swappers

lately i've been feeling cheesealiciouslygood about my bloggie community. like real, real good. and i just wanted to put that out there. it's like back in the day when i had a pen-pal, except maybe about 5,000 times better and now we can write about bigger and better things than new kids on the block!

so, with that being said: i have a proposition. anyone interested in a trade? if you know me, you know about my flower pins...using vintagey (i use this term loosely) fabrics and buttons and wool felt. they are nothing special but they are signature nina-style, and i like to mix it up and make little limited edition batches. i make them one way and then usually never make them the same again. so i made up a little batch of randomness recently and i was thinking i'd like to offer them up for a little swaparific lovins: i'm going to post pics, and if you likie what you see, email or comment and it's yours. what do i want? you ask...how about a little letter, a button, a scrap of you. nothing much. i'm not picky. i just like the idea of putting a piece of me out there, and getting back a piece of your life.

re: size...i should've posted coins or something so you could get an idea of how big they are. tiny peanut is the smallest of the bunch, maybe the size of a silver dollar? ahoy! and fiesty are the bigger of the bunch, but they are all relatively smallish. a cute way to spice up a summer tank.

email me or comment re: which one you'd like...first come, first serve. if this is a fun thing for everyone, maybe we can do it more often!

danielle b. and boho, you've got treats coming to you in the mail already, so you can't play! :)

so here are the goodies:

1. summer lovin'- "SOLD!" to mindy

2. fiesty- "SOLD!" to four sweet peas

3. croquet- "SOLD!" to jen c.

4. horizon- "Finally SOLD!" to la vie en rose

5. ahoy!- "SOLD!" to katie at little potatoes

6. wink wink- "SOLD!" to ani in NV (i'll email you soon-)

7. poolside: "SOLD!"

8. tiny peanut- "SOLD!"- love green dog :)


in other news: yesterday i went to two places that i would rather never have to go to again...1. kay bee toy store and 2. mc donald's. for a sweet cherubs birthday party. grace was great, but got bullied in one of those filthy tubes by two little girls...they didn't want to play with her, and then beat her up (poked her in her eyes three times!) she was more heartbroken about the fact that they wouldn't let her play. i got all upset for a while afterwards, thinking about how we can't protect our little ones from bullies, from the reality of life. there are just meanies, people who don't play nice, peeps that don't play by the rules. i just hope she can remain herself, remain strong, and resist the pressure!

last night we made smores with freakin' peanut butter cups. we'll, we actually ate all the ingredients separately due to a really smoky fire, but if you haven't done the whole peanut butter cup thing, you've got to try it.

(yes, we let grace eat four p.b.c.'s before bedtime. we pick our battles.)

finally, the other day i took gray to preschool to try it out. preschool! she's a big girl. she did wonderfully and the place had good methuenish vibes...accents and all. so she'll start in september. now the quest is on for the perfect lunch box.


love this poem by jane kenyon:

philosophy in warm weather

now all the doors and windows
are open, and we move so easily
through the rooms. cats roll
on the sunny rugs, and a clumsy wasp
climbs the pane, pausing
to rub a leg over her head.

all around physical life reconvenes.
the molecules of our bodies must love
to exist: they whirl in circles
and seems to begrudge us nothing.
heat, horatio, heat makes them
put this antic disposition on!

this year's brown spider
sways over the door as i come
and go. a single poppy shouts
from the far field, and the crow,
beyond alarm, goes right on
pulling up the corn.

whole lotta lovins

johnny and the buns...cookout stylin'

lots of love postin' going round these days, and i've been tagged by two fabulous ladies, love green dog and under a pink sky, to share about some of the gilbert love over here. so here i go!:

