was severely disappointed with the last post and she wanted more good videos of the boys. Well, here's the best lately. I got this on film last Sunday before we left for church, that's why the boys are wearing ties.

Velociraptor scream

Francesca Forsyth — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:30:01 GMT

It is early morning (8 am) and Daniel has just left for work. The boys are seemingly happy in the front room watching cartoons on PBS when I hear the cry of the wild from Liam. It is a new thing that he's begun doing lately. I think his scream sounds like a velociraptor screeching, like they did in Jurrasic Park. I found the sound on youtube .... this is what Liam sounds like every morning now whenever Noah takes his toy, juice, blanket, breathing space .... whatever (I would turn down your volume if I were you, unfortunately for me, I cannot turn down Liam, ever):

Yeah, it's like that ... except higher pitched. Imagine that. Good morning!!!

Mina - THIS is what's for dinner!

Francesca Forsyth — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:51:01 GMT

Hahahaha! I just read my little sister's blog and she was talking about the agony that descends upon every woman (or maybe just me and my sisters) around 4 o'clock eveyday ... what's for dinner?

I tried to do as Mina did and plan ahead. I sat down one terrible morning last month and planned every dinner for the entire month. It was like pulling my teeth out slowly without drugs. Noah was buzzing about me incessantly talking and asking "why?" while I tried to clear my mind and focus on 30 dinners!!! It was terrible, but in the process, I found a few new favorite dishes and one favorite new food site: www.ourbestbites.com .... amazing.

Here are my favorite dinners that truned out spectacular, try 'em out for yourself!

Southwest Burgers - go waaaaaay easy on the chipotle peppers and these are fantastic!

Pasta Salad - I did fresh veggies and the homemade Italian dressing ... so yum.

Asian Wonton Salad - I found the wonton wrappers in the healthfood fridge section of my grocery store.

Spicy Honey Chicken - I used chicken tenderloins and breats, not thighs.

Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork - I didn't have cashews ... wish I had.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade - hands down, the best. lemonade. ever.

Sunrise Punch - I tried to make this healthier by using sparkling water instead of ginger ale ... I think I'd go all out and do the ginger ale next time :)

Love you Mina.

my project lately

Francesca Forsyth — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:43:31 GMT

I borrowed my mom's patterns to make a blessing gown for Christina's little boy, Zac, a few months ago and I completely forgot to return the patterns. So when my mom went to make a blessing dress for Mina's little girl, Devyn, they were at my house. I felt terrible! So, I offered, sheepishly, to make the dress. I talked to Mina on Friday, she sent me ribbon to match the shoes on Saturday, I got the ribbon Monday and the dress was done Tuesday night - phew! I sent it off to her this morning. Here's the dress:

Yeah for Devyn Ray Donner!! I wish I could be there at the blessing! Lots of love and kisses!

Quiet

Francesca Forsyth — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:42:36 GMT

Liam is asleep but should wake up anytime now. It's 2:45 in the afternoon. Noah is dead silent downstairs playing with his cars. I am reading blogs.

I spent the morning sending off a blessing dress to Mina that I made for Devyn Ray's blessing this Sunday and then I came home and made lunch for everyone, put Liam down for a nap and cleaned the basement. I hurt my lower back cleaning it all up and it took me about an hour and a half. But it looks good. It was getting kind of crazy down there. I would like to pretend like I don't care about what the basement looks like, but I do. I walk down there everyday to do laundry or a sewing project and the boys just thrash it. I like that I have an area for them to thrash and it's relatively out of sight, but definately not out of mind. I try and let it go for as long as I can put it off, then I get all geared up and put away train sets, pick up every tiny lego that I keep stepping on, organize Noah's "art table" and vacuum all the spiders - my least favorite part. I always sweat and talk to myself like a crazy person as I do that last part. I think I definately have a phobia.

I've got so much more to do. My bedroom is a wreck with luggage I never put away from our weekend trip to Frankenmuth and the house needs to be vacuumed. I need to blog the Frankenmuth trip, the blessing dress, and my trip with the boys to the Ann Arbor Art Fair. I need to clean the kitchen. I need to think baout what I'm going to come up with for dinner and it just started storming outside and of course the backyard is strewn with toys and bikes that are about to be soaked. I really should get up and get started, but I wanted to sit back for a brief moment and just think and rest.

