check it out- wishmamas!

if you have a minute or two, click over to the wish studio to read/watch my piece, wishmamas: the ultimate lesson in letting it all go. thanks!

there are.

there are moments
that are so heartbreakingly pure
that i'm pretty sure
my heart
will stop

and i look around
and wonder
how on earth
so much love
can fit into one life?

i bottle up
these moments
and save them
for when i need them most

like yesterday
when my new van broke down
60 miles away from home
and we all had to squish into
a tow truck
with a flatbed on the back,
my broken vehicle
coming along for the ride

but i looked around
at my children sandwiched around me
and my husband sitting next to
the vibrating stick shift
and i just took out my camera
and started taking pictures


and laughing.

and it was enough.

things to do when it's 100 degrees and you have no air conditioning, part 1.

dress up like a viking and put on an opera show for your guests.

(and the fact that i'm posting these pictures just goes to show you how much i.love.you.)

kewpie

puppa balancing the little kewpie doll lulu in the palm of his hand
it's one thing that just makes me so happy
to see it come
full circle
knowing he used
to do this
to me
when i was a babe

(a swim diaper was being used as a hat because i forgot to pack one for the pool- they work great! also, a big THANK YOU to the dubes for letting us swim every day during this 90+ degree weather- putting up with the bickering siblings, the meltdowns, and the baby pee and poop! you guys rock!)

or...

:: or you could just jump in anyway. xx

here

here

take this

it will make you feel better

i promise.

xx

crocodile creek shout out

how could you not love a company who's motto is "the art of play"?

what i love most about the crocodile creek products are the bright colors. i love how my kids are drawn to their simplicity and their focus on fun. i'm drawn to their eco-friendly vibe and the high quality. if you have time, check out the beautiful website. they have some fabulous back to school items, especially the drinking bottles and the lunch bags. we have the firetruck bag and gray is majorly wanting the flower one. they sell the things that i would want if i were a kid again (those playground balls would have made dodgeball more tolerable).

here's where i tried to make a little video to show us in action getting busy with the floor puzzle. our video was a bit of a trainwreck. (it's 95 degrees and humid here- so be kind!) but the puzzle was fun! and now joey knows the letter U! so here goes:


the company's treat to you, dear readers? if you buy a backpack or lunchbox from them and enter the code "BACK2SCHOOL", you'll receive free shipping! and that's always a good thing.

("everyone say bye appropriately!"

"BYE APPROPRIATELY!")

them kids

a couple weeks back we took the kids to an outdoor music festival. which seemed like an OK idea at the time but in reality there were a whole bunch of ants, a cranky baby learning to crawl, a buttload of traffic, lines of port-o-potties next to us, a three year old with explosive diarrhea, and sibling rivalry. but being who we are, we were determined to turn it into a good time. which involved making the kids dance to the sam roberts band (song "them kids" found here) and eric hutchinson (kids are fond of this song). joey is particularly good at "forced dancing", and especially "forced dancing for slush (or insert bribe here)". he really loves it so don't be alarmed.

this video, if watched closely, features a nice little joey-toot right at the end of the fanny waggle. because he's entertaining like that. i'm sure it earned him an extra treat.

meow

little things make me happy.

like making real sailboats into
cat ears

meow.

xx

what sorts of little things
make you happy?

grace the screen monster gilbert

back story:

gray busted through our front screen door today while playing with a friend. she was really really upset about it and would not stop crying, even though i was reassuring her it was in fact OK and that accidents happen. she was scared of the unknown and scared of john finding out (even though johnny is THE.NICEST.DAD.EVER. see below). so i took the liberty of calling him at work and putting him on the phone with her and he told her not to sweat it.

shortly after, we received this email from him (like i said- nicest dad ever. and as a side note, gray really did save joey's life in the pool the other day, but that's a different story for a different day)

Dear Grace The Screen Monster Gilbert,

I would never be mad at you for making a mistake. The only issue now is stopping the bugs from flying into the house, so it will now be your responsibility to stand at the door all day long waiting for flies to come into the house. You have to trap each fly in your mouth and chew them up and poop them out your fanny cheeks, make a sandwich out of them and then feed the sandwich to your baby brother.

It's just a screen. It's easily fixed and I'm not mad. Consider this an even swap for you saving Joey's life the other day. I would trade a million zillion screens for just one Jogey Bear. You're the best little screen monster in the world. Enjoy eating all of those stinking flies.

Meow, you're a cat and I love you.

five days.

there are just no words for the amount of love and adventure that can fit into five short days.



thank you to the charltons to opening up your home and your hearts to us, with love and generosity. thank you to our new friends jen and rod for opening up your cottage to us and having the perfect summer day. thank you universe for perfect breakfasts at our old favorite restaurant with fountains dripping nearby, for ice cream on the water, for viking hats, for breathing treatments, for art supplies, for well behaved children on long road trips, for a newer, functioning van, for air conditioning, for silliness, for dvd players in the car, for allowing me to witness new babies being brought into the world. i stand here in awe, loving life.


and extra shout out goes out to:
iced coffee cozies
nice labor and delivery nurses
rhine wine
buffalo wings
my sewing machine
and johnny, who bails me out when i need him. xx

(ps- lulu is totally fine but having treatments to help her breathing- joey snapped the pictures while we were at the doctor's and they snuck their way into the movie and i'm too confused/tired to figure out how to remove them. same for the picture of joey's fanny crack.)