Happy days

Time and moments seem to be racing these days. And just when we start to settle in the axis shifts just enough to keeps us on our toes. A kind reminder to flow in and out of growth and change like cool running water...to be present in a moment and to move on to next without lingering too long. Where nothing is too precious but everything has meaning. I keep telling Matt that these are our happy days...and so, much of it has been spent with my camera down and my spirit lifted. I also got really addicted to this season on The Bachelorette. haha. Hmph.

 

Our summer babies turned another year older last month (3 and 11! ack!). Our shoulders are red from the sun and regular bedtime has become a story I hardly remember anymore. We're slowly packing for our week away at the ocean...my favorite way to send off the summer and get some rest before the school year begins. Phoebe talks daily about plans of finding seashells and somehow I think I've raised her right. 

Here's hoping this finds everyone well! As much as I've found a lot of peace with the space not blogging has given me...I've truly missed you all. I've got pictures from Phoebe's birthday and our fishing trip up north that I've been meaning to come and sit down here...fingers crossed this week.

 

 Love and love and happy summer to you!

10/2

max and bee had a birthday this week. we've been whooping and hollering and cheering and celebrating, with an extra side of cupcaking, everyday since their party sunday! i'm a firm believer in making a fuss over good people, and these two take the cake.

they are wild and funny and ornery as can be. they scrap and dance and nuzzle together like the truest of friends. max at 10 is witty and handsome--sensitive and stubborn and smart as a whip. he teaches me how to throw fast balls, has given his heart to a girl, dreams up all sorts of cockamamie hypotheticals on a daily, and still belly laughs at the best/worst kind of jokes. he has the best sense of humor in town. he's at that beautiful age where the world is your oyster and potential is boundless. being first baseman for the reds or becoming a youtube gamer celebrity is a possible as anything...and my goodness is it the best to remember what that feels like!

phoebe bee at 2 is funny and determined, independent and guarded and wise. she's still our old soul with the weirdest and best of quirks---like fake sneezing when she's excited...or asking to make eggs every 20 minutes (but never eating them). she's a true lady with her purses and her polish, but won't think twice about ripping your face off or rolling in the mud. she lives to nurture and care for her boys and her babies...to sing with eyes-closed-conviction into anything microphone-shaped...to go off adventuring on her own, but checking back every once in a while to see if "muk" is back yet (this gal is still on the boob...i'm officially the worst at weaning!). she is our darling and cherished girl...getting the hang of life and forging a bit of her own phoebe-shaped path.

together these two make life rich and full and hilarious. they are a gift through and through!

hoping your summer is going swimmingly, friends. birthday party pictures coming soon!

here and there

a few snaps from the past month...warmer days and a cluttered house and lots of time spent out together. this coming saturday was supposed to be our wedding day. we decided a few months ago that the timing wasn't right and postponed things for a bit. matt and i get the dundie award for "world's longest engagement". haha. ack! i finally just packed away my dress in a trash bag in the back of my closet, and what i thought might feel depressing felt like a little bit of a relief. these are busy days...no time to be wedding frazzled! 

i hope you all had a beautiful mother's day celebrating the women in your life. matt and the kids got me boat loads of flowers and a new bike. for the past 7 or 8 years i've been riding a perfectly rusty malibu cruiser that we found in the trash...haha...and it wasn't until they gave me my shiny new one that i realized i've never had a brand new bike before! it was a good day...and one that left me feeling full on gratitude and love and heaps of admiration for all of the amazing mothers and examples of mothers i have in my life. plus, i got to take a nap, so...

p.s. how is it nearly the middle of may already? 

ice cream afternoon

 

it's been hot hot hot around here! i took the bobbins to our favorite spot for ice cream yesterday after school and max ate a cone the size of his head while sis stuck her little fingers into anything and everything sticky. there's something about sweets and bare baby thighs that can make you forget all about the heat and start counting the days until summer...

seed to start to food

it's garden planting time! we skipped tending one last year while i was very pregnant and i couldn't wait to get back into the swing of things this time around. we've been spending our days gathering up seeds and starts and forever trying to get dirty hands clean. bee has the most eager little trouble fingers...ripping away at lettuce leaves and raking up dirt to mouth. max is a sweet teacher to her..."this is a pumpkin seed, bee"...and "aaahhh...don't eat that!".

gardening has always been a bit of a "cross your fingers/here's hoping" kind of hobby for us. but every year a little something catches and grows. max calls it magic when seeds sprout and vegetables are plucked and food is washed and ready for dinner. i think he's right on the money...

happy monday, friends!

tuesday afternoon

"stick with love"

Hearing- The floor tremble from max's big time wrestling moves // neighbors pulling in trashcans from the curb
Touching- Warm dish water // toys that are scattered in every room
Seeing- Bee's new teeth // bare walls ready for things to be hung // snowflakes falling and falling (finally!)
Tasting- Nuts and berry lunches // sweet baby cheeks
Smelling- Musty old book pages // orange peels from snacks

i love the slow pace of a monday day off. we've been spending it inside, watching the snow dust around and making more messes then i can count. phoebe has gotten the biggest kick out of having max home today. every piece of her explodes when he walks into the room.

us girls have taken a vote and decided we should do this every monday!

winter break

we've been laying low these past few days...celebrating the new year with dinner and friends at home...taking cat nap afternoons after sleepless teething baby nights...and soaking up every last bit of having both boys home for winter break. we're slowly getting back into the regular. i put christmas away yesterday and the house seems as bare as the trees outside. but there is something really spectacular in a blank canvas of a room...or how the new year brings new eyes to the place and something is bound to get painted or bangs might regrettably get cut. january does it to me every year!

this is my last week of my 20's. i turn 30 on wednesday and feel the itch to do something wild and reckless. pass the black hair dye and the open road, please! but more realistically, it has me in a state of reflection and dreaming. who does 30 year old katie want to be? what does she want to do and see? 

anyways, there's something really amazing about being on the cusp of a scary birthday. where it seems to light a fire under you all while quietly urging you into bed with a bakers dozen of donuts. it's a funny time...with beautiful weather and snowy trees and sweetest babies and happiest life.

just please don't let me cut bangs...

our christmas card to you

things are warm and bright around here. 

with max on his winter break and a little dusting of snow...all feels right with the world. the house is covered in wrapping paper bits and tape and flour and icing and cookie crumbs. christmas records are spinning and there are no immediate plans to get out of pajamas or matt's socks. we are cluttered and happy. what is it about this time of year that makes me want to wear every color and pattern together at once?

from my little family to yours, wishing you the happiest christmas!

however you plan on spending it, i hope there is peace and joy and lots of sweets.

love and love and love to each of you. 

xoxo

thankful

feeling grateful, thankful, blessed and blessed. 

wishing you all a beautiful thanksgiving tomorrow...

 xoxo

(chalk print download available through caravan)