Merry Christmas...Take One

We love this picture, but can't find a photo card to fit it. So, it's back to the drawing board for us.

Perfecting Her Cup Skills

Happy Halloween!

With love from our little jack-o-lantern

What a difference a year makes!

Friday Letter #8 - Family Recipes

Dear Liza,

I'm really looking forward to spending time with you in the kitchen. I've even got my eye on a sweet wooden step stool so you can reach the countertops. I wonder what recipe will be become our favorite to create together and which ones you'll carry with you when you're all grown up. 

I don't have a signature dish yet, but other women in our family certainly do. Mimi makes a buttery vanilla pound cake that fills the house with deliciousness each Christmas. Her dark chocolate sauce is perfect for drizzling across the top, but I prefer it by itself warm out of the oven. When Grandpa was deployed overseas during the holidays, Nana used to send him loaves of her cherry nut bread. He says it isn't Christmas until that bread appears in the kitchen. (Maybe Nana would be willing to start making it a little early this year so you can have your first taste on Thanksgiving!) Grammy's egg casserole is my favorite recipe of hers. She always spent Christmas Eve in the kitchen making a double batch for our Christmas morning brunch. Gigi used to make this dark chocolate sheet cake with thick fudge icing studded with pecans. It's been years since I've had any, but I can still taste it. I remember scraping every last bit off her blue and brown flowered plates. Perhaps she'll dig up the recipe for us, so we can make it too. Aunt Erin shared her turkey tacos with us soon after Uncle Brian asked her to marry him. They are a day-after-Thanksgiving tradition in her family, but Daddy and I love them so much, we make them with chicken any time of year. Aunt Gibi suffers from a chronic lack of storage and counter space that sadly impedes her creativity in the kitchen. I've heard recently that she's been experimenting with Boston Cream Pie, though. Sounds like there's a possibility she'll add to the family recipe collection yet!

Love, Mama

Inspired by FridayLetters.com's question #155   

Us

Friday Letter #7 - What Takes My Breath Away

Dear Liza,

I know I've written a lot about the beauty of the ordinary, but I want to tell you about another kind of life moment...the kind that takes your breath away. When I'm so filled with awe by an experience, my heart feels like it might burst. Many times tears follow these heart swells. They're not sad ones, but instead, the way my body is responding to and releasing this awesome emotion it simply cannot contain. When I read a passage that so perfectly expresses something I have experienced, I'm left breathless. After months and months of waiting, hoping, and praying for Daddy's safe return, when finally I can wrap my arms around him again, homecomings are another moment that take my breath away. Watching you discover, begin to make sense of this world, and communicate with us, well, it just doesn't get much more heart-bursting than that.

Bitsy, you're already experiencing these moments in your own way. Yours usually manifest in utter JOY written all over your face, a quick deep intake of breath, and lots of pointing. Ants, the sky, big trucks, a wide open space to walk around in, the faces of your people appearing on the Skype screen, your belly button...life really is a breathtaking experience, isn't it?

Love, Mama

This post was inspired by FridayLetters.com's question #154. 

Jenga, Superwoman, and Playing in the Sand

I'm feeling lately that my life is a Jenga tower, one block pulled out of the wrong spot (one box left unchecked on the to-do list), and the whole thing is going to come tumbling down.

And Superwoman? Perhaps you've heard of her.

She's the wife who manages to keep the household humming providing an interesting variety of dinners each week, empty laundry baskets, dustless surfaces, clean toilets, sparkling mirrors, clutterfree kitchen counters, a well-stocked fridge, fresh sheets & towels, and homemade muffins for grab and go breakfasts each morning. Oh, the bills get paid and the dogs are fed, too.

She's the mama who's read all the right books so she can claim a good eater who sleeps at all the right times and never throws a tantrum. She keeps the blog steadily supplied with pictures and sweet notes about how the baby is growing and changing, sends birthday cards on time and thank you notes too. Her email inbox is always empty because she's so good at replying in a timely manner, and she never neglects to return a phone call.

Somewhere amidst all this is the creative soul who reads for fun and some learning too, sets her alarm early enough to write every morning, knits a row here and there on the baby blanket she started a year ago for a friend's shower (except she's only halfway done & the baby will be one in December), and dabbles a little in Photoshop recording her family's story in words and pictures.

My hand can only push & pull these blocks for so long before the tower begins to teeter. I can be Superwoman for a day, a week, a month maybe, until I turn around and see my cape all in tatters.

I need a break. It's way past time to bury the cape and let those blocks fall where they may.

I'll be out back playing in the sand...

doing a little digging,
a little sifting,
a little rebuilding...

pursuing JOY.