tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96344522024-03-15T18:09:17.364-07:00our little corner of the worldWE ARE TWIN SISTERS who are IDENTICAL in some areas and SO DIFFERENT in others. we enjoy blogging about being mommies and about the things we love: music, books, art, design, crafts...johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.comBlogger272125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-80067280761883268092013-03-12T15:50:00.000-07:002013-03-12T15:50:05.591-07:00henry's birth story, part two. birthing time.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACbXpymsYkw355wFj6TLD5fLLfAPpWMdqJkSgSJkP8eKSqHb3wTDtbAbehBiq2Cf6iAj8umemSe_pVN6F6AmvSZrRrNLq49hG22xrRD7Ll4Zp4w2JvEeNB4w_TAOaRxt9lJBj/s1600/IMG_0294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACbXpymsYkw355wFj6TLD5fLLfAPpWMdqJkSgSJkP8eKSqHb3wTDtbAbehBiq2Cf6iAj8umemSe_pVN6F6AmvSZrRrNLq49hG22xrRD7Ll4Zp4w2JvEeNB4w_TAOaRxt9lJBj/s320/IMG_0294.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">* <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">i spent a lot of time after henry's birth beating myself up because it didn't happen exactly the way i wanted it to. in hypnobabies we are taught to create the kind of birth experience we want to have, and i believe that is possible--to a certain extent. but i put a lot of pressure on myself to do it perfectly and exactly the way i had planned and envisioned for so long. when that didn't happen, i'll admit, i thought i was a failure. i was bitterly disappointed. i think that's why it's taken me almost a full year to finish this birth story. i started writing it the day i got home from the hospital, so the day after henry was born. now, looking back a full year later, i'm proud of myself. i worked hard to bring my baby into the world, and in the end, i accomplished what i wanted to. i felt every feeling that i hadn't felt in my prior birth experiences. i knew when it was time to push, and i felt him arrive in this world (sorry if that's tmi.) i was calm and collected (almost) the entire time. i brought my baby into the world myself, with some wonderful assistance from a blessing of a doctor and some amazing nurses. my goal in attempting to give birth naturally was to prove to myself that my body, as out of shape and imperfect and messed up as it was (and is,) could do amazing things. that i could trust my body. that my body was a miracle. and i did prove that to myself, i did.*</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">march 12th ( a week after my due date) arrived and at 7am i went to the hospital to be induced. the nurse told me that my doctor had asked for no pitocin to be given at first (thank you doctor!!), that he was coming to break my water. so when he showed up at around 8:40 my water was broken (really uncomfortably, that might've been the worst part of the whole thing!)and at first it only came out in a trickle. but then more and more of it came out and when i went to the bathroom i noticed some blood. i had to be hooked up to the monitor for 20 minutes to make sure the baby was ok.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">my contractions started to feel real, and hard, so after the monitoring was over i asked if i could get in the tub. i LOVED the tub. i spent most of my labor in there, with the lights off, listening to hypnobabies and keeping my "light switch" (light switch is a hypnobabies thing, if anyone's interested in hearing more about that, let me know in the comments) in either the off or center positions. one time i got out of the tub to go to the bathroom and i noticed my contractions felt a lot harder and closer together. then i got back in the tub and listened to hypnobabies and they felt manageable and more comfortable. with the lights off and the warm water all around me and the relaxing hypnobabies playing, i almost felt like i could fall asleep at times. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">i wish i could've stayed in that tub the whole time, but the nurse, tammy, who was awesome by the way, told me that i needed to get out of the tub so they could check how far i had progressed. i was hoping for a 9 but thinking it was probably more like 5 or 6 (i had been a 3 or 4 at the beginning of this process.) when they checked me they said i was a 7. but they also needed to do 20 more minutes of fetal monitoring, and when they did that they saw the baby's heart rate dip a lot during contractions. so they had to keep me in bed and on the monitors. this made listening to hypnobabies more difficult but i put it on the headphones and had one more wire to untangle and move out of the way. the nurse kept checking me over and over. she said, "normally i can tell just by looking at someone's face how far along they are but i can't tell at all with you!" hypnobabies was keeping me really calm. pretty soon i was to a 9 and everyone kept telling me how good i was doing. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">but it was getting harder and harder to stay focused. they had put an oxygen mask on me that kept slipping down my face, and i wasn't staying in hypnosis because of that and all the wires were bothering me and every time i had a contraction, instead of listening to my hypnobabies i started listening to the fetal monitor, trying to hear the baby's heart beat. which i couldn't, because the oxygen was so loud. and the hypnobabies had to play louder because of that. i started to lose focus, and i started feeling a lot of pain with the contractions. they checked me a couple more times and i kept being a 9. i started to get frustrated. every time a contraction came i felt panicked, like i was losing it. i felt such a strong urge to get up and move around, like every fiber of my being was telling me to get up, but i couldn't. now i know i was in transition, but then i just thought i was going to be stuck at a 9 forever. i stopped listening to the hypnobabies because i couldn't hear it and i wasn't staying in hypnosis because of all the distractions. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">at this point the contractions were coming very quickly and even when they weren't coming i felt like i was losing my cool. so i asked for an epidural.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">as soon as the epidural guy got there (the same guy that had given me an epidural with charlie,)they got me on my side and he started to work. but i could feel the baby coming! i thought he was going to have to stop giving me the epidural because i could really feel that pressure that everyone says means it's time to push. i was saying, "he's coming right now! he's coming!" and the doctor and the nurse were like, it's o.k, honey, it's o.k., but i was sure that he was just going to slip right out while they were in the process of giving me the epidural. as soon as the epi guy was done i started pushing. pushed through 3 contractions and he was out. he was out and he was on my chest. he was here and he was perfect. his first act in this world was to pee on the nurse and start screaming. but they had to take him away very quickly to clean out his lungs and make sure he was breathing ok because there had been meconium in my amniotic fluid. (which basically means that he might've inhaled some of that nasty stuff.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">anyway, long story incredibly long, his lungs turned out ok after some great work from the nurses and some time on oxygen in the nursery.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">and looking back, i could've done without the epidural if i had known he would've been born about 10 minutes after they gave it to me! :)</span></div>
