Art

Went to several art museums with my mom and Atticus.  Glorious modern and contemporary art.  We went to the East Building of the Smithsonian Art Museum.

Gelato and espresso

First, we stopped for some treats.  Atticus liked this part the best!  Well, not the espresso...

Calder

The building is HUGE, and absolutely beautiful.  

Giacometti

Cezanne

Matisse

Nanny and Atticus resting and watching the fountain in front of the Museum on American History

It was fun to have Nanny around and she got us up and going to the museums.  Atticus kept us going fast through the museums, he did not like to stop and look at paintings for a long time. I brought treats in my purse to keep him going, and even pulled out the stroller for the longer visits.  Pulled it out of the car that is, not out of my carpet bag like Mary Poppins.  

Friday Foto

the district

we have family visitors, so we get to play tourist. My mom and brother went in to DC today, and these are the pictures they took;

Time is...

Time is well spent with family.  Mine is close and far.  The immediate family is close.  Sometimes too close, and I would like a break.  Unfortunately, the rest of the family is far, far away, and there is no one here to drop the kids with.  On those days when there is no break from the everydayness of motherhood, it helps me to take photos.  Photos capture moments that seem ordinary, or tedious, and transforms them.  I look at the pictures and notice how special the time was.  I can reflect on the moment, and remember how wonderful each moment with my children is, or can be, if I slow down, let go, and roll with it.  

In 

Virginia, there are so many old things to go see.  I love living in an area with so much history.  We took a walk along the Potomac, and there were these beautiful old stone buildings, some were once used for storing grain, some dairy, and another for horses.  Very old and beautiful.

Time is well spent outside with the skies are blue and the children can run and yell and climb

A moment of a child who is starting to think he is too old for dress-up, but still really enjoys it.

Time is well spent around a bonfire, with friends and beer and stars overhead

Time is well spent looking for the small creatures on earth, and treasuring them.  Dash took this photo, finding enough interest and importance in this creature to capture an image of it.

Time is well spent in the kitchen, baking with children who love cookies

Time is well spent cleaning with warm, soapy water

I am loving the meditation of cleaning lately.  When I have time, and can devote time to properly cleaning, I sing, and it makes it feel happy, better.  Those Dwarves were right, whistle while you work...

Atticus likes it too. He sings along, or makes up songs of his own.

Time is well spent inside, on rainy days, playing games that go on for hours and hours, and have to be left and returned to over and over again.

Time is well spent writing letters to those far off

If you comment, you just might get a letter sent to you...

 Time is well spent studying geography and making salt maps of Virginia.  It's like making a map out of homemade playdough, then labeling and painting it when it dries

Friday Foto

A secret garden

Busy making something blue

Atticus and I took the car in for an oil change.  While we waited, he watched the TV that was turned onto Sesame Street.  While I do not let him watch shows on weekdays, I was glad to see it on while we waited at the mechanics.  He was too.  He pulled up his chair and sat mesmerized while Elmo sang a song about giving up his binkie.  I watched Attie for a moment, and he started to squirm.  Elmo was asked if he was sure he was ready to give up his binkie, and he thought and hemmed and hawed.  At this moment, Atticus turned around and looked at me, with tears in his eyes.  He climbed down from his chair and ran to hug my arm and sobbed and asked me to change the channel.  Elmo kept on and on about giving up the binkie, and Atticus just couldn't contain his sadness. He hid his face in my shoulder.  I asked him why he was sad, and he said he didn't know why this was making him sad, it just was.  I held him until the song was over.  Then, Mr. Noodle came on.  Silly Mr. Noodle.  He didn't know how to brush his teeth.  Since I am a fan of physical comedy, I started laughing at Mr. Noodle.  That made Atticus brighten up, and go back to his chair, and watch the rest of the show.  

The day was rainy, so we stayed in and did some very important work; a poem;

Yards of satin

 all shiny and blue

Making a costume for you-know-who

First we flatten with iron and steam

some pins to get ready for the sewing machine

It slithers and slips as much as a snake

What is it you ask that this son and mom make?

(It's a cape!)
Pictures of the cape will come.
As soon as the costume is done.

Caipirinha

I was lucky enough to be taken out to dinner by my darling husband.  We had a groupon to a restaurant that specializes in South American food.  And it was GOOD!  

Date night is very important for my marriage.  I love getting out with Wade to talk, and of course I love to eat food prepared by professionals, and someone else doing the dishes.  

Groupon has helped us get out for cheeper, because we also have a babysitter to pay for, which can make date night too expensive to do.  However, I think it is worth it. 

We started with Caipirinha, which is rum (I think) soaked in sugar cain for a day or two, and served with mint. Or something like that. It was the best part of the meal.  Then we had arepas, which is corn flour shaped into cakes and grilled, then sliced open and filled. Ours was filled with all kinds of pulled meats and sauces that were wonderful.  Is that vague enough? Wade and I could not keep what we ordered straight, there were so many combinations of yucca, plantains, corn, avocado, chicken, beef, fish, potatoes, we just got confused. plus, these guys were singing beautiful music in my ear; 

This was like a pretty potato salad with some chicken in the middle.

Although this looks funny, it was soooo darn good.  It is a churro, which is delicious fried dough with carmel inside, sugar outside, and whipped cream.  I think I ate it all even though I was sharing.

Potomac Nature Walk

It is only quiet in our home when the boys are sleeping or when we have just come home from the library with bags full of books.  Then, it is sacred, still, quiet.  Otherwise, it is constant noise.  They love to hear their voices loud, and they talk over me and each other and the shout and laugh and scream. 

They don't walk quietly, they stomp, jump, run, tumble, and fly down the stairs.  They dress up like ninjas and hit and kick each other, yelling "HI-YA!!!"  They ride their scooter around the house and chase each other yelling "I'm gonna get ya!"  They jump off the bed, making the ceiling above the living room boom and shake like an earthquake.  They get angry and yell and cry and hit each other.  Then yell for me and cry some more.  

Peace comes here;

They need this.  They need to climb with a purpose.  They need to see brown dirt and put their hands on it.  They need to climb up high and see the earth from a new perspective, quietly hidden among the leaves, like spies.

They need big space to run a long time, and then pause to watch a snake slither into its hole.

They need green.

They need the peace of a steady river that has been flowing for ages.  They need to feel it with their fingers.

They need to see a seemingly unsurmountable task, and then they need to conquer it, with their strong, growing bodies.

And I need it too.  My heart fills up with love and joy when I am in a space like this.  I feel like the happiest, luckiest person on the planet.  I see how nature has created the most perfect home for us to live, and I am reminded of all the goodness surrounding me.  

Friday Foto

October is;

Fall seems to activate my memory.  I can suddenly remember things from my childhood, and memories of high school and college come flooding in.  Sometimes, I can't escape the memories I would rather forget, or the past mistakes I would like to let go of, and forgive myself for.  Fall Is a time of change.  Maybe the memories come back as a reminder that I can still, and am still, changing.  Fall is a change in the outside environment, and also on the inside.  Spring does this to me too.  But in summer and winter,  I hunker down and am more in the present, more concerned with what is happening at the moment.  Fall, is wide open.  Trust and let go, like the leaf, and drop into the loving arms of mother earth. 

It is a time to meditate, do yoga, and fill my time with favorite activities;

baking shortbread and jam leaf cookies

these dont last long. a favorite of my kids

made the largest ever focaccia sourdough bread (rosemary and black olive)

lighting candles

knitting-black

slowly, slowly, change is coming