this might be long winded.

but for some reason it needs to come out, and i haven't visited this space in months so i'm just going to type and leave it at that. it just feels kind of nice to be back here.

i am horrible at organizing and editing my photos. i upload and run. i rarely delete. and i've been this way for 4 years now. this behavior adds up to a lot of crap photos taking space on my computer. apparently a lot of space. so, i've been slowly working on organizing my photos with the intention of then going back through the folders and tossing out the junk. and oh my, is there a lot of junk. i mean how many photos of baby food or carpenter bees do i really need? and the blurry ones? thousands and thousands of photos of blurry children run rampant on my hard drive. (have i mentioned that i've also never backed up my photos?)

so, i go to upload some photos and they won't upload. i'm out of space. then weird things pop up saying there was an error in trying to save my photos in iphoto though i don't even have that program open. panic starts setting in and mass deletion (on my part) begins. i'm trying to go ahead and delete the tens of thousands of photos i don't deem worthy of taking up space before i back everything up. which i really am going to do. i've lost photos before (though i think they could be lurking in the trash somewhere. i don't know because iphoto won't let me open it). dealing with this task has been a bit of burden in my mind and putting it off has been my way of (not) dealing with it. anyway, rambling here . . .

and here i get to the tissues sitting there on the desk. going through this many photos and reviewing them has been extremely cathartic. at one point i didn't feel like i was emotionally capable of going through certain folders, like ones from thanksgiving where there were so many photos of my grampa, or all the pictures of the kids with our dog mason (who passed away in september at the ripe old age of 15). i had to stop several times because i was a blubbering mess hoping that i didn't wake up the kids from their naps, but i kept going (and i didn't wake them up). i still have a lot more pictures to go through, but going through these en masse i'm also figuring some things out. for example, i don't need to take any more photos of carpenter bees or baby food being made. or that i've come a long way, baby. it's a big deal to me that i'm more comfortable shooting in manual mode than any other mode. i would not have even thought that possible two years ago. maybe two years from now i'll be impressed with myself for having a decent organizational system for my photos! who knows?

so, that's what i've been doing the last couple of days and will still be doing for the next few days. if you don't see me around too much in the next few days, you'll know i'm busy hitting that delete button with no regrets. unless i mess something up somehow. because that is very possible too.


and hey! i remembered my blogger password. that's something!

dog days of summer.

ah, the summer of simplifying. in other words, a summer of slowly filling up the van with boxes and bags for donations (not to mention the recycling bin). today the garage was tackled. matt worked on one side (his studio/work area) and i worked on the other. i think it was close to 100 degrees outside, but by the time we were done the floor had been swept and the van was half full of toys, christmas decorations, a vacuum, and outgrown baby things. it always feels good to unload that stuff and pass it on (to those who will use it), but the job feels far from over. i suppose it could feel that way until the littles are bigger littles. one thing that felt really great was putting away the baby gate. it probably could have been done a couple months ago, but it sat to the side just in case. why we're hanging on to that i can't say, but we are. i'm just glad i don't have to look at it anymore.

the task (if that's the right word) of simplifying is a journey i will be on for some time i think. this stage of de-cluttering is the only way i know how to begin. it's not something new to me, but this go round is a little more intense and has more intention. it's about prioritizing and focusing. it's about cutting out some of the unnecessary things and giving time to the more important ones. it's about less physical/mind clutter and more open/free space. it's about less time spent maintaining and more time on personal growth. it's about less of that and more of us.

all in a day.

today was the kind of day i needed.
busy - yet laid back. my favorite combination. i haven't picked up a stitch of knitting, sewn a single seam, or read a single chapter of my new book (all of those being things i really would like to do).

but i did start my day with the sweetest snuggles from a sleepy bea and that was a good sign. it was the kind of day where i didn't feel guilty about letting henry play games on pbskids.org for an hour while i played domestic goddess and spied bea sitting in a chair looking at books and 'reading' to herself. this was followed by some sibling interaction and bed jumping. them, not me.



then it was time to head out doors. the sun was shining but it was pleasingly cool. i had grand hopes of getting the garden ready for planting and tidying up the back deck. neither task was completed, but that was okay. i pushed littles on the swings, watched them transfer dirt from one planter to another, take countless trips down the slide, jump through the hula hoop, and torment each other here and there.

i did get the basil, parsley, and cilantro put in. i bought new gardening gloves, though i seem to use my bare hands more often than not. i watched henry find a tree to climb (his favorite part of his day), eat mint right from the plant, and move rocks. i watched bea push a rocket all over the yard, get dirt caked under her nails, and witnessed her being completely content in what she was doing.