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johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-69451364620662047872012-08-13T14:14:00.000-07:002012-08-13T14:14:37.542-07:00henry's birth story, part one: plans and expectations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>37 weeks along.</i></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">i've always been interested in natural childbirth. with my first pregnancy i considered it a very real option until i arrived at the hospital, panicked and nervous, and the nurse said, "you're already dilated to a 5, do you want an epidural?" and i thought about the pain i was in, and how it was goin</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">g to get so much worse, and i said, "YES! give it to me now!"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">i had an awful experience with that epidural and with that whole birth. so when i was pregnant the second time, i thought, "this time i'm going to do it naturally! la-de-dah! no way it could be worse than last time!" but then i was induced. and i had my water broken and then pitocin, and the contractions were like a wall of pain that i kept hitting relentlessly and intensely, without relief. they were so much worse than i remembered. i tried to listen to music. i tried to think of a happy place. and then i asked for an epidural again.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">my second baby's birth was so much better. it went faster, it was easier, and the epidural actually worked. but i still felt like something was missing. i wanted to give birth naturally.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">let me pause here to say that i don't know why i felt so strongly about this. i didn't know if i would ever get pregnant again, but i knew that if i did i wanted to really give a solid effort to natural childbirth. i didn't think and have never thought for one second that giving birth naturally is "better" or that women who do it are stronger than those who choose the epidural route. i just knew that, for me, i wanted to have that experience. i wanted to feel ALL the feelings of childbirth. i wanted to feel like i was somewhat in control of the situation, instead of just having things happen TO me. previously i had felt like the doctors and nurses had told me what to do, moved me into position, and kind of pulled the baby out of me. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">this time i wanted to do it on my own as much as possible. i wanted to prove to myself that i was capable of something miraculous and difficult. i wanted to let my body dictate what happened instead of having the medical professionals (as wonderful as they are) tell me what to do and when to do it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">i found a great doctor, i talked to him about natural childbirth, he was supportive, and then i set to work researching natural childbirth methods. i knew that if i just went in like i had before, thinking, "i'm just not going to ask for an epidural" that i would give in way too easily. i knew i had to be really prepared this time. and then i found <a href="http://hypnobabies.com/">hypnobabies</a>. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">**part two coming soon!**</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-73245496652880894962011-09-25T20:40:00.000-07:002011-09-25T20:41:26.669-07:00merry Christmas in September<div class="sflyProductPreviewWidget" style="width:425px; height:494px;"><div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetTop" style="height:6px; background-image:url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/top.gif);"></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetCenter" style="height:482px; padding: 0 6px 0 6px; background-image:url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/bg.gif); background-repeat:repeat-y;"><div class="sflyProductPreviewLogo" style="width: 105px; height: 34px; padding: 14px 0 0 14px;"><img src="http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/logo.gif" style="padding: 0; background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none;" /></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewContainer" style="height:350px; text-align:center; padding: 0;"><a href="http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZNmrdq4cuWTjo&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET&eid=118"><img src="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/prs/v1/0AZNmrdq4cuWVg/0AZNmrdq4cuWVuLA/p/67b0de21b3127d902548/JPEG/1317008401000/0/" style="padding: 0; background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none;" /></a></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewMessageContainer" style="height:55px; background-color:#f4f4e9; text-align:center; padding: 15px 0 15px 0; line-height: 19px;"><div class="sflyProductPreviewTitle" style="font-family: arial, sans-seris; font-size: 15px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span>5x7 Folded Card</span></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewViewCollection" style="font-family: arial, sans-seris; font-size: 13px; color: #333333;"><span>View the entire <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery" style="color: #6666cc;">collection</a> of cards.</span></div></div></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetBottom" style="height:6px; background-image:url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/bottom.gif);"></div></div>traveltwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16294976736122134631noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-82630964509357254522011-06-27T00:19:00.007-07:002011-06-30T09:24:15.242-07:00down by the river<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRSCSQN-NIei7QT2UJQjGi4Mm7c9BL1o1o7onpEerTfwKlPvMHM1ISShPq_V5str_FgDTDdL2Oiqt4TpYHd9xCjVTgRvp2ZnJODvasvTnLTJFD2Bpd4EI-6hdSi_kYEKND5mPX/s1600/greenbelt4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRSCSQN-NIei7QT2UJQjGi4Mm7c9BL1o1o7onpEerTfwKlPvMHM1ISShPq_V5str_FgDTDdL2Oiqt4TpYHd9xCjVTgRvp2ZnJODvasvTnLTJFD2Bpd4EI-6hdSi_kYEKND5mPX/s400/greenbelt4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624049131561923762" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_PpTkhwzB6BN6NoXvWoRm4ECJ5FEvMiMHruoQ_6FmLbn7Dw-n0LkvCQeBrRu6Xh710SVHMuB1w-GXp0Rxxp927xFAFtlAhqrKIWah3RBKp8MqHt2bXPe59GSCuALqqwXsvY8/s1600/greenbelt3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_PpTkhwzB6BN6NoXvWoRm4ECJ5FEvMiMHruoQ_6FmLbn7Dw-n0LkvCQeBrRu6Xh710SVHMuB1w-GXp0Rxxp927xFAFtlAhqrKIWah3RBKp8MqHt2bXPe59GSCuALqqwXsvY8/s400/greenbelt3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624049129728005026" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFBlu1yTRm0YbDBxOyiHBbvUExWK7cG7K_uimgUeqApGj6-ZBNRKmpVpmtsmTZAvPmrOg3G7ulxZ1AwKXHGAexDScm-fRz03J5AaqQba_aShu7YlWCC7rdIvWvqvBZWPcU6qg/s1600/greenbelt2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFBlu1yTRm0YbDBxOyiHBbvUExWK7cG7K_uimgUeqApGj6-ZBNRKmpVpmtsmTZAvPmrOg3G7ulxZ1AwKXHGAexDScm-fRz03J5AaqQba_aShu7YlWCC7rdIvWvqvBZWPcU6qg/s400/greenbelt2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624049130303073410" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGm-1FbQOnOxEdscrQUwrmEtmFvZ-3QW2wtWWN3zV6f0M2j1NmzNfuavmgwyK8xdYX9wUZ3CN15I2mp_52oAzA2rqgo-svGYWjj792P9fYUIGnX9uoS1PJdx00tR7WHc9nviN/s1600/greenbelt1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGm-1FbQOnOxEdscrQUwrmEtmFvZ-3QW2wtWWN3zV6f0M2j1NmzNfuavmgwyK8xdYX9wUZ3CN15I2mp_52oAzA2rqgo-svGYWjj792P9fYUIGnX9uoS1PJdx00tR7WHc9nviN/s400/greenbelt1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624049124792513970" /></a><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">some "practice" pictures i took while we were at the greenbelt today. i hope you'll bear with me while i'm trying to improve and i'm inundating this blog with photos. now, if we could just get charlie to smile without scrunching up his entire face! </span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-37177670680517449832011-06-12T19:27:00.003-07:002011-06-12T19:32:15.792-07:00priceless conversations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWx_ORh3GMDLmCEFKZXzkc0K2CCtkhnlDoHveCQF_78rWeYYrm5o__4fWkkWn8xYrf_tIxMViRla1FjZjJElizB24O9MPZIE4tmY1JnBsvBpEi0CZad0gi2hHGTOyRvnrxd9r-w/s1600/DSC00153.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWx_ORh3GMDLmCEFKZXzkc0K2CCtkhnlDoHveCQF_78rWeYYrm5o__4fWkkWn8xYrf_tIxMViRla1FjZjJElizB24O9MPZIE4tmY1JnBsvBpEi0CZad0gi2hHGTOyRvnrxd9r-w/s320/DSC00153.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617526520614014738" border="0" /></a><br />On Friday J. was having a hard time treating his sister nicely. He decided to pray and ask for the Holy Ghost to help him be nice. After he prayed he went to talk to his sister.<br /><br />J: S! Guess what! I got the Holy Ghost!<br />S: Where?<br />J: In my heart!traveltwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16294976736122134631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-48628429180182037762011-06-10T22:55:00.005-07:002011-06-10T23:09:41.777-07:00wabi sabi photography<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10090836@N05/5820385866/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/5820385866_2a16c3d366.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /><span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10090836@N05/5820385866/">wabi sabi</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10090836@N05/">jowrites365</a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"> i've been thinking a lot about photography lately, and why i'm drawn to it, and what kind of pictures i want to take.<br />at millie's ballet dress rehearsal i worked really hard to get some decent pictures of her dancing on stage. i turned off the flash and cranked up the iso (because the pop-up flash on cameras can be so icky.) after her part of the rehearsal was over, she and her classmates leaned against the wall of the orchestra pit, watching the older girls with a little bit of awe. i saw millie standing there with her legs crossed, and i saw her more petite classmate standing on her tippy toes, trying to see over the partition, and it looked so sweet, like one of those moments you can not plan but they mean so much when they come around, y'know? so i pulled my camera out and quickly took off the lens cap, and not wanting to miss the moment or mess it up, i switched the setting from manual to auto, and i pressed the shutter release, and the flash popped up, and this is the picture that resulted.