this moment {builders}

Joining SouleMama, and many others, in this weekly ritual of pausing to savor a moment from the week.

Beautifully simple.  Extraordinarily lovely.

I love to see your moments too, so leave a link in the comments!

Wishing you moments where many hands make for enjoyable work!

Best,
Claudine

only time for this

Earlier as I was scrolling through some older pictures on the computer I came across this one.

It is a line-up of babies, all of whom were born around the same time because the parents met in the Bradley Method Class to prepare for childbirth.  The class was simply one of the most fun things we have ever done in our lives.  We met some great people, who birthed great kids.

That is Big Brother second from the left in the striped overalls.

Two things cross my mind as I look at this photo.

1.  Time is going by way too quickly.

2.  The Happy Couch (as we call it) was really, really clean before we had three kids.

Almost as funny as this line-up of squirmy babies, was the line-up of parents trying to get the babies to smile!  Good times.

booth with a view

We have a fantastic little family diner in our neighborhood.

It is the perfect spot for a Mommy-kid date or a Daddy-kid date.

And every once in awhile we get to enjoy breakfast or lunch, or a bit of both, as a whole family.

The row of stools are usually filled with regulars.

The tables are small and close.

Breakfast and lunch is served all day.

The menu is short.  It fits in a stand that sits on each table.

A burger is a couple bucks.

There is a board that lists specials like eggs benedict and chocolate chip waffles.

And the view from the booth is great.

This weekend Buddy and I took turns taking pictures.

He was fascinated to capture the coffee brewing.

The cracker in the sugar dispenser cracked him up.

He claimed the lemons were sooo tempting.


Me? My favorite part was watching him watch the world around him.

That, and sit close together in that booth with a view.

this moment {worm pets}

Joining SouleMama, and many others, in this weekly ritual of pausing to savor a moment from the week.

Beautifully simple.  Extraordinarily lovely.

I love to see your moments too, so leave a link in the comments!

Wishing you a wonderfully wiggly weekend of discovery!

Best,
Claudine

munchkin

This kid, this kid.

He is amazingly funny and sweet and he keeps me on my toes.  For certain.

But mostly, he keeps me laughing.

I love him.  I love him so.

ten things

I try and fill my days with gratitude.  Some days I am hugely successful, with my list of thankfulness growing as does the day.  Some days, are, well, harder. 

Today, though, I am setting the course for gratitude, by sharing ten things for which I am superbly grateful.

The first meal outside on the patio of a yummy little restaurant.

A bucket of shiny new Legos.

A bouquet picked just for me.

This cat.  Who is really my niece.  She loves loves loves her cousins and takes such good care of them.

Rain, lots of rain, on the window.  Making the grass so green.

The purple azalea outside my front door.  The beauty of the color surprises me each spring.

Fresh baked banana bread, with chopped up dark chocolate.  Made even better slathered with butter.

That hair. 

This art installation, by artist Melissa Daubert, that represents the children of the world singing with one voice.

The delicate gracefulness of the dogwood blooms this year.

And one more.

Sunflowers from my Honey. Sunflowers were the first kind of flower he gave me when we dated in days of yore, and every so often he surprises me.

For what are you most thankful today?

Wishing you much gratitude today, and this week.

beginning

I am not sure if I can claim that because I verbalized my summer daydreams that they are beginning to happen.  After all I had this special "knitting night" planned before writing the summer daydreams post.  But I can say that one of my summer daydreams is beginning...and that is such a good feeling.

After having been invited by a wonderful woman that Honey works with, I participated in a local knitting group.  A great mix of experienced and novice knitters welcome!  Luckily I was one of several novices who spent the evening just getting used to the feel of the needles, watching a small square of knit stitches growing larger.  All along guided and encouraged by a woman who must have knitted one thousand sweaters before.

And now I am finding that I enjoy making my misshapen square into more of a misshapen rectangle.  I realize it may not become anything, but I am enjoying the pace of knitting.  And purling.  I learned that too!

Eventually I will make something.  Something usable or wearable.  Anyone have suggestions for good first confidence-building projects?

In the meantime, I am practicing my knit one, purl one.  And trying to keep the hands of the littles occupied with things other than the yarn balls and needles.

So I brushed up on finger knitting, as described in Amanda's Creative Family book.  That might keep them occupied for a bit.

Maybe long enough for me to do one or two rows myself.

summer daydreams

I am a daydreamer.

I daydream as I weed the flower beds.

I day dream as I play with the kids.

I day dream as I walk the dog...do dishes....fall asleep...nurse the littles.

Often my day dreams become doodles and ideas in notebooks, because many of my daydreams are projects or blog posts or adventures to explore.  All certainly take time and effort and intentionality on my part.

Sometimes my day dreams come true.  Wonderful!

Sometimes my day dreams remain just those doodles and notes.  And that is okay too, I have more than I could ever possibly fulfill.

Lately I have been doing some serious day dreaming about summer.  Daydreaming how I want to spend my time, and encouraged by this post, I decided to create my Summer Daydreams list.  Simply, this is how I want to spend my days:

:: picking strawberries
:: planting and harvesting something edible
:: collecting rocks
:: learning to knit something, anything
:: finishing my book proposal
:: developing a Mama Blogger retreat
:: walking, maybe running, along wooded trails
:: digging my toes in the sand
:: quieting myself to simply breath deeply
:: turning my face towards the sun

I will post these on my side-bar, as a way for me to tally and appreciate those daydreams that are fulfilled, and recognize that those which aren't can always be waiting for me another time.  Maybe you will be inspired to reflect on how you want to spend your time this summer, and make your own daydreams list.

this moment {mother's day poetry}

Joining SouleMama, and many others, in this weekly ritual of pausing to savor a moment from the week.

Beautifully simple.  Extraordinarily lovely.

I love to see your moments too, so leave a link in the comments!

Wishing you a wonderfully shared weekend!
Claudine

finding beauty

If you've been a regular reader of this ol' blog of mine you know that I try very intentionally to find beauty in my everyday.

I always want to find beauty.  Some days, though, I need to find beauty.

One such day happened earlier this week.  I had let myself become overwhelmed and caught up in minutiae that, in the big scheme of life, is just that, minutiae.  I was cranky.  Not pleasant.

So, I took a deep breath.  And looked for beauty.

I happened to be in my car, windows rolled down, camera in my lap.

Perfect for fresh air and for finding that necessary beauty.  By the time I arrived at the location I was headed, I felt different.  Having found beauty, I somehow felt beautiful inside.  So wonderful how that works, now isn't it?

Where do you find beauty?

so there is this

According to my calendar spring has been around about six weeks. But the spring I have met this year has been shy and reclusive.  Rain has endured, and in some spots in the backyard, reigned for days on end.

Some trees in the neighborhood are reluctant, revealing only teeny dots of green.  Still others stark black branches.

My dog wood tree has been sluggish in joining the party.  Just last week we wore coats, and I admit mittens and scarves, to play outside.

Though yesterday felt different.  The sky was confidently blue.  The wind warmer.

I drove with my car windows down.  Smelling grilling meat and pollen and freshly-spread mulch.

And I loaded Munchkin and Lovey in the car and headed toward spring.  Real spring.

{photo credit:  Lovey}

Spring of rolling down grassy slopes.

Spring of digging fingers into dirt patches.

Spring of exploring plants and paths and woods.

Spring of running, running, running across stripey park lawns.

The spring I have been patiently awaiting.

Welcome, so glad you are here.