Two for Togetherness

2 things you compliment your husband on while in his presence.
1. His lobies
2. His fanny
2 compliments you make about your spouse to your friends.
1. sooo dedicated and such a hard worker
2. i've been known to say "he's the best" every chance i get
2 traits you married him for.
1. his love for my mundane activities
2. his "what you see you don't get"ishness...the supreme case of "can't judge a book by its cover"
2 days you cherished the most with your husband being together.
1. honeymoon...pulling the bed covers onto the balcony
2. every stinkin' weekend
2 material things you could give your husband if you just inherited a fortune.
1. a nicey nice bike of his choice
2. early retirement and a home in ithaca, ny or somewhere in backwoodsy maine
2 things you would miss the most if she/he left for two weeks.
1. the usual routine
2. his stinky ass in bed
2 things that crossed your mind when you first met/saw your spouse.
1. this one's complicated...we've known each other since 5th grade, but rediscovered each other junior year in college...when i "remet" him in college, i thought "wow, what's up with his big ring? he's possibly a complete douchebag." he was wearing a big huge military college ring, and flicking his wrists all weird. i had never seen anything like it. very different from my pot smoking buddies at clark.
2. wow, that was a social trainwreck. i need to see him again and redeem it.
2 favorite dates
1. forest exploring, letterboxing, iced coffee
2. farmer's markets, little bookstores, ice cream
2 funny odd things you love.
1. watching him poo on the toilet (you asked)
2. peeking in on him when he's in the shower and he doesn't know it.
2 two places you have lived with your spouse.
1. watertown, NY
2. san antonio, TX for three horrible months
2 favorite vacations
1. watertown, NY (we're dorks...jen, don't you love that we consider your home our ideal vacation spot?)
2. anywhere VT
people I tag
1. erina
2. jen (except you don't have a blog...get on that, sista!)
3. mama al
4. auntie em
5. femiknit

and here's meme #2
(i usually don't do these thingies but i love love and i'm a sucker for lovish memes, and also a sucker for being tagged!) and sorry mindy and angela, but i kept your font and formatting because i'm too lazy to change it-

if he were a virtue, which one would he be?
i'm not familiar with the virtues, but he would be something like aloof diligence (i'm just writing this so he will harrass me later for it...his mom said he was "aloof" once (it's true) and he's still worked up about it.

where were you when you had your first kiss?
well, he kissed my best friend steph on my washing machine in my parents basement back in about 7th or 8th grade- we had our first kiss at some point junior year in college...i want to say either in his old beat up bmw that he bought with his saved up money from a little old lady (i loved it because she had hot-glued light blue rick-rack to the door panels of the car-) or maybe at halibuts point in the gloucster area? john, help me out here. you know i have no memories.

what school subject is he?
um, architecture?

what is his favorite piece of clothing?
we're not too attached here to clothing. i have no idea. whatever's clean and folded? well, maybe not folded.

which side of the bed does he sleep on?
the right side near the windows, but slowly creeps over until he's completely over on my side by the morning. (i just said the words, "GRAY, GET YOUR BUTT OFF HIS FACE!" the things motherhood will make you say.)

would he rather bask in the sun or stomp in the puddles?
we're not picky...he will take whatever's given to him.

what was the most wonderful vacation or adventure you had together?
i'm not kidding you when i say that we make every weekend and any time together a vacation or adventure.

what's his sign?
i have no idea. his bday is may 1st?

what is his favorite dish to cook?
large quantities of meat.

what is the biggest surprise he ever gave you?
our babies.

what little thing does he do that you love, and has no idea that it makes you so happy?
sends me emails, calls me, checks up on my blog while at work, talks about how weird i am to people that don't know me (i.e. "last night we had INDIAN food"! and all the people at work ooooh and aaaaah. you know, because indian food is so frickin weird.

what does he drive and what does it say about him?
a light blue honda accord with rust. it's like from 1980 or something. it says that we're frugal and don't care too much about cars.

does he read your blog?
yes. he's a secret blog whore.

if he is reading this now, what message do you want to send?
piashire, you butt...it really stinks. i miarse you, and i love you. can you come home and take caramel? we neeeeeeeeeeeed you. snuggletakkies tonight!! meow!


thanks peeps for indulging me! meow!

i like vagina

i like vagina, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

nuff said.

forest love: self portrait tuesday

forest love, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

around here, we love the forest. the forest requires nothing, asks nothing, has no expectations. we go there, we walk around for a bit, and all is right with the world.

i should've been born a gnome.

and one more thing before i go...