I wonder if other people need that too. I do. I need to sit and think and rest my body. I make so many quick decisions as a mommy that my brain gets tired of moving at that pace. Here's a sample of that pace:

Do I put Liam down now, or try and force him to eat? Will he sleep longer/better if he eats first? Is he too tired to eat? Why is it quiet? What is Noah doing? Maybe I need to eat first, I feel angry and cranky. Should I eat? I need to put Liam down, but where's his blanket? Is his diaper soaked or could it last through his nap? I thought I just changed him ... Where's Noah? OK, Liam is down, what happened to the front room floor? I don't have time for that now, I need to eat - do we have any bread? I have to go to the store and get bread ... and milk and cereal, when do we get paid again? I have to make some bread from scratch, we don't get paid until next week. Wait, I definately need to eat! What's Noah doing?

While all of that is happening I am also walking through the house picking up random things and putting them away.

It's good to sit and write and think and rest. Times up though, it's time to get going ...

Camping Trip - July 2010

Francesca Forsyth — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:43:31 GMT

OK, so a few weeks back we decided on a whim to go camping. We left Friday afternoon (Daniel got off work a little early) and we drove about an hour away and went camping at this place near a lake. The boys L-O-V-E-D it. Every moment of it. It was a lot of work for me and Daniel, but so worth it to see the boys revel in it all.

We roasted hot dogs, ate licorice (I don't know why, but my family always brought red vines to eat around the campfire), went swimming at the beach, took a nature hike (it was 1/8 of a mile long ... I think that's more of a "jaunt") and just basically had a good time.

The only thing that was less than desireable was being right next to the bathrooms. It's good because you're right next to the bathrooms ... but it's bad because you're RIGHT next to the bathrooms ... catch my meaning? Anyway, it was kind of a crowded campground, but the boys didn't care. It was a little wussy "car" camping trip and it was perfect for the boys, so I'd say it was a success! Here are the pics:

Noah's face is awesome in this one.

Licorice around the campfire!

We were up and going around 6:30 am ... yeah.

Liam is not really a hardcore camper ... he took some time off "roughing it" to have some alone time in the car with his blanket ... can you spot the wild Liam in this picture??

There he is. He's a beaut!

Chillaxin'

ummm, are these the cutest men on earth or what? theya re my favorite people.

on the "jaunt"

Trying to catch some rays and get these white legs less white :)

for aria & mom

Francesca Forsyth — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:51:57 GMT

The green chairs are from my patio set. Daniel bought a 6 chair, hexagon table and green umbrella matching patio set from craigslist for $80 last summer and I have LOVED it. The chairs are comfy and lightweight and I love the bright green color. Can you believe it? ... it's awesome that they just happened to match the baby shower colors perfectly, hahahaha!! "I love it when a plan comes together".

I'm taking a sick day

Francesca Forsyth — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:24:13 GMT

Today is a sick day. It started at 5 am when Noah burst into our room and blurted, "I keep throwing up!" he finished this statement with a demonstration and threw up all over our bedroom floor. Poor little Noah. Daniel's side of the bed was closest to Noah, so Daniel jumped up and took Noah into the bathroom while I leapt up and followed the trail of throw up across the hall and into his room - on the floor and all over his quilt.

We tag-teamed and got it all taken care of. At 5:45 am, it happened again. It was so sad because Noah had tried to get the throw up in the bowl next to his bed and as he was leaning over the bowl with Daniel by his side he was able to make out a few words in between heaves, "I got some ... on the floor Mommy ... over there". It was heartbreaking to hear him apologizing in between throwing up. We got it all taken care of and got back in bed.

Both Daniel and I were exhausted but so wide awake now that we had a hard time getting back to sleep. But finally, we started drifting off and right about 6:45 am ... more throw up, this time, in the bathroom.

This continued until about 10 am.

I pulled out the steam cleaner around 9 am and cleaned the carpets, ran 4 loads of clothes and as I was finishing up a pale faced and weary looking Noah came up to me and said, "Mommy, can you grow if you throw up?" I told him he would still grow. He said, "Can you measure me on my chart? I want to see if I am growing". So adorable that he was worried about his height on a morning like this. We measured him, and much to his dismay, he was the same height as he was in May, bummer.

He took a nap and daddy stayed home from work so I could go to an appointment I had made last week. I kept my appointment and came home with pedialyte and ginger ale. Then Daniel left for work and I blogged a little ... and that's when it hit me too.

I haven't thrown up since I was about 17. I never threw up when I was pregnant. For some reason, my adult body doesn't use the throw up method to rid my body of unwanted fluids ... it uses the "other method". And I am going to be disgustingly honest - you may want to turn away. I pooped my pants today. Yeah, that's the "other method". Needless to say, I have spent the better part of the afternoon either in my bed or in the bathroom. The only exceptions were when I was getting Noah into his bed, getting him Ibuprofen for his fever and when I had to feed Liam.

