Home {A Haiku}...

Wherever they are,

Warm, loving, with outstretched arms,

Just waiting for you.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Realities & Blessings...

Okay, so here we are again. It's Friday and I'm going for a second round of Realities & Blessings! It's simple, I give a reality of my life this week and then its proverbial silver lining. Alrighty then...

Reality: I am so ready for spring. Really and honestly and truly. I'm ready for flip flops and cherry blossoms, sunshine and long walks. However, last night we got another eight inches of snow :( And it's super cold :( And it's super windy :(
Blessing: I adore taking pictures of snow. So last night, after a long day inside with a very sick Maya, I got to head out and take some pictures {which I can now share with you here today because this is all about making beauty out of messes, right?}. Taking pictures, being outside...it all just relaxed and rejuvenated me.

Reality: I allow my children to watch TV when I need a break, when they need a break, when Maya needs a nap and we need some quiet. I try to limit daily TV time to no more than an hour and a half or so...but some days it's way a bit more. {however, some days it's also zero...just depends on the day}

Blessing: I really only let them watch PBS and it's most often Sesame Street which I totally count as learning time! In fact, today as Rayne was requesting her afternoon snack, she said "pretzels and fruit snacks, por favor." For those of you not well acquainted with Sesame Street or the Spanish language, 'por favor' means 'please.' :) Thank you Sesame Street!

Reality: I have challenged myself to 52 weeks of self portraits: I must take a self portrait each week. This is hard for me as I don't really love to see myself in photos. I realized that I had been hiding behind Maya in many of my recent selfies. So I took some more artistic photos {see above} and I was really happy with how they turned out. However, Brent did not 'get' my artistic vision. He did not love the photos as I had loved them.
Blessing: I love him anyway. In fact, I love him more for being honest with me. And, I posted the photos on Flickr anyway and got the positive feedback I was looking for from my beautiful and like minded Flickr friends. {I love you guys!!!}

Reality: Maya's new thing is to get into the kitchen pantry and 'rearrange' the spices, cans, and whatnot. She's even taken to throwing jars of baby food {because they sound really cool when they hit our hard ceramic tile floor} and also pulling out all the muffin tins, bread racks, Pyrex dishes, etc. I then have to put everything away...provided it's not broken.

Blessing: Well, she's so stinking cute that I have a hard time seeing anything she does as less than adorable. Also, her focused play in the pantry allows me to clean dishes and cook for the rest of the household {because they do like to eat meals...on clean dishes}. Plus, her curiosity and determination will serve her well in the future.

Reality: Maya was sick...really sick...almost all week. So I spent yet another week not getting a thing done around the house. We have piles of laundry and dishes...both clean and dirty...covering most surfaces in our house.

Blessing: One week from tomorrow, Maya will turn one year! Her days of laying in my arms and being glued to my hip are numbered. I'm a little sad about this upcoming birthday and this week offered me plenty of extra cuddle time with my baby!

Reality: Because of Maya {and Layla} being sick this week, I didn't get to write all the blog posts that I had in mind for this week. This probably doesn't sound like a big deal, but I actually have a backlog of blog post ideas going and I was hoping to get through a bunch this week.

Blessing: There is so much good stuff coming next week including a special new project coming on Monday and a two part series on creativity!

So there you have it, friends. Two weeks in a row! I think it's officially a "thing" now! I'd love it if you joined in. If you do, just post your link in the comments.

Here's a few more pics of my winter evening photo walk...

Happy Friday, everyone! xo

Blizzard...

Mmmm...we finally got the snowfall I'd been wishing very very hard for! {clearly I only feel this way about snow because I don't have to drive in it and I have a very nice husband who willingly goes out to clear our driveway and such...} Anywho...about mid-blizzard, before it got to deep to walk in, I bundled up Maya, strapped her in the Baby Bjorn and headed out to try and capture the beautiful winter wonderland all around me.

When it's snowing outside, I am like a kid on Christmas. I can barely contain myself until I get through with morning obligations {such as breakfast} before I can get out there. There is almost a tangible magic going on in a snow storm; where time is suspended and thus the trees just hold the snow in their arms. It's absolutely gorgeous and if you're not quick, you'll miss it.

The quiet in a snow storm is heavy; like a big winter blanket surrounding you. It's hard to feel lonely out there. It's hard to even think of much else besides how absolutely stunning the world looks all dressed in white!

My favorite part of a snow storm is before everything gets plowed and cleared away; before the beauty gets pushed aside for reality. It always makes me sad to see snow being shoveled. I wish we would all just stay home until it melted!


At least I have my camera: my special box which holds my most special memories and feelings. So that when the storm has moved passed, the world has resumed it's routine, and the trees have laid down their armfuls of snow, I can look back through my pictures and perhaps the world will stand still for just a moment longer.

Thank you for allowing me to share my magical blizzard with you!

Scenes of Winter : : Snow...

Aaaahhh...things are beginning to feel normal again around here. We are back to normal schedules and routines, fresh meals are being made, sleep is coming easier... I wish we were spending a bit more time outside, but with temps in the teens and twenties, a few brief moments are about all anyone can take outdoors. I'm waiting for another pretty snowfall to provide a good reason to bundle up and freeze for a while. But until then, I'll share these photos from our New Year's Eve snow.

Tomorrow, I'll bring you back inside for some warm cozy goodness. And {if you watch closely}, you may get a recipe or two!

Have a great day, everyone!