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"a funky dance...and a funky dance...and a funk, funk, funk, funk, funk!"

oh how we love how "funk" sounds so much like the other f word.

i love the weekend.

droolie-moolie in his overalls...must.be.kept.out.of.direct.sunlight

castle castle castle exploring like trolls-

john's the best letterbox-finder...i refuse to tramp through the brush and poison ivy to get them.

pummie's first letterbox!

i'm always snapping pictures without poor johnny knowing...look at the attached earlobes! love them.


so much goodness and lovins to post. first off, today was the best day ever. it was one of those days when everything aligns and john and i are on the same page about the things that we want to fill our day with. it started off with me waking with having an almost full night of sleep...joey's been power sleeping these past couple of days. then i called my dad and dianne and had them over for breakfast...cinnamon buns and fruit salad and coffee. then they whisked off gray, so john and pum and i were left up to our own devices...what to do? letterboxing! let it be known that john and i are complete dorky trolls who find enjoyment in letterboxing. if you haven't done it yet, i seriously suggest you give it a try..it's given our family endless opportunities to explore places very nearby that we would have missed otherwise. lots of forestly mosquitoey goodness out there to explore! so we did this really cool letterbox in a nearby town...explored crystal lake in haverhill. when we finished finding that box, we still wanted more forest, but less mosquito bites, so we trucked back to methuen and explored the old tenney castle ruins, which are actually not ruinous anymore, and quite beautiferous. this, people, is why i love my husband. first, he compliments me on my "peasant skirt" attire, and then totally immerses himself in forestlike activities with me all day long, then treats me to special iced coffee.

yesterday rocked too. we got up ultra early and trekked to todd farm antiques in rowley. i spent $13 dollars and got the best things...some buttons, two old bird identification books and a shell one, too, and an apron- it doesn't take much to make me happy. we met boo and jason and afterwards spent the whole day in the yard pretty much eating our heads off and doing random activities while watching gray run around nekkid. welcome to the family jason! when it got late enough nobody would make me smores (schmores) because i had too many drinkies and the night was officially over.

the day before that we found out that SHANNON IS EXPECTING #4! mind you, peoples, that her oldest just turned three on saturday. yes, you read that right. shannon is a supermom, a superfreak, and i can't think of anyone better to manage and mother a crew of little ones. i have some serious happiness going on in my heart for this mama. she's happy as a clam, and prolific as a damn rabbit.

we spent part of the day at c's third bday party, catching up with nice peeps and watching the little ones run around kicking and throwing balls. john laughs like a big dork when he hears that word "balls", which is highly inappropriate at a child's bday party, but this is yet another reason why i love him.

balls!

hope you all had wonderous funtabulous weekends, filled with bouncy balls (thanks boho for the great ball post, btw!) and goodness.

photobooth friday friday friday!

back reads "8/22/91"

breast buds, spaces between teeth, wearing dad's tank top. sweet sweet innocence.


happy friday and happy weekeend everyone. and just because y'all love the video thing so much, here's just one more:


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"the phone, the phone is ringing...da da da da da!" and gently, carefully sitting on our new chair. notice puppa half naked in the background.

my life

testing this out to see if it works. if it does, this is my life in a nutshell...gibberish, silliness, and nakedness:


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oh the things that i love...oh, happy day!

the best best mail treats for gracie's birthday- THANK YOU AUNTIE EM!! thanks to you, i'll never have to do grace's laundry again! read down for more info on this topic.

spent the day planting the garden and getting dirty. this is a small weird mulchy corner near our deck. i decided it would be a fantastic place to plant some sunflower seeds with the little lady and see what pops up.

gotta love gray...she cried at the greenhouse today until i would agree to let her purchase a flat of yellow marigolds. a girl after my own heart.

here's a peek of the sweater vest for all you curious peeps out there. it's seriously hideous, i know. but it hides the curves and the milk stains, and sometimes you just need a sweater vest to make it all go away. as you can see from the picture, elmo looks pretty horrified at my choices as well.

a peek at some of the birthday kiddie gifts-...mamas, don't tell the wee ones-

my girl and i sported matching (sort of) head scarves and glasses...and i had to wear the good old carrot shirt from ithaca for our gardening activities.

