better late then never

my moo post cards came! I love them and can't wait to put a few in the  mail

well hellloooo!!
A little late with the Easter pictures, but some of these are too good to not post. So let's roll back to last Sunday, shall we?

pretty lavender in the morning sun

The day was pretty mellow and very kicked back. I had big plans to make some sort of fancy pants breakfast, but when it came down to it I think we just had (homemade)frozen waffles and coffee. O sorted through his Easter basket. I didn't get a shot of it for some reason.

collections around the house

The bunny dropped of some "cowboy and buzz" bandages, some chap stick, some glow in the dark bugs and a little book about bugs and a bit of candy for him.

Easter bubble gum fun

The bunny also realized that she had bought entirely TOO much candy and was scratching her head at why the heck she had done so. The only thing she could figure is that Whoppers shaped like Easter eggs and purple peeps are only available at certain times of the year right?
right.

At one point the house was entirely too quite. I thought for sure I was in for some sort of chaos, so I brought my camera along, natch. To my delight and surprise, the quite was just because O had wandered up to his bedroom where he was "reading" his new (old) Donald Duck train book. Do you love his attire? That hat was one of the best $10 purchases, ever. He looks so friggin' cute in it, especially when paired with jammies, donchya think?

The afternoon involved naps and Fifi and I snuggling on the couch watching My So Called Life. Thank you Netflix and hiya Jared Leto. You still make me heart go pitter patter with your dreamy-mcdream eyes. (And could it be that you are hotter now then you were back in the day? oh my). Daddy did some yard work and there were really no expectation of doing much else. I love when that happens.

Around 4:30 we got cleaned up and headed over to Daddy-O's parents house for dinner and egg hunt. The weather cooperated for the 15minutes or so while we were out in the backyard, there was still some wind, but we live in Nevada, so I expect nothing less!

The youngest of the two cousins- B, who just turned 1 and Fifi at almost 8months. Adorbs, no?

Watching the kids look for eggs was a hoot. They all had their own route and scattered across the yard when we said GO! 

MrO's cousin N. had been to no less than three egg hunts that weekend and after getting maybe five eggs decided that was enough collecting. He sat down mid-hunt and started to devour the contents of is little plastic eggs.

We had to do some serious negotiations to get him to sit with t he other kids for a group shot.

Here's little flash back to O's first Easter and the line up just two short years ago...

Before our ham and scalloped potato dinner Daddy-O gave wagon rides around the backyard. The kids weren't having any fun, can you tell? :)

It was a really nice afternoon. We missed my mom who is back East with family right now. But we did get to chat with her on the phone and she was having a really nice time and a yummy sounding dinner at my Aunt's house.

Happy Spring everyone!

colors of the season

The kids colored eggs yesterday morning. My best friend brought her daughter over and our good friends down the street came over too with their two girls to join in the fun. 

Egg dying was a great way to spend the morning and early afternoon- it was raining and cold out which hampered our egg hunt plans at the local park.

I wasn't quite sure how it was all going to go. I mean, 2.5 year olds aren't know for their, how would you say, delicacy? But the results and the process were actually much better than I had anticipated.

Much like when we did sugar cookies at Christmas time, I had to back off and let the process happen. This is when having my camera comes in handy, I can't rush to interfere as easily when I am worried about my camera getting doused in green egg dye. I did put down an old towel to absorb any spilled dye, or soften the drop for the delicate little shells.

The three kids blew through the eggs. I probably boiled up about 18- we had to stall the kids for a bit with stickers to slow them down and at one point.

(don't worry, nothing happened to O's face.. kid just likes a little bandage accessory for fun).

... now what the heck am I going to do with all those hard boiled eggs?! Yes, egg salad, spinach salad, potato salad, deviled eggs are all good when you have hard boiled egg eaters in the house... but, um we don't) Next year I think I will blow out the eggs since we are much more likely to eat them or bake with them that way then the boiled...

Yesterday was also our house mate's birthday. Isn't she a doll?

