My 2012 Word of the Year

I don't do New Year's Resolutions. Still, when this year began, even in my sleep-deprived fog, I knew I wanted to do something. Then I remembered seeing a lot of stuff online about choosing a word of the year.....to focus on, meditate on, act on, etc. I had barely thought about the idea and THE word popped into my head.

SUNSHINE

That's my word for 2012. An obvious and very easy choice. What inspired this word? Actually, it was my second daughter......my very sunny baby, Clara Louise. She is constantly smiling. She even laughs in her sleep. She brings a lot of joy to all of us. I always describe her disposition as sunny. Little Miss Clara spreads her own particular brand of sunshine in her own way, in her own time, generously, freely. It's a beautiful thing. I noticed that I was constantly thinking that I'd like to be more like her.

Along with her birth, I also discovered a constant and deep feeling of gratitude. It hangs around with me even when I'm sick or sleep deprived or overwhelmed. I am just lucky. Not to mention that my heart is overflowing with love and ready to bust wide open. So, in whatever way I can, I want to spread sunshine to others. I don't have a lot of free time but I've already started in small ways. Alain has enjoyed several foot massages as of late. I read extra books to Sophie when she asks. I whisper sweet nothings and stroke her forehead when I rock Clara before her nap. I tell my girls CONSTANTLY how I love them more than they can possibly imagine. I give Hubbell a little massage here and there. I sing to the birds. I called my friend, Leslie, and invited her to lunch with Clara & I. I bought my Dad a cool book for his birthday. I had the best damned dinner with Elizabeth & Nathalie ~ one that made me feel energized and happy. I've been trying to slowly reconnect and reconcile with an estranged cousin. I smile more. I laugh more. Those are my sunshine gifts to myself. All of these things make me feel good inside. I'm old enough and wise enough to recognize happiness and peace when it visits me in my life. So I've decided that I am going to ride this roller coaster of happiness and peace......ride it with everything I have inside of me. And hopefully spread a little bit of sunshine in the process....

Bird's The Word!

Last Friday Clara and I ventured out to a new fabric store. When we left half an hour later, our car wouldn't start. As we sat there waiting to be rescued (thank you, Elizabeth and Nat!), this little bird landed on the roof of the car parked next to us. Before he flew away, I quickly took a couple of photos of all his cuteness....

The New Toy

Sophie was so thrilled to get a new, life-sized doll this past weekend. She immediately put her in the doll stroller and started to walk her around.....

Uh, wait a moment, that doll looks a LOT like Clara.

Of course, it IS Clara. Except that she's cuter than any doll I've ever seen.

My two girls had such a fun time playing together. Sophie was ecsatic when I told her she could put Clara in the stroller (with many rules, of course!) and Clara smiled nonstop the entire time that Sophie strolled her around.

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!!

Suburban Field Journal

Today let's play a little game. It's called "School or Prison". Take a look at the images below and take a guess as to which ones were taken on school grounds and which ones were taken on prison grounds......

Okay, I know, I wasn't being entirely fair. It was a little bit of a trick question. All of these photos were taken on the grounds of two local schools. Yet to me they all look like prison.

As I was driving around the parking lots of one school, all I encountered were locks and fences and a police car. Are people being kept out or locked in? You really can't tell. But it does strike me that this isn't a place where people want to be.

A few years ago I took some LEED courses. I was particularly interested in LEED for schools. There have been many studies done that show a link between access to nature and increased learning. Do we really need studies to tell us this? Isn't it obvious? These schools located near our home certainly don't inspire much of anything. They are drab, cold, industrial. There is barely any nature to speak of. It makes me rather sad. The quality of these schools is supposedly quite high and that is the good news. Still, can't we have the quality and an environment conducive to learning, a warm and nurturing place? Aren't our children worth it?

Pinteresting

I've made no secret of my addiction to Pinterest. If someone were to ask me what my greatest source of inspiration is I'd have to say Pinterest. Ben, the guy who invented the site, is genius. I recently checked my boards to see what was up and WHAT? I had to check several times. Yes, my Party Inspiration board has over 2,200 followers. Several of my boards do. I get about 10-15 new followers each day. The last time I checked the number was around 200 or so. Every once in a while I look around to see which pins o' mine are capturing other people's interests. On my boards, hands down, it's this image.....

