not so much

Tried to hold a spontaneous portrait session in the girl's room today.

Pretty much went like this...

...and like this...

will perhaps try again another day when motivation and sanity return...

sunday at the beach

Our church gathered for food and fellowship at the beach on Sunday. Tristan was happy on the playground with most of the other sensible kids who wanted to be dry and warm. Kenna, oh Kenna...she hiked up those pant legs and just stood there watching the waves with a longing look in her eyes. After one managed to knock her down she stood up shocked and shivering like a cold, wet puppy. When we asked her if she was ok she simply cried, "I need my swim suit!"

So glad warmer days are coming!

snow goose...again

Well, it wouldn't be Spring here without pictures of the Cherry tree would it? Like last year and the year before. The challenge is in getting different pictures every time. I have a lot of photos from my garden and sometimes I look at them and get bored. I take a lot of the same flowers at the same angles with the same predictable result. A photo just isn't the same as the real thing so what is it about a good nature photo that makes you stop and say wow? I think I'm going to work on that as I soak up these last few months in my garden. Maybe it will help take my mind off the fact that I have to leave my garden.

no other will do

It is covered in dog hair and spilling milk all over the mornings artwork. It fills laundry baskets and kitchen sinks. It is noisy. It is laughing and tickling and jumping out to say boo! It is pancakes on Saturday morning and coffee on the way to church even though it's running late. It is teaching, learning, leading and following. It is gardening, sailing and frisbee golf, story times and movie nights. It is waking up early to the sounds of a six year old "making breakfast". It is amazing, challenging and always changing. It is a gift and it is ours.

watching dolphins

It is mesmerizing. You see them, you wait, you see them again... You watch in silence, holding your breath, until your eyes are straining and they dive once more and are gone. You breathe deep and feel you have just received a precious gift.

happy spring!

We spent a good part of this first Spring day outside in the sunshine, clearing brush, mulching flower beds, getting dirty and just hot enough to enjoy our popsicles. Kate had her first one ever and I'd say she gave that experience two sticky thumbs up. Yes, a sweet popsicle, the freedom of bare toes and a new-found ability to almost-run definitely makes a baby's heart glad.

on the mountain

{In the photos above: (1) the obligatory long-arm ski lift shot (2) Shawn just headed down from the top where the views and cold winds are breathtaking (3) shot taken from the lift of the snow making fan guns that cover the slopes with man-made snow when there isn't enough of the real stuff (We had enough but it was icy. We've only skied this side of the country a couple of times and have decided that New England snow is very different from Rocky Mountain snow -think cement vs. cotton candy) (4) and that last one is my man -not afraid to stop for directions!}
Unfortunately, skiing and photography don't work together well for me. I'm certainly not confident enough to combine a large, heavy, fragile camera with high speeds, hills and snow. So on the mountain I had to make do with my little pocket cam and its grainy, poorly exposed pictures. In the three days that we skied, I fell twice (and not due to any great skills of mine but that icy snow -anyone would be extra careful!) Once I fell as I was trying to spray Shawn by stopping fast next to him but instead I plowed right into him and took us both down. A witness nearby hollered, "I hope you two know each other!" Shawn answered him, "We do now!" The other fall came out of no where. One second I was flying down a trail and the next I was tumbling and rolling and flinging equipment all over the mountain. They call that a yard sale and a camera would not have survived it. I'm surprised I did, actually.
One good thing about the pocket camera is that it takes video clips so Shawn and I tried to have fun with that. Turns out, when you video yourself skiing it comes out looking like you are moving really slow. Or maybe we are just slow. Anyway, here's one of those clips...

even better

In the past few months I've been trying to teach myself a bit of photo shop. I only have Adobe Elements 6 which was enough to overwhelm me until I discovered the great actions here at CoffeeShop. I love it when I suddenly find myself with a set of photos that are calling out for a certain effect. The Butterscotch Vintage action feels like it was made for my Vermont pics and then last night I remembered I had downloaded the Rounded Corners action but had yet to try it. Turns out it is icing on the vintage cake.
We stayed in that cute old Inn up there (with its Christmas decorations up in March just like every other business in town...can someone explain that one to me please?) and we ate several great meals at the diner right across the street (complete with stacks of homemade pies under glass domes and chatty servers who call you "hon" and make fun of the cook through the window.)
We didn't just go to Vermont to drive around and eat though...although we did a lot of that and man it was nice listening to The Magnetic Zeros instead of kid tunes for a change and eating meals that I didn't have to cut into tiny bits to share or pick up off the floor!
I guess I should clean up some skiing photos and post those next?

vintage vermont

be back soon

We're still here! Vermont is beautiful, my husband is awesome, vacations are good. We have had a great time despite the stomach bug hitting me early in the week and one big wipe out on the slopes resulting in a very sore knee (I'm kind of a train wreck on vacation huh?)
We're hitting the road for home tomorrow but we plan on taking it slow and soaking up these last couple days of relaxation. I'll see you Monday with plenty of pictures to share. Enjoy this last weekend of winter!

happy feet

We are finally about to take some much needed, post-deployment leave. We've never been to Vermont so we figured, let's go to Vermont! My amazing mom is coming out to stay with the kiddos while Shawn and I spend a week skiing, sleeping late, exploring and eating not-at-all-kid-friendly meals. We haven't skied since Blue Knob, PA oh, seven? eight years ago? We haven't been anywhere alone since our son was a baby!
After rummaging through our box of winter gear we realized things are not looking good, so I think we'll be packing light and shopping on the way. I will, however, be making good use of my favorite socks. I am happy right down to my toes. Vermont, here we come.

photos anyone?

Can you see my photos? I can't tell if they are showing up or not. I see them...do you?
I had some storage issues recently but I thought I worked it out...
so please tell me what you see!

seeds and roots

He was so excited when he came home with the trays and the seeds. I was confused. We are moving in four months. The Marine Corps noticed that we have been in the same place for six years and let us know our time here is up. They are sending us to northern Virginia (and as hard as it will be to leave our community here, we are thrilled). So you can see why my husband's sudden interest in Spring planting had me scratching my head.
...but we're moving...but we'll have to leave them mid-season...but I'm cleaning things out and wrapping things up, should we really start something new...?
But we had so much fun and I realized that this place, right now, is still home. This is where we live. They say "home is where the Marine Corps sends you" so if this is home for four more months then we will enjoy it fully for Four More Months. To us, being in the military means being willing to go where we are sent and to make that home, whether it's for six years or six months. For that time, we make it ours. I love Edith Schaeffer's words in The Hidden Art of Homemaking-

I am sure that there is no place in the world where your message would not be enhanced by your making the place (whether tiny or large, a hut or a palace) orderly, artistic and beautiful with some form of creativity, some form of 'art'. It goes without saying, too, that 'The Environment', which is you should be an environment which speaks of the wonder of the Creator who made you.

There are a lot of things that we could just 'let go' because we won't be around for much longer but at what cost? There's no need to stop planting seeds just because we have to pull up our roots soon. We have a whole season of todays to enjoy here and it will be good to leave something lovely, something of us, behind.

any minute now...

...they are going to fall out. Two of them. He is so excited.