Liam is doing great. He has been running circles around Noah and me with a tiny, pink, plastic camera (I don't know how that came to be in our house) and keeps yelling, "cheeeeeeeeese!" and then he makes a clicking noise and laughs and runs to the other sick human in the room and does it again. His spirits have luckily been in tremendous strength throughout the day and currently, he is wearing a bike helmet and setting up train tracks in his room and knocking them over, with a baseball glove on one hand. I can't make stuff like that up, it is pure reality around here.

So, I deem this a sick day ... here's for a cleaned out and healthier body tomorrow.

Megan's Baby Shower

Francesca Forsyth — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:43:36 GMT

I really can't help myself! When my friend, Senta, asked me to help out throwing a very small baby shower for Megan, I couldn't resist. I love doing this and because we only invited about 10 ladies and Senta and Tamara did all of the food and invitations, I was able to spend some serious time on the decorations and make the favors more intricate than just a cookie. So fun for me.

Megan is a self-proclaimed "non-girly-girl" and her nursery colors are yellow, green, white and a little bit of pink - so we went with those colors for the baby shower. I was inspired to do my party after looking at THIS baby shower on the hostess blog. But instead of doing pinwheels and pom poms, I did paper medallions and pom poms.

The party favors were little jars of sugar scrub and the food was lemon and lime inspired: lemon-limeade, lemon bars, lemon cupcakes, lemon musffins ... OK it was mostly lemon inspired :)

Thanks to those who came and helped out!

Christine handmade these little hairclips - so cute!

Handmade blanket by Marcie ... amazing.

Handmade blanket by Debbie?? All these crafty ladies!

Fleeting but strong

Francesca Forsyth — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:31:36 GMT

I just came home from a baptism. There weren't any incredible speakers, or fabulous musical numbers. It wasn't very long. It was a small gathering of people. And yet, it was a powerful experience. These spiritual moments seem to be so fleeting for me, but very strong, so I thought I'd write down how I felt so I don't forget.

It's easy to discount or forget these experiences because they are feelings and once those feelings fade, it's hard to remember how strongly they felt. The Spirit of God testified to me that baptism is an ordinance and a commandment directly from Him and that it is important. I felt warm and cozy. These words are so inadequate, but they are the best way I can describe it. I felt so good inside my chest that I could not stop my lips from smiling this big, cheesy grin the whole time. I felt happy and good and warm.

I didn't really learn anything new or spectacular and to an outsider looking in it must have seemed like a pretty mediocre meeting of people, I imagine. But to be in that room, seeing a young girl get baptized just as Jesus did and watch good men holding the priesthood of God lay their hands on her head and confirm her with the gift of the Holy Ghost - it just felt right. I felt as Alma explained a "swelling" in my chest and I don't want to forget how it all felt.

Ann Arbor Farmer's Market

Francesca Forsyth — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:08:56 GMT

So ... I've lived in Michigan for 3 years and never took advantage of the Ann Arbor Framer's Market. It's about a half hour away, so it's not a quick trip, but it was worth it! So beautiful and so well managed. It is held twice a week in a covered pavilion area and it had about 50 different vendors there today and I LOVED it! It soooo felt like my kind of place - fresh flowers, organic food, fresh produce, lavendar, sunflowers, homemade jam, homemade pasta ... bushels of basil!!! I was in a little slice of heaven.

It was actually kind of a tough trip, because we hit traffic on the way there and on the way back Liam was doing his best to yell, whine and distract me into a car accident. Then we drove into our driveway and I realized we had left our awesome, vintage radio flyer wagon parked on the sidewalk ... yeah, we drove all the way back and got it after calling the farmer's market office (yes! they have an office!) and they found it and kept it safe until we drove back to get it. Okay ... so even with all of that - for 45 minutes, wandering among fresh food and flowers was worth it! It was sort of magical, really. Noah and Liam were crazy in the acrrides, but while being pulled around in the wagon up and down the Farmer's Market aisles full of colorful fruits and veggies and the aroma of fresh cut flowers, the boys were completely still and quiet, taking it all in. It was magic and it made it wonderful for me.

We bought the largest most incredible sunflowers ($5), the most fragrant basil ($1), the yellowest homemade fettucini ($4) and the plumpest green beans ($3). Wonderful, just wonderful.

