in the month of april...

we celebrated my little brother's 30th birthday.


bella started writing her first novel & tess spent time in the library searching for a non-fiction book to read. she settled on snakes.


we spent time just hanging out talking. seems like we have been doing a lot more of that lately, the talking, now that the girls are older and have a desire to add to the conversation.


megan started soccer. can you believe three out of five games have been canceled due to the weather?


& got a new smile.


the girls spent good times with their cousins--even the ones who live in washington.




the girls hunted for easter eggs at their nanas,


& grandmas.


we had our first official porch gathering/bbq of the year--hoping it will not be our last.


we had yet another tickle fight.




it was one of the snowiest/rainiest springs i can remember. i am praying may brings dryer weather.

52 photo project | week 01 | nourish

My friend Bella has started a photo challenge that I'm looking forward to doing for the next 52 weeks.



It's called 52 photo project and it begins this week. I'm sorry I'm a little slow in sharing this new project, I have been gone and busy catching up that I've failed to mention it until now. If you go to the link you will find all the details, but basically Bella will give a prompt at the beginning of each week and then we share our photo on Wednesdays. I, for one, am quite fond of photo prompts so I'm looking forward to playing along. It always helps get my mind thinking more creatively as I consider what each word means to me.

This week prompt is nourish. There were a lot of things that came to my mind and I actually had thought about doing something completely different, but the last two days as I've been out and also reflected back on the week I just had and how needed it felt, right now I'd have to say being outside, having my windows open, hearing the birds, seeing the bunnies running around from house to house, and watching the new life take growth in the trees nourishes my spirit tremendously.



I don't think I realized how much the warmth, the color, fills me up until this season as I've watched the winter linger on. I've had a little bit of the winter blues as spring attempts to come and then gets squashed time and again by yet another snow storm. Although cold is still in our forecast, I am grateful the leaves are unfolding and the blossoms are blooming and the world outdoors is coming alive again. It's filling me up.

spring break photos

Megan came to me Sunday night crying. Spring break had been so good she didn't know how to go to school the next day--all she wanted was sleep in and lay in bed all day. Adam sat laughing in the background as I tried to talk her through it knowing his amusement was due to the fact that he had heard something very similar from my lips hours before.

I guess you could say spring break was good to us. We left the rain and cold weather behind and lazied about all week in the sun. Well, we weren't entirely lazy. When we weren't swimming we were riding bikes around the neighborhood. I'm pretty sure Tess was in heaven each morning as we hit the road. She loves to bike, but has major hills to contend with at home so she goes back and forth a lot on the same street. Needless to say I think swimming came in second on this trip. Even Megan, who has lacked confidence in the past, was acting like a pro the last day. I'm so glad we took the bikes this time.





















Other than those two activities it was pretty low key, but perfectly what we all needed--a spring break.

hitting the road again for blue skies and warmer temps.
our spring break starts now...

bottle it up

I came around the corner the other day and walked straight into this scene. Megan has recently discovered an old ipod that has thought to be extinct, but with most things Megan touches, it has somehow come back to life. She's been quite excited about her discovery and we've often found her roaming the house with ear buds dancing or mumbling the tunes the best she can.



When I saw her there I couldn't help but think of this summer day in 2006. She was almost 2 years old and quite enchanted with the little box that brought music to her ears. I'd like to think not much has changed since then, and if I was just looking at the ear buds and the ipod I'd say nothing has, but the photo tells a different tale. It's funny, when I look at it now after all this time, I realize that's the way I see her--still itty bitty, still in constant need of me. If I didn't have these photos for proof it would almost be hard to believe this much time has past. How come it doesn't feel that way? How come so much life can happen in five years and yet when you look back it seems like just the other day? It's good to know whether or not time speeds up or slows down that we are all moving together.

Here I sit reminiscing about the past, but as I look back at that first photo from the other day I can so easily see Megan in her future. A teenager with spunk and sass ready to take on the world. It's good to know I don't have to be ready for that just yet (not sure I ever will) and I can enjoy her smallness for a little while longer. Right now I can't get enough of where we're all at. I love this stage--the ease before life starts to become complicated with emotions, friends, and hard decisions.

I love it here, I wish I could bottle it up.

12of12 | april

01. i was up early enough to exercise before i left at 6:30am. let's just say it was pretty early.
02. little bits of snow still hanging on from the weekend storms.
03. early morning violin--6:45am
04. my last glimpse of the girls as they make their way to school.
05. i'm constantly picking these up throughout the house--and i am not keen on them being the marker of choice.
06. watched my nieces. megan was so excited to get in the car and see her cousins that she scarcely stopped talking all the way home.
07. my friend jenica made me a custom essential oil mix. this is her colorful stash.
08. spent the afternoon with jenica, chatted, organized, and let the girls play.
09. megan & tess filling eggs for their egg hunt at school.
10. this photo was an accident. grabbed my photo to take a picture of something else and as i walked out of my studio i snapped it. actually love the way it turned out.
11. i love seeing the first signs of spring.
12. the sun wasn't out much, but it did show it's face as it left for the night. couldn't help go out and enjoy it. tess was standing above me when i took this making faces at me.

my day started early, was full, but quite enjoyable. i hope it was another enjoyable day for you as well. don't forget to share your link--i'm eager to see your spring. :)

time well spent...

12of12 reminder

[april 2010]

Here we go--round four.
Tomorrows the twelfth so get your batteries charged and get ready to play. If you are new to the 12of12 challenge you can read all about it here. It's never too late to jump in and start.

Hopefully you're more fortunate than me and will have some springiness in your photos. I'm thinking my twelve this month might include snow--i'm just assuming it will still be here. The weather has been crazy the last few days.

Have fun! Looking forward to see what you come up with this month.

tender mercies

you know those days when you wake up and nothings quite right? where your surrounded by people, lovely people, yet the loneliness weighs heavy on your heart and the woman in the mirror staring back at you is unrecognizable? you know when all you want to do is crawl in a hole and wait for any semblance of you to resurface?

sadly it's been one of those days.



today as i dealt with these feelings i can say with a surety that God is mindful of us and knows what we need, when we need it. i was drawn, out of the blue, to this photo i took weeks ago. it was a sunday and we had just spent the afternoon/evening together and we were getting ready for bed when a spontaneous tickle fight broke out. i have always enjoyed standing on the periphery hearing the rough and tumble of laughs and pleas. it was one of those happy moments where you hope your children never forget, and yet it has become a moment with a message for me. not only did it sooth my ache, but it stands to remind me how much i love my family life. they are my happiness.

but my ache had already been softened when i rediscovered a thoughtful card a dear friend of mine gave to me weeks ago. she could never had known when she gave it to me what it would mean to me in days to come. i guess we never do know how much our thoughtfulness today will help each other in the future. what a blessing it is to have such people in our lives who know and love us. i am grateful.

the cloud is lifting.
it will all be ok.

xo

Right now my girls are outside with their friends sledding, yes sledding, while I stare at this photo remembering what spring felt like just a few days ago.

We had such a great weekend with my family in St. George. My sister was in town for her spring break so it made the time together seem like a special event. The kids swam, we watched conference, played games (i lost), saw the movie HOP (lame), and went for walks.


this is what it looked like every morning while the kids quietly waited for the adults to wake up. heaven.




we spent as much time outside as we could knowing what the weather was like back home.










Chris and Amy had a serious game of chess going

ah warmth...

The only thing that keeps me together some days is an unwavering belief in balance, he said. I try to eat a big breakfast, too.
-storypeople

right now balance = sun and warmth and quality family time.

it's a great weekend.