<br />i can see why a lot of people wouldn't like this picture. there are no smiling faces in it, it isn't very well composed, i had to use a flash to take it, the list goes on and on. but i LOVE this picture because it says so much about the moment in which it was taken.<br />and now we come to wabi sabi photography. i was reading <a href="http://sugarcityjournal.blogspot.com/2011/06/wabi-sabi.html">this post</a> (i love that blog!), and when she mentioned "imperfect beauty" i thought, "THAT'S IT!" that's what i love but i never had a term for it. imperfect beauty. that's what wabi sabi is, the japanese concept of beauty that focuses on the imperfect, the unfinished, the asymmetrical. those are the kinds of photographs i like.<br />and i decided right then and there, if i ever start a photography business, it'll be called wabi sabi photography.<br />the end, thank you for reading my rant.</span></p><p class="flickr-yourcomment"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">p.s. this concept goes along so well with the lyrics from one of my favorite songs, by leonard cohen, that i've shared here and on facebook so many times before. but it bears repeating:</span></p><p class="flickr-yourcomment"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.</span></p>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-63669188979110822512011-06-06T12:19:00.003-07:002011-06-06T23:09:47.523-07:00the dance<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjIu0wFbZIFVn3PTCOhgCa6CAQYYIWiD0vkidHuNkUZiSdOFeUuRy1SEGydPyL_PD4s6zdd235OFXEvdd0WzbpZlM6Xs1HyTJMQ_5Fg3DXeFHobAp_ujpJydrczTjwqxLF74b/s1600/IMG_3268.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjIu0wFbZIFVn3PTCOhgCa6CAQYYIWiD0vkidHuNkUZiSdOFeUuRy1SEGydPyL_PD4s6zdd235OFXEvdd0WzbpZlM6Xs1HyTJMQ_5Fg3DXeFHobAp_ujpJydrczTjwqxLF74b/s400/IMG_3268.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615196355305607522" /></a><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjIu0wFbZIFVn3PTCOhgCa6CAQYYIWiD0vkidHuNkUZiSdOFeUuRy1SEGydPyL_PD4s6zdd235OFXEvdd0WzbpZlM6Xs1HyTJMQ_5Fg3DXeFHobAp_ujpJydrczTjwqxLF74b/s1600/IMG_3268.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>millie on stage<br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><i>(my pictures never look right on blogger. does anyone know how to fix this?)</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">sometimes, when i forget how lucky i am to be a mom, i feel like motherhood is a series of breaking up arguments, soothing away tears, diffusing tense situations, and disciplining when things have gotten out of hand. sometimes it seems as though there aren't a lot of heart-swelling-with-joy moments, even though i know there are. i got to have one of those moments on saturday.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">millie has been taking ballet for the last year, and saturday was her first performance. when i first talked to her about performing, back when she started to take ballet, she said she didn't want to. she said she wanted to take classes but she didn't want to get up in front of people on stage. i signed her up for class anyway, thinking she would be fine with it as time went on and she became more confident.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">for two weeks before the performance, millie was telling me how nervous she was and that it was giving her a stomachache. i was worried that she would put up a fight and that it might come down to me saying, "you have to do this." but she kept going to practice, and rehearsal, and dress rehearsal, and she kept telling me how nervous she was, but she kept going. on saturday we were at the auditorium for three hours before the performance even started. i took lots of pictures and video of the run-through and i talked to millie before she went backstage. she seemed excited and not nervous at all.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">when her part of the performance started i had planned on taking a lot of pictures, but i decided to put my camera down. i just stared at her like i was witnessing a miracle. anyone who knows my millie knows that she is usually very quiet, even shy. but on stage her smile was bursting from her face and she performed like it was the most natural, easy thing on earth. i found myself getting all teary at the sight of her, soaring on that stage, doing something that she thought would be too hard for her to do.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">is there any prouder moment for a parent than being witness to your child excelling at something they were afraid of? there might be, but right now i can't think of any. :)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-11150495192861005422011-05-31T10:45:00.004-07:002011-06-03T08:36:23.863-07:00oh what do you do in the summertime? seriously.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJOGX8KBpFyuF4zVn15rejLq3Ra2tyvhd7LUJOqVMBKdHmq5KozsX812XBStO2Eqk7HMpXEByGHCoFjhD9iiQj9ZryzuAlG8ecdMJ8jHXj2uZTJxv1CZEB_t6HKJ5zuM77YEc/s1600/DSC_2418.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJOGX8KBpFyuF4zVn15rejLq3Ra2tyvhd7LUJOqVMBKdHmq5KozsX812XBStO2Eqk7HMpXEByGHCoFjhD9iiQj9ZryzuAlG8ecdMJ8jHXj2uZTJxv1CZEB_t6HKJ5zuM77YEc/s400/DSC_2418.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612939547242244130" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBa7f9vQncCHPFtHe5fjSbzJJRCK4IlMFkrX1h9O4gJTqSFUioIdqHLdJsCQds4VFFrdwpj0Jz49mHCi4zxjw2n5TejU55dWkVS5WCXXQ-HX-cKp_yPEuMJB6zrAXlAJV7P1M4/s1600/DSC_2391.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBa7f9vQncCHPFtHe5fjSbzJJRCK4IlMFkrX1h9O4gJTqSFUioIdqHLdJsCQds4VFFrdwpj0Jz49mHCi4zxjw2n5TejU55dWkVS5WCXXQ-HX-cKp_yPEuMJB6zrAXlAJV7P1M4/s400/DSC_2391.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612939537081642002" /></a><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBa7f9vQncCHPFtHe5fjSbzJJRCK4IlMFkrX1h9O4gJTqSFUioIdqHLdJsCQds4VFFrdwpj0Jz49mHCi4zxjw2n5TejU55dWkVS5WCXXQ-HX-cKp_yPEuMJB6zrAXlAJV7P1M4/s1600/DSC_2391.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>a couple of summers ago.</i><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br />no. really. what do you do in the summertime? when all your kids are out of school? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">don't get me wrong. i love my kids. so much. and i love the summer. but sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming to try and think of ways to keep them entertained for hours on end.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">i was making my own list when i saw <a href="http://sugarcityjournal.blogspot.com/2011/05/minding-unruly-summer-vacation.html">this great post</a> on s<a href="http://sugarcityjournal.blogspot.com/">ugar city journal</a> with a lot of great tips. check it out if you want. i put up my idea in the comment section, if you're interested!<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-89125792170342375712011-05-16T11:04:00.002-07:002011-05-16T11:06:41.458-07:00nine years later<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10090836@N05/5726848323/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/5726848323_46355bf8f3.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10090836@N05/5726848323/">IMG_2895</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10090836@N05/">jowrites365</a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"> this is my husband, standing a few feet from the spot where he proposed to me nine years and a few months ago. on this day nine years ago we got married. about this time we would've been taking pictures, deliriously happy and smiling so much that our faces hurt. it was a good day. and we've had so many good and bad ones since.<br />but honey, i'm so glad that i picked you to spend them with.</span></p>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-82233231716927107432011-05-11T14:14:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:36:40.100-07:00hiatus OVER<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY6h8fWdVBoje-hi9lifRKycDrEsKBOybbOLXko6ved_-iC8R0uyBFvo9ZFSojVf9YPiOnWkqqa8rLzgMbRt3gNPAONpq3-rQt4k2rG153h80aCXYAwqbYzcPv8PCPQ4RgC26w/s1600/IMG_2645.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY6h8fWdVBoje-hi9lifRKycDrEsKBOybbOLXko6ved_-iC8R0uyBFvo9ZFSojVf9YPiOnWkqqa8rLzgMbRt3gNPAONpq3-rQt4k2rG153h80aCXYAwqbYzcPv8PCPQ4RgC26w/s320/IMG_2645.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605573285947477650" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBY2SsfwzmGJgX5hyphenhyphen_81yQ1JgcuCvPz22i460GZJMNOaZBi55_x4AhuRDISxwcnm404iveiiQ6Gygp9FUMxOsLA88f_oKtW0Er6I8vpuqPJSEe4XRxadbbMW54ySK9QPBznxA/s1600/IMG_2646.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBY2SsfwzmGJgX5hyphenhyphen_81yQ1JgcuCvPz22i460GZJMNOaZBi55_x4AhuRDISxwcnm404iveiiQ6Gygp9FUMxOsLA88f_oKtW0Er6I8vpuqPJSEe4XRxadbbMW54ySK9QPBznxA/s320/IMG_2646.