Knock Knock…is anyone there?

Hello! I am here, my boys are growing like weeds and constantly hungry, I am still open to learning and understanding how to enjoy all the hats I wear in a day.

I was looking at my camera the other day and realized I haven’t taken a picture of practically anything in about a month. Wow.

Seriously, what is up with that? I usually take many photographs in a day, there is so much going on around me and so much I enjoy, I always want to photograph it. Well, I guess my creative, exploring and capturing the world around me hat is taking a rest, lost for now under a pile of other heavier hats.

I can understand why, we are selling our home, buying a new one, and if anyone is in the process or has recently done this (its like childbirth the discomfort fades with time) you get it. My brain is fully consumed with figures, deadlines, what if’s.., I am jumping through hoops one minute and celebrating us being one step closer to our new home the next. In all, the process has been okay. But, it has definitely stifled my creative spirit and thrown a thin yet noticeable cloud of anxiety over me.

Once all the figures get sorted out, the banks stop requesting more personal information, we start packing (nope haven’t started yet),moving and then unloading all those carefully packed boxes, I know this is all going to turn out beautifully. But, I am still in the middle of it, checking my e-mail on the hour, making phone calls, dreaming of paint colors and wanting my boys rooms especially, to feel like home when we move in so, in my mind, this transition will be easier on them.

So, yes, I have a lot on my mind and I hope my creative hat finds its way out of the pile soon! I love how it feels to wear it.

Weekly Photo Challenge:Up

“Mama, watch me climb so high!”

My youngest son C decided this past weekend as our family hiked through Painted Canyon near Indio, CA, he was ready to climb this rock face. Of course, I knew he couldn’t get too high since the rock was so smooth and being three, he isn’t versed in crack climbing quite yet. So, I cheered him on.

I couldn’t get over how tiny his body was up against this canyon wall. I tried but I couldn’t get my son, the canyon wall and the sky all in one shot, the canyon wall was that massive. I watched my son stretch his head back as far as he could manage and not topple over off-balance looking up at his challenge in front of him. He gave it a valiant effort.

This post is part of the Weekly Photo Challenge put together by WordPress. You can find more posts on fellow bloggers interpretations of “Up” HERE .

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

Our apple tree soaking up the sun.

Beautiful shades of Ivy.

I love green against any other color too.

A bee decided to stop by when I was taking photos.

The first apricot from this tree EVER.

Some of our lovely succulents.

Carrot tops in our garden

I am in love with the shape of the Ginkgo leaf!

First leaves on our new Ginkgo tree.

I am sure it isn’t difficult to predict what my favorite color is…GREEN.

Sad, Happy, Angry…Please circle.

The overall grind of the week caught up with my 5-year-old son recently. It was time for bath. Most evenings this isn’t a fight. L will easily and happily move through the bath transition. Tonight, L was growling, snarling, and overall just offering clues for anyone around him to GO AWAY, he wasn’t interested in communicating or taking a bath. So, my husband and C went into the bathroom and closed the door. This totally set off L. He never likes a door closed, ever. I completely understand why my husband shut the door, our 3-year-old was ready to take a bath and listening to L wailing and carrying on echoing through the bathroom is not enjoyable at all. L was out of control and my husband knew I was in the room with L, it was okay for L to get upset.

Weekly Photo Challenge: A Day in My Life

Drawing time with L

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed

My school teacher explaining the task.

Left my wallet at home, second attempt to go bowling.

Little feet in bowling shoes.

C admiring his effort.

Enjoying the breeze.

Pizza night.

The suggestion for this challenge was to take a photograph and hour depicting a day in my life. Here are a few snippets from my day on Friday March 29th, 2013. There are many bloggers participating in this challenge, you can find more entries HERE.

Remind ME Series– Take Note

Hello depleted self,
Please remember to take care of you when I call out. Please remember when your voice is short, songs bring you to tears, your boys make you want to run…I am calling you out. Reminding you to breathe, sleep, eat well, pull close and take care of YOU. No one can do this for you, not anymore. You are responsible and capable of bringing your whole self together in love. Hear me calling, I am offering a clue that I am here, needing you to remember me, to take care of me, to love me as deeply and carefully as you love your boys. Thank you for listening.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Lost in the Details

I was sitting at an intersection this morning waiting for the light to turn green. I was on my way home from morning errands, my youngest son was with a babysitter ( a huge luxury for me) and my older son was at Kindergarten. Just before the light turned green I realized how much I needed a walk in a beautiful natural setting. I switched lanes, turned left and directly into our local arboretum to take a 20 minute walk among the freshly blooming spring flowers and shaded trails.

Mylonite Giveaway

“Forest in the Fall”

We all love GIVEAWAYS right?

Well, I have never offered one on my blog but I feel like the time is right. So, here it is…

This is a “Your Choice” Giveaway offered by me via my new shop Mylonite.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Forward

What does “Forward” mean to me? This is the question posed in the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, here is my take.

Well, I immediately think of forward motion and my boys are always in forward motion. C is 11 months old in this photograph (now 3.5 yrs). He started walking a couple of weeks before I took this picture. His face says it all, he is completely determined to stay upright, carry a bucket like his brother is and keep up with everything going on around him, especially his brother. He works hard everyday to keep up, move himself forward, learn everything he can. He is so quick to learn a new skill, he just started skipping yesterday and skips everywhere now with a brilliant kick of his leg and an even bounce from one leg to the next. I am never in doubt if life is moving forward anymore. I have two reminders of how much happens in a day and how each new experience moves me forward in this great life.

The Only One Awake.

My youngest son is a troubled night-time sleeper. He wakes with night terrors, nightmares, can’t stand it if his nose is even the littlest bit stuffy, yells out in his sleep. I don’t think there have been two nights strung together in the almost 3.5 years he has been on this Earth where he has slept through the night.