grace was puppa's right hand plantin' girl today, sporting the AMAZING dress that auntie emily sent for her birthday, and only yesterday found on our never-used entrance to our house. silly postwoman! emily, the detail is gorgeous and the fabrics are perfect. my grubbygirl is refusing to remove it, even for sleeping. and she WILL NOT wear pannies with it, either. so that's fun to take her out in public. as usual with your garments, everyone was complementing it up and down today, and i considered taking credit, but of course gave it where it was due. call you and send lovins soon!

gray had some crazy energy today. she was completely insane. i kind of loved it and kind of wanted to kill myself all at the same time.

our day was all about flowers and plants. unfortunately i snapped this pic before i could clean off my lens.

thank you love green dog
for the things i love thursday idea-

hope these photos brighten your day.

and sending extra lovins and huggins and snuggloos to my hus-b piashirekittycat. please send positive life-changing and amazing energy telepathically his way! :) meow.

thrifting fix...i'm a junkie

old man thrifting photo, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

the other day i was feeling all thrify and needed to get out there and sort through some photos. so i popped by (i make this sound easy with two little ones, but it's really more of a project-) my local favorite thrify spot and sorted through some oldies and goodies with one hand, while i held grace's other hand and tried desperately to prevent her from breaking anything in the store. luckily pumbag was on my back so i didn't have to worry too much about him, except maybe for his new habit of ripping my hair out of my head. so anyway, i stumbled upon his sexy little fella...and had to buy it of course. i love the satisfaction of being able to spend a dollar or two and take a piece of someone home...someone's history that i can imagine. there are many things i love about this photo...first, the tiny little spotties that cover it. how gorgeous...what causes spots like this? and second, his precious little specs. remind me of my husband. and this hair! the part! the sideburns. the sweet sweet jacket and the tie. his little pursed lips. what is he thinking? why did he pose for such a picture? and lastly, i love that it was taken at "ritz portraits" in boston. good local old time lovins. this guy will now stare down at me from my inspiration board, making me wonder and imagine.

in other news, we have some serious long weekend fever around here. can't wait. for more updates and pictures about what we've been up to these past couple of days (nights really)...check out boo's site at http://trollspotting.blogspot.com

love the thumb sucking photos

must craft today and formulate cool gifts before the weekend

and MUST NOT SLEEP WITH JOEY EVERY NIGHT because i'm too tired to put him back in his crib...there is a good chance we both may squish him, and that i may milk myself to death. it's a little like me being able to sleep with my krups coffeemaker. kind of a free-for-all.


stay tuned for s.v. pics, and more!

self portrait tuesday

self portrait tuesday, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

hello. i love sweater vests. yes, i know that they are extremely out-of-fashion, and probably should've never been in style in the first place. i have to be honest. i still own one. and i'm wearing it out of the house today. if you love me, you've already had an intervention about my sweater vest. you've told me not to wear it, and you've probably told me that you would not be seen with me while i'm wearing it. but today none of you are around, and i just found my sweater vest in the back of my closet...and i'm wearing it. to the library. to a storytime. i don't care if the other mamas judge me. i love sweater vests. there's not much i love more than sweater vests...except maybe saying "sweater vests".

stay tuned for more about my doula conference, if i can manage to get my head out of my sweater-vested bum.

lubbs,
n.

missy missy miss miss

i miss doing this all day.

however, i'm having a mind-changing and life-changing experience at my doula doula doula (aka medulla oblongata) conference in beverly. it's the purrrfect thing for a birth junkie like me. bring on the wide-screen views of heads crowning...the rapid breathing...the screams!

my poor little man misses his milk.

the girls photobooth: photobooth friday

the girls photobooth, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

oh, the teenage years! this is from good old hampton beach. the backs read "FUNK", "tracy, me, nicole, and kim," and "did i pick a good one?". not sure why steph is missing....where are you steph? gotta love the braces, the awkwardness, everything. i love how these ladies are still in my life...lovin' aunties.

it seems like i have an endless supply of photobooth pics...i'm going to be sad when my reserves dry up. i guess it's just a good excuse to pay $4 for a strip of more!

off to immerse myself in doula doula doula material...even though it's POURING out again and all the roads i have to take to get where i'm going (beverly) are probably flooded. i'm a little scared about being late or lost. and i'm also working on about 2 hours of sleep (not consecutive hours, mind you-) so my brain's a little mushy. i'll be lucky if i can remember anything i read about, remember what i need to bring, remember to brush my teeth. it's one of those days.