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605573279875130322" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">so i haven't been doing any blogging lately, or any checking on anyone else's blog (for which i apologize for being a bad blog friend.)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">i thought i was done with rough patches. but what i've come to learn and accept is that the rough patches are never over, and that's o.k. when they come i just have to slow down my personal growth for a while, like a tree in a drought. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">but i want to get back to blogging! i've missed it! and i just got a new camera and i'm just testing it out and trying to figure out all the manual settings, but that will be good incentive to start blogging a lot more and putting more pictures up.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">if anyone is interested in buying my old camera from me at a drastically reduced price <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-Zoom-Nikkor/dp/B000KJQ1DG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305149616&sr=8-1">it's this one right here</a>. i also have a nikkor AF 50 mm f/1.8 lens that takes great portraits. the nikon d40 is a great beginner dslr, and i learned a lot with it. let me know if you're interested! </span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-11794592599394975142011-04-07T19:34:00.002-07:002011-04-07T19:39:37.094-07:00j. tonight<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPCaMKKuatRNbweezTkYAkEYViSle1h97aUb1D931KoyDtj0C-FhugA-MTbOIpJBfLo7SFwSJjQ9CCycEWIQT81cCRSocVZYkweU-7-F2c8GmXkKDJbds4Ke1FEubycf2t4osxw/s1600/DSC00054.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPCaMKKuatRNbweezTkYAkEYViSle1h97aUb1D931KoyDtj0C-FhugA-MTbOIpJBfLo7SFwSJjQ9CCycEWIQT81cCRSocVZYkweU-7-F2c8GmXkKDJbds4Ke1FEubycf2t4osxw/s320/DSC00054.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593036794493007938" border="0" /></a><br />tonight j. ran down the hallway and crashed into his sister. when i was putting him in bed i told him that he could pray to Heavenly Father for forgiveness, and that He can forgive our mistakes. he told me he would say his prayer after i left the room. this is what i overheard:<br /><br />"Heavenly Father, please forgive me for hurting my little sister. i'll say sorry in the morning. please bless me. in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."traveltwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16294976736122134631noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-50182254588042782412011-02-14T10:22:00.001-07:002011-02-14T10:27:23.374-07:00lovely love quotes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySw5gy7vYnPA40rLx7UGSZFJa5yjAl4YaFqplKbj2BHkephzKEwZBqJBl_97vJKtGyr3OAAvbpg1rm5uOTiNMJA1v3cVOPdorDuCiVn3yGwA0Ji589LIa8HWxQDz29wKLogzi/s1600-h/DSC_0172.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySw5gy7vYnPA40rLx7UGSZFJa5yjAl4YaFqplKbj2BHkephzKEwZBqJBl_97vJKtGyr3OAAvbpg1rm5uOTiNMJA1v3cVOPdorDuCiVn3yGwA0Ji589LIa8HWxQDz29wKLogzi/s400/DSC_0172.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436728638836236498" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">on valentine's day, i find myself thinking about love, about what it means to love people and especially what it means to me to love my husband. here are some quotes that i find resonate with me more than any others. and happy valentine's day.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family:georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:14px;">"To <b style="background-color: rgb(230, 239, 248); ">love</b> is not a passive thing. To <b style="background-color: rgb(230, 239, 248); ">love</b> is active voice. When I <b style="background-color: rgb(230, 239, 248); ">love</b> I do something, I function, I give. I do not <b style="background-color: rgb(230, 239, 248); ">love</b> in order that I may be <b style="background-color: rgb(230, 239, 248); ">love</b>d back again, but for the creative joy of loving. And every time I do so <b style="background-color: rgb(230, 239, 248); ">love</b> I am freed, at least a little, by the outgoing of <b style="background-color: rgb(230, 239, 248); ">love</b>, from enslavement to that most intolerable of master, myself." <a href="http://www.quotes.net/quote/10644" class="xyz" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(119, 0, 0); font-size: 17px; ">ยป</a> Bernard Iddings Bell</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">"being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage." -lao tzu</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">"love is what you've been through with somebody." -james thurber</span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-30788686061953326492011-01-30T14:53:00.006-07:002011-01-30T15:58:38.658-07:00the csa: or in other words, how not picking out my own produce helped me plan meals faster than usual<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMkiP_KuyHnT8dBsFMT4DsyyxO8jhwPdcOQbsPTP0qoqtQoYnuCY8Qd4xVMzTuvE9Ap-k2fwTM2C9UeybH2XhF1nyVIKURhBag2dLFP__7uP8QVPwNS2ap5XeaOXs0WhcJl3gv/s1600/DSC_2612.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMkiP_KuyHnT8dBsFMT4DsyyxO8jhwPdcOQbsPTP0qoqtQoYnuCY8Qd4xVMzTuvE9Ap-k2fwTM2C9UeybH2XhF1nyVIKURhBag2dLFP__7uP8QVPwNS2ap5XeaOXs0WhcJl3gv/s400/DSC_2612.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568103700538776530" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"> </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">ok, so, joining a csa is one of those things i've been meaning to get around to for about a year now. and last tuesday i finally remembered to make my <a href="https://contributions8.bountifulbaskets.org/">bountiful baskets</a> order, and nate brought it home yesterday. what a thing of beauty. we chose to get an organic basket which was ten dollars more ($25) but still a great deal, and in our box we got:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">a bunch of spinach</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">a bag of carrots</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">some broccolini</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">a bag of yams</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">a bag of pink lady apples</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">some blueberries</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">a bag of celery</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">2 red peppers</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">some haricot vert (green beans)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">fennel</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">a really unripe spaghetti squash</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">grape tomatoes</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">at first i was like, "whoa. fennel." i've never cooked with fennel before. and i have to admit that i didn't recognize the spaghetti squash as a spaghetti squash until i saw the sticker on it. (i knew it was a squash, ok? i just didn't know what KIND of squash!) after looking at everything i started to feel kind of overwhelmed. but then i decided i paid 25 bucks for this stuff, hence, my goal for the next couple of weeks is to not let any of it go to waste. so i hit my recipe books and the internet and i came up with this menu for the week:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><b>monday</b>: fried rice (to use up leftover rice and ham) with <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chinese-celery-salad-mad-hungry">chinese celery salad</a>. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><b>tuesday</b>: tuesday is sometimes taco night around here (partially because it's fun to say, "TACO TUESDAY!" and partially because it was suggested in my new favorite cookbook, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Family-Dinner-Great-Ways-Connect/dp/0446565466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1296426184&sr=8-1">the family dinner</a>, which i must post about later.)so we'll have tacos with our leftover meat from last taco tuesday with some black beans or pinto beans mixed in.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><b>wednesday</b>: <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Rigatoni-with-Italian-Sausage-and-Fennel/Detail.aspx">baked rigatoni with italian sausage and fennel</a>, but instead of using the jarred marinara sauce the recipe calls for, i'm going to make a sauce by roasting the csa grape tomatoes using <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/roasted-grape-tomatoes-recipe/index.html">this</a> recipe. on the side: <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/sauteed-broccolini-recipe/index.html">sauteed broccolini</a>. (i'm so excited because in this one night we'll be using tons of our csa produce! all the fennel, one red pepper, all the grape tomatoes, and all the broccolini.)