13:52 Things that grow

I have a lot of things around here that grow.  And five of them are little towheads getting taller and smarter and more independent at an alarming rate.  Take for instance my baby.  She, at eighteen months old, has finally moved over into big sister's room  [Insert a huzzah for a room and bed to ourselves!].  In the mornings, I often come into the dining room to find her at the table, happily and noisily eating breakfast.  Thinking she missed cuddling with me in the night, I offer her a good morning hug.  She's done and pushes me away after a couple seconds [Insert sniffles as I say goodbye to the baby phase].

It seems as these littles grow, the amount of anything else in the house grows right along with them.  Like the laundry. And the messes.  And the stock of food in the pantry.
So, yes, they keep me pretty busy.  I'd say its all worth it though!

And if I wasn't busy enough, I'm considering planting a garden this summer.  I'm wondering if I ever will get too tired to keep up with all the pet projects while in the middle of raising kids.
I hope not.  Because then, I might lose my sanity.

Back to gardening...it's the sight of this that makes me get excited for spring and summer, and the possibility of lots of green plants growing that will yield yummy food for our table.

13:52 Things that grow

I love bulbs. They require absolutely no work, and come back faithfully every spring.

Now gardening...... maybe I am losing my sanity already.

Once again, head on over to Maaret to see what's growing in her corner of the world.

In the middle of it all

Sometimes it's the little things, right?  The little things that make us happy.

Or perhaps it's the little things that get finished amongst the never-ending big project that provide a sense of accomplishment and a little bit of sanity.

We're replacing the flooring in all our bedrooms.  It seems like our hallway has been a perpetual mess of bedroom furniture and items, and it's only going to get worse.  We're doing the master bedroom next.
Can't we fast forward to next week already?

So last week, in between moving around furniture, ripping up carpet (yes!!!), and scraping old glue, I made a trip to Target.

And discovered a pretty lamp shade on the clearance rack.

And came to the conclusion that a little makeover project was just what I needed after looking despairingly at our cluttered halls and tripping over mattresses for the last week.

After some frog tape, primer, spray paint (that I didn't shake well enough which sprayed clumps onto my lamp resulting in unplanned sanding - oops), and the new lamp shade, I had a new look for my nightstand.

It was just what I needed.  A quick project.  Instant gratification in the form of spray paint.

Now, I guess I'm headed back to cleaning out the master bedroom so we can get ready to pull up the brown shag.  How did our closet get so full anyway?!?

12:52 Smile

You hopped onto the couch without me asking, eager to be in my picture.  You posed without any direction.

I had to snap fast, as I knew your smile and your stillness would  be quick.

Sure enough, after less than half a minute, you were ready to move on to the next thing.

But oh how sweet your smile was!

12:52 Smile

Your smiles are like rays of sunshine for they warm me to my core.  I can't get enough of them.

I am sad when the clouds hover on your horizon, and I only catch glimpses of a fleeting smile.
On the cloudy days, I want to be the wind for you.  I'll blow away those clouds.
Because I know the sun is there, hiding, waiting to shine.
I want everyone else to see what I see - your brilliant light.

Continue the circle to see more Friday smiles.

11:52 Morning Light

With the early sunrises come the warmer weather.

With the warmer weather come the birds.

And with the birds come their song.

It's a beautiful way to welcome a new day. 

11:52 Morning Light

"Hear the little songbird sing. 

Hear the joyful praises ring."

If my face wasn't already fried from yesterday afternoon's excursion to the ski hill, I'd still be sitting outside soaking up the morning sun, listening to the birds call back and forth to each other.  As it is, my lobster/raccoon face needs some protection so I guess I'll hope this awesome weather holds so I can spend much of our spring break mornings next week nursing a cup of tea and basking in the early light.  

The beautiful mornings have got to be the best part about spring!

To get a peek into Maaret's morning, go here.

10:52 Shadow

I am ready for spring.

Unless, of course, this weekend's snow storm means I can get on the ski hill one last time.  That'd be a grand way to say good bye to old man winter, don't ya think?

