Happy Day...

 

My house is full of family, and it smells like good food and candles.  There is much to be thankful for. 

 

It continues to be a busy time for us, and this break will be very much appreciated. 

 

I'm going to cook and eat and play games and hug my kids and talk with family and savor every moment of it. 

 

I'm going to reflect on all that is great in my life. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Quote of the Day

via heron + hibou

Day #4 from The Challenge, which means that yes, I am going out of order and will not even come close to writing them all, but like I said...no pressure.  It's all good.  This topic was to choose a favorite quote and why I love it.  I chose two.

The reason why I love both of them is the same, though.  They make you step outside the mundane, taking the focus off of your normal routine - the tasks that must be done every day and every week - and instead ask you to really live your life.  To express gratitude.  To find passion.  Every day, even the one filled with cleaning and cooking and working and not getting enough sleep, contains beauty and joy.  The key is to find it and keep your focus on that.

Love Poems...

Here are a few of the greatest love poems ever.  The Shakespeare sonnet was read at our wedding, and it remains a favorite of mine.  

We are celebrating Valentine's Day with lots of cards, hugs, and our new tradition of chocolate-covered strawberries.  I hope you're having a great day and celebrating in your own way as well!

e.e.cummings

Pancakes for Dinner?

Oatmeal pancakes via Cooking Light

*This is my current go-to pancake recipe.  Love them!

I asked my big boy what he wanted to have for dinner.  "I don't know" was his reply, which is typical.

"How about pancakes and fruit salad?"

"Pancakes?  For dinner?!?"  Seriously - you should've seen the look on his face.  He was shocked.  Dismayed, even.  "We can't have pancakes for dinner.  Pancakes are for breakfast!"

"Says who?  We have eggs sometimes, don't we?"

"Well yeah, but eggs can be either breakfast or dinner, but pancakes are always for breakfast."

"I suppose that's usually true, but sometimes it's fun to do things a little differently, don't you think?  Wouldn't it be fun and silly to have pancakes for dinner?"

Another classic look on his face as he attempted to process this proposal.  After a minute, he turned to his little brother and said, "Do you want to have pancakes for dinner?  Isn't that so silly!?!  We are going to be so silly!"

Both boys cleaned their plates.  Of course.

When he was done, I asked "Should we have pancakes for dinner again sometime?"

After careful consideration...he said, "Okay, but not too many times, because then it wouldn't be silly!"

Unplugged...

via etsy - I love this and think I really must have it.

We're almost there.  My family arrives tonight, and I think I'm ready for them.  I've even impressed myself by my planning and have made it through the month with minimal stress and maximum fun.  Hopefully this means that I'll be able to relax a bit over the next week or so.  Saturday will include spending a lot of the day in the kitchen, but as long as my sister is with me with a bottle (or two) of wine, I'll be perfectly happy.  The week will hopefully involve lots of games, music, talking, playing, sledding (need a little more snow please!), and eating of course.  It will be especially magical for the little ones - we'll have four kids between the ages of 1 and 4.

I hope you are able to find a little relaxation and peace over the coming week as well.  I won't be posting here much so that I can focus on spending good quality time with my family.  I'll be back in 2011.

Happy New Year!

via wit and delight

Love is...

via pinterest

My end to this sentence today...

"Love is throwing a birthday party for your son and a bunch of his friends.  Making homemade cupcakes.  Not caring at all when nobody wanted to play pin the tail on the donkey or when they made it look like a hurricane hit the house."

"Love is when your son runs around the house yelling "yeah! that was fun!  thanks mom!" after the party.  Love is the way he holds onto me after I read stories at bedtime...he doesn't want to let go."  

"Love is 'lub', 'louw', 'low', according to my little guy, but the message is perfectly clear.  Love is the beaming smile I see every time he sees me."
"Love is being a gracious host and hanging a pinata and buying balloons and taking coats and watching your little boy during a party when you feel like crap and really just want to lie on the couch."  

"Love is handling dinner, bath, and bedtime so your sick husband can lie on the couch and go to bed early."

