Captured Moments

I, like every parent, am trying to capture the magic of my kids in pictures. I just wish that I was actually talented in the photography arena. Sure, I've got lots of snapshots of everything, I try to think about lighting and squinting and not getting my gigantic pile of yet-to-be-folded laundry in the background. But, I envy the people who can capture the sparkle and whimsy of childhood in their photos.

Sweetpea lays on what could be a pile of laundry
- but it's just a carefully draped photo prop...

Since it's obvious that I'm not going to capture IT, this talented person isn't nearby to help me out and I can't afford the boutique photographers all the time I turn elsewhere.

It's the elf ears...

Sears.

The clasped hands, the little toes...
she really is that diminutively ladylike

No, it's not glamorous, it's not whimsical...it's not expensive, it's even a little cheesy. BUT, somehow they've managed to capture that something special.

Fresh from no nap and a small breakdown..There's the "hold it together" mouth, the red rimmed eyes, the "just waiting to drop" tear...and of course those little hand dimples and peeking toes.
Could she be more pathetically cute?!!

Fast Moving

Would you believe that not even 24 hours ago this room was spotless, including the floors which I was on my hands and knees cleaning?

It was scarier in person

Please note that the dishes are crawling out of the sink
because there's no more more room for them inside. 

Sometimes life moves a lot faster than I do...

Inspiration

We painted our house when we first moved in and I've loved the colors every since. But...sometimes you just need a change. And when you've been slogging through the days change starts to sound really good!  So I've come up with a plan for our bedroom. In my former life (read: before children) this would have been a weekend project. Now I'm being realistic and calling it my summer project.

Goal: New wall color, new light fixture, painted bed and dresser, new quilt for the bed (this will probably be a fall project since it's pieced and ready to quilt, but the thought of sitting under a thick blanket in July and August while I hand quilt it sounds revolting. I'll have to wait until the weather cools!)

The before "pieces"...

Wall Paint:  French Silver (It's gray...I know it might look blue on some of your screens...)

This will be so calm, cool and pristine.
Just like all of our lovely rainy days (yes, I'm serious!)

Furniture Paint: Picket Fence by Martha Stewart (apparently her new enamel paint is formulated for furniture!)

Not my exact bed but do you know how hard it is
to find a pic of a mission style bed painted white?!!

 Lighting: Kristaller by Ikea

Oh Sweet Chandelier!

Bedding: Providing the punch of color for the room

Not my favorite creation but it'll do for now.

Stay tuned...I may even provide a peek into the "process" (which will involve Steve being forced to paint and me holding back the small minions intent on "helping"!)

Awesome Mundane Importance

I've been struggling to define why I'm in the slog. There's not one event to point to, no difficulties or overwhelming problems. Maybe a little lack of sleep but nothing insurmountable. But I'm mucking along and not feeling like I'm making much progress.

And then I came across this quote (thanks Linda - you resonated with it first and passed it along at just the right time.) I think this might sum it up nicely.

I thought, how can it be that two strangers are exchanging such intimate things? Well, most women are full to the brim, that’s all. That’s what I think. I think we are most of us ready to explode, especially when our children are small and we are so weary with the demands for love and attention and the kind of service that makes you feel you should be wearing a uniform with “Mommy” embroidered over the left breast, over the heart. I (used to sit) half watching Ruthie and half dreaming—trying, I think, to recall my former self. If a stranger had come up to me and said, “Do you want to talk about it? I have time to listen,” I think I might have burst into tears at the relief of it. It wasn’t that I was really unhappy. It was the constancy of my load and the awesome importance of it; and it was my isolation.
—Elizabeth Berg, The Pull of the Moon

Day to Day

I've gotten caught in the daily slog...and right now I'm struggling to see past my own front door.

But this is how I want to face the world.

I'm searching for my enthusiasm again.

Royal Weddings and Real Life Marriages

I'm an optimist. I'm a romantic. I'm a dreamer. I hope.

Wills and Kate were married Friday morning and I watched the entire ceremony. She was beautiful, her dress was perfect, he was smitten and sweet.  It was a a fairytale come to life. Of course, it's real life for the two of them actually taking the vows...

Dr. Richard Chartres, Lord Bishop of London spoke at the wedding. (I considered copying and pasting his entire wedding sermon because I thought it was so lovely, but that would make for a rather long post and perhaps cause a minor revolt...so I will provide a link for those who are interested. (It's only one and a half pages in a word document if you're worried about the length.))

He opened with this: "Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire. So said Saint Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be. Their deepest and their truest selves."

Marriage is hard in real life. Even when the commitment is true, the love is real and the ups and downs are rolling hills rather than cliffs and canyons. What must it be like having to navigate all of that with the addition of the scrutiny, pressure, expectations of millions of people and hundreds of years of history? Daunting.

It's easy to get caught up in the royalty of their union, the elegance, the stately history...the money spent on one day of celebration...  But still, in the end it's two people in love pledging to join their lives, just like every other wedding and every other couple in love. A long thread of vows, some kept and some broken, but all full of shared hope and love through the ages.

Somehow, in the midst of the day to day humdrum of life that marriage gets wrapped up in I got lucky enough to find a better me. My vows didn't sentence me to a life with a ball and chain or claustrophobic box; marriage has provided me space to figure out who I really am. Like Dr. Chartres said, marriage has created a space for me to explore and grow, regress and cocoon, and be free to experience the growing pains along with the elation of discovery. I've earned respect and been given acceptance. Hopefully I've created the same for him. Together, we're chipping away at ourselves and each other to find our "truest and deepest selves".

So, congratulations and good luck to Wills and Kate. May your wedding be the start of a wonderfully transforming marriage. It was fun to celebrate for you!

Two crazy kids...!