Through a Child's Eyes

Everything is way cooler.

The Guatemala Backpack Project

My friend Alana started The Guatemala Backpack Project this past holiday season as a way to get her three daughters involved in service and giving to children less fortunate. She reached out to her inner circle and asked them to fill backpacks for the young students at the Kemna' oj School, who were on summer break at the time.


What a simple, brilliant idea! Buy a backpack for a child {anywhere--it's a small world!} who cannot afford one and then fill it with notebooks, folders, pencils, crayons, markers, glue, scissors, rulers, sketch pads, water bottles, underwear, socks, etc. I was thrilled to help, and I'm grateful to my friends Seda, Christine, Karin, Sara, Allison and DJ for helping, too. Alana collected 56 bags and sent them all at once to Guatemala through a volunteer with her friend Judy's organization From Houses to Homes.


As you can see in the photo above, the bags have arrived. The new school year has begun, and I can only imagine the smiles they have brought.




Students at the school holding loaves of bread for their families. Photo passed on by Alana.

Happy Monday!

Today is a GO! day for us, but I want to quick assure you that we are all alive and well. No more sickness in this house. Ollie Bear has his 15-month ped. visit later this morning {is that even possible?}, so I'll post his stats when I can.

The Mathematician

Photo courtesy of Buby's teacher.

My Poor Husband

Has beautiful hair.
A daughter who doesn't like barrettes.
And a wife who can't resist a laugh.

The Walk Home

More Instagram photos from our snowy Saturday.

Post-Sledding Lunch Date

My people.

It Snowed. At Last.

Saturday. Awake. Pajamas inside out and backwards. Excited screams. Buby's wish. First real snow since October 30. Banana-blueberry pancakes on the griddle. Coffee. Shower. Boots on. Hoods up. Frigid! Sledding on a hill in the middle of nowhere, two minutes from everything.








Conversations about mittens. A few tears. An unexpected smile. Bleu is sledding on my lap now. And loving it. Lasts four runs. Races back to toasty warm vehicle to find Daddy and a sleeping Bear.








The mighty 1st grader and his mama are just getting started though. Cold? Not us. One sled down. Six to go. Lopsided tie-dye voted fastest in the world.







Baby wakes up. He's curious. I snag him and down we go. Wheee! Few more runs while Bleu looks on. Hot lunch at an almost-forgotten restaurant. Hits the spot. Did someone say cocoa? Big kids walk home with Daddy. I drive. And pause. And laugh as they skip all the waaay home.









Where Buby continues to shower himself in winter bliss. His favorite season. A small orange bucket from the kitchen--for scooping--and he's all set outdoors.





1.21.12

i heart

Instagram. I love it for capturing little pieces of our every day when I don't have a real camera ready. {Sadly, my camera recently bit the dust.} If the family is venturing out on a weekend I often snag Tom's iPhone because of its built-in camera quality and cool apps.


The social media aspect of Instagram doesn't appeal to me yet--I keep our accounts private--but I enjoy all the filters. WAY more fun than your average cell phone photo.

Good Evening

My favorite times to visit the park are late morning and early evening. Often I walk there with the kiddos under a setting sun and back home under a beaming moon.


We usually have the whole park to ourselves this time of year, which is fantastic. Buby and Bleu spin fast on the metal wheel, and luckily Bear still gets a kick out of watching from the sidelines. How freaky is it that only one of them shows up in the first photo?

Happy Weekend

Buby and Bleu sorting through a mountain of stuffed animals this weekend.


Now that our house is healthy--and I'm feeling myself again, I'm psyched to leap into 2012.


I didn't make any official resolutions {never do!}, but I love assigning a personal theme to each year and crossing items off my weekly and monthly to-do lists. The theme for this year is SPACE. I feel like we've outgrown our space, and I need to figure out more and better ways to manage it. I am waaaay behind after spending the first half of January battling a super virus and total exhaustion.


The good news is that I've scheduled a donation truck to come here on February 1. That's phase 1. The next two weeks should be productive. And messy. And really good for the soul. I have such an urge to live with less. I'll let you know how it goes.


P.S. My theme for 2011 was SIMPLIFY, and I accomplished that in a huge way.

Bits + Pieces {end of year}

Some random, never-posted photos from the end of 2011.



Bleu ate a lot of soup. Tomato basil is her favorite.



I turned 35 on Dec 21. The day was perfect, but I'm still having a little trouble with the number.



My girl sent brown balloons into the sky for her brother's first birthday.



The wee ones turned the living-room-off-the-playroom into a massive fort.



Bleu went to "Daddy's New York City" for a whole work day.



She charmed the office, rode a carousel, adopted an American Girl and named her Jo Jo Murphy.



We colored. A lot.



My Oliver Henri has changed sooo much. I must give him a proper post. He's a real toddler now.



Buby built a long house for school with items collected from nature.



We obsessed over foosball {with My Sweets, Grandma DJ, Tom G, Buby, Parker, Spencer} in my parents' basement.



Buby's version of an Ickey Shuffle. We are still working on the art of gracious winning.



Bleu loved everything about rolling pool balls across the table in Grandma and Grandpa's basement.



Buby and Bleu filled their bead jars with good deeds.



I ate and drank chocolate. I can banish all other sweets, but chocolate keeps me alive.



Bear learned to stand on, walk on, and stay off the playroom shelves.



We decorated a tree for Thanksgiving.




We made and received fun turkey art.



We cooked a very basic turkey day spread for the 7 of us. We missed my mom's pies though!



I got into hot apple cider.



We took down Thanksgiving and put up Christmas. Here's the little tree.



We rearranged furniture in the lower living room to block Ollie from the big tree.



We roasted marshmallows and sat by the fire after the children fell asleep.




We made lists and learned to write our letters.



Buby's teacher made a single felt slip-on, and he was the only kid who fit into it.
It was a bit of a Cinderella moment for him, and he got to bring the slipper home.



Buby made this dream catcher in class. It's super cool and hangs in the playroom.



Bleu had a few fussdowns over getting dressed, but nothing we couldn't ride out.



We collected book bags and school supplies for kids in Guatemala. Dedicated post coming!



Buby and Bleu raked leaves on pavement and built a teepee with neighbor Allison.