peace out!

a bit of craftiness to avoid the craziness

a little birthday present for gray's friend amanda....she'll be going to her birthday party this weekend. i told you i was into sewing paper.

speaking of paper...the above picture features home-designed stationary that auntie libby and auntie joya made for gray. there are many many reasons why i love this gift...but mostly i love the tag-line that reads "peace, love, togetherness" which is grace's favorite thing to say. which she got from her favorite movie shana banana yoga. evidently auntie jojo once said to grace "peace love hapiness," and grace snappily corrected her "no, peace love TOGETHERNESS". i love the time and thought that went into making this gift for her. props!

here comes the sun, do do do do...

gray's pic of our pile of raingear...i know i'm biased, but seriously, i think this girl has some talent.

our walk yesterday....sun sun shining, bare shoulders, and the little guy in the backpack.

checking out the merrimack river at the bottow of our street. this is usually very far away from the street, and now it's right up next to it. we were very careful not to touch the water, however, due to the sewer main break up (or down?) stream.

secret crafting project peek...i'm really into quilting paper and random ephemera stuffies that i find around-

pum in the pack, taking it all in, and breaking out because of the sun despite his full coverage. he's a sensitive little guy.



oooooh, the sun. how good it is. listening to music, getting the java, burning the incense as usual when i'm in a good mood. gray is out to breakfast (yes, she has a busier social calendar than me) and pum's asleep again, so it's just mama and the computer for a few minutes. getting ready to pump some milk today in hopes that pum will take it. thanks to everyone for the suggestions. HALA, i'm digging the whole smelling the milk under the nose thing. good excuse to leave some soggy nursing pads laying around the house for john. he'll love it.

hope everyone is having some serious sun therapy time. today you'll find us building fairy houses outside the library, stocking up on mama snacks at the grocery store, or squishing our toes in the mud under our tree.

lubbs!

oh, and ps, i just found the urban dictionary online, and i know i'm kinda late jumping on this bandwagon, but i'm pretty sure it might be my new most favoritest thing in the world.

mother's frickin day, a recap

happy frickin' belated mother's day!

me being very fresh and naughty to the camera after realizing i made my mother a whole mother's day meal that she couldn't eat because of a newly developed allergy to corn and potatoes.

me simultaneously cooking lunch (quesadillas) and dinner (lentil soup with f'ing CORN and POTATOES!)

this is how i spent a large portion of my day...floating around in my basement, soaking wet. the umbrella was just for comic effect.

grace eating bread. this girl rarely ever eats, but isn't afraid to get right in there and eat a good portion of a tub of yogurt spread. you really do have to cut her off. she's a big fan of scala bread. so this was a highlight for me...just seeing her eating.

homemade tie-dye and sportin' my water boots.

boo getting freaky with the camera...love the space, and love the fact that he's wearing grace's hat.

me almost knee-deep in my yard.


mother's day made me cry. cry and laugh. it was just one of those days. no hot water (hence no shower) and a series of unfortunate events lead up to me crying, which i rarely ever do. luckily i also started laughing at the same time so it wasn't nearly as dramatic as it sounds. now that my cellar is mostly free from knee-deep water, i can laugh about it. boo took a series of photos of me nursing joey, which i just viewed and laughed at. pretty much sums up my day...nursing and more nursing. which brings me to my next issue of stress...leaving for friday and sat. and sun. for 12 hours stretches of time for my doula certification workshop...and joey can't take a bottle. won't take a bottle. whatever. he will not drink anything (yes, even pumped milk) from a bottle. which makes me stressed for myself, and more importantly, stressed for my husband. does anyone have any advice? the only thing i can think of it to make my husband drive for an hour to the parking lot of the hospital where i'm going so i can nurse pum on my hour lunch break. i feel so bad leaving him. and even though i'm trying to stay happy and excited about this conference (expensive conference), i know i'm going to have a hard time staying focused when 1. my boobs are about to explode, and 2. i know joe's absolutely FREAKING OUT without his milk. this kid's a big fan of his milk, let me tell you. so if anyone has any suggestions for this stressed out mama, they will be well-welcomed.

