this moment {front stoop art studio}

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to what you are savoring this week!


Wishing you a lovely weekend!

beauty

I believe there are moments when beauty is so huge, so real, so overwhelmingly present that it can't help but be recognized and noticed and, of course, fawned over.  The birth of babies.  Weddings.  Sunsets.  This is beauty that is unabashed and big and, well, usually undeniable.

Then there is beauty that is much more timid.  Subtle in its offerings, modest in receiving praise.  This is beauty that is much more interesting to find, because it comes as lovely little surprises as you open up yourself to life around you.

A delicious peach pie made for my birthday by my sweet, and very talented, sister-in-law

An organized sewing supply drawer

A banana getting perfectly brown, meaning banana bread is in our near future

Discovering art supplies in simple paper towels (yes, Lovey is writing on the wall, a newly embraced hobby)

A stone path with just the right crunch when you walk

Cool, tangy Concord grapes, from our local CSA no less

A loving hands pillow made just for me by Nonnie and Poppy

A new family picture of that same Nonnie and Poppy

A stack of fun books fresh from the library

A stack of fallen leaves fresh from the trees

A stack of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven made by Honey, just because

Just because everyday beauty is so so good.

What beauty are you seeing today?

this moment {first game as a gator}

Joining Soulemama, and many other wonderful bloggers, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to what you are savoring this week!


Wishing you a lovely weekend!

fall pleasures

Several months ago I made the decision to intentionally enjoy summer.  It may sound strange that I had to be intentional about that, what's not to enjoy about summer?  However for me summer has always seemed to go by in a blur, and with the beginning of fall I would feel twinges of regret of things I didn't do, or ways I didn't enjoy those mythical long, hot days of summer.

Not so this year.  This year, I was living by my summer daydreams.

And wouldn't you know, I had a summer filled to the brim with joyful moments embracing all of the summery goodness possible.  And I am happy to welcome this lovely, lovely fall ahead, not a single twinge of regret.

I think it was my list.  I know it was my list.

So I've decided that I must have a list for my fall pleasures.  I truly love fall.  Love.  Fall.  So why not get the most love by deciding the pleasures I simply don't want to miss this year.

So here they are, my fall pleasures:

:: pick apples (that basically happens every year anyway, but it totally can go on the list!)
:: pick and can Concord grapes
:: collect leaves
:: take a nature hike
:: get and wear rain boots
:: sew something
:: take photos of my children
:: continue writing my book proposal *
:: reach out to some mama bloggers for feedback on the retreat *

You may notice the last two pleasures are continuations from my summer daydreams.  I never said that my joy of summer was contingent on my doing everything on my list.  It isn't.  So, those ideas continue, and I know that I may get further on them this season.  If I don't, that's okay too.  It's my list, so I get to make the rules.

Why don't you make a fall pleasures list of your own?  Believe me, you won't feel a twinge of regret.

so long summer

So it seems that fall has begun.  Even though the calendar gives a smidgen more time, I know it is true.

I know because we used the last bit of sidewalk chalk last night.  Chalk that had spilled out of the container a few days ago and left out in the rain.  So it wasn't so much chalk anymore, but soggy bits of color which caked on our fingers and smeared on the bottoms of our shoes.

But to me, it was perfect.  A project we all did. 

Together.

Buddy and I had the job of filling each brick in completely.  Munchkin and Lovey added the colorful embellishments.  The goal was the whole patio,  but the chalk dictated the final size of our art.  As did the darkness coming in so quickly, and mosquitoes (darn that rain) urging us faster. 

I felt deeply that bittersweet knowledge that we won't be spending many more evenings outside, instead cocooned in the comfort and light of home.  We won't head out in shorts and sundresses and sandals, but layered with sweatshirts and socks.

Even though the pool has been closed for weeks and we are well into the school year, this felt like the last act of summer.  So I let the kids stay up and chalk well past bath and snack time, even though only I knew it was our own little way of stretching that goodbye out as long as possible.

And I loved every collaborative, artistic, summery minute of it.  So good bye summer, you've been so very good to us.

getting it right

Quite a bit of creative play happens around here.  We've built many a fort.  There are loads of costumes and art supplies.  Almost any recyclable is game for being re-claimed for some type of craft project.  The kids have even turned the couch upside down, multiple times, to play sewers.  We now have the squeaky couch to prove it.  Ahem.

All of this creativity can sometimes be quite messy fun.

Just last week, I went into the family room to discover that Munchkin was playing, as he described it, "compactor."   Which, once he explained more made me realize that it really was "garbage truck," as it consisted of driving (while sitting in the footstool) and at various intervals loading toys trash from the room onto the couch.

Every. Toy. In. The. Room.

Okay,  I can go along with that.  But believe me my mind started to think about the task ahead of putting everything away. 

How in the world could I ever get him to put all of those toys away?

Now that takes some real Mama creativity.

Turns out, it is just as fun to pretend that you are driving a delivery truck and dropping off all kinds of toys to kids who need them.  Kids at schools, and parks, and museums, and hospitals.  The trick is you have to be quick and quiet, because it is a surprise delivery to the kids while they happen to be off doing something else, and the kids are about to return at any moment.

Sometimes, I get it right.

Oh, I almost forgot.  The art on the wall behind the couch.  Another creative project.  This one by Buddy.  The solar system, complete with asteroids and shooting stars.

Yep, pretty creative around here.

this moment {first leaf}

Joining Soulemama in this moment. 

In her words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to what you are savoring this week!


Wishing you a beautiful weekend!

aliens

"Mom, can we do a sewing project?" asked my oldest.

Be still my heart.

I would love to do a sewing project with  you.

Some very detailed designs were drawn.

Patterns were created.

Fabric was selected and cut and pinned.

And sewing and sewing and stuffing and stitching commenced.

For an alien friend to be born.

Not to be left out, Munchkin designed his own alien too.

And this is when I feel most home.

Always.

rite of passage

It's official.  I'm 40.

And it feels just fine.  I think the fact that I've been celebrating for weeks now just might have something to do with that, I always like a good celebration.

This past weekend was the culmination of this birthday season, and I shared it with some girlfriends of mine.  I invited them to gather to celebrate this milestone birthday of mine and enjoy our friendship.  Some of the women I've known for years, some for just a few  Some I see often, others just a couple times a year.  All of them are special to me and help me to know the best of myself as well.

It was wonderful.  We talked. We hugged. We ate.  We reconnected.

I was serenaded Happy Birthday with an Auto Harp.  Really, what fun.

Honey cooked all day, and created amazing appetizers and six gourmet pizzas and three desserts from scratch to knock your socks off.  Regrettably I have no pictures of this feast, but boy so yummy!

I wanted to do something extra-special that marked this rite of passage, so I invited a henna artist to come.

Everyone chose different, meaningful designs.

Me?  My design represents change and growth.

There is lots of change and growth going on here these days.  That is why this blog of mine has been a bit quiet, ahem.

I am anxious to soon share details.

this moment {helping}

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

A single picture with no words.  Beautifully simple.  Extraordinarily lovely.

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

Wishing you a beautiful weekend!