That's what I think of when I think of 'shadow' - winter.
  Didn't the ground hog see his shadow?  And are the dark days of winter done yet?  Dark meaning the nasty sicknesses I mentioned in yesterday's post that I am only too glad to say goodbye to. Shadows that I want to slink away now that the sun is out a little longer each day.

Now this little mischievous shadow is one I've come to love.

10:52 Shadow

The sun's path in the sky is once again blinding us if we sit on the far side of the table at dinner.  Looking at Elaina's shadow reminds me of how last year she sat in her high chair pushed up to the table to join us for dinner, rather than hopping on and off the table from whichever chair she's overtaken as she wills.

Time has this uncanny ability of slipping by me quiet as a shadow if I'm not paying attention.

Head on over to Maaret's blog to see what kind of shadows she's found this week.

If you could see my plate, it might be rust colored

I have to shake the pressing sense of guilt as I head to the sunniest chair in the living room, book in hand, my workout DVD pushed to the back of my mind with the label "tomorrow".

For the first time in what seems like a long time (although its probably been only a month) I have nothing that needs my immediate attention.  No vomit-soaked quilts to wash. No feverish child to keep my eye on.  No big weekend plans to prepare my family for.  No bills to pay.

And I'm taking advantage of that fact. By doing absolutely nothing.

It's wonderful in the way that eating too many slices of banana bread in between dressing the kids to go play outside, kissing an owie, making lunch, and repeatedly walking around dazedly wondering where I put my book down only to find it and wonder if this sense of elation I feel upon the knowledge that I can sit down and devour yet another chapter is normal; that kind of wonderful.  Where my  head is blissfully wrapped up in another time and life - Jason Bourne's to be exact - and the dreary sicknesses that have consumed our household this winter are all but forgotten.

And because it feels wasteful, and because I feel guilty, and also because a few hours was actually enough, I am now moving on to the present and to next week, forgetting about the book that made it home from the LA airport with Dean.  I'll pick it up and read in snippets, but for now life continues to pull at me.  My full calendar screams at me from the fridge, reminding me that just because we are all well, life won't necessarily slow down.  Piano lessons today, home services next week, I need to go to Home Depot...that reminds me...

We have a pop up tent trailer now!  It's a little old colemen that I think our family will barely fit into, but perfect for now. I was at Home Depot yesterday shopping for a shop vac with which to de-dustify the thing.  After finding a pricey little vac, I headed to the lighting section to see what deals I might find.  I discovered a stack of ceiling fans on clearance, and decided $21 was too good a deal to pass up as we are currently staring at an 80's fixture every time we lie in bed (and I might as well buy three).  I think I made quite the show for all the retirees shopping that day, me pushing a double stroller and pulling a cart overflowing with boxes of ceiling fans and a vaccuum and the 3 year old obediently following behind with a bag of floor and paint samples.
Anyhow, I digress... Having already reserved our campsite at Sequoia and Yosemite, I have been scouring KOA sites along the coast of central California for our summer road trip. To say we're excited is an understatement.
Me - it's my dream vacation.  The kids - the dream playhouse.
A few mornings ago, I found them here, with a deck of uno cards.

This tent trailer is a fun pet project that isn't so consuming that it takes away from our big project inside of repainting and replacing the flooring in our bedrooms.  It's a fun filler project.  In between everything else, I'm emptying, cleaning, scrubbing, and planning to do some upholstery shopping and recovering.

My kind of fun, so long as it stays a stress free project on the large, ever revolving, ever changing plate that is my life.
Sure my plate is full, but a good kind of full.
My plate is spinning, but not at an alarmingly fast rate.
And currently, the view from my plate is looking pretty beautiful.  
I suddenly want to be wearing one of those rust colored t-shirts with the simple truth printed in smallish white letters - "life is good".

9:52 In Your Closet

How about red?

9:52 In Your Closet

I like red shoes.  And now that I have four pairs, my eyes are turning toward teal.  I'd like some teal shoes.

After that, I'll look for mustard yellow.

Do your feet sport any colors of the rainbow?

I'm betting Maaret has some fun colors in her closet!