namaste!

not a good self portrait day

baby in black dress, thrifted photo, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

i haven't had a shower since about saturday. it's not a good self portrait day. but this photo is so haunting and amazing i can help but post it today. i can't wait another minute.

i needed a thrifting fix the other day...grace was with her nana, and it was just me and joey in the backpack. it was an unsuccessful trip except for this photo...i fell in love with it. it makes me wonder about the story behind it...who was this baby? why is it wearing black? etc. etc. etc.

now it hangs on my inspiration board above my computer. i get to stare at this little one when i need a bit of inspiration. look at her hair. her little socked feet. her gorgeous intricate dress. her necklace. wonder about her parents and her story. remember the magic of motherhood, and how we're all somehow connected. how the cycle lives on. we keep going.

and going.

and going.

mother's day photobooth

mother's day photobooth
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

morning morning monday morning. i'm so emotional today...i should put a self-imposed blogging ban in place. hormones, emotions, cramps, and a cellar full of water. we've never "gotten water" before (boo kept making fun of me for saying this all weekend) but this storm is just too much for our little house. half a foot of water in a couple of hours yesterday. our two kayaks in the basement were floating...floating! so boo and i decided to carpe diem, put on my boots, got an umbrella (thanks dr. j!) and i took a little boat ride. cleaning up my measly four bags on things that got ruined...stuff i was going to donate to the salvation army, and a box of recycling, i thought about the hurricane victims and how hard it must of been for them. it really put it into perspective for me. so even though we have no heat, no hot water, and a basement full of water, i know that there's an end to it and we still have our health and our family and everything else that matters.

yesterday was just one of those days. a comedy of errors. the weekend needs to be longer. my bangs need to be longer.

i do have to give a huge shout out to my boo because he really stepped up yesterday when i was crying and being a hormonal mess and cooked for me, made me pumpkin bread from scratch, swept my floors (this was strange), played with my misbehaving children, and watched project runway season one with me. it was the worst of days, but also the best. and boo got it on video and took about 1,000 pictures. can't wait to see them.

wettywetlubbins,
n.

photobooth friday love

nin and steph photobooth
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

back of photo reads: "us in wind chamber of hell witnessing satan, 8-12-93". by far one of my most favorite and treasured photobooth pics. i have no idea what we were thinking at the time, but every time i look at this picture, i laugh. now that's some good photobooth lubbins.

TGIF peeps, and happy almost weekend! and to all my mamas out there, and mamas-to-be, happy happy mothers day!

thursday lubbins

more street art (reading: birdman) and kevin's hott shoes


thursday lubbins:

the homemade stationary that jo/lib made for gray, which reads "peace, love, togetherness", her favorite saying from her shana banana yoga video

treating myself to an iced coffee with real cream and real sugar, as opposed to extra milk and freakin' genetically messed up splenda

going shopping for mother's day lubbins at the mall, and actually getting out of the house, even if it meant almost freaking out 100 times, and also having to endure the disney store

real simple family mag

droopy drippy lilacs...also making my bathroom smell so so good, despite the poop shoot riots

chocolate chocolate chocolate

baked chicken parm last night

nursing pads

the new bumper sticker on my car window that reads "plant seeds, sing songs", courtesy of shanshan

it's almost the weekend...mother's day lovins and some serious johnpigs time

xo
n.

know thyself!!!

DSC07637
Originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

i'm lovin' this street art that boo and i spotted on our boston walk. i love how messages pop up, force us to listen to what they have to say. how perfect a message...know thyself. thyself. not yourself. thyself.

the poop shoot riots seemed to be quieting with time. it's funny how motherhood-

in the middle of writing the last sentence, i was interrupted by gracie screaming from downstairs..."mami, come wipe my BUM!!!". i flew downstairs only to find poor gracie and a toilet full of crazypoops. so i guess i was wrong. looks like another homebound day for the gilberts.

i think there should be a coffee delivery service for mamas who need a quick fix but can't get out of the house to get it. this could also work for magazines and chocolate.

well, off to wipe more asses! here's hoping all your fannies are sparkly clean.

lubbs,
n.