Madly In Love

I am madly in love with these photos I took of Clara while I was at my friend Elizabeth's house last week. (Note the blanket I had to put down so that my little Sweet Pea didn't spit up on Elizabeth's nice couch!) I think I like these so much because they fully capture the crazy adorable hair on my child. You can also see how curly it's getting. Just like her Big Sissy.

This was a particularly hard morning for me as I'd only slept about three hours the night before. I arrived at Elizabeth's house straight from the shower. My hair was crazy without a speck of product. That's the thing about good friends ~ they get it and they don't seem to care what I look like.

I read about this challenge on Design Mom recently and it struck a cord with me. I never like photos of myself ~ too many wrinkles, grey hair is showing, look too chubby, blah blah blah. So I've been working on this and trying to capture more photos of myself with my children. I wish I had more photos of me with Sophie when she was still small. Of course there's no way to recapture those moments now. So, on this morning, I asked Nathalie and Elizabeth to take a few shots of Clara and I. These two I found acceptable enough to share. Crazy-ass hair, grey roots, bags under my eyes and all!!!

Suburban Field Journal

Have you ever heard the adage, "in the suburbs they tear down all the trees and then name the streets after them."? Well, it's true. And it doesn't just apply to trees. Let's take a look....

I searched long and I searched hard but I have yet to find....a wheat field, a running horse, wild berries, a grove of any kind, a hickory tree, a briar patch, orchards, cattle, foxes or enough trees to produce kindling on any of these streets.

In fact, all of the streets looked exactly the same. A little something like this....

Suburban Field Journal

It's trash day in the suburbs. You know what that means! Very large bins filled to the brim and, sadly, a lot of them are overflowing....

How can it be that a single family can produce this much trash in a week's time?

Don't be misled by thinking I had to drive around for a long time looking for these....or that I collected them over time....I took all of these shots within the space of about 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon sight. I see it every week, even in my own neighborhood.

When the extremely large bin isn't big enough for all of your trash.....just pile it up on top.

I guess when your house is, say, this big.....

it does take a lot of stuff to fill and maintain it.

This sign could be found on the side of most of the trash bins I saw today.

The small print says "Promoting Clean Living". As if. All of this trash has to go someplace. It's called a land fill. Someone must live close to the land fill. I doubt they'd call it clean living.

Yes, God Bless the U.S.A......and all of its trash.

The Newest Foodie on the Block

Yes, it's none other than Clara Louise.....

She had her first taste of rice cereal today, her very first solid food. Due to Clara's reflux issues, I spoke with her doctor and was told it was okay to start and try it out. I think it helped because she fell asleep almost immediately after the meal and slept over an hour. At any other time during the day, Clara never sleeps more than half an hour at a stretch.

Clara has been eyeing our food for several weeks now. She watches every move when we're eating. This kid knew EXACTLY what to do. With gusto, she'd reach out for the spoon with both hands and help guide it into her mouth. It warmed our hearts to see how much she enjoyed it. I made the cereal a little on the thicker side and you could tell that she really enjoyed the different texture. Her passion for solid food was clearly evident and we were all so, so happy to watch. Even Big Sissy got to give her a few spoonfuls.

What an awesome way to end our beautiful weekend

PS ~ I took Sophie and a friend to see The Muppets today. Could it be any more adorable? Hooray for The Muppets! It makes me so happy to watch them. And Sophie sat on my lap for part of the movie so I got to snuggle her. I loved every second of it!

Furry Birthday Wishes

My baby girl, McKenzie, turned 12 years old today. A true miracle. I was happy all day just thinking about it. To celebrate I am posting what might be my all-time favorite photos of Kenzie. She LOVES to find a patch of sunshine to lay in. She'll follow the sun as it moves around the room. She gets so relaxed and sleeps so soundly. I love it.

Happy Birthday to my furry little soul mate!!!

Central Virginia Highlight: The Ploughcroft Tea Room

It was back in May when I first came across the lovely little storefront in Downtown Lynchburg, during my last trip to visit my family before Clara was born. A Union Jack hanging from a flagpole is sure to garner some attention from this here gal (remember this post?). A Tea Room? In Lynchburg? I could hardly believe my eyes. I crossed the street to get a closer look. Sure enough. A sweet little tea room. It was closed so the best I could do was peek in the windows. Let's just say that it was adorable enough to make me flock back there at the first opportunity.

Finally, Alain and I had a chance to sneak in for afternoon tea at the Ploughcroft Tea Room yesterday. Oh, and it was divine. Small little cucumber and egg salad sandwiches. Even better, scones with clotted cream. Heavenly. I devoured mine. Even Alain couldn't believe how quickly the food disappeared from my plates. My only complaint would be that I didn't have enough cream. Then again I'm sure that I use more than a normal person. And the Earl Gray tea was perfectly steeped. Of course, tea always tastes better in a dainty little tea cup & saucer! I have to also add that the owner and her daughter are lovely, lovely people. They were so welcoming and sweet to baby Clara.

I have a feeling that I will somehow visit the Tea Room each time I visit Lynchburg. A Tea Room is such a treat. Afternoon tea is so relaxing. I'm looking forward to having a Mother-Daughter Tea with Sophie soon. I didn't take any photos while I was there because taking photos sometimes detracts from the experience (for me and for others). So, if anyone ever has the chance to visit Lynchburg and the time to enjoy an afternoon tea, this is the place!!!

{Image from Julia Crossland via Pinterest}

Nature Found: The Woods Behind Grandma & Grandpa's House

It's late November but the weather is warm. Since we don't have woods near our house in the suburbs, Sophie and I, along with Grandpa, took the opportunity to walk in the woods behind Grandma & Grandpa's house. These days the forest canopy and floor are mostly shades of brown with loads of fallen leaves. So we made it our mission to look for other bits of nature and here is what we found....

A cool, yellow mushroom.

Lots of trees and bushes with berries.

The coolest tree bark that I've possibly ever seen.

Here's a close up of the ridges of the bark. Isn't that wild? I have no clue what type of tree this is....

Sophie threw some rocks in the pond to make ripples.

This tree stump reminded all of us of the Statue of Liberty.

Another teeny tiny little mushroom. It was so shiny-wet and glossy. Rather extra-terrestrial looking!

Grandpa sat on the hillside by the pond and pondered (pun intended!) the meaning of life (hee hee!).

Sophie showed off some cool quartz rocks she picked up along the way.

It may be the biggest shopping weekend of the year but I'm glad to say that we have yet to enter one retail store.

(Full disclaimer: I did visit an antiques store and a consignment store but I don't think they count since everything is reused.)