Happy Birthday K. we are so happy you are part of our family this year.

I hope everyone is having a lovely Easter!!

what's the haps?

So I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.

I keep hearing myself say, "I don't have the time."

And you know what, that makes me nuts.

Because a lot of what I keep saying I don't have time for are those very things I want to be doing. 

I read a quote somewhere (probably over here)

"If it really matters to you, you will make time"

or something to that effect (or is affect? I never know..)

Anyway, it struck me..

kid smiles with everything she's got, mouth, cheeks, eyes and even her nose.

Last weekend I had a bit of physical purging.. let's just say I enjoyed celebrating my in-law's 40th (YES, 40th woot!) wedding anniversary with the rest of the family a little too much- but after walking around like a zombie all day, recovering from one of the worst hang-overs I have had in more than 4 years, 

I realized that maybe I needed that 'purge' in a way.

Trust me when I say (and please don't judge me over the fact that I drink, drank, drunk- I have been beating myself up plenty over this),  

I could have done without the ick all day, and the fact that I couldn't eat until about 4pm,

but stick with me here....

I have been feeling really stuck and the light bulb came on over my (very) hung over head-

the words of my yoga teacher came to mind -

release what isn't serving you any longer, breathe in what is.

She doesn't fly and I cried as she walked into the station, rolling her little red bags behind her.

To start, I decided to evaluate where my time goes during the day and start to clear some space. 

Looking around the house, I realized I have a ton of crap overflowing from my closet, dresser drawers, desk, kitchen cupboards etc, etc, etc.. and all over the place.

I need to sort through all that stuff,

keep what I really love, what fits with where I am (physically and mentally) 

and get rid of the rest.

she thinks it's hysterical to grab the cords to the PlayStation controllers as he plays Fifa Soccer. such a funny little moment I caught here.

Second, take a look at where I put energy that really isn't necessary.

I have decided to quite facebook. GASP!

It is sort of funny to read the reactions, some super supportive, others totally blown away that I could do this or would want to.

But really, I am sick of finding out things about friends or family that I should be hearing first hand,

either in person or even over the phone- not reading it on facebook.

So if you follow me out there, my account closes on Friday-

drop me an email, give me call, stop by the house-

I need the real connection with my peeps.

This fuels me and keeps me going. It's been fun out there,

but also what really I need, is one less place to 'stop' by while out online.

I am teaching again. once a week for 45 minutes at work. It's a quick lunch time practice through the wellness program. A perfect ease back into it all I think.

Third, I am toying with the idea of only updating my flickr account once a week, maybe twice.

And perhaps thinning out my contacts- same thing with my blog roll.

Today I was out on google reader and went from almost 500 entries to 3 with a click of a button-

 holy S people, that was LIBERATING.

LIBERATING!

I am still following a ton of blogs, but I needed to clear that reading list out for me to not feel like I was trapped or missing out on something if I didn't read it right away.

I was also inspired by this post and the little computer program she talked about that actually shuts you out of the Internet for a give amount of time.

I thought, why do I need the computer to do that?

Why don't I just do that for myself....

He was WILD the other night, so we all went out for a quick walk around the hood to burn off some energy. It was the best idea Daddy had all day!

Yes, I think this is what I need. I will keep you posted on my progress. I know it won't all happen over night. That I will probably fall back into old habits and ways and then snap back to this idea of cutting back. My blog roll will be stacked back up with unread blog posts.  

I am sort of hooked on pinterest right now too, so I am going to have to figure that one out- BUT, but, but, I feel really good about this whole idea.

I want to make time for my sewing, for my cooking, for my kids and my husband.

For my friends and the rest of my family. Real, face to face time- not I think this is what (s)he meant when they posted this or that...

 

I want to keep taking pictures and documenting my life- that is really why I continue to keep this space, without it my kids wouldn't have a baby book.

So I will have to come back to evaluate what is and isn't working with all of this.

Tuning, adjusting and re-evaluating... but isn't that what life is all about?