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><b>thursday</b>: breakfast for dinner, <a href="http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2009/04/best-ever-buttermilk-vancakes.html">buttermilk pancakes</a>, bacon, and green smoothies (using our csa spinach.)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><b>friday</b>: <a href="http://www.bhg.com/recipe/soups/ginger-carrot-soup/">ginger-carrot soup</a> with <a href="http://cafejohnsonia.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-parmesan-herb-pan-biscuits.html">parmesan-herb pan biscuits</a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><b>saturday</b>: invite in-laws, make <a href="http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2009/09/italian-style-meatloaf-muffins.html">italian-style meatloaf muffins</a>, <a href="http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2010/04/roasted-garlic-mashed-potatoes.html">roasted garlic mashed potatoes</a>, and <a href="http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2008/11/green-beans-with-bacon-and-crispy.html">green beans with bacon and crispy garlic butter</a>, which is a menu completely from <a href="http://rookie-cookierecipes.blogspot.com/">rookie-cookie's blog</a>, which i highly recommend (every recipe i've made of her's has turned out great--so maybe i'll make one of her dessert recipes and make it a rookie-cookie night!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><b>sunday</b>: sunday is nate's cooking day, hooray for a night off!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">wish me luck! although it's quite simple this is a pretty ambitious menu plan for me considering i haven't been feeling amazing lately. but family dinner and making good quality food for my family is one of my highest priorities lately...maybe i'll tell why in a future post.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">what are you making for dinner this week?</span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-27144291907698724512010-12-20T11:57:00.004-07:002010-12-20T12:12:53.509-07:00i can't believe...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiK0Qcvp4XBSL0itmr25GLZggRg326ekJkLSzlq0deh25AyDgxrjFe_MoGDrvvoYvVP-aSdLwExYCylK1NDmS9I_d9aacQcVHryyZP-LIJCKDzPRiaSero_O5ufqXWYTG__ox0/s1600/DSC_2522.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiK0Qcvp4XBSL0itmr25GLZggRg326ekJkLSzlq0deh25AyDgxrjFe_MoGDrvvoYvVP-aSdLwExYCylK1NDmS9I_d9aacQcVHryyZP-LIJCKDzPRiaSero_O5ufqXWYTG__ox0/s400/DSC_2522.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552841834304316978" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NmZAQEnx8WY8AxtY0y4iT02gonw_HmH6TDM1fpe5BLLKn9Tzr0nfNaSh8n5WSHEbgxaz3x1d6BGdrAdhCiw0BRUUPg_1Z2N8OFDAvf21kut3cjHct1i8duLNFbsC3UrCou2W/s1600/DSC_2534.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NmZAQEnx8WY8AxtY0y4iT02gonw_HmH6TDM1fpe5BLLKn9Tzr0nfNaSh8n5WSHEbgxaz3x1d6BGdrAdhCiw0BRUUPg_1Z2N8OFDAvf21kut3cjHct1i8duLNFbsC3UrCou2W/s400/DSC_2534.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552841822195341506" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwLC73nKUqaJPFxeMwupy1mlY7b9qr8tl2ofap75pLP2hCC6rYzfMCYKPhw28SqmjPQVu2v5i1KURAIWiCujttWQ0GmYoBNMc6wG1_CTGHMVFExhCDnDcTkgPNCSYVnE9Itu8/s1600/DSC_2540.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwLC73nKUqaJPFxeMwupy1mlY7b9qr8tl2ofap75pLP2hCC6rYzfMCYKPhw28SqmjPQVu2v5i1KURAIWiCujttWQ0GmYoBNMc6wG1_CTGHMVFExhCDnDcTkgPNCSYVnE9Itu8/s400/DSC_2540.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552841814827264818" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">...i was ever afraid of having a boy. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">charlie,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">thank you for making my life silly, snuggly, exasperating, loud, and so much fun. when i saw you for the first time, and they put that bright red hat on you (only for babies born around christmas time,) i fell into so much love that it caught in my throat.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">today is your day. today you can drink pop and have more than one treat! i hope that it is so much fun for you, and i hope that someday you understand how special you've made my life.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">love, mom</span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-51970253694369460462010-11-16T20:56:00.008-07:002010-11-16T21:28:45.046-07:00my 4 year oldtoday my little boy turned 4. yes, this one:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQYG-g_t7_nPY3sTeBcK1_JNRmkIPAwqHYtTcaju2Re0yV2eTacdtu2hbgPO6wBLX8iqJ5XEvxM26hMwJUL-xoTOFihd9Ek5Ccf_0TBDIc5eedCbJ3fvIH589bBwBXfSw9-0LYA/s1600/DSC01574.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQYG-g_t7_nPY3sTeBcK1_JNRmkIPAwqHYtTcaju2Re0yV2eTacdtu2hbgPO6wBLX8iqJ5XEvxM26hMwJUL-xoTOFihd9Ek5Ccf_0TBDIc5eedCbJ3fvIH589bBwBXfSw9-0LYA/s400/DSC01574.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540363826447724178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />how can he be 4?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKlae0wVoZeodxkl5ZZWTp7PJz_tI8cy-XMkdIz25HmxVHH8OHCacuDoZ2DePD-oHp_uuiOXoJXZJlKnJRDbEx7INH8YV_kSKr_ub0HpbMeiWGgry8lW0v6l83Z0mtftBeHRQwPw/s1600/DSC05495.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 352px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKlae0wVoZeodxkl5ZZWTp7PJz_tI8cy-XMkdIz25HmxVHH8OHCacuDoZ2DePD-oHp_uuiOXoJXZJlKnJRDbEx7INH8YV_kSKr_ub0HpbMeiWGgry8lW0v6l83Z0mtftBeHRQwPw/s400/DSC05495.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540368191331830994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />wasn't this yesterday?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-huSfMZ_CcHaPHGiCF-E-Q-u9UCI6rb8SU3on64eiXldIVfVkg5ukA5vXBMBHyi-mV3Fu7uszK6xERt5IxRBRyTFSTIySUjkeXy7VB6AcvFy9fZkx10VY60kJeEpJF7unuPyyA/s1600/DSC01317.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-huSfMZ_CcHaPHGiCF-E-Q-u9UCI6rb8SU3on64eiXldIVfVkg5ukA5vXBMBHyi-mV3Fu7uszK6xERt5IxRBRyTFSTIySUjkeXy7VB6AcvFy9fZkx10VY60kJeEpJF7unuPyyA/s400/DSC01317.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540368751968844114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />and now he's into buzz lightyear<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24WPFOTjuZMKsv6DiyXsrM3SQ5JKdjEUxU5ZAe77-7Z26wr1UyMLwLiny67tWYFdqaokSQbJ4E55pAQYiavJwvQifsuuyYYmrSPcwnmUzHwNdxZxFnBTAt0iRbuZ5OkiiBk7A4A/s1600/DSC00046.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24WPFOTjuZMKsv6DiyXsrM3SQ5JKdjEUxU5ZAe77-7Z26wr1UyMLwLiny67tWYFdqaokSQbJ4E55pAQYiavJwvQifsuuyYYmrSPcwnmUzHwNdxZxFnBTAt0iRbuZ5OkiiBk7A4A/s400/DSC00046.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540369352793200674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />and planning his astronaut career.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_6slfvohvjmQ0HTmPuJFa_AJzGXoapGo7n6StCtdZhyphenhyphen6budwmF1k2Kesv424K8u3FwdtHORvylymbXM_zAwbeMjTowyG0yzeNohgs70nHctEKAswrsrjOZvJNditpFpaWukNoBQ/s1600/DSC00077.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_6slfvohvjmQ0HTmPuJFa_AJzGXoapGo7n6StCtdZhyphenhyphen6budwmF1k2Kesv424K8u3FwdtHORvylymbXM_zAwbeMjTowyG0yzeNohgs70nHctEKAswrsrjOZvJNditpFpaWukNoBQ/s400/DSC00077.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540370212415303938" border="0" /></a><br /><br />happy birthday to my precious, smart, handsome, wonderful, sweet boy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fppQzx-GBxTSlfIJHAeAmecGB6mvDlvduUukAuWLgmglAHyA1MpSLfv90IAF81cRi1js6HN3IWofQI28Z_oj0cXIrLecy027lORjhMbn7rEPkagq-8pqHjgBju-ManuDWMIySw/s1600/DSC00067.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fppQzx-GBxTSlfIJHAeAmecGB6mvDlvduUukAuWLgmglAHyA1MpSLfv90IAF81cRi1js6HN3IWofQI28Z_oj0cXIrLecy027lORjhMbn7rEPkagq-8pqHjgBju-ManuDWMIySw/s400/DSC00067.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540370703051378786" border="0" /></a>traveltwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16294976736122134631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-5837214460654592572010-11-14T15:13:00.003-07:002010-11-14T15:20:27.640-07:00the doing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQjXfhvWsmbuK9NoxIOXRviKDr15NJImrS-w3fRhqmS2BfN8LexE7fLpg9HmQiD7ze9_gSdShXlKSOfcUs3aMOJaeNg7vnNcvORmEivDawrQA7DN_2GvpILSyGuvx5dybqZf7/s1600/DSC_1776.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQjXfhvWsmbuK9NoxIOXRviKDr15NJImrS-w3fRhqmS2BfN8LexE7fLpg9HmQiD7ze9_gSdShXlKSOfcUs3aMOJaeNg7vnNcvORmEivDawrQA7DN_2GvpILSyGuvx5dybqZf7/s400/DSC_1776.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539532866521577650" /></a><br /><div><i>(little c. asleep on the couch.)</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">"but the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. this is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. there is one picture of the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. and I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."