S'more Of Us To Love

A little over a week ago Adam's brother and his family, including cousins Sam and Henry, moved from the East Bay to our neighborhood in Petaluma. We still can't believe it. In less than a month his folks will pack it up and join us as well, also just down the street, AND our best family friends from the hilly perch in Oakland are officially in contract on a house about 2 miles away, with plans to send their boys to school with ours. I don't know how this happened, it's like it's all coming together. When we moved here two years ago we didn't know a soul, and we assumed we were always going to be the lone family to the north. As the school years have passed we've built a little framily of like-minded transplants, and settled in as Petalumans. I run into people at the grocery store, we have a steady stream of kids running through our house, and Fridays tend to lead to late night hang outs with their parents. Now, it seems, we have it all. To celebrate our close proximity, we had the family over to break in our new fire pit.

For our campfire dessert we followed Jasper's instructions carefully (apparently he knows a lot about making S'mores). I love: "You also need a campfire" and the descriptive: "Then you get a S'mores square that look smushy brown, white, and tan" Oxford comma. "They smell burnt".  A boy after my own heart..  

Welcome to P-Town Sam and Henry! We're so happy that you'll get to grow up together. 

This Haus is a Huset

Modern Viking dwelling

Growing up, after a good meal my dad would often say: "Tak for mad, tusind tak, jeg elsker dig"- a Norwegian phrase that translates to "Thanks for food, a thousand thanks, I love you". I knew that my Grandma Maxine had some Norwegian in her, and I guess I also knew that my mom's mom, Grandma Bev was also part Norwegian, making me a just a little bit Norwegian myself. I've remembered the phrase and repeated it occasionally over the years, as you do with nostalgic childhood things. I'm thinking of it now, because I got some funny news the other day that completely turned my genealogical identity on it's head. Background: I was raised in a family where our story was that we are Swiss-German on my Dad's side. Both of my parent's lineage is solidly Germanic, with a little English, a little Irish, and a little Scandinavian making up the rest. This is the identity I grew up with. My maiden name is decidedly German: Buhler. I had an Oktoberfest for my 30th birthday, and I named my blog Poppy "Haus", because I am have always identified as an American fräulein.  As it turns out, I am not German, not much or not at all.

My sister recently sprang for one of those ethnicity tests that you can order through Ancestry.com. She revealed the results to my brother and I this weekend and we were both a little flabbergasted.  We are close to 50% Scandinavian.  We are only 4% western European.  The rest of the mix was English, Irish, and 15% Italian?(this apparently explains the Swiss-German ancestry, as they border each other). As it turns out, Ich bin ein Skandinavisches. I am actually Viking. Awesome.

Typical Modern Viking Man

This explains everything...my face for starters, my lofty blonde relatives on both sides, my preternatural ability to navigate IKEA, my political leanings, my love of pickled herring and boiled potatoes(not true), my fondness for Eric Northman, and my obsession with birch wood, teak lounge chairs, and houses that look like the one pictured above. I always get a Norway pine for Christmas. Truly, I think I've always known. Have you ever found out what you are really made of? It's crazy. After expressing a bit of what seemed like displeasure with the DNA results, my dad did note that his father's mother was half-Danish. This is starting to add up. So what do you think, do I need to change my blog name to Poppy Huset?  Doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

This Is 40

On NYE we threw a little shindig for Adam, who celebrates his 40th birthday next week.  The guests were a collection of his old friends from high school and college, and his new friends from Petaluma. This very handsome picture was taken in the photo booth (instagram #adamis40). Today I want to share with you, 40 of my favorite things about Adam Jennings...

1. He's the most thoughtful husband ever. He often brings me  flowers when he gets sent to the grocery store, and can't help but go overboard for my birthday and Christmas.

2. He is really maybe the best dad ever.  He will get up in the middle of the night with a sick kid, clean barf out of a rug, read Harry Potter for an hour at bedtime, drive a minivan around town, coach a baseball team, make school lunches, and send the kids to their rooms if they are rude to their mom.

3. He is becoming a silver fox, and it's damn handsome.

4. He wears big headphones and sings and dances while he does the dishes.

5. He does the dishes.

6. He walks in the door after work, puts his stuff down and goes outside and plays catch with my kids almost every day.

7. When he has too much whisky he gets very sappy.

8. He loves to make soundtracks for our every adventure, including making pancakes on Saturday morning.

9.  He supports and encourages me to stay home with the kids, in fact he sees it as a sacrifice on my part, which is very amazing.

10. He is a very good, appreciative son to his parents.

11. He works very hard and is very good at his job.  It is not glamorous, and he is the go-to guy when someone is dissatisfied with their life/education/job.  Then he comes home and plays catch and does the dishes.

12. He is very funny...kind of a wise ass, but for this know-it-all it's just the right kind of funny.

13. He loves his friends.  Once you become Adam's friend, he will always be there for you.  

14. He's not afraid to have uncomfortable conversations with people in order to make things better.

15. He is very good at admitting and accepting his faults. 

16. He teases me.  He gets me to climb off my high horse and laugh at myself.

17. He will rub my back in the middle of the night if I'm having trouble sleeping.

18. He hugs and kisses his sons and tells them that he loves them, everyday, even when they've behaved terribly.

19. He knows how to apologize

20. He loves food, he loves to cook, and he's fun to be in the kitchen with.

21. He was a football player in college, AND he wrote and performed poetry for open-mic nights.  Hot stuff.

22. He's a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan, which has him planted on the couch every Sunday, disappointed, but he'll never stop loving them.

23. He's best friends with his siblings.  

24. He tells me he loves our house, because I make it look beautiful.

25. He tells me I am beautiful, pretty much everyday.

26. When he asked me to marry him, he gathered up all of our friends, and surprised me by going on stage and singing me "The Book Of Love" by the Magnetic Fields before getting down on one knee and giving me a super sparkly diamond ring. I still can't get over it. 

27. He gives me little pockets of time, unsolicited, where he'll take the boys on an adventure to let me have alone time. 

28. He let's me be in charge of almost everything.

29. I see him looking at his kids, and me, and he's gets misty.

30. We have a shared passion for Cole's coffee and we won't settle for anything less.

31. He manages to put up with my moody, creative personality, which can be challenging.

32. When he wants to be romantic, he will gather up all the candles.

33. He gave Jasper his beautiful eyes and enormous personality, and made Wylie so witty and colorful.

34. He looks a bit like Tom Selleck, and JFK Jr.  

35. He lets me "Pinterblog" or "Twitterbook" when I need to.

36. He keeps his beard because I like it.

37. He can run like a mountain goat, and motivates me to be active.

38. He has a sunny disposition, and makes everyone around him a little happier.

39. He dreams about and works towards a life that I dream about and work towards, and it's uniquely ours.

40.  I know I am loved, because he tells me everyday, several times a day. 


Happy Birthday Adam Jennings.  I love you too.

Takes My Breath Away

I just want to look at their little faces right now.  Being a parent puts you in a very vulnerable position... your heart is on the line. You have to send them out into the world.  Sometimes you're in a hurry and you forget to say I love you. My husband is a Principal which always makes days like today especially hard to swallow. Going into this weekend I have a million little projects to complete, and parties to attend, but I'll be thinking about those parents and siblings, and the families of those teachers and administrators.  It's heavy.