Up Close and Personal

This is what it looks like the second before getting a kiss from Lucy.

Waterfront Property

These are the lovely photos taken from my lawn! The other day I was commenting to TJ about how I always wanted to live on a lake! The next morning out of nowhere, this sign blows into our yard that says, "NO DIVING"! We laughed about that one for awhile until this morning, an inner tube arrived on a new wind, again out of nowhere. Of all the random things to blow into your yard.

Bubble Baby

Could she be any cuter? Seriously.

Long walks

That's about all I've been doing lately, taking long walks with Lucy and Maggie. Today alone I banked about six miles. Sorry for the blog hiatus but I lost my camera on Saturday and just found it! It was in the basket where I put it on Saturday, go figure? The funny part is, I clearly remember thinking to myself as I placed it inside; "will I remember that I'm putting this here?" A little voice said, "suuuure! how could you forget a thing like that?" My brain is a puddle.

Either way, I have been very busy with Lucy's dress. (status quo pictured above) I would be long finished if I hadn't run out of embroidery floss in pink #761. Wasted about an hour trying to upload video footage-never happened and started my next huge top-secret crafting adventure which will remain hush hush until finished.

I hope everybody had a terrific Easter. Here's hoping next year's egg hunt will be snow bank free!

signs of spring

Happy Equinox! Spring in New England is a tricky thing, mostly non-existent. I've been reading a lot of TS Eliot this week which is a really bad sign. Monday was a nice-ish day and I explored some inspiring photos online to get myself in the mood. Well, really to get myself out of my mood. Then Wednesday I awoke to MORE SNOW so I immediately packed up my love and went to Fiddlehead Farms to purchase three dozen tulips to ward off suicide for another week. Hours later, TJ and I were in stitches as a huge swarm of birds pecked around our yard in the falling snow. It was nice to see and hear birds and I am hoping these bits of life springing up around me are indicative of the end of winter!

On a global scale, I have been deeply saddened by the uprisings in Tibet. The Tibetan struggle is one I have studied extensively and their history over the last few decades has been a seemingly endless decline. Their battle should be a reminder to us of the value of our freedom, something many of us take for granted every day while others die for just a chance. I came across this amazing blog today that really touched me. It explores of the lives of Tibetan refugees living in India coupled with some really beautiful photography.

http://unseendharamsala.blogspot.com/

Coming soon: baseball season!

We are a Red Sox family and our bambino is already psyched up for the 2008 season!

Woman's Best Friend?

Oh Maggie Lou, how you try my patience. She's not the sharpest knife in the drawer...metaphorically speaking her "sharpness" might fall more in the spatula drawer...but she's our pup. Though I constantly groan at her endless whining, barking, digging, destroying and chewing, I found myself up at 4am with my sick pup, cradling her sad head in my lap and coaxing her back into slumber. Maybe it's just the mother instinct to care for sick babies, but maybe there really is a tender spot within me that truly loves this dog.

Projects Coming Soon

I am backing away from the black hole that is my computer to get some projects done: embroidered sun dress for Lucy, painted bird houses to lighten my mood (it is snowing AGAIN outside!!) some new springy couch pillows and finally, a Christmas DVD for Poppi. Sorry Dad!!

Morning Glory

Wednesdays are family day at our house, one of the few moments for the three of us to all be together for awhile. Lucy slept in until 8:30 bless her heart, a much needed gift for mama and especially for dada. It was so nice to all rise together and I had been itching for blueberry muffins since I found my mother's recipe last week. This picture does not do them justice but they were delicious. I will share the recipe with you all once it has been fine-tuned. I'm so picky about my baked goods! I have always hand mixed my muffins and I was convinced by a web article that I could use my stand mixer as long as the flour and milk were folded in. What did I get? Over mixed muffins that didn't rise properly. Boo. Delicious none the less. Lucy ate her muffin tops (has she been watching Seinfeld?) in the laundry basket watching Sports Center with dada. I love my silly family.

A moment

I sit in a still room as the rain pounds my window from the outside. I feel safe. A smile spreads across my face as I hear my love's breath through the baby monitor. In the background I hear the rain pounding her windows, as well. She is also safe. The dog sleeps at my feet, tired from an afternoon of bone chewing and chasing a busy toddler from room to room. A family at rest means a moment of peace for mama. My life is a busy one. Working, mothering, loving, creating, molding, learning... Each moment pools into the next like an endless river…pebble by pebble, I wade through. Though the current is strong, I am stronger and I take the time to feel the water between my toes, the sun on my face and the wind at my back. Here and now; the rain on my window, the beautiful life sleeping safely in the other room. Peace.

Crazy Dayz

While I fought off exhaustion for the better part of the afternoon, Lucy and Maggie waged war on my sanity with their crazy antics. Take, for example, this photo. Just after a nightmarish bubble bath, coupled with a failed attempt at hanging mini blinds (wrong size!) I emerged from the drenched bathroom to find Lucy sitting on the kitchen table, picking my flowers apart. Now I understand that surmounting furniture is a natural stage of toddlerism but until this moment Lucy has shown no sign of interest. Nor had she shown interest in dumping her milk out of her cup, painting the kitchen with it and rubbing it in her (freshly washed) hair. These events took place while I was salvaging what was left of my flowers. Just a snippet of one nutty day. Does the fact that I stopped to take a picture of it make me totally commitable?