on the mend

These are the scenes of the last 24 hours.  Hence my lack of a real post.  But!  Rowan woke up and her fever was gone, and she was asking for breakfast!  And although Fletcher was still warm when he got up, he just came into the kitchen asking for "a cheese sangwich, apples, cucumbers, and carrots, please."  We're taking a bit slower than that on the food front, but I took it as a good sign. 

We're on the mend after a day of sparkling water and juice, watching Shaun the Sheep on the ipad in mama and papa's bed, and lot of naps and snuggles.  Do you have sick-time rituals in your home? 

friends, princesses and a doggie

I'm getting my blog up and running late this morning because poor little Rowan came down with a bug.  Which means she was up all night.  And in need of multiple bed and pajama changes.  So this mama is TIRED.  And I'm moving in slow motion.  But it was fun going through all my pictures from over the weekend and remembering all the fun we had!  The littles just loved playing with our friends, and we all had the best time.  There was a lot of play, talk, wine, and good food.  Which is pretty much the perfect combination for a great weekend.  Tara and Glenn's 5(!) kiddos are sweet and kept our littles so entertained.  As you can see!

The grownups had a bit of fun, too!  Making chalk masterpieces and rescuing toys from the roof.

And Rowan was especially in heaven because they have a sweet old dog, Sadie, to snuggle.

We left all seven of the kids with a babysitter and the babysitter's older daughters Saturday night and the grownups got a night out!  Another perfect part of the weekend.  I somehow managed to not get any pictures of Tara and Glenn's older boys- but they were around, too!  They even helped set up an elaborate train track that kept Fletcher extremely happy all weekend. 

We had the best time!  And even thought Tulsa is only a 4 hour drive away, I wish it were a 4 minute drive so we could do it all the time.  Thanks for the great weekend, guys!

bleary tuesday

I have three best friends.  We've been best friends since we were very young.  Around preschool- elementary school young.  And they are each wonderful and we are like family, and visit each other like family.  Which is what we did to my friend, Tara, and her family in Tulsa over our long weekend.  And we had FUN.  So much fun that we stayed up way too late every night, and had children that woke up early, and now I'm so tired I can barely see straight.  So I have to catch up today, and give you more pictures and stories about it tomorrow. 

Do you stay up too late when you visit friends and family, reverting to teenage hours?  Or do you go to sleep like a responsible adult?

long weekend

Hi there, friends.  Brian has a 4 day weekend, so I'm heading out for some adventures with my 3 favorite people in the world.

Hope your weekend is full of love and adventure, too!  See you back here Tuesday.

twinkle, twinkle

Don't you love twinkly lights?  I sure do.  We've been meaning to put up some sort of lighting for the pool ever since we had the electric company disconnect the massive light that flooded our backyard with daylight-esque light.  Which shined right into our bedroom, of course.  Which kept me up at night.  But I digress.  I particularly love those big bulb string lights that look a little old fashioned/night-time cafe'.  I brought home a few strings and Brian went to work, lighting the trees that arch over the entrance to the pool.  It is so beautiful at night, I just love turning them on and staring.  Which is what I was doing when I thought to take these pictures.  Just standing, staring, with a glass of wine, when a hunormous raccoon ran past me.  Right past me.  Like less than a foot.  TOO DAMN CLOSE.  And then it looked back at me.  It looked over its hunched shoulders straight into my eyes with his beady little eyes.  And he just looked.  If that doesn't give you chills, then you are a braver soul than I.  My heart was racing a million miles a minute.  But I still went and got my camera and came back to the infamous spot of the Ruthie/Raccoon incident.  That is what it will be heretofore referred to, by the way.  That's dedication, friends.  Dedication to twinkly lights.  ENJOY the pictures that put my life in PERIL. 

before

Before I was a mother.  Before I was a wife.  Before I even knew who I AM as a person.  I would lose hours upon hours in the studio during college.  I felt like a machine, churning out work.  Nothing great.  Nothing ground breaking.  Just little bits of myself onto paper or canvas or in the dark room.  Now I have minutes to spare, not hours.  So I try and slap some paint on a canvas.  I get a 5 minute sketch out.  I almost feel for those 5 minutes like I am back in the studio at school, pouring a part of me out onto paper.  And then someone screams, "MAMAAAAA!!!!" 

It's fun while it lasts.  How do you experience "before" when you have 5 minutes to spare?