i watched the littles follow matt around the yard when he got home, show off for him, tell him about their day, and 'help' him chop down a scraggly, dead tree. i made turkey burgers on the grill, did the dishes, spent time on the computer, listened to some great new (to me) music that was recommended by a virtual friend.

i left the front and back doors open. we listened to the birds. i saw a pileated woodpecker while i sat eating my dinner.
i was grateful to savor the little things that really aren't so little when you look at the bigger picture.

painterly.

we had some strange weather today. gray, misty, and chilly this morning giving way to waves of sun and rain in the afternoon. it's 9:oo pm and i still have the windows open.

when the sun finally broke through henry asked if he could paint outside. so i set him up with paint, brushes, and taped a huge piece of paper up on the sliding back door. he painted for a little while and then asked me if i know the guy who paints with drips.

"jackson pollock?", i asked.
"yes", henry said.

so i asked if he wanted to paint like him.



matt came out to take a look. henry told him he was painting like 'jack pollock'.


a couple of weeks ago we bought a year pass to the high museum because we got a great deal on a family pass. we haven't used it yet, but thursday i plan on taking the littles down there. every thursday is 'toddler thursday' and they have an art/craft project for the kids to do and of course you can hang around the museum. many times the project relates to an exhibit being shown. this could be really great or really, uh, interesting. i'll keep you posted.

36 - 8

i signed up for an online photography workshop at c & c photography.

i have never taken a photography class or workshop before, so i'm really excited about these assignments.

the first is framing an egg. and while i of course didn't couldn't restrain myself to taking only 36 frames, i did only end up with 28 frames i felt worthy of sharing. i'm no good when it comes to using artificial light. so, i held out for the sun (and held out and held out). let's just say it was rather gray around here. so i shuffled my egg from the kitchen table, to the kitchen counter, and to bea's room trying to catch the light. this is where the bulk of my shooting took place, trying to get my whites white and not gray or blue and not washed out.

it took some time. all this while trying to protect said egg from two curious little ones.

then one day, i lost all sanity, and took sweet egg to the playground. egg did not have as much fun as i had intended. i think she was afraid of heights because she stayed close to the ground.

on another day, we ventured into the woods. egg seemed very at home here. she found many cozy spots to nestle into and contrasted very nicely with her surroundings. she didn't make it back home though as she was cracked the minute we began our mosey. she hides her flaws well, that egg.

soccer? not so much.

saturday was henry's first day of soccer. he was so excited about it. until the practice started. they started with stretching, he didn't want to. i told him i'd do it with him. nope. okay, no big deal. then they started playing games (with parental involvement). nope. nothing. no interest what. so. ever.

and he was the only one. it was so sad to watch. i didn't want to push him but i wanted him to just try. it was a difficult situation to be in for us especially because we didn't expect that reaction from him. matt and i took turns going on the field with him and trying to initiate play. it worked a couple of times. but then he got upset and started crying. maybe it was too much. it was a little chaotic and he wanted to play just not the way they were. he wanted to go to the big goals and kick the ball when they were lined up to kick in the little ones. that kind of thing. and we kept getting these pitiful looks from other parents. i didn't mind. i wasn't going to force him out there. i was just sad that he wasn't having a good time.

hopefully this week will be better. his friend emery is playing too, but she was signed up for the session before us. so we're going to go to the early session instead. maybe if he's got a buddy playing he'll follow her lead.

letter love.

his curiosity about letters (and writing and reading) is such a joy to me. i really am enjoying the journey and progression. from recognizing his first letter (H, and that was it for a long time - it's still his favorite letter) to learning more of them every day. to asking what signs say (and i how know what they say) and wanting me to read him anything and everything. and now when drawing asking me what people's names look like. i write the letters while saying what they are then lay the piece of paper near him so he can look if he likes. then i'm done. hands off.
at first the letters he would write were all over the page, and sometimes they still are, but now he's trying to put them in order. at least in his way.

through this, i am also learning about his way of learning. he doesn't like to be asked questions. he won't answer them. he likes to be the one doing the asking. he doesn't take well to being directed much either. (i have no idea where that comes from). instead, i have found that if i show him materials, how to use them, and back off, he is much quicker to pick them up. he definitely wants to go at his own pace and in his own style. so far it's working.

and it's honestly rocking my world right now. this curiosity and his desire to know and not being afraid to ask. it's the coolest.


