The Lab: Sleep and Play

The Experiment: To see if the kids will sleep better if they play outside (hard) after dinner.

I'm three for three. That's huge. For the past three nights after dinner (and sometimes before dinner, too) I've been taking the kids out in the front yard (where it's more likely that we'll be joined in by other munchkins) and playing with them. I'll pull the play structure out, put out our (third hand) gym mat, bring out balls, baseball bats, etc... For the first two nights the kids ran around really hard. Both following mornings they slept until 6:45 and 7AM respectively, shattering all world records in their 4-year-old lives (making it to 6AM was our previous record). Then last night there were no kids out (Lakers final game), but I wanted to see if we could score another good morning. So we ran up and down the block a few times (I had to try various tricks to keep them motivated, including, sigh, an ice cream sandwich). We actually had fun running, playing catch and swinging the baseball bat. This morning John woke up at 6:45and I had to wake Eve up at 7:15. This is exciting!!!

Happy Decor: Ilan Dei's Latest for Blik

I am majorly freaking on Ilan Dei's latest wall graphics for Blik. They're gorgeous, and would give any wall insta-cred if blue-chip art is lacking. I'm loving that Calla flower growing up the wall, and while I usually shy away from anything remotely Goth, I'm also digging the black roses. Best part: Cheap! $60-$70!

Happy Crafts: Rock Animals

Yay! A not-impossible kids rock craft from Martha Stewart. I really like this one. It looks easy and I feel like the kids could do a lot of it on their own. (Not dominoes quite yet!) Love those ladybugs! PS, site says to use acrylic or tempera paints.

Happy Stuff: Furniture That Grows With Kids

Loooove the concept: Furniture that can grow with your kids. That's the idea behind this table and chair set from Japanese furniture designers, Sankei Co., which debuted at this year's ICFF. And extra credit cool: It's all made from paper! Problem is, I'm not exactly feeling the execution. One tweak could have made it much better in my humble (and totally uninformed vis a vis manufacturing opinion): If the beige parts were white. It would have given the whole set a fresher vibe. (And then I also wonder if the adjustable feature works well or not.) But like I said, love the concept! And it definitely beats my aging, fourth-hand Fisher Price table/bench set.

Happy House: The UCLA study

If you haven't read the NY Times story on the UCLA study that involved videotaping 32 LA families during almost every waking moment for a week, I suggest you do so. It's enlightening and also may lighten your mental load that you're parenting wrong. If you've got kids and a husband and a job, the story will most likely affirm your everyday trials and tribulations juggling it all (and feeling like a failure. You're in good company). A few telling stats: Moms spend 27 percent of their time doing housework, while dads clock in at 18 percent. Moms spent 19 percent of their time talking with family members or on the phone; 11 percent taking breathers that the study called "leisure." Dads racked up 20 percent chatting, 23 percent leisure. And this caught my attention: Videos revealed homes chock a block with toys, books, clothes, stuff and more of stuff, but backyards, which are often the most uncluttered of all spaces, were the least used (in sunny LA). We're guilty of this at my house. Too much TV, not enough back (or front) yard time. In the study, family members also would spit into vials to measure their levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. And get this: The more women engaged with their husbands in the evening, the faster their cortisol dropped. The men's levels tapered more slowly when talking to a spouse. (I wonder what spacing out to The Daily Show does to cortisol levels?) And being obsessed with home org (not that my place is very organized), my fave detail from the piece was that the clutter on fridge doors tended to predict the amount of clutter elsewhere. Oy vey. I'm in trouble.

Happy Decor: Numbered Staircase

Wish I had some stairs to number! I've seen this before, but I'm especially loving the way Sarah Richardson used different font styles on her farm house staircase. So cute! (From Sarah's House).

Happy Decor: Sarah Richardson's Farm House

I'm freaking on designer Sarah Richardson's latest redo on HGTV, Sarah's House. She's gutting and designing a farm house, giving traditional country decor a shot of modern cool. I'm loving, loving it, especially the kitchen. She gutted the room and redid it for $55,000. I think some of the bigger-ticket items included windows, plumbing and the stone countertops and back splashes. She cut corners using pre-fabricated cabinets from Sears (she painted some of them bright yellow to further the custom feel), a few inexpensive vintage elements and big-box store stainless appliances. One of my favorite details are the polka-dot, oil cloth-upholstered bar stools. Never thought of oil cloth as good for upholstery, but it makes a lot of sense with greasy-pawed kids around. Mostly I'm responding to the bright, airy look, the insane amounts of counter space and the luxurious yet casual vibe. Ahhhh, maybe someday...