At this moment in time, it's been repinned 262 times and has 24 likes. I pinned this over a year ago from Amy Atlas' blog. She originally found the project in Family Fun. Almost all of the repins have occurred in the last month or so. Makes me wonder what suddenly happened to make others take notice of this particular pin. Aaahhh, the wonders of social media!

The second most popular pin is this one....

A very pink and pretty baby shower that I originally found on Style Me Pretty. Currently it's been repinned 164 times and has 14 likes. It's also over a year old but has been repinned pretty consistently over that time period.

When it comes to Pinterest, I know exactly which of my friends and family use the site. It's often the topic of conversation when we're together. I love to pin something specifically for one of my followers. And I love when someone repins and thanks me for the idea (Hi Mariel!). Actually, it's thanks to a pin from Mariel a few days ago that I discovered Clara's Valentine's Day present (via Uncommon Goods)....

I also found Sophie's Valentine's Day present via Pinterest....

Believe me, as precious as this print is in this copied image, it's many times more so in person. I am now a devoted follower of Lori's at Fresh Picked Whimsy. This won't be the last time I make a purchase from her adorable, delicious little shop. Her blog is great too.

My mother-in-law started using Pinterest about five months ago. When we were on the phone one day I asked her about it and she said, "Pinterest has changed my life". It made me laugh at first. I guess because it tickled my soul. Amen, Cristina. Amen. You and me both!

*** smile ***

PS ~ If you're so inclined, you can follow my Pinterest boards here.

Capturing Motherhood in a Photo

One thing I absolutely LOVE about motherhood is sleeping babies. Ha ha. What mother doesn't love sleeping babies? They're just so sweet and precious when they're snuggled up and breathing heavy. I always sneak in to peek at them when they're peaceful. I love it. So here are two photos of my sleeping girls....at about the same age.....to me, they don't look anything alike.

Randomness

~ Kenzie came to visit for four days. It was nice to feel like myself again for a little bit. When she's here, she immediately resorts to all of her usual behaviors....spending the day laying by the front window, barking whenever someone comes near the house, bringing us random socks and/or toys when we come home, checking on me during the night while I'm sleeping....her presence is just so comforting. She barely knows Clara, having only met her twice. Yet, when Clara went down for her first nap during Kenzie's visit, well, guess who plopped herself in the corner of Clara's room to stand guard? Of course it was Kenzie. Precious, precious dog.

{standing guard at an open window}

~ Sophie went to Grandma & Grandpa's house for four days (hence Kenzie's visit!). I wasn't expecting it to feel like a big break. I was wrong. It was HUGE. I couldn't believe how peaceful our house was. It just reminded me how LOUD, defiant, and stubborn she is. Now that she's home I'm trying hard to keep my patience with her and work on some of these things. It seems that she's always in trouble and I often find myself feeling sorry for her. It must be hard to be her sometimes ~ always in trouble. Still, I missed her a lot while she was gone.

~ Clara had a HUGE week. She learned to sit up on her own. She also started crawling. Yes, crawling. In the week before she turned six months old. I honestly didn't think this was possible. I'm not one of those parents who rushes their kids to move around on their own. I like when you can sit them in one spot, leave the room and come back to find they haven't moved. I will never experience that with Clara. She loves to be put on the floor to move around all by herself. Of course this means we have to be super-diligent. Check check. I stand in awe of her tenacity and curiosity. Amazing kid that Clara!

{crazy ambitious kid}

~ I have been sick for nine days now. NINE DAYS. It seems like an eternity. I am so damned tired of being sick. It feels like it will never end. It's a viral upper respiratory infection. And it has wreaked havoc on my body. The doctor says it should last seven to ten days. Hmmm. Could tomorrow be the day that I start to feel better? We shall see....

~ Recently Alain made a vegetarian version of chicken pot pie. You see that was one of my most favorite foods growing up. The frozen version ~ I've never even had a homemade version of chicken pot pie. Yet Alain found a recipe, tweaked it and made a veggie version. Oh my but it was divine. I look forward to the next one. Thank you, honey!

~ Today is Hubbell's birthday!!!! YAY! He turns eleven years old today. We got a "Happy Birthday" doggie cookie for him. Sophie is really excited to give it to him when she gets home from school today! I'm so happy to see him reach this milestone. My sweet old guy.

~ I just finished reading The Hunger Games. My. To say it was a riveting read would be an understatement. It's not something I would usually read but I had a number of people recommend it. Glad I took a chance. It was a quick read. Now I'm debating whether or not to see the movie..... ????