***just in case you can't tell, he wrote jessica. the 'ica' is flowing around the bottom of the page and back up. did i mention this is the coolest!?***

and bingo was his name-o.

henry has been showing a pretty strong interest in letters, sounds, and spelling. he knows some letters by sight or sound and can recognize his name when he sees it. trying to come up with fun ways to keep him interested and learning but without pushing it. i understand this interest may wax and wane. or not. i'll follow his lead.

found an alphabet bingo game. he gets excited when he gets a letter he does recognize and doesn't need help with it. he was calling out, "i'm almost going to winned!" with a huge smile and a pump of the arms. so, of course he won. the bonus is we get to bust into the piggy bank to get our 'markers'.

we've also been writing words on the chalkboard. he'll ask us what a certain word looks like so we write it out for him. then we ask if he can write it. sometimes he wants to sometimes he doesn't. he's been able to write 'H' for a while (his favorite letter) and 'E' and recently 'N' which he interestingly writes from right to left. but it looks great so i don't say anything. he's been working on his 'R' and 'Y'. the other night he asked me what his name sounded like (meaning how is it spelled) so i spelled it for him. then he wanted me to air write the letters as he tried writing each one. then he wanted to know how to spell 'headache'! i told him - then wrote it out on a piece of paper for him. i asked him if he had a headache, he said, "no, my head just hurts."!

the next word he asked for was 'cheetah' (we had watched this movie earlier that day). it's like a little window into what he's thinking about, these words he wants to try to write.

after winning two rounds of bingo he wanted to be the one to call out the letters. kind of tricky to be the caller when you don't know your letters. even trickier is being the player who gets asked, "line down, line up, line down. do you have that letter?".

he likes to play on starfall quite a bit, but if any of you have good resources/ideas/games for learning to read/write/letters/sounds we'd love for you to share them with us!

i think the journey is about to begin . . .

samples

just some samples from my 365 project. so far so good. i know it's only the second week, but if this was one of my 52 weeks projects i'd almost be ready to abandon ship. yet with this project i'm still pretty gung ho!




and meet my first stranger.
kelly.

new projects

i've decided this year will be a busy year for me. my knitting queue, which was large, is getting larger. i have high hopes for some larger projects this year. sweaters, socks, and lace, oh my!

my confidence in sewing is growing so that to do list is growing also. must learn to sew a zipper. and buttonholes. those are definitely some obstacles i need to overcome.

also on my list is the desire to cook more. though i couldn't even get the couscous right the other night, but i won't let that deter me. luckily, i have a love affair with our clay pot and it is hard to screw anything up when cooking in that.

and on the photography front. well, right now i feel brave and excited but in a couple months brave may easily be replaced with deranged. i have taken on a few new projects to hopefully inspire and educate me. the first is the 365 project. i have failed to complete the 52 weeks project. three times. ouch. why i think i might complete this i have no clue. but i am going to try. (of course, i go out of town the day after i start and have no way to upload my pictures - but the photos are being taken!).

1.365


and then, i was inspired by justmakeit and decided to give it a go. the 100 strangers project is something i have been wanting to do for over a year. i can be a bit shy and have a really difficult time approaching strangers. i consider myself lacking some basic social skills quite honestly. last year we were in florida and i snuck this picture. i've always thought it would have been a great start to the 100 strangers project and i've regretted not taking that chance then.

so, now i find myself back in florida at about the same time of year (give or take a week or two) and i didn't want to have those regrets two years in a row. i took my first photo for the project and can't wait to share it with you. next week, when i can upload those photos.

until then, happy new year to all of you who take time from your busy lives to stop by here! i appreciate you so much and look forward to sharing the new year with you.
i'd love to know what projects are on your list.

come along

walk with us. click here.

now back to our irregularly scheduled blogging . . .

so, really i left off with us leaving for our big road trip.
we've just now really settled back into our non-routine routine (though the icebox could use a good restocking!).
i'll start with a few highlights from our trip and a few pictures. you can bypass all of this if you just want to see the pictures by going here (that's really just a sampling - i couldn't bring myself to upload all of them to flickr).

we left on a saturday, of course later than we wanted to, but that was and always is expected. please keep this in mind if we are ever traveling your way. things started to go downhill not even 2 hours from home. bad traffic in chattanooga. bad bad traffic. as in it took over 2 hours to go 4 miles. yes. that bad. and bea was not a happy camper. once through that fine city all was good. the trick was to keep moving. and move we did. straight to saint louis.

