08/52

Judah West: my doors, cars, and keys guy.

Hunter Elias: what a sweet little lounger he is.

happy weekend.

Palm Springs ... wow, you've got some pretty ace weather, beautiful scenery, sweet rental places, and, you've highlighted some pretty cute moments of my boys ("hashtag" sorry notsorry for the bombardment of pictures of my boys ... wait, I do that at home too!).  If it works out again, I'd say you are a pretty cool place to visit.  Only a 3.5 hour, direct flight from home, we can definitely handle that!

As we're down here for a week, I've been purposefully taking time off from day-to-day things and have been focusing on REST.  Physically and emotionally specifically, it's been good.  What a treat to spend some q-time with all my guys.  I am loving it!

Anyways, I'll be back to blogging regularly next week.  In the meantime, hope y'all have a beautiful weekend, wherever you're at!

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be." 

~ Abraham Lincoln

pic pix: a swaggin' iPhone pic of Hunty-bear, 21.Feb.2014, Palm Desert, CA

three years ago...

My life changed.

My name, my living arrangements, my family, my future...all got redesigned, transformed into what now is part of my everyday life.  The beautiful life I get to live with the guy of my absolute dreams.  What we share, laugh about, and experience, I wouldn't (and couldn't) do without him.  What I want to do, dream of, and be, I couldn't (and wouldn't) do without him.

Matthew James, I love these changes.  And more importantly, I love you.

Happy anniversary, m'love.  xo

pic pix: photo cred - gabe mcclintock

07/52

Judah West: I told him to get ready for Palm Springs.  He then put two jackets on and kept saying, "Pool."

Hunter Elias: This little guy will have a big conversation with just about everything.

a love for every crook & cranny.

In less than 24 hours we will be on the plane, headed for Palm Springs!  I am a little on the nervous side, but more on the excited side to be travelling with two littles.  Keeping my fingers crossed Hunter will sleep the entire 3.5 hour flight!

Every time I go away, I think I will be way more organized than the last trip.  Pack my bags early, have everything "ready" at least two days before we leave, have the house in impeccable shape, etc.  Does this happen?  Ha.  No.  At this very moment, I am trying to get our basic laundry done, my house needs an up-n-down clean, I haven't pulled the boys clothes out yet ... and here I am, getting distracted with cleaning the front loader washing machine (because it needs to be spotless right now), reorganizing receipts on my desk, aligning my printer head, and brainstorming upcoming blog posts.  It's after midnight, I still have to shower ... !!!

Always, after the fact, I can chuckle at myself because I realize how unrealistic my goals were ... did I mention after the fact?!  If I'm going to enjoy every moment regardless of what stresses may be influencing me not to, I need to be intentional.  Intentional about being light "in this moment" instead of stressing my way through it.  Way too often, I cut the joy out of things by getting caught up with this jlibbery jlubbery stuff.  And in the end, I still, end up being stressed.

Not today ... I purpose each crack of good, stressful, bad, giggling, ugly, or beautiful moment will be filled with joy.  Easier said than done, so ask me tomorrow how it went!  

P.s. - I love this perspective, prompting a love for every little thing going on in our lives:

"The best birthday present is an empty box.  Smile, it contains all my love for you." - Jarod Kintz

pic pix: Judah laying under Hunter's mobile toy - finding joy everywhere, this guy, Jan.2014, at home

happy weekend.

Joy does not simply happen to us.  

We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. 

Henri J.M. Nouwen

pic pix: my favorite birch patch, 13.Feb.2014, Fish Creek Provincial  Park, AB

our day in pictures.

1. juju's portrait of me.
2. after being stuck days inside, i thought we'd get out...to target!
3. gorgeous day for a walk
4. he insisted on wearing his papa's toque.
5. tipi time!
6. new blankets.
7. kissable cheeks.
8. valentine making.
9. some special friends stopped by with some valentine goodies the boys (and dinner too!  amazing peeps!)
10. being sick means messy house ... even right now as i type this.
11. bath tub crayons are awesome.

colorboard / no.25

color: dash of cinnamon with ink blue
word of inspiration: order [noun. methodical or harmonious arrangement]
source of word: Order is what exists before you start arranging things. ~ Marty Rubin

/1. loooove this  /2. i am so drawn to these shoes  /3. what girl doesn't "need" another?  /4. my love of chaises continues  /5. i could wipe my feet on this mat  /6. infinity scarf taking on a whole new meaning  /7. rainy days made happy  /8. my feet belong in these lace-ups  /9. scottish soap company make the cutest soap tins - i may be addicted to buying these!  /10. note cards with tuna fish  /11. another herschel bag (love them!)  /12. one day, i may just do this in my kitchen

06/52

Judah West: the new "I'm-too-full-to-eat-my-dinner" expression.  never see this when treats are around.
Hunter Elias: we learn more and more about his colorful expressions everyday.

free and whole.