<br /><br /></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">anna quindlen</span></i></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></i></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">quote via <a href="http://www.hulaseventy.blogspot.com">hula seventy</a></span></span></i></span></i></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-37019349937905355482010-11-02T13:23:00.004-07:002010-11-08T13:01:55.837-07:00some things<div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRPxlN7edUESOeiXY0g-ltj7moFSPfAz6l0Afqt2PoOL_ptwYl6t-Sw9vcWukq99e4gtcJFJh-y2GsVVO3hAS4jDDjKCM4q2zmvV22_NjVaGfaIHGsihSHae3n9N6zz6wnRSd/s1600/DSC_2454.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRPxlN7edUESOeiXY0g-ltj7moFSPfAz6l0Afqt2PoOL_ptwYl6t-Sw9vcWukq99e4gtcJFJh-y2GsVVO3hAS4jDDjKCM4q2zmvV22_NjVaGfaIHGsihSHae3n9N6zz6wnRSd/s400/DSC_2454.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537269414548293346" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px; " /></a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3uoglBrGJGRcDZKKVcmtWo_1fBRbrEn13ko4uSX4pgcetzd6UHZZ5furq_fDy4z15eEqvNW8pXRvPgYm4JKO6nyFj5SFSBZNCzbeWcXBunxYikjRjk64iesWEoYeKbovKWjE/s1600/DSC_2459.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3uoglBrGJGRcDZKKVcmtWo_1fBRbrEn13ko4uSX4pgcetzd6UHZZ5furq_fDy4z15eEqvNW8pXRvPgYm4JKO6nyFj5SFSBZNCzbeWcXBunxYikjRjk64iesWEoYeKbovKWjE/s400/DSC_2459.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537269407591972082" style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">halloween was short and sweet for us this year. the kids wanted to go to the school carnival without costumes, and i was fine with that. we went to the trunk-or-treat our community did and ran out of candy in about 15 minutes. it was our first trunk or treat and i loved it because we were done so quickly, and the kids got tons of candy without having to go a million different places. wait, is tons of candy a good thing or a bad thing? :)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">the best thing to me was the awesome trick-or-treat bags that my mom made for the kids. (isn't she amazing?) i love those bags to death. she also made m.'s costume, the pinafore and the shirt that goes underneath. (thanks mom! you rock!) we lucked out and found sparkly red shoes at target.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></div><div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUc3lvN35VAZKA25NbIGwkIU8GBBlyY5QcQBlgLJJrMRyYnNL4J6AideWYVL4-BZVSk2nG9kk0UnWSOV48UHmN2lqqyqLjz_QHIs8tNP_s084Dj-ibjEpOI7wrFXdqBzOS8ypj/s1600/up-sufjan_stevensLG.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUc3lvN35VAZKA25NbIGwkIU8GBBlyY5QcQBlgLJJrMRyYnNL4J6AideWYVL4-BZVSk2nG9kk0UnWSOV48UHmN2lqqyqLjz_QHIs8tNP_s084Dj-ibjEpOI7wrFXdqBzOS8ypj/s400/up-sufjan_stevensLG.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535051436120786882" /></a><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUc3lvN35VAZKA25NbIGwkIU8GBBlyY5QcQBlgLJJrMRyYnNL4J6AideWYVL4-BZVSk2nG9kk0UnWSOV48UHmN2lqqyqLjz_QHIs8tNP_s084Dj-ibjEpOI7wrFXdqBzOS8ypj/s1600/up-sufjan_stevensLG.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">this is sufjan stevens. last monday i got to see him live, in concert with my hubby, nene (co-author of this blog,) and nene's husband. it was amazing. it's really hard for me to describe my feelings about this concert in words, but let me just say my mind was blown. it is still being blown. i usually have reservations about using the word "genius" but i have no problem going there for sufjan. he is a genius. the concert was crazy, inspirational, loud, strange, beautiful, fun, enlightening, and haunting. i loved every minute of it and i'll always be glad i got to be there. it was seriously a privilege.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-49628642925545523772010-09-16T08:50:00.003-07:002010-09-16T09:01:37.203-07:00to the rescuethis morning could have been disastrous. j. woke up grumpy again and was refusing to go to preschool and refusing to wear his yellow shirt as well (they are doing colors this month). i was trying to make french toast and calm the chaos, but heading for frustration central. instead my husband saved me and helped us all laugh. he made goofy faces and got j. dressed and soothed a meltdown when j. freaked out over cutting his french toast. then we got into the car (on time!) to take j. to preschool and CCR was playing on the radio and we drove down the street singing "I WANT TO KNOW, HAVE YOU EVER SEEEEN THE RAAAAAIN." and everything was all right again. thank goodness for this man.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvc4awMYh7oKSHlK28m9DfKRDzqSQh6T0JkM4ZnqFex6tEMv3Dn7ay4aLjF3STPNn66JV0qCgP-qVPzGONGCfC7BBW5U17MOf6os-CHZa2DaKnT_twVyWLGeUitoXllCy8zVuKA/s1600/DSC09949.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvc4awMYh7oKSHlK28m9DfKRDzqSQh6T0JkM4ZnqFex6tEMv3Dn7ay4aLjF3STPNn66JV0qCgP-qVPzGONGCfC7BBW5U17MOf6os-CHZa2DaKnT_twVyWLGeUitoXllCy8zVuKA/s400/DSC09949.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517541541395347186" border="0" /></a>traveltwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16294976736122134631noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-27520878090440141462010-07-19T08:32:00.004-07:002010-07-19T09:22:17.092-07:00at the park<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">we went to the park yesterday evening. it was 92 degrees out, but luckily we went to a great park with tons of big trees. it didn't seem very hot at all.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8I0lZZfHbizwPSuFAKV96rVbErl_ADAflILkKRQ-m9p1V3AszMjruEsLZG2uXeZV_AyMRqvKFmS74-1oBABQouejV55p4yAgkvViVKnaCk8aTD4uKAIVPmrHitLCCtXSGBnN/s1600/DSC_1797.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8I0lZZfHbizwPSuFAKV96rVbErl_ADAflILkKRQ-m9p1V3AszMjruEsLZG2uXeZV_AyMRqvKFmS74-1oBABQouejV55p4yAgkvViVKnaCk8aTD4uKAIVPmrHitLCCtXSGBnN/s400/DSC_1797.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495518391722784386" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8I0lZZfHbizwPSuFAKV96rVbErl_ADAflILkKRQ-m9p1V3AszMjruEsLZG2uXeZV_AyMRqvKFmS74-1oBABQouejV55p4yAgkvViVKnaCk8aTD4uKAIVPmrHitLCCtXSGBnN/s1600/DSC_1797.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWpPvr-zFZupJ1WTZFKJiKpUSRYdvbNP37-pZzTfruYAyNaumKrKv2mZUyu3YNuEY1wg8ITFPw52axVqvDfJpwn4lnX2N7T2Zt_AsQBDWmyqe1Es0eA6UGimltR-88RA_J39G/s1600/DSC_1869.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWpPvr-zFZupJ1WTZFKJiKpUSRYdvbNP37-pZzTfruYAyNaumKrKv2mZUyu3YNuEY1wg8ITFPw52axVqvDfJpwn4lnX2N7T2Zt_AsQBDWmyqe1Es0eA6UGimltR-88RA_J39G/s400/DSC_1869.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495650608103341794" style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGTOK62WqJ4eklJDt6LN9kRGghs5xVf9It2PrnKSBNlD91ULH5Y-gTtR8iSAkXBvqGSGDoOUaPLJ-EHVJy247pZvPStYcFpFEGWFkwydvFrKEwdDwg7A2jgpj5pN3cIBT5ELH/s1600/DSC_1862.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGTOK62WqJ4eklJDt6LN9kRGghs5xVf9It2PrnKSBNlD91ULH5Y-gTtR8iSAkXBvqGSGDoOUaPLJ-EHVJy247pZvPStYcFpFEGWFkwydvFrKEwdDwg7A2jgpj5pN3cIBT5ELH/s400/DSC_1862.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495518382078921730" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGTOK62WqJ4eklJDt6LN9kRGghs5xVf9It2PrnKSBNlD91ULH5Y-gTtR8iSAkXBvqGSGDoOUaPLJ-EHVJy247pZvPStYcFpFEGWFkwydvFrKEwdDwg7A2jgpj5pN3cIBT5ELH/s1600/DSC_1862.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdo66NzV14Gcf4Yob9bm6dBLbdE1weA6uMeahwrIIx8nW46vGaGyPE-UXBjzwfb_na74v436Z1EecIICa1lbNcss1UjccLhG0MqWDOKcxD0N6_7JZyhsV4ohmfu2V35CusH63E/s1600/DSC_1879.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdo66NzV14Gcf4Yob9bm6dBLbdE1weA6uMeahwrIIx8nW46vGaGyPE-UXBjzwfb_na74v436Z1EecIICa1lbNcss1UjccLhG0MqWDOKcxD0N6_7JZyhsV4ohmfu2V35CusH63E/s400/DSC_1879.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495649635166962658" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGECGD0EUHv_XNNragOB5kNf9z-QYZFPac4frPLsK5oNbADaFIGzwliiWQJmAdQceQbE6au5pcW5LqBrkAKgWECLtPMvCNXiV_nvEmgUdzQaJTsBKagv3x9ccnLU0XymNHGmGY/s1600/DSC_1888.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGECGD0EUHv_XNNragOB5kNf9z-QYZFPac4frPLsK5oNbADaFIGzwliiWQJmAdQceQbE6au5pcW5LqBrkAKgWECLtPMvCNXiV_nvEmgUdzQaJTsBKagv3x9ccnLU0XymNHGmGY/s400/DSC_1888.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495518373368163938" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">i love how kids get so excited to play and how lost they can get in it. it's so fun to watch them enjoying such simple things as slides or climbing over and over. i have fun just watching them have fun.</span></div></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-91715729821647672622010-07-13T08:07:00.001-07:002010-07-13T08:07:00.377-07:00the innocence mission<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQd6LjflHmkuoTM_moWUW1o3hX4RoOOUPLrLYb3dO1PkLVw1XXKYd1jIr1exfs5GRtsowF-D8RrFwGyBmJa0Chx103YSaP6gNhZ4lIS-ljFo66zGx3u-wT4i9e58OSsm7dy7qE/s1600/My+Room+In+The+Trees+web1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQd6LjflHmkuoTM_moWUW1o3hX4RoOOUPLrLYb3dO1PkLVw1XXKYd1jIr1exfs5GRtsowF-D8RrFwGyBmJa0Chx103YSaP6gNhZ4lIS-ljFo66zGx3u-wT4i9e58OSsm7dy7qE/s400/My+Room+In+The+Trees+web1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493271999044525970" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><div><br /></div>have you heard of the band the innocence mission? if you are a kid of the 90's, such as i, then you might remember their song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA4ZfLzy1VM">"bright as yellow"</a> which is one of their only tunes to really hit the main stream.