saint louis was one of our favorite stops on the way to the rockies. our friend's tim and tara, whom we have only seen one other time (on another road trip) since our wedding 7 years ago, live there. we got there very, very late and stayed up even later once we got talking. the next morning we had a delicious breakfast, some frolicking/wrestling out on the lawn, and then headed over to the missouri botanical garden . we barely touched the surface there, mainly spending our time in the children's area, which was really fun and henry had a blast. it was the perfect pit stop sandwiched between two long days of driving. we can't wait to get back to saint louis!


the next morning we headed out towards the mountains. we stopped in kansas city (mo), for lunch and a visit with a friends family. they adopted our wild beast of a dog willie when they bought their 40 acres and we are forever grateful. he has found the perfect home and is fat and happy!
we all experienced kansas for the first time (and wind farms) and i have to say i thought it would be a dull drive. instead, i thought it was beautiful and peaceful. it was hillier than i anticipated and the greens were so vibrant against that blue sky. really beautiful.
we made it into colorado at night. we had no peek at the mountains until we were weaving through them just north of denver. holy moly. it was surreal. especially to be driving through them at night. crazy. we got to our friend's the murhpy's (scott, suzie (+1), and caleb) in the middle of the night. they had work the next day and we had just driven 14+ hours. we chatted for a little bit, and even though we hadn't seen them since our wedding, we were all tired. so, we hit the hay. then this is the view we woke up to

that's right. at the murphy residence you don't look up at the mountains, you look out at the mountains. i forget their elevation, but i believe it was over 9000 ft.
we also got to visit with postman and chuck (high school friends of matt's). we stayed at postman's (and his wife christine) house and chuck flew from minnesota to hang with us for the weekend too! these guys had henry climbing the walls (and matt too)!
while all the fun stuff was going on, there was work to be done. thursday through sunday much of our time was spent at the show. it was beyond our expectations! such a large show and an array of talent. it was fun, but exhausting, especially for matt. by sunday he was ready to shut it down as were all the 250+ sculptors that were there. that show was broken down in record speed i bet. sadly, matt did not sell anything. at least we can say that the only thing that would have made this trip better was if there had been a profit made. instead, we made great contacts and matt got his name out there and met some great artists that we hope to see at future shows. we still hope to make it an annual or at least biannual trip. how can we not, when it offers us the chance to reconnect with so many friends and family?

we even got to see another friend we haven't seen since our wedding. weiner and his girlfriend, natalie. they're a pair i tell you. i cannot even explain it. there's no one like weiner and it just makes since that his girl hoops with fire. she's a professional hooper. and she gave us a show. and hoop to bring home. i had no idea how hard it is to hoop. they like to say "hooping makes you happy". i think if you did it enough it would give you great abs.

good times : )
we got to experience a lot in colorado though our main goal was to visit and reconnect. there must be something about that place, we know a few who have made their home there. so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to visit them! but after a week+ it was time to start the trek back home.
but first, a few more stops along the way . . .
we left the rockies and headed towards iowa. stopped in for a brief rest at my family's house there then headed to central illinois. bea got to meet grandma bea (matt's grandma).
(they look alike don't they?)
henry had an early birthday party with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins there.
he went tubing and loved it.

he went fishing with grandma. slept outside in a tent with uncle george and aunt jess.
and had a good relaxing time with family before really heading home.


this was such an experience it has taken us (okay, me) weeks to recover. but in a good way. we all experienced so many firsts on this almost cross country trek. first views, first foods, first introductions, etc. andi can truly say that my kids are travelers. it amazes me how well they do. i knew it about henry, but bea! she had to ride backwards the whole way! she had her moments definitely (chattanooga was rough), but i've learned that if you are willing to take your time and stop often enough it goes so much smoother than being in a rush and being tense. kudos to my little troopers! i'm hoping that by traveling distances with them while they are young will have pay offs when they're a bit older : )
and they did great at the show too. some people thought matt was crazy for "dragging" us with him, but i wouldn't have had it any other way. it really was a family affair. we went to set up with him, spent a lot of time at the show over the weekend and we were there for the breakdown. we kept matt company, manned the booth, and drove him a little crazy too.

we really did take the circus on the road.
and it was worth every moment of it.



***and congratulations to the murphy family on the arrival of isaac dylan!!***

a walk in the woods for a dip in the lake

pickled pink

who knew homegrown pickles could be this easy?
what's hard is restraining myself from eating every. last. one.
and the onions? oh my.

essentials of summer

green day

in the garden today.

peas

basil

stevia

tomatoes (upside down)

sweet fennel

mint