This is my view presently ... just kidding.  Wish it was!  Instead, I'm in bed.

I've been fighting a migraine the past two days and it is ugly this time around.  After seeing my naturopath today, I found out my body is also fighting another wicked virus.  "Again?" I ask myself.  Double ugh.

It's during bouts like these that you begin to realize how much to be thankful for.  Healthy children, healthy minds, healthy relationships ... our health period.  

The actual word "health", means: to be FREE from illness or injury, the root word meaning WHOLE.  When we can say we are healthy in body, we mean that our body is absolutely loosed from any bug or illness.  When we refer to healthy relationships or something not physically related, we are saying that we are free from yucky things like mental sickness or regret, shame, unforgiveness, grudges, etc. 

"The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever!" John 3:34

Isn't it cool that God allows us to be free from messy stuff in our lives?  He has forgiven us completely and made us whole?  He allows us to be healthy.

This thought - helping me get through this day.

pic pix: the beautiful ocean, Apr.2013, Mexico

mornings like these.

Yesterday was the three month hump ... our sweet baby Hunter is now 3 months old!  (his 3 month post coming!)  I remember this point with Judah.  Things began to feel "right".  We started Judah on a eating/sleeping schedule closer to four months and even just with that, our lives began to have a sense of normalcy again.

Ironically (not!), this morning specifically had a feel of normal.

Judah was a bursting bubble of energy.  My laundry still sat unfolded in the family room.  Hunter napped off and on.  Judah's toys were strewn all over the place.  My dishes were piled up around the kitchen sink.  I stayed in my pyjama shirt (until my husband came home!).  My coffee was in my hand all morning, and never got drank because it got too cold.  We decided to have baths because it had felt like a while since the last one...

It was just normal, but it felt so good.  Almost like a light had turned on and I realized, "...this, is my normal."  Normal isn't perfect, nor is it stunning.  It's just right.


pic pix: our tower building this morning, 06.Feb.2014, in the living room

conversations lately / ow-ee

Sitting at the dinner table the other night ...

Judah looks at me and says, "Mama, hot."
He then looks over to his 'A-boo' (Auntie Boo/Brittany), "A-boo, hot."
As he's going around the table, we all look at Matt.
Judah looks to him and says, "Papa, ow-ee!"

Still giving Matt a hard time about that one!

pic pix: Juju helping his Papa work on tools, 04.Feb.2014, at home

thoughts. things.

MEALS.

Meal planning is still really new to me.  I'm the type of person that LIKES to be creative at 4pm and "whip" up something with the ingredients that we have.  Unfortunately, I'm finding at this stage with my kids, I seriously do not have time to do that.  And if I do leave it until the last minute, let's just say meals don't have an finesse or real "yum" factor to them(!).  So, within my meal planning mode, I decided to prep all the meals today.  I cut and prepared all the meats for our dinner meals, chopped and diced vegetables, grated cheese ... I'm hoping it will make a difference for meal times this week.  If it serves me well, I just may be doing this every Monday (my official grocery day)!

TULIPS.

The other day, a friend on IG posted a picture of tulips.  Since the moment I saw them, I knew I would not be happy until I had a bit of spring on my own kitchen counter.  It truly is amazing how something living can make a whole room feel fresh and "spring"like.  Thanks for posting that picture!

NEWEST ADDITION.

And no ... I am not referring to Hunter here!  I picked up this Mamaroo off of kijiji last Friday.  So far, it hasn't disappointed and Hunter is enjoying the way he "rocks" out in his special seat.  I must admit, it feels so techy and space-like compared to all of our wooden toys and books ... I'm still not totally convinced it's "us" per say.  We're going to keep it around for a bit to see if it's a real fit for Hunter too.  Either way, it is pretty cool.

THIS WEEK.

Matt and I are attending a parents course this week (called PG - Parental Guidance).  Tonight was the first evening, and so far, really good.  It's pretty neat how as we've become parents, we appreciate our parents and understand them that much more.  Life has a pretty cool cycle that way ...

05/52

Judah West: sleep has been rough with this guy this week ... so this is a "gold" shot in my eyes.
Hunter Elias: this little wiggle worm wasn't helping me get a clear, unblurry shot.  feet will have to do this week (he's wearing the same little pants as Judah did here).

happy weekend.

"There are times when we stop, we sit still.  

We listen and breezes from a whole other world 

begin to whisper." 

James Carroll

pic pix: a summer shot at my desk, Jul.2013, at home