I live in a house full of love.  

Thursday Thoughts...

via mary ruffle

Autumn Love

***

Ah, Fall.  How I adore thee!


Isn't Fall the best?  Here in New England, it really is the very best time of year.  For me, September has always felt like the start of a new year.  This is the time of year when I feel motivated to propose new resolutions, start projects, think about ways to better myself and my life.  The crispness in the air and the gorgeous blue skies provide such inspiration.  At the beginning, I find myself wanting to be outside all the time, just to soak it all in.  Then, when the cold winds really start blowing, I seek the warmer comfort inside.  I get in the mood to bake things.  To organize.  Clean house.  


Some of the 'new year' resolutions I'm committing to include:
- Being better informed.  Jon Stewart really shouldn't be my only source of news.  Time to turn on NPR during my morning commute.  Maybe even renew a weekend paper subscription.  Perhaps check out a news site or two and cut down the blogging.  (Nah, not that!)  
- Exercising.  This is always on the list, right?  Well, I managed to get up early three times last week to fit in some exercise.  I've learned that it is possible, and - no surprise - I do have more energy and it is totally worth it.  Let's see if I can keep it up.  
- Getting our calendar in order.  I need to spend some quality time with the calendar.  Make doctor appointments for me and the boys.  Sign the big boy up for swim lessons.  Plan weekend get-togethers with friends.  Determine holiday plans.  
- Menu planning.  I get really lazy when my husband is out of town.  Time to renew the efforts.  Should be easier to be inspired now that we're moving to a new season and cold-weather meals.  Chili, roast chicken, chowder...


It has felt like Fall for a few weeks now, and I suppose it will feel like Winter before it's done, but since this is the first official day, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some beautiful Autumn thoughts and images. 

via mary ruffle

***

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

- George Eliot

***

***

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
- Elizabeth Lawrence

***

Pierre-Auguste Renoir...'bouquet of chrysanthemums'

I've never known anyone yet who doesn't suffer a certain restlessness when autumn rolls around... We're all eight years old again and anything is possible.

- Sue Grafton

I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Those last few pictures were my own, except the Renoir of course.  Click the *** link to see the sources for all others.

Quote of the Day

This has always been one of my favorites.

Quote of the Day

I love this picture of Natalie - so bright and happy.  

What makes a person beautiful, or handsome as the case may be?  Sure there are the purely aesthetically beautiful people, like Natalie and the other lovelies I'd included here in this post.  But haven't you found that one's personality and outlook has such a huge bearing on their beauty?  I've met some gorgeous people who are downright ugly and, more frequently thank goodness, some people who you might not look twice at who turn out to be the most beautiful.  Optimism, friendliness, humor, confidence...these all play such a huge part in how we're viewed by others.  Don't really know what got me thinking about this today - perhaps it was the quote below that found its way to my inbox, perhaps it was the extending web of wrinkles around my eyes...

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend.  I have a nice long one to look forward to, and the forecast contains lots of warm sunshine.  Hooray!  A family gathering with the in-laws and lots of playing outside.  I'm thinking it's time to put the Sangria pitcher to good use.  

Those eyes...!!!

"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief she is beautiful." - Sophia Loren

*Images found via its mary ruffle and we heart it

Thought of the Day

*Image via fffound - no trackback

I loved this movie.  (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in case you haven't seen it or didn't place the quote.)  I think it's probably a love it or hate it movie, but it was love for me.

Looks like the weather is going to hold out for the weekend, staying nice and mild.  I can't wait to play and run and dance!  There's nothing like having a three-year-old to motivate you to do those things.  We shouldn't need that, though, right?  So even if you don't have a young one ordering you to do so, I hope you find some time this weekend to play and run and dance.

Happy Friday!

Decorating with Bookshelves

*Image from Design*Sponge

“I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.”