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">the innocence mission is one band that i feel safe recommending to anyone. teenagers, people who aren't all that into music, my parents who are in their seventies (hi mom and dad!) that's how good this band is. peaceful, lulling melodies, and sweet, meaningful lyrics.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">they penned my favorite lines in all of song lyric-dom, (which, if you know how jam-packed my brain is with song lyrics, you know is saying something):</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><i>let's get up early now, dive clear into the day</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><i>let's get out of the car with open arms, not wait to be embraced.</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>-from the song "when mac was swimming"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">isn't that such a beautiful sentiment? and isn't it just put so well? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">this is my soul music. if i could make music, i'd want to make music like this. plain and simple.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">so, why all this gushing about the innocence mission? they have a new album out today! it's called "my room in the trees." isn't that a great image? and if you click <a href="http://www.muruch.com/2010/06/the-innocence-mission-my-room-in-trees.html">here</a> you can download two of their new songs, "the happy mondays" and "god is love." also visit <a href="http://www.theinnocencemission.com/">their website</a> to hear "spring," which sounds just lovely.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">i can't wait to get my hands on the entire album.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">p.s. if you're just being introduced to the i.m. try "the lakes of canada," "sweep down early," or "beautiful change."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">p.p.s. if you don't like them after listening to those three songs, i'll give you a hundred bucks. just kidding.</span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-33358233854454332552010-07-11T18:02:00.002-07:002010-07-11T18:11:36.633-07:00before church<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">here are some pictures i snapped before church today. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">question: do i usually have time to take pictures before church?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">answer: no, no i don't.</span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42popEmmYWcpEJYJo8yM2Dv4NfJ6CpXQkWnFTzSwUYAIaCJ1opREo2tIBgiFrvdRKf_i0xC1tYcLExUvBcdf9SBk36E_JzlL1wBNukCAXGHWwxxjI_tLV84r_CaSUjgrkvWT3/s1600/DSC_1646.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42popEmmYWcpEJYJo8yM2Dv4NfJ6CpXQkWnFTzSwUYAIaCJ1opREo2tIBgiFrvdRKf_i0xC1tYcLExUvBcdf9SBk36E_JzlL1wBNukCAXGHWwxxjI_tLV84r_CaSUjgrkvWT3/s400/DSC_1646.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492820274693227826" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8prOO0wNW9iYj0H56W_dE8GbBrtklJAwMJ8akr8ZEbPZpo79FCOZb1xbKOUiaV-v3NTaF9z4VX1xtYgsc8cm6kkBU02YSHOjrqMiHVVhNL_eH_LzmuNJb7LG9XXekycH29LP/s1600/DSC_1647.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8prOO0wNW9iYj0H56W_dE8GbBrtklJAwMJ8akr8ZEbPZpo79FCOZb1xbKOUiaV-v3NTaF9z4VX1xtYgsc8cm6kkBU02YSHOjrqMiHVVhNL_eH_LzmuNJb7LG9XXekycH29LP/s400/DSC_1647.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492820270108424146" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAG9faUZE8zbjmHWceQQDjeJsPLFmWuB1qxZORfdPbOeWhyphenhyphenZ8MQqFBF9oj7r1JqNw2JPu3aM63oi9uYlPgkCHnz5GTxjxDXGd-oJ9Ww-SOir1Z2lipNKeCCAAwm-l6zG1M7DS/s1600/DSC_1649.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAG9faUZE8zbjmHWceQQDjeJsPLFmWuB1qxZORfdPbOeWhyphenhyphenZ8MQqFBF9oj7r1JqNw2JPu3aM63oi9uYlPgkCHnz5GTxjxDXGd-oJ9Ww-SOir1Z2lipNKeCCAAwm-l6zG1M7DS/s400/DSC_1649.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492820257530993762" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp1Sers4C69dBgvHWQUom3Cz9YSk1FqjmB6aZVs_rr3yXiYXRTaPbd0k6u3GBXmbv8-Pe4tyuBO9vujs-g-_f7A2M5sWYjnqD93locbBf6EI6Gxa1KHsmdmYJSdkKbQZjDHkk/s1600/DSC_1651.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp1Sers4C69dBgvHWQUom3Cz9YSk1FqjmB6aZVs_rr3yXiYXRTaPbd0k6u3GBXmbv8-Pe4tyuBO9vujs-g-_f7A2M5sWYjnqD93locbBf6EI6Gxa1KHsmdmYJSdkKbQZjDHkk/s400/DSC_1651.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492820252491784050" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxc_26r4weDywpOpHiYZwIx6djO_JD_-LSQug8ToBZSsb4xfYRhpsrlNY-91sYn_-NseZsfc-iZEMt96ei6rfxnIY_1E9_zFk000sO9snqsItD9tz1gEh9r_0H3OswqIQGewrc/s1600/DSC_1658.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxc_26r4weDywpOpHiYZwIx6djO_JD_-LSQug8ToBZSsb4xfYRhpsrlNY-91sYn_-NseZsfc-iZEMt96ei6rfxnIY_1E9_zFk000sO9snqsItD9tz1gEh9r_0H3OswqIQGewrc/s400/DSC_1658.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492820240768139026" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">p.s. sweet m. completely dressed herself AND fixed her hair today. i smoothed out the bumps in her hair a little, but otherwise, that cuteness? all her.</span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-29868292328321370282010-07-06T14:45:00.005-07:002010-07-06T15:46:18.766-07:00my sweet seven year old<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdY0zXSDsdHcnkNVopT39mT6Ysmn5i4X_HpwNdkFwbtrehGauR66xiDRj7f3E5-HPLwrP-o2jU3mfFuvW3nmsqi55RNYIzxZy4o0EhPZgCArIPe4YaCTFY9ID-dQaoknOWYI8/s1600/n1091779068_51468_4148.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdY0zXSDsdHcnkNVopT39mT6Ysmn5i4X_HpwNdkFwbtrehGauR66xiDRj7f3E5-HPLwrP-o2jU3mfFuvW3nmsqi55RNYIzxZy4o0EhPZgCArIPe4YaCTFY9ID-dQaoknOWYI8/s400/n1091779068_51468_4148.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490915081844859570" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">my sweetest of sweet m.'s,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">i can't believe you are seven now. what a great year you've had. first grade, lots of new friends, you were super girl for halloween, you got so sick we almost had to take you to the emergency room, you played t-ball for the first time and started ballet. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">i love how kind you are, how attentive you are to your teachers and coaches, how you really want to do your best and please everyone. you try so hard, and i love that about you. i love how much you tell me you love me. i know you mean it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">this year let's have so much fun we just about burst, ok?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">love, mom</span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiocgQB5sJdJIYu5kdmR3sfj6G_uz9CzZ40bpBX3PXNQI0UAnR2xmRHJfl49SE2lnLN2tHaqcLi8es2QfPiPEv59w8aZgzFlSbpcD_jQCK5rklhyB5kPFo-4hlUKrLzsQpNRvcv/s1600/n1091779068_51469_6466.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiocgQB5sJdJIYu5kdmR3sfj6G_uz9CzZ40bpBX3PXNQI0UAnR2xmRHJfl49SE2lnLN2tHaqcLi8es2QfPiPEv59w8aZgzFlSbpcD_jQCK5rklhyB5kPFo-4hlUKrLzsQpNRvcv/s400/n1091779068_51469_6466.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490915076779580866" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL45jwOomWLhDNI6t9hZLAajCxTDmkoCn-vYKCinrMTFzrELthqlBCNjI5cr1hsMnLBR2dRaFg_8Jmyskyd4u84MIlyRv5Fos168lyIndfV37OXpcJBPn_QX2olX9fa5JBsJsF/s1600/2607651151_d01fb0bcab_m.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL45jwOomWLhDNI6t9hZLAajCxTDmkoCn-vYKCinrMTFzrELthqlBCNjI5cr1hsMnLBR2dRaFg_8Jmyskyd4u84MIlyRv5Fos168lyIndfV37OXpcJBPn_QX2olX9fa5JBsJsF/s400/2607651151_d01fb0bcab_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490915072016962594" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAZ5VOzlzDCFs9uCCVbyj8PnbJlxbv6YsJNTsLpjI8MPSGj0B13rFbXux6IffIrkU8CJzz1M0fRQVGMsXIZIiu0Kark0Tt59UwNZatVGYy639NXMjxAKBC0sxJfQzPzhvP9vGg/s1600/2546693135_dd26613513_b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAZ5VOzlzDCFs9uCCVbyj8PnbJlxbv6YsJNTsLpjI8MPSGj0B13rFbXux6IffIrkU8CJzz1M0fRQVGMsXIZIiu0Kark0Tt59UwNZatVGYy639NXMjxAKBC0sxJfQzPzhvP9vGg/s400/2546693135_dd26613513_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490915062238808194" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2YQ6OIoMfKf9FxBc_zKCYO8wTGsCQvXS1UpoLQ35pqaQ72Qg-ltMYj0bt1LYyouFKsMiiZ5DrDy-XGPok8itBlKjo2Gto_97vIW0V0Y1nRKJ6z1p2lthcGgCbti_HqBUb1YOP/s1600/n1091779068_85018_7233.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2YQ6OIoMfKf9FxBc_zKCYO8wTGsCQvXS1UpoLQ35pqaQ72Qg-ltMYj0bt1LYyouFKsMiiZ5DrDy-XGPok8itBlKjo2Gto_97vIW0V0Y1nRKJ6z1p2lthcGgCbti_HqBUb1YOP/s400/n1091779068_85018_7233.