our new hanging out spot

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!

summer lovin'

this summer
has been incredible
long days filled with nothing much...
reading books and watching movies
laying in the grass looking at birds and butterflies

there's been lots of sibling rivalry
but moments of sweet bliss
where everything is right in our world

especially when we are the only people
at the town beach
and there are four lifeguards
watching my three kids,
a hawk circling about the pine trees around us.
and we have a cooler filled with
chips and sandwiches and apples
and a day filled with nothing
waiting for us.


the summer days are numbered
so i'm trying to slow down
and enjoy these last days. xx

life according to joey

sometimes
when i upload my pictures to the computer
i find these little gems
videos that the kids have taken
of each other
of themselves

and i find myself
late at night
looking through the pictures and videos
dying laughing

this one struck me as particularly funny
-----------------------------------------------------

life according to joey

the things that are dangerous?


sitting on the toilet

kissing a woman

never brushing your teeth

living it

it's true, party people
i am falling in love with summer

i've always kind of dug summer,
but never really have been crazy about it
i don't love being hot
tend to get very overheated and exhausted and grumpy

but this summer

oh this summer

i am falling in love
with the beach
and the long days
and the movie nights
and the basketball and softball games in the yard
and the staying up lates
and the drumstick ice cream cones
and the farmers markets
and the dinners on the deck
and the birthday parties outside

and the nights that you most certainly, definitely must take a shower before bed because there's no way on earth that you can place your dirty dirty body on your clean, cool sheets

life is full, and busy, and not-busy, and wonderful. there is not a single day that goes by that i don't thank my lucky stars that i get to mother these children, and live this life that i live. it's as simple as that. a big thank you to the universe when i tuck myself in at night (and an extra big thank you to my husband who works his heinie off so i can live the life i live...)


i hope wherever you are, you are living your ass off. xx

less is more

less writing
more living

it's a good thing. xx

sweet little airstream

nothing beats the heat of summer like getting together with some women, a sewing machine, some wine and good snacks, and making art in a vintage airstream! simple scraps of paper, some recycled cardstock, colorful thread, some gluesticks- it doesn't take much to keep a group of mamas entertained for a couple of hours! i am blessed to be part of such fun, spontaneous gatherings that i can look forward to during my long days with the kids while john is away! now i just can't wait until august's gathering! xx

sunkissed

today
we are on a family mission
to find the wonder and joy
in the little things

we are going to a camp house
with friends
and the kids will swim
and hunt for bugs and fish
and the day will drag by
in the best way possible

we might take a little canoe trip
to a tiny island
and pick wild blueberries


summer days like this are the best

free

with friends

simple


when we all roll into bed sunkissed and tired. xx

every single day

every
single
day


is beautiful

sometimes you just have to try harder
to find the good stuff.

being in the moment

sometimes i stop during a busy day and wonder how on earth we got where we are. three kids later, ten years of marriage, settling into our second home. lately i've been spending much less time on the computer, and more time in nature----and more time drinking wine on my deck, battling massive mosquitoes. more time chasing after a two year old who is determined to pee and poop all over every inch of my new cream carpet. more time at the library gathering stacks of summer reading for the kids. more time cooking food for my family in my much-bigger-than-before kitchen. more time holding space for face-to-face meetings. watching a beautiful baby be born. being quiet with a friend in pain. creating art at my table with friends. sitting at my sewing machine and stitching up blankets for the little ones in my life. being a referee for sibling battles. going to bed early. just being in the moment.

what are you doing more of? xx

nothing lasts forever

life is so short
so sweet
and sometimes so not-so-sweet

all we can do
is live
the best that we can
and make every day count

because
it doesn't last forever
it can all be gone
today
now
forever

so go tell the people
you love

hey, i love you

and go tell the people that drive you crazy

hey, you drive me crazy, but i love you anyway

and make today
count.

keeping busy by doing a whole lot of nothing

reporting from our transition time to say that we are all happy and well! we're scheduled to move into our new home this coming monday, which leaves us four more sleeps! in the meantime, we've all been busy with regular life stuff---graduations, homework, soccer practices, hanging with friends, the usual. here are some snapshots of what's been keeping us busy...

lots of hanging around on the tire swings...

lots of hanging out by the bonfire...

some snuggling with new babies...
some hanging with my girl and celebrating her eighth birthday...

and of course, saying goodbye to our old house!...

goals for the weekend

1. get outside in the s.u.n.
2. stay positive
3. celebrate my biggest girl's eighth birthday!
4. eat some good food
5. hang out with some old friends and snuggle some of their babies
6. pack up our PODS that are being delivered this afternoon
7. listen to bob marley
8. sweep up mouse poop in the basement
9. purge and give away lots of our stuff on the curb
10. pack up the basement
11. ignore everything else.

xx

how is this happening? no, really. how is it possible that this is happening?