― Anna Quindlen

In my dream house, I have a library with large comfy chairs and floor to ceiling bookshelves.  Maybe even a ladder to reach the top.  Little reading nooks for the kids.  Maybe I'll never have that kind of library, but I still love looking at shelves and shelves of books.  I love this tumblr, and I love the "bookcase of the day" posts on i suwannee.  I know I should use my local library more, and I am starting to do so, but I also love having a house full of books.  There's so much you can tell about a person by looking at the books they read, don't you think?  Here are some favorites that I've stumbled across.  Hope you enjoy...

*Images from Book Lovers Never Go to Bed Alone

1) There's a good example of a fabulous ladder.  2) I like the tall but compartmentalized shelves, but mostly I like the space.  Looks like a great bed to snuggle up with a good book.  3)  Ditto.  I'd love to go to bed surrounded by my books.  (Other than the inevitable stack that accumulates on my nightstand.)  4) I don't think I could organize my books by color, but if I owned this many cookbooks, I think color would be the way to go.  

Here is my own office, with a display of a lot of our books.  There is also a full shelf stuck in a storage room.  Poor books without a home.  I love this room, but it's not exactly where I want it to be yet.  Those shelves still need a little something.  And it's a small room, but there should be enough room for a small but comfy chair and little side table.  Good for practicing my guitar....or reading a book.  

*Image from Design*Sponge

I like this corner.  I don't like the color of the chair, but with a little ottoman, something like this would fit my "small but comfy" requirement.  I also think I must have a globe.  

*Image from Ill Seen, Ill Said

I've seen lots of people organize by color, but I don't think I could ever do this.  I do love how it looks, though.  Mine are organized by general category (art/poetry, history/autobiographies, baseball, general fiction, etc.), which just feels right to me.  

*Images from Book Lovers Never Go to Bed Alone (top left and right), Sweet Paul (middle left), and Martha Stewart (bottom left)

1) (top left) - In a small space, covering your books with pretty paper would be a nice way to reuse as well as a cute way to incorporate books into the design of the room.  2) (right) Too modern for my taste (those chairs!), but I love the shelves - combination of vertical and horizontal books, pictures, art, and other items.  This is what my shelves need.  3) (bottom left) Yes, I know there are no books here, but I have struggled in the past to find a decent bookshelf.  I love the idea of stacking a few benches together.  4) (middle left)  I am not a crafty person, but even I could manage this one.  If I was a design person and could figure out where it would fit in my house, that is.  A set of brackets with an old book on top, making a cute little display shelf.  Nice!

Fast Rides, Green Beans, and Puffy Clouds

*Image via i can read

This week's Three Beautiful Things:

1.  School vacation week means no traffic.  I'm enjoying the quick ride to work. 

2.  After at least 89 failed attempts, the big boy ate most of his green beans at dinner.  No discussion, no cajoling....it was as though he's always liked them. 

3.  Spring's blue skies have finally arrived, and the past few days have been dotted with high, white, puffy clouds.  The kind that make you look up and think of cotton balls.  The big boy pointed a couple out, saying "Look Mom, that one looks like a turtle.  And that one looks like a princess." 

See You Soon

*Image via i can read

Alright guys, we're outta here. I am taking my boys and heading south for a few days. I'll return with a tan, a refreshed and relaxed attitude, a smile on my face, and lots of pictures to share!

J.D. Salinger

*Image from Associated Press

“An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.” - J.D. Salinger

Quote of the Day

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
―Edith Sitwell

Quote of the Day

Thanks to Erin at Perfect Sentiment for sharing this quote she found on Whimsicalities.

Quote of the Day

"Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos."

—Don Kardong

*Image from Haagen-Dazs.com

(I tried this pineapple coconut ice cream for the first time this weekend. It is beyond yummy! It makes you feel like you're on vacation on a sunny warm beach. Mmmmmm.)

Perfect Sentiment

I thought this was a nice way to start the week. The blog where I found it - Perfect Sentiment - is also lovely, if you're looking for some additional inspiration today.

Have a happy Monday!

Quote of the Day

*I love Spring in New England....once the tulips are blooming.

"Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others."


- H. Jackson Brown