looking ahead to this beautiful weekend...that will surely involve leaves, fires, marshmallows, and an obscene amount of halloween candy. we do a big old-time hayride-apple-bobbing-donuts-on-strings kind of fall fest party in our family and the kids won't stop asking if it's sunday yet! 
today i'm craving kinship and connection in the worst of ways. it's funny how sometimes i can be surrounded by people, big and small, and still feel lonely. i'm sure this rainy, chilly weather this morning isn't helping. looking back on my photos from the past month or two makes me happier. “A meal, according to my understanding anyhow, is a communal event, bringing together family members, neighbors, even strangers. At its most ordinary, it involves hospitality, giving, receiving and gratitude.”
– Wendell Berry, Bringing it to the Table
how lucky am i to have some of the most wonderful people in my life, who embrace my children and really take the time to see them for the little individuals that they are? who love them, even when they haven't had a bath in a couple of days, love them when their feet are black from playing in the backyard, love them when they interrupt, when they smudge their fancy phones, love them exactly where they are at. my children are blessed to have a whole tribe of people who love them, spread across the country, stopping in throughout the year to love on them, listen to them, hold them up, snuggle in their beds, read to them, create with them, break bread with them.
circling
and so it begins...
:: having an amazing group of friends in my life...
:: being married to a great guy who loves me for who i am...
:: little mudgie when she wears headbands...
:: joey's "picture face"...
:: my little family, and my best friend's wedding...
:: swimming with friends in a hotel pool...
:: slip and slides on sale for $5 at the end of the season...
:: my red window on the top of our fireplace...
:: my little meditation area in my bedroom...
:: lulu's bedroom---the thrifted quilt on the wall, and the bench that my dad made out of a vintage baby crib...
:: firepits and smores and family...
:: joey and his bravery during the start of kindergarten!...
:: firewood stacking and nesting for the fall (and our generator during hurricane irene)...
where before there was nothing...now we have a bright and sunny family hanging out spot! johnny and i made it a point to put our heads together and come up with something fun for the big room you enter when you come into the house, and we came up with turquoise walls, new pictures hanging in the frames, a red sectional and ottoman, and a teal chair. we still need to get tables, lights, and window treatments, but in the meantime, we're enjoying gathering, lounging, and not fighting for spots to sit!