SOMEONE'S growing up, and fast! and someone takes after his mama and likes to take self portraits. ;)

even though my camera is certainly, most definitely NOT a toy, when a small and very cute boy asks me sweetly if he can "go around the yard and take pictures of myself?", i say yes without any hesitation. and then, weeks later, when i upload these pictures to the computer and go through them, i sit there shaking my head, wondering HOW on earth my little boy is growing up so fast. he has this hysterical "magnum" model look in most of his pictures that make him look so o.l.d.

i am the luckiest that i got blessed with this boy----so sweet, so simple, so dedicated to capturing a moment in time.

blessed mother

i am so blessed
to be the mother
of three beautiful, healthy children
who are my guides
and teachers
now and always.



happy mother's day! xx

into the woods

the kids love to make "potions", just like good little witches. they take buckets and fill them with things from nature. they spend hours mixing and preparing (and then inevitably lulu comes along and dumps them and lots of crying and screaming ensues). even though we live on a pretty quiet street and have our own little fenced in yard now, i'm really looking forward to moving to the woods on new hampshire (fingers crossed!) and having our backyard have lots of woods to explore. i can't wait to see what kinds of potions we can all cook up while nestled among the trees!

saying goodbye

we are in the process
of saying goodbye
to our sweet home
that has served us well
for over seven years.
we love it
our guests love it
we have made babies and raised babies in it
there have been parties
and tears
and dance offs
there was a garden
filled with vegetables
and a woodchuck
who liked to eat them
there are some wonderful neighbors
who watched out for me
when john was away
there were many meals
cooked
and shared
with friends and family
there have been many drinks shared
on the deck
and many baths
shared in the bathtub

we will be sad to leave
but happy to find a bigger space
for the five of us



(our house is under agreement--fingers crossed!) xx

new blog makeover

in honor of wearing the pink pants that someone left on my front lawn
in honor of having a baby in a cast
in honor of having a house full of sick kids and a fridge full on antibiotics
in honor of sanity and insanity
in honor of art nights in barns
in honor of cutting off eight inches of my hair and coloring it red
in honor of YOU...

i did a little blog makeover.

life is crazy, life is my teacher, and i'm constantly learning. peace out! xx

the good stuff exists even though i'm failing at being a good person lately

life has been crazy busy between hanging out with people i love, eating good food, managing sick and/or misbehaving kids, and you know, SELLING OUR HOUSE. i'm quickly realizing that i don't do well with change and upsetting the cart---but i'm trying to be better. it's hard. i've been anxious and mamamc.snappypants. and i'm not proud of that. but there have been sweet moments that i cherish more than anything--

* heart-shaped pieces of bark

* going for our first picnic of the season yesterday, laying on our blanket in the warm sun, eating clementines and fruit leather

* chinese food takeout and watching a movie and drinking wine

* having a clean house

* buying more "little critter" books with joey to expand our existing collection---but he calls them "the little hairy guy books" which makes me want to buy him every single one ever written. reading them in his bottom bunk before bed.

* watching food network shows with grace

* friendly neighbors

* doing two hot stone massages yesterday on nice people

* olivia's organics salad mix

* laying on lulu's bedroom floor reading with the kids tonight

* driving around researching new towns. tonight we explored a new town in a different state! (sounds dramatic but it's only like 10 minutes up the road in NH)

* being so excited to get into bed tonight. trying to wait until 7:30p but i'm not sure i can make it!

kisses to everyone! xx

new england love

only
in
new
england
do people
go hiking
in the snow and mud
with three wild children
while wearing flip flops.


xx

good thing roundup

*this little seven year old girlie that has just become obsessed with reading. up until recently, she's been all about the obtaining of books and not so much about the actual reading of books. but thanks to the geronimo stilton series, she's now a reading maniac and it makes me want to let her stay up past her bedtime (6:30p still, i know! gasp!) and read with me.

** homemade chakra flags hanging all around.

** it's still been cold enough here to have coffee dates in front of the fire with my silly guy. and speaking of joey, he's been feeling MUCH BETTER lately. so i'm hoping that all the testing and going back and forth to children's hospital will be ending soon...(if i've been m.i.a., this is partially why.) do we know what the heck was wrong with him (vomiting and diarrhea for two months!)---no. but i'm just happy it's gone for the time being.

** little superheros in tutus who believe they can conquer the world. and who really, truly believe that they are rainbow brite. she calls herself "lulu ruby rainbow" which comes out like "you-you oo-bee ain-bow". love. (cape and tutu courtesy of auntie stephie---thank you!)

** fancy little bundles that come in the mail, filled with chocolate and healing herbs. love.


so same old same old----life is good, life is busy, life is crazy, life is hard, life is beautiful. all the good things rolled up into one chaotic life. what's shaking in your world? xx