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490914802757852018" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5laXX-TLZTEFxkFBIojkUDc8JXLfBjAEA2kI63UJEcs-hpTyB12PpMJ0F5nX1q2ZLQyhtKntJ6c_iBqyVzfEl3swWMy2xE52Z2g3ejdcwsVtN4dMFKnkZvJP8asOTuWz5H1oH/s1600/2784339303_965e407550_b.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 391px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5laXX-TLZTEFxkFBIojkUDc8JXLfBjAEA2kI63UJEcs-hpTyB12PpMJ0F5nX1q2ZLQyhtKntJ6c_iBqyVzfEl3swWMy2xE52Z2g3ejdcwsVtN4dMFKnkZvJP8asOTuWz5H1oH/s400/2784339303_965e407550_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490914795102271506" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxdqExWk7OJK0PIiV8F5Ccz1bbMy7QgO5O9Qq5HzRSY6F58MQPQqu4j3t23j7elMsB8YYS1oZ3EW3VcJfojDZ_QlZQujJAgkzU0d07RYg3LGQhfvP5i02x8GpZbKk_aUSstbX/s1600/DSC_1594.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 363px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxdqExWk7OJK0PIiV8F5Ccz1bbMy7QgO5O9Qq5HzRSY6F58MQPQqu4j3t23j7elMsB8YYS1oZ3EW3VcJfojDZ_QlZQujJAgkzU0d07RYg3LGQhfvP5i02x8GpZbKk_aUSstbX/s400/DSC_1594.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490914790161388754" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81KVhAC3l82TyKi58o6Q8E5Phx5eM-WnOY67v-lDL91P3vKIUHIB_fJvT1-3se9n_J-xC_oLRuMLnDhjNMq0K-oeGng-3YGMQsWw3fu1HH0_XRaItQ0kEsI6VRzWvlg4KBWYP/s1600/DSC_3631.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81KVhAC3l82TyKi58o6Q8E5Phx5eM-WnOY67v-lDL91P3vKIUHIB_fJvT1-3se9n_J-xC_oLRuMLnDhjNMq0K-oeGng-3YGMQsWw3fu1HH0_XRaItQ0kEsI6VRzWvlg4KBWYP/s400/DSC_3631.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490914777968480962" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrS7xYA2y0abwgOMvOoG-rTgqto3mVKVBO9TrQfd-cY9Z5boFtBsFXCwi1-dVMBSUpkjQlYfADxFUOCX_cIu5IroEvWjlNqgQsM4T12-yvxK9Qpp2mSo9PTXmguJ6GHvJ26Ew2/s1600/DSC_1368.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrS7xYA2y0abwgOMvOoG-rTgqto3mVKVBO9TrQfd-cY9Z5boFtBsFXCwi1-dVMBSUpkjQlYfADxFUOCX_cIu5IroEvWjlNqgQsM4T12-yvxK9Qpp2mSo9PTXmguJ6GHvJ26Ew2/s400/DSC_1368.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490914761878224386" /></a><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrS7xYA2y0abwgOMvOoG-rTgqto3mVKVBO9TrQfd-cY9Z5boFtBsFXCwi1-dVMBSUpkjQlYfADxFUOCX_cIu5IroEvWjlNqgQsM4T12-yvxK9Qpp2mSo9PTXmguJ6GHvJ26Ew2/s1600/DSC_1368.JPG"></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">and one of you today, on your birthday:</span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowvaKxnv7h9WRTtZMrgXix_-AfZvbft8tpFVoalpu8W1maH1IJxMNQHY0zTZlaKdyXuxC43lPUNwR5kpvQsm2p4g7DJzoKrbr0F7-A672Mwtm1Q9TXZr4H0DGRBvT8lI0pGfn/s1600/DSC_1597.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowvaKxnv7h9WRTtZMrgXix_-AfZvbft8tpFVoalpu8W1maH1IJxMNQHY0zTZlaKdyXuxC43lPUNwR5kpvQsm2p4g7DJzoKrbr0F7-A672Mwtm1Q9TXZr4H0DGRBvT8lI0pGfn/s400/DSC_1597.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490927049288649074" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></a></div></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-69798651253817967062010-07-05T22:48:00.002-07:002010-07-05T22:48:00.284-07:00a day with the grandparents<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">this is what it looks like when my parents come and visit: my kids are happier, my house is cleaner, everything seems sunnier and more fun.</span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcy1RhwECWCnEfeF4Hi6JsVbD0a4Yy5hAEKUAwpTUUXz6w11YJcJlwFoKnfW6d0iMnpxN_5R0lDLnh4_GMmyvcI_qgTHjU1ed302EyuQCPAaAT_r4B0NlFs7FA0bDaOAMP7a4-/s1600/DSC_1415.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcy1RhwECWCnEfeF4Hi6JsVbD0a4Yy5hAEKUAwpTUUXz6w11YJcJlwFoKnfW6d0iMnpxN_5R0lDLnh4_GMmyvcI_qgTHjU1ed302EyuQCPAaAT_r4B0NlFs7FA0bDaOAMP7a4-/s400/DSC_1415.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488813184373924898" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMkFzMZDsYgDmnDI3Gg8yJw0ScFcxP-cvLL3ZZZ_67cYvqKMujM9iLUdqgrL-_ucfEwvH6mEngrnDXjXRxMxA1ctqoY2-XvepZ5-BA6dWBbRZgzb51oAsMu2Ckl__NURb8gqL/s1600/DSC_1439.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMkFzMZDsYgDmnDI3Gg8yJw0ScFcxP-cvLL3ZZZ_67cYvqKMujM9iLUdqgrL-_ucfEwvH6mEngrnDXjXRxMxA1ctqoY2-XvepZ5-BA6dWBbRZgzb51oAsMu2Ckl__NURb8gqL/s400/DSC_1439.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488812370479273538" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBjLpyc3LMeBp9TXcjxIgj2f0cfqQG61xlXD2dArEEDcciSYx68deYNhysderBdASfu3LusTbDpd_ou5s6m9-d4LP8vPPVpMI7QC_Y9vr1tovnm9LONY2zfPZzA3WqIghWUTxm/s1600/DSC_1447.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBjLpyc3LMeBp9TXcjxIgj2f0cfqQG61xlXD2dArEEDcciSYx68deYNhysderBdASfu3LusTbDpd_ou5s6m9-d4LP8vPPVpMI7QC_Y9vr1tovnm9LONY2zfPZzA3WqIghWUTxm/s400/DSC_1447.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488812364306461330" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBjLpyc3LMeBp9TXcjxIgj2f0cfqQG61xlXD2dArEEDcciSYx68deYNhysderBdASfu3LusTbDpd_ou5s6m9-d4LP8vPPVpMI7QC_Y9vr1tovnm9LONY2zfPZzA3WqIghWUTxm/s1600/DSC_1447.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DTwAmJXMXJ8UC29m8BGVMrWQNE7xTfgr4giX53iF28X9pOsss5ctFAzQncXGSAexQQ4Ye3rbw_Uts_K7pXDk56jVv_sb_FAoAJrNBCijCsugl-pISQjdnSGDWbGSmFDCUMRA/s1600/DSC_1443.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DTwAmJXMXJ8UC29m8BGVMrWQNE7xTfgr4giX53iF28X9pOsss5ctFAzQncXGSAexQQ4Ye3rbw_Uts_K7pXDk56jVv_sb_FAoAJrNBCijCsugl-pISQjdnSGDWbGSmFDCUMRA/s400/DSC_1443.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488812379085531266" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCDdmYoEh3nfEgMUvu57FTIDMKvxuQb9feGAAs23a0ac6zirlTg3h99YTnJc8IS9ex4CzKNIRxOEIgmtkIYugdqFOcxZqL_WxNOTtYQHEYVQGgHD4Gpq6ZP4LhveL3n3dflVW/s1600/DSC_1455.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCDdmYoEh3nfEgMUvu57FTIDMKvxuQb9feGAAs23a0ac6zirlTg3h99YTnJc8IS9ex4CzKNIRxOEIgmtkIYugdqFOcxZqL_WxNOTtYQHEYVQGgHD4Gpq6ZP4LhveL3n3dflVW/s400/DSC_1455.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488812356478739906" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISQ5MHUL_qDrR5HcnFLjz-mZpJ0SNezXHdyL9vpaqTY9nkN6kwCrMGiFCaU7ljqRTk4z0P7BoumxlleF6nR1F-uMSIJkVzaFR-rgvzwfs8FBDr4wbUJdfatxHzHLPqr9A09AS/s1600/DSC_1471.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISQ5MHUL_qDrR5HcnFLjz-mZpJ0SNezXHdyL9vpaqTY9nkN6kwCrMGiFCaU7ljqRTk4z0P7BoumxlleF6nR1F-uMSIJkVzaFR-rgvzwfs8FBDr4wbUJdfatxHzHLPqr9A09AS/s400/DSC_1471.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488812341783228530" /></a><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">please come back soon.</span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-61466595364099356172010-06-30T22:38:00.002-07:002010-06-30T22:47:28.653-07:00no time to sleep<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWETg6Op6HoM3cLK5Jhyphenhyphene8pOUirPfg6iTQOFKCZs4ZnDeaYBuuWs6b1-fHVHSZcUiVlkdEHTpw9ZP7jFJr-wcwDk6qeJ9osq_o6hRydwXz5NU4E0Y8AVUV6zg9BhC9wjGN0FcG/s1600/DSC_1385.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWETg6Op6HoM3cLK5Jhyphenhyphene8pOUirPfg6iTQOFKCZs4ZnDeaYBuuWs6b1-fHVHSZcUiVlkdEHTpw9ZP7jFJr-wcwDk6qeJ9osq_o6hRydwXz5NU4E0Y8AVUV6zg9BhC9wjGN0FcG/s400/DSC_1385.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488809690073264498" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">i know it's silly but it makes me so happy to see him sleep. especially with his bum up in the air, which he is doing in this picture though you can't really tell.</span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9634452.post-18160633075969186562010-06-24T12:31:00.003-07:002010-06-24T12:44:12.931-07:00once upon a summertime<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyoYvxJUOhm06_xrZg5z0aHSWaOmx6giZX0FMbHskYFp75vEgr5Af8Q9hvoARN2GbJtq8KpcoXImn9kDy2IfibivR5ynGUIw0E1PODqdQVR4BYzVBkIateJYu_t3hwGY_oTEW/s1600/DSC_1372.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyoYvxJUOhm06_xrZg5z0aHSWaOmx6giZX0FMbHskYFp75vEgr5Af8Q9hvoARN2GbJtq8KpcoXImn9kDy2IfibivR5ynGUIw0E1PODqdQVR4BYzVBkIateJYu_t3hwGY_oTEW/s400/DSC_1372.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486425552209054946" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">we've had a busy-ish summer so far. sweet m. is taking ballet and doing t-ball, we've done a quick road trip, and park day is every tuesday. what's busy to us is probably pretty mellow for most people. that's okay.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">my favorite summer days are ones like today. nowhere to go, no big plans, pj's stay on longer than they should, some chores get done and some might not. that's okay.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;">i'm trying to live by my motto, some lines from leonard cohen's song "anthem." (that i've probably quoted here before, but that's okay too.)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><i>ring the bells that still can ring</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><i>forget your perfect offering</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><i>there is a crack in everything</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><i>that's how the light gets in.</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new', serif;"><br /></span></div>johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06903144540678766411noreply@blogger.com4