Let's see where this takes me, shall we?

a few photos....

I often wonder how much he will remember of the time they get to spend together these days. Twice a week they hang out, play and enjoy each other's company.
All I know is that they have a special bond and it makes me so happy to have made my mom a grandmother.

~~~

He is a peeler, picker kind of kid. If there are stickers he has the backs removed and them stuck everywhere. If there is part of a book binding or piece of tape that is coming up, even just a little, he has to pull it all the way apart. If there are crayons, the wrapper has to be peeled away, leaving a neat little pile of confetti behind.

When he realized that he could peel oranges(or cuties) and not get in trouble for doing so, it was a natural fit. I am only allowed to start the peeling process and the rest is up to him.

 

~~~

Daddy-O likes to put Fifi in the pack as he checks the garden and hand waters the yard in the evenings. She loves it up there.

 

~~~

 

I saw this lemon cake recipe in my roommate's Every Day Food the other day and had, had, had to make it.

I bought two Meyer lemons and two regular for the recipe. mmmm

holy crap people. make sure you have someone to share it with because otherwise you may consume half of the cake by yourself as you sip your morning coffee...

Next time I am putting it in a bread pan so it comes out like a loaf instead.

I think it will be wonderful like that.

catch up

and I don't mean the Heinz variety.

I have been so busy sharing with you all my adventures in film and celebrating lucky 7, that I really haven't made any updates on my 365 project over here.

Last week there was gardening

finding pretty in the everyday things around the house

(or, what the heck am I going to take a picture of today?)

watching spring explode all around me

dinner with friends, one of which is looking a million times healthier than when we saw him last

(he is battling cancer and kick some ass)

my boy is starting to follow in my footsteps

my girl is seven months old

and one quick swipe with the clippers and my baby boy is transformed into a big-big kid.

I love how this project has me slowing down, seeing the light and the moment and using my favorite tool, the camera.

Lucky Seven

On Friday Feefers turned seven months. What a month it has been too. Lots of things happening for this little girl right now.

A list of seven things to mark the month:

1. Went camping for the first time and loved it

2. Went swimming for the first time and splashed she scared herself.

3. Started eating more and more solids and hasn't met a food she doesn't like yet. She is particularly found of the stick pretzel stogies, and anything that I put in the net-pacifier-deal-bop-thing-a-majiggy. We brought the high chair back in from the garage and she loves sitting with all of us at meal time and while I cook. 

4. She stopped sleeping very well at night, as in, waking up every couple of hours to eat. Much to this sleep deprived mama's dismay, but has seemed to be getting back on track the last couple of days. Much to this mama's delight.

5. Started sitting up with out help of another human, a bumbo or the boppy. This has made bath time easier and much more fun since that means she can be in there with her big brother, who by the way is still the funniest person that ever lived according to her.

6. Has found a deep love for eating anything made of paper. Nothing is sacred or safe, she might have a mean spitball talent forming.

7. Is "unofficially" crawling. Meaning she can no longer be left on the bed or the couch (ahem) alone with out a large possibility of falling off. She scoots herself all over the room, backwards and by rolling. Unless, there is something so incredibly tempting in front of her, then it is necessary to 'hop' forward and worm her way to it until her chubby little hands can reach out and grab what ever it is she needed/wanted.
(Update: as of Sunday afternoon, April 11, we have an officaial crawler on our hands. She is getting faster and more accurate by the minute. It really is awesome to watch it all unfold.)

I think this might be one of my favorite stages that she is in/headed into right now. She is more and more awake and alert than ever. She is totally interested in what is happening all over the room- will unlatch mid-feeding if she hears her daddy or brother walk in the room and is even starting to mimic sounds and motions, like waving and head nodding (which is hysterical and needs to be caught on video). It is always so amazing to watch as they take so much information in and process it all. She is still such a happy, smiley little girl and her smile and eyes will light up a room when she enters it. I hope that sparkle never leaves- it is such a gift.

We love you Feefer-fifer-foo, yes we do!