I would've taken more pictures because this was a trip for the senses, but my camera battery died!

my peach bathroom

Francesca Forsyth — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:22:51 GMT

My bathroom is pretty dated. The tiled walls would be fine, if they weren't peach. Anyway, when we first moved in, we knew we had to do something about the bathroom, because the floor wasn't even a hideous peach color anymore ... it was flesh toned because of years of dirt build-up and not sufficient regular cleaning ... and it's 55 years old. OK, so we put in peel and stick black and white vinyl tiles, I admit, not the classiest, but for sure an easy fix. But I am still unsatisfied. I finally found a handyman who is amazingly cheap and yet good at what he does - tile. So, I wnat to retile the bathroom floor.

But here's the problem, I am trying to decide on the type oif tile I want. I think I know: I want to go with the vintage style of the bathroom for one simple fact - I do NOT have enough money to re-do the whole thing. So, if I can't re-do the whole thing to look brand new, I am going for a nice looking vintage style to the bathroom. So I am thinking of re-doing the floor in 1 inch, white, procelain tiles. I got a sample and here's what it would look like (of course there would be white grout once it was installed):

Here's what it's like now:

But what do you think? Should I do it?

Here are the other BEFORE pictures ... before we did anything:

this is basically how it was when we moved in. The toilet was original to the house and the sink was old and gross.

This is after we replaced the floor with peel and stick tile, the sink and toilet. And it's pretty much how it stands today.

the "good life" and people magazine

Francesca Forsyth — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:18:53 GMT

I worry and stress a lot ... about everything. I find myself unhappy with a lot of things in my life and sometimes get kind of down about it all. Sometimes I feel very dissatisfied with my situation at present. I don't like being away from all of my family. I'm not even within a day's drive of any one of my sisters or parents. I don't like the weather where I am. I struggle with being a mommy sometimes and feel like I don't do a very good job and that I waste a lot of time and energy doing laundry, cleaning up stuff and making meals over and over and over and over ... ugh. I get frustrated and feel overwhelmed. Then, when everything seems like it's all crashing down on me, I read other people's blogs. That is not a good thing to do when I'm in a bad mood. I just mostly envy them. Their cute clothes, their family events, their awesome trips, their adorable homes, kids, blah blah blah and I think, "why don't I have that life?" and "what the heck is 'the good life' anyway?" I hear and see people write about it and it makes me angry sometimes because I feel like I don't have that.

Well, I went to the gym on Friday morning. I grabbed a People magazine and started my workout on the elyptical. The magazine was AWEFUL. I usually like looking at celebrities and their clothes and hairstyles and see where they eat, live, etc. Just like looking through a fashion magazine for me. But this time, I read a few articles/blurbs and it was all sad, bad and terrible. Someone was getting another divorce. Someone else's kid was in drug rehab. Someone else had been kidnapped, someone had been killed. Someone was diagnosed with cancer and someone else had a massive heart attack. Someone broke up. Someone was a single mom. Many somebodys had cheated on their lover. Wow. It was just aweful. I only got through about 15 pages of this before I just closed the magazine and turned it over so I couldn't even see the cover. That's when I thought, "I think I'm living 'the good life'".

I felt so grateful for my husband. Who has never cheated on me, yelled at me, hit me, left me for any period of time (well, he had a business trip that once about 3 years ago ... that was rough). I love him. He is wonderful to me and loves me and does dishes for me and is an incredible daddy. He does his best to make me happy and I do everything I can to make his life better too.

I felt so grateful for my little family of boys. Noah and Liam are crazy and beautiful and give my life real meaning. What would I be centered on if it wasn't for them to keep me grounded? I'd be lost without these two little men to keep me busy, happy, productive and humble. I feel grateful that I am a stay at home mom and I get to spend all of my time with these little creatures. They keep things real and keep things in perspective for me and I need that.

I feel grateful for my crappy, tiny home. It's small, but nice. And although a contractor came by to tell me my house was sinking into the ground, I think this little house is gonna hold together for a while longer and I'm grateful for that. We have a plot of land and I get to plant anything I want on it - and then kill any plant I want on it. I have a backyard where my boys can run and run and run and I have a grill out back that we have BBQ's on. I get to paint and rearrange as much stuff inside this little home as my decorating heart desires and I love that. It's our little spot and I'm grateful for that.

I guess I live "the good life". It's just nice to be reminded of that every once in a while. It keeps me from griping too much about stuff. So thanks "People" magazine - your life sucks and mine is good.